Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Francois Ozon
Starring: Benjamin Voisin | Félix Lefebvre | Philippine Velge
Chris says: “Francois Ozon’s umpteenth feature is cinematic comfort food, a queer, coming-of-age period romance set in a beautifully shabby town off the Normandy coast. The twist (partially revealed at the start) and flashback structure distinguishes this from other like-minded
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Hao Wu | Weixi Chen
Chris says: “Verité doc clandestinely filmed inside an ICU unit in Wuhan, China during the 76-day lockdown earlier this year. Expectedly difficult to watch (especially the heightened panic of the early days) but also genuinely life-affirming. This is an invaluable
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Michel Franco
Starring: Dario Yazbek Bernal | Patricia Bernal | Samantha Yazareth Anaya
Chris says: “After a flurry of brief, tantalizing, brutal images, NEW ORDER begins at a Mexico wedding attended by one-percenters; it’s best to go into the rest not knowing much more except that the first third is near-perfect in how
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Chloé Zhao
Starring: David Straithairn | Frances McDormand | Gay DeForest | Linda May | Patricia Grier | Swankie
Chris says: “Already a lot of hype for this one and much of it is justified—if anything, it’s an advance on Chloe Zhao’s last film, THE RIDER, and not necessarily because she’s now working with an Oscar-winning actress (though McDormand
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Kornél Mundruczó
Starring: Ellen Burstyn | Molly Parker | Shia LaBeouf | Vanessa Kirby
Chris says: “The first half-hour, which mostly consists of an extended tracking shot is not only an impressive technical feat but also an effective choice in what it depicts (a nerve-wracking home childbirth.) However, the remainder vindicates my mixed feelings
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Ben Sharrock
Starring: Amir El-Masry | Grace Chilton | Kwabena Ansah | Vikash Bhai
Chris says: “A group of Middle-Eastern and African men are stranded in a refugee camp off the coast of Scotland. Our protagonist, Omar, is a musician from Syria and carries his oud wherever he goes. The refugees spend their time
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Rating: 4.7 cats
Director: Emma Seligman
Starring: Danny DeFerrari | Dianna Agron | Fred Melamed | Jackie Hoffman | Molly Gordon | Polly Draper | Rachel Sennott
Chris says: “Snappy cringe-com feature debut from filmmaker Emma Seligman with a near-perfect ensemble (esp. Fred Melamed and Polly Draper as the lead’s parents), along with a pressure-cooker environment and score both somewhat reminiscent of MOTHER! (thankfully, no one eats
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Rating: 3.2 cats
Director: Chaitanya Tamhane
Starring: Aditya Modak | Arun Dravid | Sumitra Bhave
Chris says: “A deep dive into Raag (Indian classical music) via Sharad, a performer/enthusiast of the stuff whom we first see accompanying his guru in concert. Where this varies from most films of this stripe is that, as it unfolds
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Rating: 2.9 cats
Director: Regina King
Starring: Aldis Hodge | Eli Goree | Kingsley Ben-Adir | Leslie Odom Jr.
Chris says: “It has a wish-fulfillment premise probably better suited to the stage (from which it’s adapted) than the screen, but Regina King’s assured directorial debut mostly overcomes the occasionally clunky dialogue through the sheer force of its four leads,
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Starring: Anamaria Marinca | James Nesbitt | Liam Neeson
Toni says: “First, I really think it is a shame that FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN was not distributed better in the United States. Considering, it was directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel of DOWNFALL fame and was written by Guy Hibbert, an
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