Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Wash Westmoreland
Starring: Arabella Weir | Dominic West | Fiona Shaw | Keira Knightley | Máté Haumann | Robert Pugh | Sloan Thompson
Chris says: “Colette was such a fascinating figure for her time it would take a concerted effort to make a boring film about her. Typically, Keira Knighly is neither miscast nor an exceptional lead; she does what’s required of her,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Laurent Cantet
Starring: Florian Beaujean | Julien Souve | Mamadou Doumbia | Marina Fois | Matthieu Lucci | Mélissa Guilbert | Wanda Rammach
Michael says: “Laurent Cantet (THE CLASS)has constructed a fascinating film exploring the desire to kill, racism, and class in THE WORKSHOP. Centered around a racially mixed group of blue-collar students in a summer writing class led by an upper-class, middle-aged,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Andrew Dosunmu
Starring: Kiefer Sutherland | Michelle Pfeiffer | Suzanne Shepherd
Beth Ca says: “Excellent film! It may seem like the film would be a bit slow moving in the first several minutes, but do not be fooled! It’s very suspenseful. Also, the artistic design is spectacular, along with cinematography. Michelle
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Pawel Pawilkowski
Starring: Adam Woronowicz | Agata Kulesza | Borys Szyc | Cédric Kahn | Jeanne Balibar | JoannaKulig | Tomasz Kot
Chris says: “Pawel Pawlikowski’s follow-up to IDA is cut from the same fine-polished glass: set in post-war Poland and shot in 1:33 black-and-white by cinematographer Łukasz Żal, it spans a fifteen-year period (leading up to roughly the time of the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Chris O’Dowd | Ethan Hawke | Kitty O’Beirne | Rose Byrne
Chris says: “This was my favorite Hornby novel since High Fidelity (he’s at his best writing about music), but as film adaptations go, it’s no HIGH FIDELITY. It doesn’t fall flat, exactly—how it could it with such ideal casting as
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Lisa Dapolito
Starring: documentary
Chris says: “Gilda Radner may not have been the most original or technically accomplished comedienne, but she was unquestionably one of the most likable–as the cliche goes, she lit up whatever room she entered. Lisa D’Apolito’s sympathetic documentary gets this
Read the review...By Michael Colford
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Jaron Albertin
Starring: Alessandro Nivola | Eli Haley | Johnny Knoxville | Julianne Nicholson | K. Todd Freeman | Phoebe Young
Michael says: “WEIGHTLESS is notable to me for giving the handsome and talented Alessandro Nivola a challenging leading role as Joel, a troubled man working in a landfill in rural America. There’s reference to mental illness, and an occasional explosion
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.2 cats
Director: Marielle Heller
Starring: Anna Deveare Smith | Ben Falcone | Dolly Wells | Erik LaRay Harvey | Jane Curtin | Melissa McCarthy | Pun Bandhu | Richard E. Grant
Chris says: “It’s not so much that Melissa McCarthy is a revelation here as that she finally has a role that allows her to be more than just silly or weird (although she’s occasionally those things too.) The real-life story
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Julien Faraut
Starring: documentary
Beth Ca says: “I saw this film at the Provincetown Film Festival this summer and loved it. It’s a spectacular film, especially with the editing and visual design (it is winning awards for editing, and other categories). The film uses
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Jeremiah Zagar
Starring: Evan Rosado | Isaiah Kristian | Josiah Gabriel | Raúl Castillo | SheilaVand
Michael says: “As many of us are viewing films for nomination purposes, which is less than a month away, I’ d like to put in a plug for Jeremiah Zagar’s WE THE ANIMALS, now available on streaming on Amazon., and
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