Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Gary Yates
Starring: Jonas Chernick | Kevin Pollack | Liane Balaban
Bruce says: “Just when I think I’m tired of caper films, one comes along that seems to refresh the genre. SEVEN TIMES LUCKY is one of those surprises, not because the double-crosses are better than rival capers but because it
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Jean-François Pouliot
Starring: Dominik Michon-Dagenais | Guy-Daniel Tremblay | Nadia Drouin | Raymond Bouchard | Réal Bossé | Rita Lafontaine | Roc LaFortune
Michael says: “This charming, French Canadian film is in the vein of WAKING NED DEVINE and CHOCOLAT, in its sweet, inoffensive, feel-good storyline. These films always make me feel slightly uncomfortable when considered in the independent millieu. Why is it
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Alejandro Amenábar
Starring: Belén Rueda | Celso Bugallo | Clara Segura | Javier Bardem | Joan Dalmau | Lola Dueñas | Mabel Rivera
Hilary says: “In portraying Ramon Sampedro, a Spanish quadriplegic who fought for the right to die, Javier Bardem is presented with a great acting challenge, as it all must be done using only his face and voice. Bardem is a
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Rating: 3.3 cats
Director: Mika Ronkainen
Clinton says: “Back to the docs. I’d venture to call this one ‘cool and crazier,’ which, despite the cheesiness of the pun, is a pretty accurate reflection of the Screaming Men Choir. These Finnish rebels get together once a week
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Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: James Wan
Starring: Cary Elwes | Danny Glover | Dina Meyer | Ken Leung | Leigh Whannell | Mike Butters
Chadd says: “‘SAW has had a fairly good marketing campaign because of its distribution. One of the tag-lines to this marketing was the favorable comparison to the David Fincher film SEVEN. SEVEN happens to encapsulate all that I enjoy about
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Rating: 3.25
Director: Guy Maddin
Bruce says: “This film is wildly innovative and original, a stunning success creatively speaking. It is unique. Filmed in fuzzy sepia and silver tones for the most part, the film lapses into moments of strange color, the returns to the
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Brian Dannelly
Starring: Eva Murri | Jena Malone | Macauly Culkin | Mandy Moore | Martin Donovan | Mary Louise Parker | Patrick Fugit
Diane says: “I was horrified that this was at an indie festival–and a packed house! Starts as a sophomoric satire of born-again Christians, ends spouting a platitudinous Christian message. This was at Sundance?! The Slant reviewer wrote: ‘An early contender
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Greg Pak
Starring: Glenn Kubota | Greg Pak | James Saito | Karen Tsen Lee | Tamlyn Tomita; Wai Ching Ho; Sab Shimono | Vin Knight
Barbara says: “I think this is worth seeing. The four stories all have a connection to robots or robotics and are each focused on a strong emotion. ‘My Robot Baby’ recalls a turbulent childhood. ‘Robot Fixer’ deals with a mother
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Curtiss Clayton
Starring: Aaron Standford | Agnes Bruckner | Bill Pullman | Sandra Oh
Chris says: “In this modern-day take on Verdi’s 16th century opera ‘Rigoletto.’ Rick O’Lette (Bill Pullman) is a rotten jerk of a corporate middle manager. He has an even more obnoxious boss half his age (Aaron Stanford) who unknowingly pursues
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Rémi Lange
Starring: Abdellah Taia | Karim Tarek | Sihem Benamoune
Bruce says: “In sociology, one must be interested in society. That is what Karim (Karim Tarek), a straight man living with his girlfriend Sihem (Sihem Benamoune), thinks as he chooses North African gay men as a topic for his video
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