Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Yôjirô Takita
Starring: Kazuko Yoshiyuki | Kimiko Yo | Masahiro Motoki | Ryoko Hirosue | Tsutomu Yamazaki
Jason says: “DEPARTURES feels like the sort of film that wins the Academy Award for best foreign language feature. It’s a good movie, just Japan-specific enough that the voters can feel like they’re awarding another culture, but accessible and mainstream
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Gadi Harel | Marcel Sarmiento
Starring: Andrew DiPalma | Candice Accola | Eric Podnar | Michael Bowen | Noah Segan | Shiloh Fernandez
Jason says: “The zombie film, when you get right down to it, is really not that malleable a form. The plots are more or less the same, just differing in setting, detail, and tone. So it’s not exactly surprising that
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Starring: Charlotte Frogner | Evy Kasseth Røsten | Lasse Valdal | Stig Frode Henriksen | Vegar Hoel
Jason says: “DEAD SNOW doesn’t need a whole lot of reviewing. It’s the movie with the zombie Nazis, and if the mention of the phrase ‘zombie Nazis’ makes a person say ‘tell me more,’ what he really means is ‘tell
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Jae-young Kwak
Starring: Haruka Ayase | Keisuke Koide | Ken'ichi Endô | Risa Ai | Yoshikau Ebishu
Jason says: “I’m more than a bit curious how CYBORG SHE was marketed in Japan. The festival plugged it as the new film by Kwak Jaw-young, and of a piece with his with his other whimsical romantic comedies with a
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Frederick Wiseman
Beth Caldwell says: “LA DANSE is a beautiful, beautiful film. Frankly this is what the category ‘best cinematography’ was made to represent. I’m particularly impressed that the cinematography was so rich and diverse in a place where the camera needed
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Danny Kuchuck | John Weiner
Starring: Allen Alvarado | Jadin Gould | Julie Carson | Nicole Cannon | Steve Bannos
Jason says: “I like to tell people, when recommending sci-fi stories in any medium, that if you don’t find your head hurting a little during a time-travel story, or at least see the potential for that headache, then it’s probably
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Kyoung-mi Lee
Starring: Eun-jin Bang | Hyo-jin Kong | Jong-hyeok Lee | Seong-woo Bae | Woo Seo | Woo-seul-hye Hwang
Jason says: “There’s a lesson to be learned from CRUSH AND BLUSH, perhaps several. The first is that if you had a rough time in high school, it might not be a great idea to go back there unless you
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Joe Berlinger
Thom says: “Berlinger (BROTHERS KEEPER, METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER) does a credible job here on the Ecuadorian land tragedy and the $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron (Texaco) brought by a group of indigenous people from the contaminated region of
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Beth Grant | Colin Farrell | Jeff Bridges | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Robert Duvall
Jason says: “There are some fantastic scenes in CRAZY HEART. Pretty much any where you have Jeff Bridges and Robert Duvall together, for instance. Not much of great import happens during those, but you’ve got two great pros who seem
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Buddy Giovinazzo
Starring: Brandon Routh | Carly Pope | Desmond Harrington | Lara Flynn Boyle | Shannyn Sossamon
Jason says: “There’s a line in Buddy Giovinazzo’s adaptation of his 1993 book of short stories that encapsulates the lives of its characters to a tragic extent; it’s a man berating his girlfriend on her priorities: Food, then fix, then
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