Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho
Chris says: “Sifting through and reminiscing about one’s own past is easy; contextualizing these memories and enabling them to resonate with an audience is trickier, as one has likely experienced in many an autobiographical narrative or essay film (Chris Marker
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.75
Director: James Krishna Floyd | Sally El Hosaini
Starring: Ben Hardy | Grant Davis | Hannah Onslow | Jason Patel | Val the Brown Queen
Chris says: “Luke (Ben Hardy), a working-class straight bloke from Essex unwittingly wanders into a London gay club and falls hard for Aysha (Jason Patel), a drag queen, making out with him before he realizes he’s not kissing a woman.
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Brady Hepner | Carrie Preston | Da'Vine Joy Randolph | Dominic Sessa | Paul Giamatti
Chris says: “If Alexander Payne’s last film, 2017’s sci-fi allegory DOWNSIZING was a big swing and a miss, his latest plays it much safer for the benefit of everyone involved. A return to smart, dyspeptic comedy, THE HOLDOVERS also reunites
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Agustín Almodóvar | Dash | Miguel Almodóvar | Pablo Almodóvar | Tilda Swinton
Diane says: “THE HUMAN VOICE, stars Tilda Swinton, so you’re already feeling good. Made in 2020, it’s an adaptation of a play Jean Cocteau wrote for his actresses to show their full range of emotions. Swinton plays a ‘woman on
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Ethan Hawke | George Steane | Manu Ríos | Pedro Casablanc | Pedro Pascal
Diane says: “STRANGE WAY OF LIFE opens on a typical Old West set, as the title song is sung, in Spanish, by what sounds like a female voice but turns out to be a man singing falsetto—intimations of unconventional elements
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Josh Margolin
Starring: Clark Gregg | Fred Hechinger | June Squibb | Parker Posey | Richard Roundtree
Chris says: “June Squibb found success late in life, well into her 70s and beyond when she appeared in small but acclaimed scene-stealing roles Alexander Payne’s ABOUT SCHMIDT and NEBRASKA; in both of these and many other film and TV
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Amy Nicholson
Chris says: “Amy Nicholson’s documentary tries to be the low-rent trailer park equivalent of Errol Morris’ GATES OF HEAVEN, offering a deadpan look at the last summer of one said establishment off the Virginia coast before it closes for redevelopment.
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.3 cats
Director: Greg Kwedar
Starring: Clarence Maclin | Colman Domingo | David Giraudy | Paul Raci | Sean San Jose
Michael says: “Colman Domingo stars as an inmate wrongly convicted and incarcerated at a maximum security prison. While working tirelessly on his clemency appeal, he is a motivating force behind the Rehabilitation Through the Arts: Prison Arts Program. While recruiting
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Zach Steinhauser
Chris says: “Alternate title: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Purple Martins (and Should Have Thought To Ask.) The largest species of swallows in North America, the Purple Martin resides exclusively in nesting structures in order to ensure their survival.
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Megan Park
Starring: Aubrey Plaza | Kerrice Brooks | Maddie Ziegler | Maisy Stella | Percy Hynes-White
Chris says: “18-year-old Elliot (Maisy Stella) celebrates her birthday with her two best friends by taking magic mushrooms on a camping trip in the woods; while all three experience hallucinations, only Elliot’s manifests in the form of her future 39-year-old
Read the review...