Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Carlos Reygadas
Starring: Alejandro Ferretis | Magdalena Flores | Martín Serrano | Yolanda Villa
Michael says: “JAPÓN is a bold and audacious first film from Mexican director Carlos Reygadas. There is an undeniable power in its imagery and its worldview, both beautiful and brutal. Yet for a first film, it also plays a little
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Starring: Helena Bonham Carter | Olivia Williams | Paul Bettany
Laura says: “After the death of their father, Dinah (Helena Bonham Carter, NOVOCAINE) stays briefly at her sister Madeline’s (Olivia Williams, THE SIXTH SENSE) London townhouse, frustrating her sister’s sense of decorum while delighting her nephew Anthony (Luke Newberry) and
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Daisy von Scherler Mayer
Starring: Heather Graham | Jimi Mistry | Marissa Tomei | Michael McKean
Hilary says: “Being a sucker for musicals I have to admit that I enjoyed the first half of this film. After that it descended into Formulaic Hollywood Romance territory with Heather Graham playing yet another naïve porn star. If only
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Mark S. Waters
Starring: Harold Gould | Jamie Lee Curtis | Lindsay Lohan | Mark Harmon
Howard says: “The biggest surprise this summer turns out to be the one that everyone rolled their eyes at. FREAKY FRIDAY, yet another Disney remake of one of their own films, is a well-acted, well-scripted piece of family fluff. For
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Jordan Melamed
Starring: Don Cheadle | Joseph Gordon-Levitt | Michael Bacall | Sara Rivas | Zooey Deschanel
Laura says: “Tyro director Jordan Melamed gets natural and perceptive work from a cast comprised of amateurs and professionals. They mine their own truths improvising their way around actors Michael Bacall and Blayne Weaver’s script despite some genre cliches. However,
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Angela Christlieb | Stephen Kijak
Michael says: “One might think that the docuemntary CINEMANIA might have something to do with people similar to some Chlotrudis members we all know. One would be WRONG! CINEMANIA is a documentary examining the rather extreme and bizarre lives of
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: John Sayles
Starring: Daryl Hannah | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Marcia Gay Harden | Mary Steenburgen | Rota Moreno | Susan Lynch | Vanessa Martinez
Michael says: “Maverick independent filmmaker John Sayles takes a look at the different paths open to children in modern-day Mexico in CASA DE LOS BABYS, a film that offers no answers, but highlights some terrific acting. The film is centered
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Don Coscarelli
Starring: Bruce Campbell | Ossie Davis
Howard says: “Don Coscarelli, writer and director of BUBBA HO-TEP, has his heroes. It’s quite obvious after seeing his ode to Elvis and JFK that Coscarelli wanted to give the two men a chance to make up for alleged past
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
Starring: Bahman Ghobadi | Behnaz Jafari | Said Mohamadi
Michael says: “The Iranian film BLACKBOARDS is certainly a strong piece of filmmaking from a woman director, a rarity in Iran. The stunning, desolate opening shots of BLACKBOARDS are undeniable in their power and reeled me in immediately, yet the
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Connie Nielsen | John Travolta | Samuel L. Jackson | Timothy Daly
Robin says: “It’s RASHOMON meets THE GENERAL’S DAUGHTER as John Travolta reprises a role similar to his in the latter film as helmer McTiernan drives this action vehicle that begins with two different tellings about a deadly event that smacks
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