Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Felipe Lacerda | José Padilha
Diane says: “BUS 174 is grueling — the docu about the Rio de Janeiro bus hostages. Director keeps the tension going for 2 hours, despite very little happening. Diversity of cinematographic effects is effective: long aerial shot of the city
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Director: Paul Hunter
Starring: Chow Yun-fat | Jaime King | Seann William Scott
Esmé says: “Okay, so this was utter crap, but I love Chow Yun Fat. But even he was semi lame in this dog. (A guardian of a sacred scrolls searches for the next guardian and finds it in this punk
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Gregor Jordan
Starring: Ed Harris | Glenn Fitzgerald | Joaquin Phoenix | Scott Glenn
Bob G. says: “Before BUFFALO SOLDIERS falls apart, at exactly the 3/4 mark, it is among the best and most compulsively watchable of the many military satires made. It contains horror that is at times as devastating as anything thrown
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Rating: 2.75
Director: Martin Doblemeier
Laura says: “Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born to a wealthy family in Breslau who were not avid churchgoers. His integrity, intellectual insights and standing with the ecumenical church marked him as a spiritual leader at a very young age, yet
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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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