Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Jeffrey Friedman | Ron Epstein
Starring: Alessandro Nivola | Bob Balaban | David Strathairn | James Franco | Jeff Daniels | Jon Hamm | Mary-Louise Parker
Thom says: “There wasn’t any reason to suppose that this wouldn’t be a great film but since this was Epstein & Friedman’s first dramatic film (although based on recorded events) I only plunged in because they have made quite a
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard | Cécile de France | Derek Jacobi | Matt Damon | Thierry Neuvic
Thom says: “I’m certainly not Clint Eastwood’s biggest fan (UNFORGIVEN is his only 5 CATS film for me) but he definitely has to be greatly admired for not sticking to one style or genre. Here he goes for a dramatization of the
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Director: Darko Lungulov
Starring: Antone Pagan | Branislav Trifunovic | Cyndi Lauper | David Thornton | Goran Radakovic | Jelena Mrdja | Mirjana Karanovic
Bruce says: “HERE AND THERE is a tale of two cities, New York and Belgrade. It is not the best of times in either city. New York is very un-Manhattan is this film. Belgrade, we are told, in part of
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Christine Molloy | Joe Lawlor
Starring: Annie Townsend | Danny Groenland | Dennis Jobling | Sandie Malie | Sonia Saville
Jason says: “I’d like to think I’m generous when reviewing and rating movies: If I enjoy a movie while watching it, but it loses something on later examination, I make sure to emphasize that this doesn’t undo the initial good
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Alain Resnais
Starring: André Dussolier | Anne Consigny | Emanuelle Devos | Mathieu Amalric | Sabine Azéma
Bruce says: “You have to be a devotee of absurdist comedy to appreciate a film like LES HERBES FOLLES (now re-titled WILD GRASS for English audiences.) Similar in theme to HAPPENSTANCE, the Audrey Tatou vehicle prior to her success with
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Pascal Chaumeil
Starring: Andrew Lincoln | François Damiens | Héléna Noguerra | Julie Ferrier | Romain Duris | Vanessa Paradis
Jason says: “Making a good romantic comedy seems easy enough, in theory: Come up with some witty banter, figure out what makes the people delivering it interesting and likable, add a reason that they aren’t kissing by the end of
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Lucrecia Martel
Starring: César Bordón | Claudia Cantero | Daniel Genoud | Guillermo Arengo | Inés Efron | Maria Onetto
Jeff says: “In the end, how you will have come through this movie will depend on what you saw in a brief shot towards the beginning of the picture. Vero, a successful dentist in a rural Argentine town, fumbles for
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Bob Byington
Starring: Alex Karpovsky | Justin Rice | Kevin Corrigan | Kristen Tucker | Pat Healy
Diane says: “Caught this at International Film Festival of Boston. A very funny, rambling story of one guy’s heartbreak, and the response of those around him. (Could he be compared to the Job of A SERIOUS MAN?) Justin Rice is
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Bette Gordon
Starring: Aidan Quinn | Campbell Scott | Jamey Sheridan | John Savage | Karen Young | Mariann Mayberry | Steve Buscemi
Bruce says: “In 1983 Bette Gordon was an underground artist who decided she could make as good a film as the next guy (let’s face it, there were few female filmmakers in 1983.) The result was the stunning VARIETY which
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Julio DePietro
Starring: Aaron Yoo | Alexis Bedel | Andrew McCarthy | Anna Chlumsky | Bryan Greenberg | Scott Porter
Jason says: “Tommy Fielding (Scott Porter) is a pretty good guy, especially considering he’s a Wall Street trader. He doesn’t overindulge; he isn’t pressuring his girlfriend Beth (Alexis Bledel) to have sex even though it’s been a couple months and
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