Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Don Coscarelli
Starring: Bruce Campbell | Ossie Davis
Howard says: “Don Coscarelli, writer and director of BUBBA HO-TEP, has his heroes. It’s quite obvious after seeing his ode to Elvis and JFK that Coscarelli wanted to give the two men a chance to make up for alleged past
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Rating: 3.25
Director: Deepa Mehta
Starring: Jazz Mann | Lisa Ray | Rahul Khanna | Rishma Malik
Bob says: “BOLLYWOOD/HOLLYWOOD is strongly influenced by its (and I assume director Mehta’s) location in the west. It seemed to me that it referred more to Bollywood than it was part of the genre. Characters are constantly talking about their
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: André Heller | Othmar Schmiderer
Ellen says: “The entire film consists of Traudi Junge telling her story of being the secretary to Hitler in the final days of the Hitler regime. I heard complaints that no new information was revealed but I found it thoroughly
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Rating: 2.9 cats
Director: Karen Moncrieff
Starring: Agnes Bruckner | David Straithairn | Frances Fisher | Margaret Colin
Esmé says: “I really liked this movie a lot. The main character’s pathos was palpable (it was about poetry, I can alliterate, can’t I?) I was really moved by the story, and having just watched LILJA 4-EVER, I was suspicious
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
Starring: Bahman Ghobadi | Behnaz Jafari | Said Mohamadi
Michael says: “The Iranian film BLACKBOARDS is certainly a strong piece of filmmaking from a woman director, a rarity in Iran. The stunning, desolate opening shots of BLACKBOARDS are undeniable in their power and reeled me in immediately, yet the
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Justin Lin
Starring: Jason J. Tobin | Parry Shen | Roger Fan | Sung Kang
Michael says: “Justin Lin’s BETTER LUCK TOMORROW is an interesting if not entirely original take on high school ennui, and the how easy the slide from academic success into crime and violence can be. BETTER LUCK TOMORROW is also notable
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Albert Finney | Alison Lohman | Billy Crudup | Ewan McGregor | Helena Bonham Carter | Jessica Lange | Marion Cotillard | Robert Guillaume
Bruce says: “BIG FISH had a big budget and, one could surmise from the media blitz that started well in advance of its release, a huge advertising campaign chest as well. The all-star cast and top-notch director add to the
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Rating: 3.6
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Starring: Anupam Kher | Archie Panjabi | Jonathan Rhys Meyers | Keira Knightley | Parminder K. Nagra
Diane says: “A sappy disappointment.” 2 cats Laura says: “Cowriter (with Guljit Bindra and Second Unit Director Paul Mayeda Berges, WHAT’S COOKING?)/Producer/Director Gurinder Chadha (WHAT’S COOKING?/BHAJI ON THE BEACH) spikes one out of the park with her enormously entertaining,
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Connie Nielsen | John Travolta | Samuel L. Jackson | Timothy Daly
Robin says: “It’s RASHOMON meets THE GENERAL’S DAUGHTER as John Travolta reprises a role similar to his in the latter film as helmer McTiernan drives this action vehicle that begins with two different tellings about a deadly event that smacks
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Rating: 1 cat
Director: Robert Connolly
Starring: Anthony LaPaglia | David Wenham | Sibylla Budd
Diane says: “Has no one commented on Robert Connolly’s THE BANK, for which we Have a screener? I was looking forward to the perf by Anthony LaPaglia (of the great LANTANA ensemble) in this purported thriller, but even he couldn’t
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