Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Sion Sono
Starring: Erika Sawajiri | Gou Ayano | Nobuaki Kaneko | Takayuki Yamada | Yusuke Iseya
Jason says: “Like a lot of movies adapted from long-running manga, SHINJUKU SWAN shows a lot of telltale signs of screenwriters Rikiya Mizushima and OsamuSuzuki trying to cram a lot of storylines and fan-favorite characters into a couple hours. It’s
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Adrian Garcia Bogliano
Jason says: “A nifty thing about SCHERZO DIABOLICO: It feels like a black comedy for much of its running time, but you’ll likely struggle to remember any actual jokes afterward. The comedy is almost entirely from the discomfort and absurdity
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Keishi Otomi
Jason says: “RUROUNI KENSHIN: KYOTO INFERNO and RUROUNI KENSHIN: THE LEGEND ENDS were released within a month and a half of each other in Japan, emphasizing how they function more as a two-part sequel to 2012’s first film than as
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Lee Won-suk
Jason says: “I’ve been looking to make a ‘costume drama’ joke about this film ever since I first heard of it, but it initially didn’t quite seem appropriate – for the first half or so, this is mainly a very
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Quentin Dupieux
Starring: Alain Chabat | Elodie Bouchez | John Glover | Jon Hader | Jonathan Lambert | Kyla Kenedy
Jason says: “A sad thing about how peculiar movies like those made by Quentin Dupieux are likely to be more readily available to a larger audience via the various on-demand services is that I’m certain that, at some point while
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Taisuke Kawamura
Jason says: “Though the audience for comic books in America – and symbiotically, comic-book movies – has been growing broader in the past few years, the variety of material has lagged a bit, and we’ll probably never catch up to
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Philip Yung Chi-kwong
Jason says: “PORT OF CALL looks like it’s going to be a police procedural, and certainly acts like one during the early going. But then the answer to ‘who killed Wang Jiamei?’ presents itself, and Aaron Kwok’s Inspector Chong keeps
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Christian Petzold
Starring: Felix Römer | Imogen Kogge | Michael Maertens | Nina Hoss | Nina Kunzendorf | Ronald Zehrfeld | Trystan Pütter
Jason says: “In a happy coincidence, the local boutique multiplex was playing PHOENIX and the new restoration of THE THIRD MAN in adjacent theaters on the night when I saw the former, and the pair would make a fantastic double feature:
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Keiichi Har
Jason says: “Stories about art and artists are fantastic opportunities for makers of animated films, and I suspect that if I knew more about Japanese art, I’d be even more impressed by how MISS HOKUSAI uses it to give its
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Alberto Rodriguez
Jason says: “While, to a certain extent, murder is murder, a story that could be easily set in any era becomes much more fascinating when placed in a specific time, and not just because cell phones, GPS, and security cameras
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