Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Sean McNamara
Starring: Carlos PenaVega | David del Rio | George Lopez | Jamie Lee Curtis | Jose Julian | Oscar Gutierrez
Jason says: “If I believed in guilty pleasures, I might count movies like SPARE PARTS among them, even though there’s not much worth feeling bad about where it’s concerned. Sure, it breaks almost no new ground at all, following its
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: James Franco
Starring: Ahna O'Reilly | Danny McBride | James Franco | Joey King | Loretta Devine | Seth Rogen | Tim Blake Nelson
Thom says: “A year before this film, Franco had directed a brilliant adaptation of William Faulkner’s AS I LAY DYING, putting to rest any doubts that the right talent wouldn’t be able to make a film from Faulkner’s difficult, mesmerizing
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Lázló Nemes
Starring: Balázs Farkas | Gergö Farkas | Géza Röhrig | Jerzy Walczak | Levente Molnár | Urs Rechn
Brett says: “Not another holocaust film. SON OF SAUL is a look from within a World War II concentration camp, or perhaps better described as a series of passing glances from within. Director Lázló Nemes provides the insight into militant
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Kate Barker-Froyland
Starring: Anne Hathaway | Ben Rosenfield | Johnny Flynn | Mary Steenburgen | Sharon van Etten
Jason says: “There are times when SONG ONE starts to come across as a simple enough romance that its peculiar start fades into the background, and it’s odd for that to feel like a good thing. The way the two
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.25
Director: Jinglei Xu
Starring: Gordon Alexander | Jinglei Xu | Likun Wang | Yifan Wu
Jason says: “The movie listings this Valentine’s Day are weird: The big studio release is FIFTY SHADES OF GREY and in that spirit, my local theaters are pulling out prints of SECRETARY, bringing THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY back for a
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Adam Egypt Mortimer
Starring: Grace Phipps | Lexi Atkins | Maestro Harrell | Ronen Rubinstein | Sierra McCormick | Spencer Breslin
Jason says: “Is it wrong to kind of hope that a pretty great horror movie perhaps stalls out at cult favorite? SOME KIND OF HATE is a strong, smart, bloody example of what the genre can do when its aims
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: John MacLean
Starring: Andrew Robertt | Ben Mendelsohn | Caren Pistorius | Kodi Smit-McPhee | Michael Fassbender
Jason says: “I am not sure whether John Maclean narrowly misses the tone he’s going for with SLOW WEST or hits it dead-on; even considering that westerns are relatively rare these days, this one feels a little different. I consider
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.25
Director: Hong Seok-Jae
Starring: Byeon Yo-han | Jeon Sin-hwan | Lee Ju-seung | Park Keun-Rok | Yoo-ram Bae
Jason says: “The inciting incident of SOCIALPHOBIA is never shown on-screen, just the social-media reaction to it, and that sort of feels right. It’s easy to get caught up in something online without having been there at the start, or
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Leslye Headland
Starring: Adam Scott | Alison Brie | Andrea Savage | Billy Eichner | Jason Mantzoukas | Jason Sudeikis | Jordan Carlos
Jason says: “The romantic comedy genre has felt a little tapped out lately; the big American studios barely produce them anymore and the independent productions like SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE are oddly self-aware. The trick that a filmmaker is trying
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Sion Sono
Starring: Erika Sawajiri | Gou Ayano | Nobuaki Kaneko | Takayuki Yamada | Yusuke Iseya
Jason says: “Like a lot of movies adapted from long-running manga, SHINJUKU SWAN shows a lot of telltale signs of screenwriters Rikiya Mizushima and OsamuSuzuki trying to cram a lot of storylines and fan-favorite characters into a couple hours. It’s
Read the review...