BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 07/29/2016

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JASON BOURNE

“One would think that after more than a century of cinematic car chases we would have seen it all, but Greengrass and company have a few tricks up their sleeves.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“The last great serious spy series has become tedious.” – Norm Schrager, Meet in the Lobby

“For reasons I can only assume involve giant piles of money, Damon and Greengrass have returned at this late date to at long last make their own BOURNE REDUNDANCY, and I’m still a bit taken aback by how lousy it is.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“The times certainly are a-changin’. Now, the identity crisis seems focused less on the main character and more-so the film he resides within.” – Greg Vellante, Edge Boston

 

Nerve_dareyou_Trailer (1)NERVE

“You don’t ask if a roller coaster has a coherent plot or well-developed characters. You just get on and enjoy the thrills. If you can do that, you can take the dare.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“NERVE may be too safe for its own good, and too ignorant of its subject matter to be taken fully seriously, but at least it knows how to show us a good time.” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

“NERVE is a good movie that provides thrills as long as you’re like me and had no idea what was about to happen. It would also help if you’re the kind of person who is fine with it being as safe as it is.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

 

phantom_boy_stillPHANTOM BOY

“…the movie’s magic fantasy is gentle and childlike instead of brawny and authoritarian. Here, might does not make right. Compassion does.” – Andy Crump, The Playlist

 

 

BOFCA MID-WEEK ROUNDUP 7/28/2016

John Black reviews ONE NIGHT ONLY

Spoilerpiece Theatre talks STAR TREK BEYOND, ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS and HEAVEN’S GATE

Allyson Johnson reviews HEAVEN’S GATE

Bob Chipman talks BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE, JUSTICE LEAGUE and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Jake Mulligan examines the state of streaming services

Sean Burns interviews TALULLAH’s Sian Heder

Kristofer Jenson presents Boston Reel’s Editor’s Picks

Deirdre Crimmins reviews WE ARE THE FLESH at Fantasia Fest

Andrew Crump Interviews Mike Birbiglia And Chris Gerhard for DON’T THINK TWICE

Kilian Melloy looks at new Blu-rays for THE BLACK STALLION RETURNS, MISS SADIE THOMPSON and THE LAST DIAMOND

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP 7/22/2016

Star Trek BeyondSTAR TREK BEYOND

“Defines itself as the first of the new TREK that firmly grasps what makes the old so special and how to play that against the more modernized take.” – Allyson Johnson, TYF

“If at first the muscle car dude might seem a strange choice for TREK, remember that he’s coming off of four films in which a diverse ensemble accomplishes impossible feats thanks to friendship and teamwork, so when you stop and think about it he’s pretty much the only guy for this job.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“With both its humor and action, STAR TREK BEYOND provides what’s needed for it to be absorbing and delightful.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“As worthy an entry in the STAR TREK canon as we’ve had in well over a decade (probably the best overall movie in the franchise since THE VOYAGE HOME in 1986.” – Bob Chipman, Geek.com

“There’s no complex ethical conundrum at the movie’s core, but there is a reliable message: Fear can be used to manipulate entire civilizations, and there are bad guys out there willing to exploit it for just that reason.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE

“Longtime fans will remember that there used to be a rule of thumb about the movies: the “even ones” were the good ones.  Now with the reboots it looks like the rule will be look out for the “odd ones.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“Easily completes its mission as a fun and energetic sequel that will keep the audience entertained and thrilled during its 120-minute running time.” – John Hanlon, Townhall

 

ice age 5ICE AGE COLLISION COURSE

“Probably the laziest to date, but it still manages to provide a tolerable enough time at the movies that to hate it feels excessive, and to love it or even like it feels superfluous as well.” – Greg Vellante, EDGE

“For the first time there’s enough humor for the adults to make it bearable enough to sit through with the kids.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies 

 

the fitsTHE FITS

“She’s got a watchful gaze and a naturally commanding screen presence; imagine if Steve McQueen was an eleven-year-old black girl and you’re starting to get the idea.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

 

abfab movieABSOLUTELY FABULOUS

“Echoes the TV version on a larger and more lavish scale — look! Edina’s kitchen leads out into a garden! — but it all comes back to the characters.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE

“Spends far too much time trying to get the audience to care about these characters we have been gleefully emotionally distant from, and it sacrifices precious screen time in doing so.” – Deirdre Crimmins, Cinematic Essential

 

cafe societyCAFE SOCIETY

“Allen’s best since “Midnight in Paris,” and they’d make a great double bill, both films interrogating a warm and fuzzy nostalgia that’s incredibly soothing and ultimately useless.” – Sean Burns, WBUR

 

microbe and gasolineMICROBE AND GASOLINE

“Gondry’s intentions (and young actors) are good, even as this likable film suffers from a pesky lack of cohesiveness.” – Norm Schrager, Film Racket

“There are singular moments — like waiting in line at the beginning of the school year, making awkward eye contact with peers, studying how people have changed — that transported me back to my youth like a cinematic catapult.” – Greg Vellante, EDGE

BOFCA MID-WEEK UPDATE 7/20/2016

Jaskee Hickman interviews Mike Birbiglia and Chris Gethard of DON’T THINK TWICE

Kristofer Jenson offers up the Boston Reel Editor’s Picks

Sean Burns looks back at Robert Aldrich’s HUSTLE

David Reidel interviews Joe Berlinger of TONY ROBBINS: I AM NOT YOUR GURU

Andrew Crump reviews THE MERMAID, PHANTOM BOY and interviews Taika Waititi

Spoilerpiece Theatre talks GHOSTBUSTERS, THE INFILTRATOR, CHEVALIER and TONY ROBBINS: I AM NOT YOUR GURU

Kilian Melloy reviews CUISINE & CONFESSIONS

Max Covill talks GHOSTBUSTERS & POKEMON GO

Bob Chipman talks THE BFG, WRECK-IT RALPH 2 and remakes

Jared Bowen checks out Highfield Hall & Gardens, talks to Soprano Jane Eaglen and looks into Broadway Dance Lab & Folk Art

Daniel Kimmel authors a short story

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP 7/15/2016

GHOSTBUSTERS2016GHOSTBUSTERS (2016)

“Those naysayers have been undermined by the quality of this reboot, which hopefully will relaunch the series and it’s obvious that the writers here had fun playing up the hatred of those commentators” – John Hanlon, John Hanlon Reviews

“It may be called GHOSTBUSTERS, but the Bill Murray and Harold Ramis comedy that this remake most resembles is the military send-up STRIPES; in as much as both feature two solid acts’ worth of really funny people mining hilarious jokes from training sequences and character interactions that then kind of falls apart when the plot takes over in Act 3.” – Bob Chipman, Geek.com

“There’s no getting around how inadequate Wiig and McCarthy are. The breakout here is “SNL” star McKinnon, who needs co-stars who could keep up with her.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“What makes GHOSTBUSTERS a pleasure to watch is how much these women obviously enjoy working with one another, generously feeding each other straight lines and setups as opposed to other comics who too often compete for attention.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“As a quick guilty pleasure, it’ll do. But unlike the original, it’s easily forgettable.” – Tim Estiloz, El Mundo Boston

“Doesn’t have a ghost of chance of saving this lackluster summer movie season, but it’s a chance to see some of the best comedic actors working today have a little fun while we’re all waiting for SOMETHING of biblical proportions to hit the big screen– before the fall.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices

 

INFILTRATORTHE INFILTRATOR

“If only the quality of the film could match the quality of Cranston, who unearths enough underlying emotion from the character to make up for what the script fails to say.” – Allyson Johnson, Cambridge Day

“Bryan Cranston has become a character actor who can command attention in leading roles, and he shows why here.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“Overall, a forgettable experience becomes memorable only in its pitfalls.” – Greg Vellante, Edge Boston

 

LIFE, ANIMATED720x405-Life,-Animated

“The intention isn’t to celebrate Disney as a brand, or as a market entity, but to acknowledge the objectively massive role the studio’s output has played in [Owen Suskind’s] life.” – Andy Crump, The Playlist