Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Jim Mickle
Starring: Bonnie Dennison | Connor Paolo | Danielle Harris | Kelly McGillis | Michael Cerveris
Jason says:v”Jim Mickle’s first feature (also with co-writer/star Nick Damici), MULBERRY STREET, was a low-budget and do-it-yourself as you’re going to see, and pretty impressive even when not grading on that sort of curve. STAKE LAND doesn’t quite represent a
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Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal | Jeffrey Wright | Michael Arden | Michelle Monaghan | Vera Farmiga
Diane says: “Oops! Why did I think this would be good?” Jason responds: “Well, because of Duncan Jones, I imagine. And because Jake Gyllenhaal is pretty good at this sort of action/adventure movie, and there’s a nice supporting cast
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Jennilyn Merten | Tyler Measom
Jason says: “Most of the time, when the modern westerner encounters or hears of polygamy, it’s an individual case, and thus he or she thinks about the individual psychology involved. Make it more commonplace, though, and a numbers issue emerges:
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Khavn | Michael Noer
Jason says: “Did Khavn de la Cruz and Michael Noer stumble upon a potentially fascinating movie by pure chance while walking around the streets of Manila? Or did they know about the subject and gracefully insinuate themselves? Or were things
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Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Hans Petter Moland
Starring: Bjørn Floberg | Bjørn Sundquist | Gard B.Eidsvold | Jorunn Kjellsby | Stellan Skarsgård
Jason says: “The phrase ‘returning to the scene of the crime’ is generally used during the investigation of a mystery, but if you take a broader view of what the ‘scene’ is, almost every criminal does it eventually. It’s just
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Ed Gass-Donnelly
Starring: Aaron Poole | Jill Hennessy | Martha Plimpton | Peter Stormare | Stephen Eric McIntyre
Michael says: “Peter Stormare gives a remarkably restrained performance as a small-town cop trying desperately not to give in to a violent past while investigating a local murder that touches close to home. Echoes of FARGO abound, in this economically
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Dick Maas
Starring: Caro Lenssen | Egbert Jan Weeber | Escha Tanihatu | Huub Stapel | Kees Boot | Madelief Blanken
Jason says: “Believe it or not, two movies came out in Europe where the real Santa Claus was a murderous supernatural monster. Finland’s RARE EXPORTS zipped through the festival circuit and appeared in the U.S. at the same time it
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Rating: 4.4
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Antonio Banderas | Eduard Fernández | Elena Anaya | Jan Cornet | Marisa Paredes | Roberto Álamo
Bruce says: “THE SKIN I LIVE IN is an adaptation of the French novel Mygale by Thierry Jonquet. Judging from what I have read about the novel, Almodóvar’s adaptation is a very loose one. For a decade I have wished
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Aleksei Fedorchenko
Starring: Igor Sergeev | Yuliya Aug | Yurly Tsurilo
Jason says: “SILENT SOULS is an art-house movie, more obviously filled with more symbol than story; it’s deliberately oblique at times. In many cases, movies like that want more from their audiences than they’re willing to give, but this one
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Steve McQueen
Starring: Alex Manette | Carey Mulligan | James Badge Dale | Michael Fassbender | Nicole Beharie
Michael says: “Michael Fassbender plays Brandon, a successful businessman who lacks any meaningful relationships due to his sexual addiction. His carefully constructed life is thrown into turmoil when his sister Sissy (Mulligan) returns. Despite some high profile awards and some
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