Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Mike Cahill
Starring: Brit Marling | DJ Flava | Matthew-Lee Ehrlbach | Meggan Lennon | William Mapother
Jason says: “I’m not sure which part of ANOTHER EARTH annoys me more – the terrible science or the weird relationship that develops over the course of the film. Though stranger things than the latter have happened in real life,
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: David Thewlis | Derek Jacobi | Edward Hogg | Helen Baxendale | Joley Richardson | Mark Rylance | Rafe Spall | Rhys Ifans | Sam Reid | Sebastian Amesto | Trystan Gravelle | Vanessa Redgrave | Xavier Samuel
Diane says: “Is this really eligible? Very Hollywood in production design, camerawork, dialogue and hair. A story of who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays (in this version, Edward Devere), amid a lot of court intrigue. “Vanessa Redgrave is wonderful as the
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Angela Winkler | Annedore Kleist | Devid Strieso | Sebastian Schipper | Sophie Rois
Diane says: “3, Tom Tykwer’s latest about a love triangle, is sabotaged by its very ordinary ending (see movie poster). Up to then, it’s smart, snappy, visually appealing, and has two great leads. The metaphor of stem cell manipulation is
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Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Guoqiang Tang | Jackie Chan | Li Zhang | Tao Hai | Wei Li
Starring: Bingbing Li | Jackie Chan | Jaycee Chan | Joan Chen | Winston Chao
Jason says: “Jackie Chan’s hundredth movie commemorates the hundredth anniversary of the revolution that brought down the Qing Dynasty, and both of these events seem to deserve something better for commemoration than this lifeless history lecture. “1911 and 1912, for
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Rating: 4.9
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Gorô Inagaki | Koji Yakusho | Masachika Ichimura | Takayuki Yamada | Yusuke Iseya
Thom says: “As is probably well known, I am a colossal Takashi Miike fan. I’ve almost certainly seen more (feature) films by Miike than any other director, so I had to see this presentation. What most surprised my brother and
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Anthony Hopkins | Antonio Banderas | Gemma Jones | Josh Brolin | Naomi Watts | Pauline Collins
Diane says: “Woody Allen’s latest, starring Anthony Hopkins and Naomi Watts among others in a fab-o cast. Fast and clever, but my companions were right when they said that Allen usually has respect, if not sympathy, for his characters, and
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Shirin Nehsat | Shoja Azari
Starring: Arita Shahrzad | Mehdi Moinzadeh | Orsolya Tóth | Pegah Ferydoni | Shabnam Toloui
Michael says: “This Iranian film by first-time filmmaker Shirin Neshat was on my list of films to see in Toronto back in 2009, but I ended up missing it. Then it had a brief run at the Museum of Fine
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Regev Contes
Diane says: “Entertaining docu from Israel, screened at the Boston Jewish Film Festival today. Director Regev Contes tries to help his father get a failing insurance company back on its feet. But Dad and his two buddies would much rather
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Debra Granik
Starring: Dale Dickey | Jennifer Lawrence | John Hawkes | Kevin Breznehan | Lauren Sweetser | Shelley Waggener
Michael says: “Got out to the Independent Film Festival of Boston tonight, and was not disappointed by Debra Granik’s outstanding WINTER’S BONE. This taut, atmospheric drama has already racked up some awards at Sundance and Berlin, and I sure hope
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Todd Solondz
Starring: Allison Janney | Ally Sheedy | Charlotte Rampling | Michael K. Williams | Michael Lerner | Shirley Henderson
Diane says: “Sequel to Todd Solondz’s HAPPINESS (1998), which I loved. New actors play the characters some years on (although I was convinced that some of the women were the original actors–wrong!). Once again, the almost-laughable discomfort of inappropriate remarks,
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