Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.25
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Masanobu Andô | Ryuhei Matsuda | Shunsuke Kubozuka
Jason says: “Takashi Miike showed down a bit a couple years ago to take a stab at doing a big-budget family movie, but since then he’s gotten back to what passes for normal where he’s concerned: Churning out movies at
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Laura Muscardin
Starring: Carmen De Santos | Marco Bonini | Paolo Gasparini | Susy Laude | Thierno Thiam
Bruce says: “Billo (Thierno Thiam), a young man from Senegal, has wanted to be a fashion designer since he was a small child put to work in his uncle’s garment business. He and his mother have always been the black
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Starring: Claire-Hope Ashley | Dominique Horwitz | Hugh Dancy | John Hurt | Nicola Walker
Bruce says: “‘The films you care about are the ones you make with a lot of love and not much money,’ claims director Michael Caton-Jones. BEYOND THE GATES was made in six months for $3 million Euros. The film has
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Manoel de Oliveira
Starring: Bulle Ogier | Júlia Buisel | Leonor Baldaque | Michel Piccoli | Ricardo Trêpa
Bruce says: “In a film career that has spanned eight decades de Oliviera has made forty two films. He has completed at least one film every year since 1990 when he was only 82. The 98 year old director of
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Venutra Pons
Starring: Jordi Bosch | Josep Maria Pou | María Botto | Núria Espert | Pablo Derqui | Rosa María Sardà
Bruce says: “Ventura Pons (BELOVED/FRIEND, FOOD OF LOVE) is noted for his melodramatic, comic films which often have gay themes. BARCELONA (A MAP), a venture into more traditional heterosexual dramatic content, is a slight departure although it is stylistically consistent
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Albert Finney | Brian F. O’Byrne | Ethan Hawke | Marisa Tomei | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Rosemary Harris
Bruce says: “A few weeks ago the producer of BELLA, an independent film that opened at the same time as BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD, sent out an email chain letter that was a rant against Lumet’s film, a
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Xiaogang Feng
Starring: Daniel Wu | Xun Zhou | You Ge | Ziyi Zhang
Jason says: “Even in an age where period martial-arts epics have been made by the likes of Ang Lee, Kaige Chen, and Zhang Yimou, THE BANQUET stands out as high-gloss. Much of the behind-the-scenes crew worked on CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Starring: Alexandr Baluyev | Konstantin Lavronenko | Maria Bonnevie | Maxim Shibaev
Bruce says: “Using William Saroyan’s The Laughing Matter as a basis for THE BANISHMENT, Andrei Zvyagintsev follows up his sensational directorial debut, THE RETURN. Konstantin Lavronenko, who played the father in THE RETURN, won the Best Actor at the Cannes
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Abderrahmane Sissiko
Starring: Aissa Maiga | Balla Habib Dembélé | Maimouna Hélène Diarra
Bruce says: “Occasionally a film comes along that defies one’s imagination. BAMAKO is such a film. Residents of a Mali village, disgruntled with the pauperization of their country imposed by outside forces, decide that they will stage a mock trial
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Danièle Thompson
Starring: Albert Dupontel | Cécile de France | Valérie Lemercier
Bruce says: “The Hôtel Plaza Athénée , the Théâtre des Champs Élysées next door and a small bistro en face named Café aux Théâtres are all nestled together on the Avenue Montaigne. Three main stories involving upheaval in the arts
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