Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Mark Dornford-May
Starring: Andile Tshoni | Lungelwa Blou | Pauline Malefane
Michael says: “There have been many film versions of Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen, but U-CARMEN EKHAYELITSHA must certainly be one of the most vivid, enthralling, and satisfying to date. Director Dornford-May first presented this African Carmen on stage with the
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Hiner Saleem
Starring: Ivan Franek | Lala Sarkissian | Romik Avinian
Bruce says: “VODKA LEMON is short on plot but long on atmosphere and political statement. In is winter in Armenia and the small village is covered with heavy snow. It is a dry climate, for most of the people sit
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.2 cats
Director: Michael Cuesta
Starring: Annabella Sciorra | Conor Donovan | Jayne Atkinson | Jeremy Renner | Jesse Camancho | Linus Roache | Marcia DeBonis | Zoe Weizenbaum
Chris says: “As I watched Michael Cuesta’s subtly audacious follow-up to L.I.E., I was continually anxious. The film sets up and courts so many potential wrong turns (dubious ones that Todd Solondz would probably gleefully travel down), but then constantly
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Bahman Ghobadi
Starring: Abdol Rahman Karim | Avaz Latif | Soran Ebrahim
Michael says: “I think trailers for foreign films about children with English-language voiceover should be BANNED! TURTLES CAN FLY follows NOBODY KNOWS with a trailer that waxes poetic about nobility, hope, inspiration… in over-sentimentalized, lyrical prose when the truth is,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Takashi Nakamura
Starring: Akiko Hiramatsu | Megumi Toyoguchi
Michael says: “I’ve been trying to keep up with 2005 films I’ve missed in the theatre by catching them on DVD when they appear. The most recent in this category is a bit of Japanese anime entitled A TREE OF
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Starring: Banlop Lomnoi | Huai Dessom | Sakda Kaewbuadee
Chris says: “This Thai film begins as a generally straightforward, refreshingly matter-of-fact gay romance between Keng, a soldier, and Tong, a young man from the provinces. This goes on for about an hour, building up a heady sense of erotic
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Khyentse Norbu
Starring: Lhakpa Dorji | Sonam Lhamo | Tsewang Dandup
Beth C. says: “TRAVELLERS & MAGICIANS uses the popular ‘story-within-a-story’ method to present a character’s moral crisis within the context of other people who have gone through similar struggles. I found this film to be enjoyable and entertaining for the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Pablo Berger
Starring: Candela Peña | Fernando Tejero | Javier Cámara | Juan Diego | Mads Mikkelsen | Malena Alterio | Ramón Barea
Hilary says: “Struggling door-to-door encyclopedia salesman Alfredo’s (Javier Camara, TALK TO HER, BAD EDUCATION) boss, Don Carlos (Juan Diego), offers him a choice: participate in a series of ‘educational’ films the encyclopedia company will be producing for their Scandinavian market,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Benoît Jacquot
Starring: Isild Le Besco | Laurence Cordier | Nicolas Duvauchelle | Ouassini Embarek
Bruce says: “The French really know how to capture self-absorption. When it works for me as in the current LOOK AT ME, it is a joy. Other recent films such as RED LIGHTS, LOVE ME IF YOU DARE, KINGS AND
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.125 cats
Director: Jun Ichikawa
Starring: Issei Ogata | Rie Miyazawa
Michael says: “In the tradition of Tsai Ming Liang’s masterful WHAT TIME IS IT THERE, Jun Ichikawa’s TONY TAKITANI is a tale of loneliness filled with gorgeous imagery and moments of sudden humor. Tony’s mother died in childbirth, and he
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