Category Archives: Review Roundups

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP: 6/14

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Man Of SteelMAN OF STEEL

“As a pure visual experience, it comes maddeningly close to being a masterpiece. This film’s canvas is magnificent, it’s scope is beautiful, it’s action is thrilling. But it’s heart is joyless, sullen and grim.” – Bob Chipman, The Escapist

“Visually compelling and stunning to watch. The superb performances by the cast – especially Crowe and Costner – provide numerous moments and images of poignancy, depth and nobility.” – Tim Estiloz, Boston Movie Examiner

“The desaturated palate and fidgety handheld camera are obvious concessions to the modern blockbuster era. But MAN OF STEEL is first and foremost wonderfully sincere, defined by the decency of its main character.” – Sean Burns, Philadelphia Weekly

“The appearance of flying lizards on Krypton is bizarre and mistaken. As is well-known, there were no such creatures on Krypton. There is a moment late in the film that should cause Superman enthusiasts to gasp.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“MAN OF STEEL has heart, soul, muscles, and craft on its side that raises it head and shoulders above average summer fare. It’s only missing the consistency to carry its throughlines to the very end.” – Andrew Crump, Go See Talk

“At two and a half hours, the film feels excessively long and the action sequences are monotonous because most of the fighting involves people ramming each other through buildings at high speeds.” – Evan Crean, Starpulse

“When the fighting starts, use those many minutes to hit the bathroom or the concession stand. Superman may be faster than a speeding bullet, but his movie is as boring as whale shit.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

“MAN OF STEEL’s soul resides in its tender origin story. The flashbacks hit just the right note of earnestness without sentimentality and are edited so that you want more, even if another half-minute would be too much.” – Inkoo Kang, Screen Junkies

“You will believe a man can fly. You just won’t connect much with any of the characters because they, like this production, are larger than life, but essentially hollow. This is a big movie, epic in scope, but it’s just no fun.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE Boston

 

THIS IS THE ENDThis Is The End

“Really just an unrestrained, unstructured lark; a middle-finger aimed directly at everyone who isn’t in on their increasingly esoteric jokes. It’s brazenly offensive, abrasively self-aware, and beyond self-obsessed.” – Jake Mulligan, Charleston City Paper

“What a strange anti-vanity project—a bunch of friends got together and made a movie about how they all deserve to go to hell. Probably the most self-indulgent wank in cinema history, yet on occasion it’s hilarious.” – Sean Burns, Philadelphia Weekly

“Kind of brilliant. A comedy so well constructed and relentlessly funny that you’re virtually guaranteed to laugh even if the film’s central joke – famous people playing parody versions of themselves – is utterly lost on you.” – Bob Chipman, The Escapist

“Alienating with its abundance of inside jokes. While the concept of celebrities experiencing the apocalypse together makes for a funny YouTube video, it has a hard time sustaining the legs to last a full 107 minutes.” – Evan Crean, Starpulse

“I really enjoyed this film. I laughed at almost PINEAPPLE EXPRESS levels. I might have to rank this as one of my top comedies of the year. I don’t remember in recent memory doubling over this much.” – Monica Castillo, Cinema Fix

“So devoid of good ideas, smarts or laughs that it’s hard to understand just what the purpose is. I can only conclude it’s to get these six friends together and let them riff. And, boy, do they riff.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

“One gets a sense that these guys really are friends and they made THIS IS THE END for the same reason Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack made OCEAN’S ELEVEN. They thought it would be fun.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

 

An Oversimplification Of Her BeautyAN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY

“The freeze-frames, backwards motion, flow-charts, flying text and squiggly overlays would be exhausting were they not all synced to such a melancholy groove.” – Sean Burns, Philadelphia Weekly

 

The EastTHE EAST

“There’s a palpable, invigorating rage in the early imagery. But the film trails off, losing itself in its own mythology. It trades its vigor for something smaller and easier-to-contain: a relationship drama.” – Jake Mulligan, Charleston City Paper

 

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP: 6/7

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BEFORE MIDNIGHTBefore Midnight

“A movie about compromise and negotiation. The previous two pictures were preoccupied with romantic ideals, but this is the real love story. So funny and so wise, it’s about how happily ever after is harder than it looks.” – Sean Burns, Philadelphia Weekly

“It’s about time bearing down on you, and the impossibility of anything remaining perfect. It’s about a couple characters from a romantic comedy series who are suddenly burdened with all the flaws and tragedies of real life.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE Boston

“All the longing of BEFORE SUNSET has been replaced with consequences and resentment. How much you enjoy it will depend how you see it—as a couple near the end, or one fighting for survival.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

 

THE INTERNSHIPThe Internship

“Smacks of the same sort of lean and merciless energy that has become a cliché of corporate culture, and it’s hard to shake a sense that we’re being simultaneously patronized and shaken down.” – KIlian Melloy, EDGE Boston

“There are a lot of reasons to dislike THE INTERNSHIP, starting with the fact that it stars Vince Vaughn and one-trick-pony Owen Wilson, and ending with the fact that it is a two-hour love letter to Google.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“To call this an infomercial for Google would besmirch the good name of infomercials. Even beyond the uninspired premise and the borderline offensive corporate cheerleading, THE INTERNSHIP simply isn’t funny.” – Bob Chipman, The Escapist

 

THE PURGEThe Purge

“Takes one of the most fertile pitches I’ve heard in years and uses it as an excuse to make a slasher movie where they don’t have to bother coming up with a reason why nobody calls the cops. A huge, cowardly cop-out” – Bob Chipman, The Escapist

“It’s an allegorical horror story that will provide plenty of thrills and chills, but might also leave you with something to think about afterwards. Considering how much in this genre is disposable, that’s saying a lot.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

 

THE KINGS OF SUMMERThe Kings Of Summer

“A re-heated bag of Instant-Teen-Movie. The tired tropes have again been stirred up and served up. It may taste sweet, but it’s artificial. It goes down easy, even if it never feels like a real meal.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE Boston

“This is a slick piece of work that juts out at just enough odd angles to be idiosyncratic, but never alienating. It’s an amusing. low-stakes debut with modest aspirations that are, for the most part, achieved.” – Sean Burns, The Improper Bostonian

 

THE PREYThe Prey

“Every single plot element here plays in the most expected way possible. You won’t be completely bored even while you experience deja vu, but it doesn’t have an original or intelligent thought in its musclebound body.” – Andrew Crump, Go See Talk

 

WISH YOU WERE HEREWish You Were Here

“Consistently arresting. It’s a peek at the power of heavy consequences, an amped-up version of that dreary feeling you get after vacation. And it makes a hell of a good cinematic summer break.” – Norm Schrager, Film Racket

 

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP: 5/31

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After EarthAFTER EARTH

“If nothing else, let’s all congratulate STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS on no longer being the dumbest big budget sci-fi movie to come out this summer. AFTER EARTH sucks in a somewhat perversely fascinating way, but it’s deadeningly boring to watch.” – Bob Chipman, The Escapist

“Give Will Smith additional credit for being a loyal and supportive father. And now he needs to do the right thing and tell the young boy that he ought to buckle down in his studies and be prepared to go into another line of work.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“There were moments where I flung my hands out and asked: ‘Why is this happening? Why am I watching this?’ Has this guy ever been to Film School? Because that was horrible.” – Monica Castillo, Cinema Fix

“Smith said, ‘I’m a student of patterns.’ Shyamalan made a movie about crop patterns. And finally, they’re both in a holding pattern of making shit movies, so it should be no surprise they combined their talents for AFTER EARTH.” – David Reidel, C-Ville Weekly

 

NOW YOU SEE MENow You See Me

“The talented cast keeps the pace jaunty enough, though Letterier tends to rely too much on sweeping camera zooms and pans, darting the lens around the proceedings as if he’s directing a prime time game show.” – Tim Estiloz, Boston Movie Examiner

“As satisfying and engrossing as a carefully orchestrated magic trick. You look left and they go right. This magnificent illusion kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.” – Evan Crean, Starpulse

 

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP: 5/24

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FAST & FURIOUS 6Fast & Furious 6

“An action junkie’s encyclopedia. It doesn’t just cement the FAST movies into position as the most gloriously big-and-dumb in Hollywood’s menagerie of big-and-dumb franchises; it then drives a car through the cement.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE Boston

“It’s spectacular. Stripped down to a knowingly comical bare-bones throughline, the film is a delivery system for high-octane chase scenes and bare-knuckle brawls. What a silly picture, and yet so wonderfully enjoyable.” – Sean Burns, Philadelphia Weekly

“I can’t believe how much fun I had watching FAST & FURIOUS 6. It reaches such heights of absurdity and stupidity that I kind of admire its willingness to be nothing more or less than a big, brashy, loud, dumb action flick.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

“This is the first film in the series I found as enjoyable to actually watch as I did to snark at afterwards. A phenomenal action film, providing you can groove on its ‘maybe-we-know-how-dumb-this is’ wavelength.” – Bob Chipman, The Escapist

“Note for those of a scientific bent: the laws of physics are suspended for this movie just as they are in Road Runner cartoons. If you like high speed chases, fight scenes and explosions, FAST & FURIOUS 6 delivers.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

 

THE HANGOVER PART IIIThe Hangover Part III

“We’re supposed to be rooting for characters who are self-absorbed and arrogant, then laugh at what they do to their friends and family. This is about humiliating decent people who make the mistake of caring for others.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“A singularly joyless experience, soaked in so much anger and desperation that the movie almost becomes interesting in spite of itself. Nobody wants to be here.” – Sean Burns, Philadelphia Weekly

“Is THE HANGOVER PART III really good, or just so much better than PART II that it seems good? How’s that for an endorsement? The second film is so bad, the third is better by default.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

 

EPICEpic

“Though it takes a while to get going, it does turn into a charming film with several positive messages for kids, from female empowerment to protecting the environment.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“An overcrowded hodgepodge of familiar tropes and Xeroxed bits from other, better films. It’s the kind of movie that even while watching it for the first time you could swear you’ve seen it before.” – Sean Burns, Metro

 

FRANCES HAFrances Ha

“Baumbach and Gerwig have done something wonderful, giving us a lead character at a crossroads without resorting to crazy plot twists or big ta-da moments.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

“Obviously the work of a man giddy in love. Gerwig is at the center of nearly every shot. The camera adores her, probably because the director does, too.” – Sean Burns, Philadelphia Weekly

 

WHAT MAISIE KNEW What Maisie Knew

“A children’s film in the purest sense possible — one in which the fledgling protagonist learns who really has her best interests in mind, and gains the strength to survive and thrive in the face of abandonment.” – Andrew Crump, Go See Talk

 

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDRENMidnight's Children

“For about an hour, this is all terribly amusing. But there’s nothing to hang onto here; most scenes last only two or three minutes, and events don’t accrue so much as they just pig-pile on top of one another.” – Sean Burns, Philadelphia Weekly

“Rushdie, who wrote the screenplay, narrates. Why? A better question: Why would anyone want to see this convoluted, nonsensical tale, which lasts 140 minutes?” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

 

AT ANY PRICEAt Any Price

“Bahrani muddies the waters by including side conflicts involving infidelity, resentful business partners, and even manslaughter. The agonizingly slow pacing makes these disparate struggles completely uninteresting.” – Evan Crean, Starpulse

 

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP: 5/17

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Star Trek Into DarknessSTAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

“Open Letter To Paramount: The cowards and cretins in your publicity department have made a lot of critics angry, ensuring that whatever negative reviews the film gets will be even nastier than they might have been. Fire these idiots.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“As glum and mechanical as its predecessor was buoyant. The muddiest-looking movie you’ll find in theaters right now, this sorry sequel feels rote and hopelessly derivative, timidly going where we all have already been before.” – Sean Burns, Metro

“It’s reckless fan service. No more, no less. The film goes out of its way to undermine its own stakes and drama at every opportunity by turning incidents into mild inconveniences. Nothing bad that happens here matters.” – Andrew Crump, Go See Talk

“A big handful of clunky, messy nothing. It’s a sloppy, poorly constructed sequel with no clear sense of identity or direction, relying too often on references and callbacks to a series legacy it neither respects nor understands.” – Bob Chipman, The Escapist

“J.J. Abrams needs to confront his addiction to fake zooms, lens flares and shaky cam. The second installation of this rebooted franchise delivered half the suspense of the first one and almost forgot its bad guy for half an hour.” – Monica Castillo, Dig Boston

 

STORIES WE TELLStories We Tell

“There’s nary a dull moment nor a dry eye throughout the film. It’s a creative and emotional effort, quite a collaborative feat. I wanted to tell Sarah Polley that it’s okay to share stories. That’s what the movies are for.” – Monica Castillo, Dig Boston

“The subtext outweighs the text, dragging the whole thing down into conceptual gobbledygook and leaving it feeling less like a personal, needed-to-get-it-out-there document than a well-financed Grad School project.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE Boston

“Yes, the subject matter is generally self-involved, but Polley’s curiosity, investigation and filmmaking technique add a layer of complexity that’s worth attention. She treats reality—her dad’s, her mom’s, her own—in fascinating ways.” – Norm Schrager, Meet In The Lobby

“The film stops dead in its tracks so every on-camera participant can muse, at not inconsiderable length, about what exactly they are trying to say here. Polley goes from directing a movie to defending her dissertation.” – Sean Burns, Philadelphia Weekly

“There’s affection for each of the people on screen no matter what their version of the tale. It’s too bad we can’t hear Diane’s take on things in her own words. Some mysteries can’t be solved.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

“Polley ends up exploring universal truths in her bid to understand her background and origins. In watching her explore these areas of her life, we may come to strong, cathartic realizations about our own.” – Andrew Crump, Go See Talk

 

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEEDLove Is All You Need

“The movie plods along enjoyably for 110 minutes. You kill time, staring at the vistas, waiting for the conclusion you always know is coming. It’s a nice vacation, but not one I’d want to pay $12 to take.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE Boston

 

THE ICEMANThe Iceman

“The result is an ugly muddle, burying an absurdly overqualified cast beneath phony handlebar moustaches and the umpteenth iterations of New Jersey goombah stereotypes.” – Sean Burns, Metro

 

SIGHTSEERSSightseers

“I think we’ve just gotten to the point in cinema where violent head-bashings set to ironic songs are all that a certain crowd needs from their movies. They’ll get their money’s worth here.” – Jake Mulligan, Rushmore Kite Flying Society

“The actual acts of murder are extremely horrifying and disgusting. Not only do you see too much of the graphic gore, but there are loud gut-wrenching sound effects like cracking and crunching, which ruin the satirical tone of the movie.” – Evan Crean, Starpulse