Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Ol Parker
Starring: Lena Headey | Matthew Goode | Piper Perabo
Michael says: “What would you do if moments before saying ‘I do’ at your wedding, you lock eyes with your soul mate, and it’s not the man you’re marrying. To complicate matters, it happens to be a woman and you’re
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Caveh Zahedi
Starring: Anastasia Gershman | Caveh Zahedi | Emily Morse | Greg Watkins | Lindsey Tjian | Rebecca Lord | Stephanie Carwin
Michael says: “Caveh Zahedi is a bit of a cult figure in the independent film world. Many people first saw him as an animated character in Richard Linklater’s WAKING LIFE. He was involved in a pivotal conversation about ‘the holy
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Yôji Yamada
Starring: Masatoshi Nagase | Takako Matsu | Yukiyoshi Ozawa
Michael says: “With over 60 films under is directorial belt, Yôji Yamada follows up his Chlotrudis Award nominated TWILIGHT SAMURAI with this lovely film THE HIDDEN BLADE. Munezo, like Seibei, the title character in TWILIGHT SAMURAI, is a true samurai
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Starring: Junichi Okada | Rie Miyazawa | Tadanobu Asano
Beth says: “Kore-eda’s newest. He was there, and spoke eloquently before the film (I couldn’t stay for the Q&A). He basically said, ‘this is my first period piece, I wanted to do a samurai film that sort of felt the
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Ryan Fleck
Starring: Anthony Mackie | Ryan Gosling | Shareeka Epps
Chris says: “Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling), a young, white history teacher and girls’ basketball coach in a mostly black Brooklyn middle school would seem like the ideal mentor. Eschewing the required curriculum, he genuinely inspires his students to think about
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Danny Leiner
Starring: Edie Falco | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Olympia Dukakis | Tony Shaloub
Michael says: “GREAT NEW WONDERFUL is being billed as a 9/11 comedy, and the film is funny, and is also tangentially about the events of September 11, 2001, but for me this film falls squarely into the category of drama
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Amos Gitai
Starring: Carmen Maura | Hana Laszlo | Hiam Abbass | Natalie Portman
Michael says: “FREE ZONE is Amos Gitai’s latest film, illuminating life in Israel and all its strife from a decidedly female point of view. The story revolves around three women, an Israeli, an American living in Israel, and a Palestinian
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Daniel Burman
Starring: Arturo Goetz | Daniel Hendler | Julieta Diaz
Bruce says: “Daniel Burman’s FAMILY LAW is the third film in a trilogy about the meaning of family. In each film (WAITING FOR THE MESSIAH and LOST EMBRACE were the first two) a young man named Ariel (Daniel Hendler) is
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Jack Nicholson | Leonardo DiCaprio | Mark Wahlberg | Martin Sheen | Matt Damon | Ray Winstone | Vera Farmiga
Bruce says: “Adapted from the critically acclaimed Hong Kong film INFERNAL AFFAIRS, THE DEPARTED is fairly faithful to its source. The wonderful, intricate plot remains intact – a mole from the local mobsters has infiltrated the police force and a
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hans Canosa
Starring: Aaron Eckhart | Brianna Brown | Erik Eidem | Helena Bonham Carter | Olivia Wilde
Michael says: “Hans Canosa’s second feature film (the first being ALMA MATER, which I had never heard of) is a two-person piece about a formerly married couple who haven’t seen each other in many years, then re-connect at a wedding.
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