Category Archives: Review Roundups

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP 2/14/14

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ROBOCOP (2014)Robocop Movie

“Director José Padilha apparently confuses the potential for commentary with the commentary itself as he raises many ethical and political issues that go bafflingly unaddressed.” – Kristofer Jenson, DIG Boston

“As a fan of the original, this reviewer really didn’t want to like this one… but he did” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“An empty, hollow, tediously self-referencing cover-version of a better movie.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

 

WINTER’S TALEColin Farrell and Jessica Brown Findlay filming "Winter's Tale" in Prospect Park

“I am sitting here as a nor’easter wails outside, thinking about WINTER’S TALE and how cold it left me.” – Joyce Kulhawik

“Virtually guarantees a few hundred thousand guys will end their Valentine’s Day evenings hearing the phrase “I’m soooooo sorry I made us go see that!” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

“I can at least say that the creators of this film should be given credit for trying something different, but it doesn’t elevate WINTER’S TALE into something better.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“A film that one could possibly, perversely enjoy as filmmaking farce by virtue of its towering level of technical and artistic ineptitude.” – Andy Crump, InReview

“A delicate romantic fantasy that requires that you willingly suspend your disbelief and give yourself over to it. Cynics need not apply.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“If you’re familiar with the concept of hate-watching or ironically loving a movie, then by all means, enjoy ripping the movie to shreds with your friends at the bar next door.” – Monica Castillo, Movie Mezzanine

 

endless-love-2013-636-370ENDLESS LOVE

“An unfaithful remake of a already-unfaithful novel adaptation, meaning Hollywood has spent 30 years — and God knows how many writers — massaging all instances of individuality or danger out of the narrative.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE

“A hackneyed story about the boy from the wrong side of the tracks and the girl just waiting to be freed from her prison of privilege.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“Despite its purity of feeling, ENDLESS LOVE is both a salvo against personal evolution and a paean to the foolish conviction that love comes first, and growth second.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

 

ABOUT LAST NIGHTABOUT LAST NIGHT

“There’s some fun to be had with the comedy, but it would have worked better if the lead actor was actually in the lead role.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP 2/7/14

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THE LEGO MOVIELEGO

“Deliriously bugnuts; one of the most off-kilter movies to emerge from the big-budget system in quite some time; whether animated, for kids, or otherwise.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE

“How did anyone convince a major studio and a global corporate brand with everything to lose and zero reason not to just play it safe to throw their weight behind something so specific and bizarre?” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

“A novelty film that will score with some people and will play like a YouTube short bloated to 101 minutes for others.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“The essence of the film lies in capturing playtime on the big screen, something at which Lord and Miller succeed with infectious humor and verve.” – Andy Crump, Inreview Online

“THE LEGO MOVIE’s rapid-fire jokes and anything-goes visual style outweigh its weaknesses. The voice talent is superior, and the whole thing feels as if it were made by adults who remember the joys of being a kid” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

 

THE MONUMENTS MEN

MONUMENTSMEN

“This is certainly a fascinating footnote to history, but, as presented by Clooney and Heslov, the story has no locomotive.” – Sean Burns, The Improper Bostonian

“A good movie that feels like it ought’ve been great.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

“Thank goodness they don’t make them like they used to.” – Monica Castillo, Letterboxd

“The first really good film of the new year.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“It’s not surprising that Clooney, a powerful industry player who’s prone to juvenile pranks and likes to star in movies with all of his best buds, would create such a testesterone-choked film.” – Inkoo Kang, Indiewire

“What could go wrong? Just about everything.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices

 

ATTORNEYTHE ATTORNEY

“THE ATTORNEY” is on the side of justice, but it’s a ham-fisted dramatization of real-life events that mistakes anger for persuasion.” – Inkoo Kang, Los Angeles Times

“”Yang’s preaching to the choir, and all of that sanctimony makes a poor replacement for reality.” – Andy Crump,Go-See-Talk

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP 1/31/14

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LABOR DAYLabor Day film still

“Something is lost in the translation, because what’s on screen is not believable for a second. It’s made harder to believe by the acting.” – David Reidel, C-Ville Weekly

“Reitman loves to give us characters we think we know and then show us we don’t know them at all.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“This risible bit of Harlequin romance is one of the silliest films I have ever watched. It’s pompous, self-serious and inadvertently hilarious.” – Sean Burns, Philadelphia City Paper

 

THAT AWKWARD MOMENTAWKWARDMOMENT

“The whole thing has the feel of CHASING AMY-era Kevin Smith, but without the nerdy references and continuity nods that suckered a generation into thinking something interesting was there in the margins.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

“A movie that has no spark and doesn’t have the kind of crass wit necessary to make its viewers blush.” – Andrew Crump, Movie Mezzanine

“A lesson for the twenty-somethings who are presumably the target audience. Older viewers may wonder what the fuss is about and much older viewers may start thinking of Maurice Chevalier singing, “I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies

 

GLORIAGLORIA

“Bars. Dancing. Hot sex. Cigarettes. Sounds like a movie that takes place in Miami in the 1980s, but in reality it’s Gloria, a present-day movie about a divorced Chilean woman in her early 50s.” – David Reidel, Santa Fe Reporter

“It’s not so much a day-in-the-life movie – it’s a rhythm-of-life movie.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP 1/24/14

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I, FRANKENSTEINIFRANKEN

“I, FRANKENSTEIN” isn’t a masterpiece, but it is a fast-paced and slickly made film that holds your attention. At this time of year, when genre pictures are released to compete with the Oscar contenders from the previous year, that’s a very good thing indeed.” – Daniel Kimmel, Scifi Movie Page

“Not even good enough at being exactly what it is.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

 

 

GIMME SHELTERGIMMESHELTER

“The problem is that practice and execution live several blocks away from each other, and GIMME SHELTER only makes it about halfway between the two.” – Andrew Crump, Go-See-Talk

 

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP 1/17

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JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUITJACKRYAN

“Probably won’t set the world on fire, but for early-year rebooting entertainment, it could be a lot worse.” – Andrew Crump, Go-See-Talk

“Even as escapism, it’s deficient: So what if the hero saves us from the financial depredations of the Russkies? It’s Wall Street that just about sank us in 2008.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE

“Has no idea what it wants to be and settles for boring and pointless.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist 

 

RIDEALONGRIDE ALONG

“Kevin Hart is a movie star, but no movie has yet found a way to let him play anyone other than Kevin Hart.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE

 

 

THE INVISIBLE WOMANla_ca_1025_the_invisible_woman

“The eternal story of wanting what you’re not supposed to have, grasping at something that might bring everything down round you, and being someone in private quite different from your public persona. That’s a state of affairs one need not live in Victorian times to appreciate.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE

“Instead of a contemporary view of 19th century social graces or an indictment of cultural mores, we get lots of grimacing and heavy breathing and dead babies. Such is life.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter