Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Nia DaCosta
Starring: James Badge Dale | Lance Reddick | Lily James | Luke Kirby | Tessa Thompson
Ivy says: “This film is a revelation! A woman-directed, modern, feminist western set in North Dakota starring Tessa Thompson and Lily James. I really don’t want to tell you more. It is one of my favorite films of the year and
Read the review...By Michael Colford
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Karyn Kusama
Starring: Bradley Whitford | Nicole Kidman | Scott McNairy | Sebastian Stan | Tatiana Maslany | Toby Kebbell
Michael says: “Karyn Kusama’s latest film got a bit of a tiny buzz when it was released, around the possibility of Oscar notice because of Nicole Kidman’s strung-out, driven, and totally unglamorous portrayal of Detective Bell, wracked with guilt and
Read the review...By Michael Colford
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Keith Behrman
Starring: Darren Mann | Josh Wiggins | Kyle MacLachlan | Maria Bello | Niamh Wilson | Taylor Hickson
Michael says: “Okay, what a surprise “I’m on a mission to get my 25 eligible films in, and I’m just coming down with a cold, so I’m not feeling great. So I wanted a movie that was relatively short and
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Antonio Banderas | Asier Etxeandia | César Vicente | Julieta Serrano | Leonardo Sbaraglia | Nora Navas
Chris says: “Doesn’t contain the giddy highs of Almodovar’s best and feels scattered like much of his post-VOLVER output; however, while definitely a mature work, it’s not boring like JULIETA, and the widespread praise for Antonio Banderas’ affecting, multifaceted performance
Read the review...By Chris Kriofske
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Alejandro Landes
Starring: Julian Geraldo | Julianne Nicholson | Karen Quintero | Laura Castrillón | Sofia Buenaventura
Chris says: “Crazier than FITZCARRALDO. The less one knows going in, the better. Last act meanders a bit, but this is highly recommended for fans of apocalyptic art cinema, Mica Levi scores and Julianne Nicholson. 4 cats“
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Deborah S. Esquenazi
Thom says: “I might be rating this a trifle high but I’m a sucker for these wrongful convictions of innocent people movies ever since the 3rd in the PARADISE LOST series almost was made my FILM-OF-THE-YEAR in 2011 before finally
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Desiree Akhavan
Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz | Dalton Harrod | Kerry Butler | McCabe Slye | Quinn Shephard | Sasha Lane | Steven Hauck
Chris says: “APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR is one of the better directorial feature debuts of this decade; for her follow-up, Desiree Akhavan eschews the earlier film’s explicit biographical feel (she also starred in it) for an adaptation of Emily Danforth’s novel about
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Paul McGuigan
Starring: Annette Bening | Jamie Bell | Julie Walters | Kenneth Cranham | Vanessa Redgrave
Thom says: “It’s not often that a non big-budget film stars 4 actors who are must-see and the italicized 4 here are all terrific in their roles. Director McGuigan is surprisingly not well-known by me, and yet, amazingly, I’ve seen
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jon M. Chu
Starring: Awkwafina | Chris Pang | Constance Wu | Gemma Chan | Harry Chum Jr. | Henry Golding | Jimmy O. Yang | Ken Jeong | Lisa Lu | Michelle Yeoh | Sonoya Mizuno
Thom says: “I’ve seen three of director Chu’s previous efforts: STEP UP 2: THE STREETS, STEP UP 3D, & NOW YOU SEE ME 2, nothing particularly memorable in professional talents but maybe he was right for this project. The fun,
Read the review...By Chris Kriofske
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Claire Denis
Starring: Alex Descas | Gerard Depardieu | Josiane Balasco | Juliette Binoche | Nicolas Duvauchelle | Philippe Katerine | Sandrine Dumas | Valeria Bruni Tedeschi | Xavier Beauvois
Chris says: “Leave it to Claire Denis to open her latest by saddling Juliette Binoche with one heck of a blowhard beau and close it on an extended conversation between Binoche and Gerard Depardieu, decidedly *not* her beau (his actual
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