Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Olivier Assayas
Starring: Charles Berling | Edith Scob | Isabelle Sayodan | Jérémie Renier | Juliette Binoche
Bruce says: “This film began as a commission from the Musée d’Orsay and then evolved into a different animal from what had originally been envisioned. By the time the film was made the relationship with the d’Orsay evaporated. Hard-core Assayas
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Christine Jeffs
Starring: Alan Arkin | Amy Adams | Clifton Collins | Emily Blunt | Jason Spevack | Jr. | Mary Lynn Rajskub | Steve Zahn
Michael says: “SUNSHINE CLEANING is a nice movie. It features some terrific, heartfelt performances, and a script that is as unconventional at times as it is cliché at others. Rose and Norah are sisters who need jobs. Rose has a
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Anna Boden | Ryan Fleck
Starring: Algenis Perez Solo | Andre Holland | Ann Whitney | Ellary Potterfield | Jaime Tirelli | Rayniel Rufino
Diane says: “Loved SUGAR. More kudos to that fab filmmaking duo, Boden-Fleck. SUGAR is beautifully filmed and edited. Every shot has an emotion underlying it. This baseball ignoramus was able to get the story completely. My only complaint: I thought
Read the review...Suck (Canada) directed by: Rob Stefaniuk starring: Malcolm McDowell; Dave Foley; Jessica Paré; Nicole de Boer; Henry Rollins; Iggy Pop; Alice Cooper; Moby Thom says: “Another lackluster Canadian entry this one about a touring rock ‘n roll band will
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Starring: Hiroshi Abe | Kazuya Takahashi | Kirin Kiki | Shohei Tanaka | Yoshio Harada | You | Yui Natsukawa
Jason says: “Among my moviegoing friends, I have gained a not-undeserved reputation for lacking patience with French dysfunctional family dramas. I contend that this is a bit unfair; while I did, in fact, bang my head against the back of
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.125 cats
Director: Alex Vlack | Damani Baker
Jason says: “The recording studio that occupies a fair-sized chunk of Bill Withers’s Los Angeles home in STILL BILL is a tremendous tease. It’s new-looking, with plenty of digital tools, which certainly suggests that the man behind ‘Lean on Me’
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: J. J. Abrams
Starring: Bruce Greenwood | Chris Pine | Eric Bana | Karl Urban | Leonard Nimoy | Zachary Quinto | Zoe Saldana
Diane says: “Awesome. I grew up with STAR TREK and found this film very satisfying. Impressed with art director’s restraint in keeping the futuristic look developed in the 1960s, and with the graphics of the black holes. Nice touch to
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Dia Sokol
Starring: Andrew Bujalski | Donovan Baddley | Ia Hernandez | Kenya Miles | Wiley Wiggins
Jason says: “The ‘mumblecore’ generation is, perhaps, starting to get interesting. Digital video is both good and cheap enough that these movies no longer default to looking like a muddy mess. More importantly, the characters are starting to feel much
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Brant Sersen
Starring: Christopher McDonald | Dean Winters | Lea Thompson | Rachael Taylor | Thomas Middleditch
Jason says: “Apparently ‘splinterheads’ are a subset of what I’ve always thought of as ‘carnies,’ but that’s apparently like calling a sailor, Marine, or airman a ‘soldier’ – outsiders may think it’s close enough, but in actuality it’s not. Carnies
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.6
Director: Majid Majidi
Starring: Hamid Aghazi | Kamran Dehgha | Maryam Akbari | Mohammad Amir Naji | Neshat Nazari | Schabnam Akhlaghi
Diane says: “I love many of Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi’s films (CHILDREN OF HEAVEN, BARAN, WILLOW TREE, COLOR OF PARADISE) for their gentle recognition of the beauty inherent in life. SONG OF SPARROWS, however, is so driven by its morality
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