Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Jun'ichi Satô
Starring: Mei Oshitani | Shinnosuke Furumoto
Michael says: “Sunday afternoon at the Boston Fantastic Film Festival found me catching two Japanese movies about a couple of very different beasts. First up was the family anime film, JUNKERS COME HERE. Junkers is a special dog, a cute
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.3 cats
Director: Ki-duk Kim
Starring: Jae Hyun Cho | Suh Jung | Sung-hee Park | Yoosuk Kim
Laura says: “Writer/director Ki-duk Kim has created a quiet, pensive reflection on two unhappy people who connect via horrific acts of self-mutilation. While not for all tastes, THE ISLE is a compelling meditation, although unravelling its mysteries may require multiple
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Carlos Reygadas
Starring: Alejandro Ferretis | Magdalena Flores | Martín Serrano | Yolanda Villa
Michael says: “JAPÓN is a bold and audacious first film from Mexican director Carlos Reygadas. There is an undeniable power in its imagery and its worldview, both beautiful and brutal. Yet for a first film, it also plays a little
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Gaspar Noé
Starring: Albert Dupontel | Jo Prestia | Monica Bellucci | Vincent Cassel
Esme says: “Okay, holy Christ, IRREVERSIBLE was b r u t a l. If you can survive the first couple of scenes (incredibly, it gets gentler, sweeter and lighter as it goes backwards), this is a really interesting movie. I
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.125 cats
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Starring: Eusebio Poncela | Leonardo Sbaraglia | Max von Sydow | Mónica López
Esme says: “INTACTO was great. I really like this movie. It is a well-acted, under-dramatized sort of movie that they will probably try to ruin and remake in America with Bridget Fonda as the female detective, a la LA FEMME
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Ethan Coen | Joel Coen
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton | Catherine Zeta-Jones | Cedric the Entertainer | Edward Herrman | Geoffrey Rush | George Clooney | Paul Adelstein | Richard Jenkins
Howard says: “There is a point in INTOLERABLE CRUELTY where George Clooney is giving a keynote speech professing his love that is long enough to make you suspect the Coen brothers have ‘sold out’ into schmaltz. Wrong! The film, in
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.2 cats
Director: Martina Kudlácek
Laura says: “Kudlacek begins her film with Mekas holding film cans marked Deren, declaring them the ‘holy grail of cinema – we don’t know what’s inside,’ before beginning a journey that details Deren’s Russian Jewish roots, influences, lovers, colleagues, travels,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Tim Fywell
Starring: Bill Nighy | Henry Thomas | Marc Blucas | Romola Garai | Rose Byrne | Sinead Cusack
Laura says: “This small BBC film, adapted from One Hundred and One Dalmatians author Dodie Smith’s novel, immerses its audience into another time and place just like a good read on a rainy day. Director Tim Fywell (TV’s ‘Norma Jean
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Vadim Perelman
Starring: Ben Kingsley | Frances Fisher | Jennifer Connelly | Jonathon Ahdout | Ron Eldard | Shohreh Aghdashloo
Diane says: “I’m on a mainstream roll! HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG is a five-cat book, and here not reduced too awfully much in its film version. Ben Kingsley is perfect as Colonel Behrani, the exiled Iranian trying to recoup
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Stephen Daldry
Starring: Ed Harris | Julianne Moore | Meryl Streep | Miranda Richardson | Nicole Kidman | Stephen Dillane | Toni Collette
Hilary says: “Only a few scenes into THE HOURS I found myself wishing I could start the film over and view it without the Philip Glass score. The score was used in a heavy-handed fashion, cueing the viewer to the
Read the review...