Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Zhang Yibai
Jason says: “It can be kind of interesting to watch a movie like BACK IN TIME (CONG CONG NA NIAN’ in the original Mandarin, translated onscreen as FLEET OF TIME) which comes from another culture, though often kind of puzzling:
Read the review...Ava’s Possessions (USA; 83 min.) directed by: Jordan Gallandstarring: Louisa Krause; Wass Stevens; Annabelle Dexter-Jones; William Sadler; Deborah Rush Jason says: “Three years ago, I raved about Jordan Galland’s superhero comedy ALTER EGOS in part out of surprise; it worked
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.25
Director: Shinji Higuchi
Jason says: “The two ATTACK ON TITAN live-action films, released just months apart in Japan weeks apart in the United States, total just under three hours between them, which makes me suspect that they really should have been a single
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.8 cats
Director: Choi Dong-hoon
Starring: Choi Duk-moon | Gianna Jun Ji-hyun | Ha Jung-woo | Lee Jung-jae | Lee Kyoung-young | Oh Dai-su
Jason says: “During the first half-hour or so of ASSASSINATION it is not unreasonable to think that the movie could and should be streamlined a bit; there is an awful lot introduced early on that seems needlessly complicated at the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Huang Wen-Chang
Jason says: “To say one doesn’t see many movies like THE ARTI may understate the case; there is one family in Taiwan not only carrying on a tradition of glove puppetry but using it to make fantastic adventure films like
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.9
Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Jason says: “Confession: Going into this movie, I thought it was going to be a bit different than it was, not because I expected an all-out action extravaganza, but because I had director Hou Hsiao-hsien mixed up with an even
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Yang Xiao
Starring: Cici Wang | Dong Zijian | Li Jiaqi | Sun Hongle | Wang Yuexin | Zhou Dongyu
Jason says: “The likely-studio-supplied boilerplate that has shown up in a lot of listings about THE ARK OF MR. CHOW describes it as a satirical look at the Chinese ‘Youth Class’ system, and if it’s what passes for satire in
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Miguel Gomes
Jason says: “Volume 1 of Miguel Gomes’s ARABIAN NIGHTS trilogy impressed me, although not quite enough to justify the scale of the thing on its own. This second volume, released a month after the first in their native Portugal but
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Miguel Gomes
Starring: Adriano Luz | Carloto Cotta | Crista Alfaiate | Dinarte Branco | Miguel Gomes | Rogério Samora
Jason says: “The best way to review Miguel Gomes’s three-part ARABIAN NIGHTS anthology is probably all at once, rather than writing about the first film before watching the second. I am currently trying that anyway, not knowing if characters will
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Desiree Akhavan
Starring: Anh Dong | Arian Moayed | Desiree Akhavan | Halley Feiffer | Hooman Majd | Rebecca Henderson | Scott Adsit
Jason says: “Movies like APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR are good checks for figuring out just to what degree you are becoming a grumpy old person. Do you find the main character whiny and irritating from the start? Do you get over it?
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