Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Brian Knappenberger
Jason says: “It’s a horribly clinical thing to say, but building a movie around someone who committed suicide requires even more care than other documentaries. It distorts the audience’s perceptions and makes the filmmaker walk on eggshells, and in the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: James Franco | Travis Mathews
Starring: Brenden Gregory | Christian Patrick | James Franco | Travis Mathews | Val Lauren
Bruce says: “Years ago there was a New Yorker cartoon with two old women on a bus. One was saying to the other, ‘the way I understand it is: if everyone in the world were stoned except for us, then
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Albert Shin
Starring: Anh Ji Hye | Chang-hwan Kim | Hae-yeon Kil | Kyung-Ik Kim | Yoon Da-Kyung
Bruce says: “Films from other countries often are less appreciated than they should be due to the gap in understanding of those countries mores and taboos. In the case of IN HER PLACE, knowing about the South Korean taboo of
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Joanna Newsom | Joaquin Phoenix | Josh Brolin | Katherine Waterston | Owen Wilson | Reese Witherspoon
Thom says: “Other than BOOGIE NIGHTS, which I loathed, I’ve been a fan of Paul Thomas Anderson films, although, truth-to-tell I’ve only given my highest rating to THERE WILL BE BLOOD. And there were really great parts of MAGNOLIA, PUNCH-DRUNK
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Hans Petter Moland
Jason says: “Where is the exact line between a movie being a darkly funny revenge story and a full-on, pitch-black dark comedy? In the case of IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE, I think it is crossed early on in a gag
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Anthony Chen
Starring: Angeli Bayani | Koh Jia Ler | Tian Wen Chen | Yann Yann Yep
Jason says: “You can finish ILO ILO and come away feeling like you’ve seen something more uplifting than it really is, and it would not shock me if a fair amount of people identified with the parents of a problem
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.9
Director: James Gray
Starring: Angela Sarafyan | Dagmara Dominczyk | Jeremy Renner | Joaquin Phoenix | Marion Cotillard
Jason says: “The first shot of THE IMMIGRANT- the Statue of Liberty seen from behind, through a brownish fog – is certainly the sort that let the audience know just what the next two hours have in store. Director James
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Pawel Pawlikoski
Starring: Adam Szyszkowski | Agata Kulesza | Agata Trzebuchowska | Dawid Ogrodnik | Jerzy Trela
Jason says: “Roughly three scenes into IDA, I figured that a good way to review this movie might be to simply list every scene – nay, every shot – and say why I loved it. Eighty minutes later, I was
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Anders Morgenthaler
Starring: Anouk Fischer | Jordan Prentice | Kim Basinger | Peter Stormare | Sebastian Schipper
Jason says: “I AM HERE is heart-and-gut-wrenching in its first act, taking horrific events and making them hurt more with things that would at first glance have the opposite effect. It’s not quite so sure-handed when it starts to actually
Read the review...The Hypnotist (Sweden; 122 min.) directed by: Lasse Hallströmstarring: Tobias Zilliacus; Mikael Persbrandt; Lena Olin; Jonatan Bökman; Oscar Pettersson; Anna Azcárate Bruce says: “Lasse Hallström has had a remarkable career albeit an unusual one. In 1985, twelve years into his
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