2017

Posted on August 18, 2017 by bofca

THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD

“There are a lot of blazing thrills in this film, from Hayek’s scorching turn to ceaseless weapons fire, to a late-breaking detonation or two (not to mention an unexpected moment featuring a human torch), but despite its fever-pitch sound and fury this action flick is a misfire.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

“Samuel L. Jackson prevents THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD from falling apart.”- Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“It mixes the violence, the chases, and some quirky humor into a potent late summer cocktail.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

LOGAN LUCKY

“The film has the tossed-off, casual sophistication of an old master’s late work, the kind of thing great directors make when they’ve already forgotten more than a lot of filmmakers will ever know.” – Sean Burns, The ARTery

“…with Soderbergh back in the driver’s seat you know you’re in or an enjoyable ride.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

“Once more unto the breach he goes with LOGAN LUCKY, which stuck out to this writer as a retooling of what Soderbergh does incredibly well: ensembles.” – Sam Cohen, Substream Magazine

“Steven Soderbergh makes it look easy.” – Brett Michel, The Improper Bostonian

“Even though very few will see it, LOGAN LUCKY will delight the people who do.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“Soderbergh knows precisely how the formula works: likable leads, eccentric supporting characters, a complicated plan, unexpected glitches, and a reason to sympathize with the robbers rather than the victims.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

MENASHE

“..a sharp, moving dissection of personal identity and self-agency. You don’t need to know Yiddish to make sense of that.” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

“It immerses us in this community, and by the end of the film, it’s hard not to feel like a part of it.” – Greg Vellante, Edge Boston

THE TRIP TO SPAIN

“It’s all just more of the same, so frequent flyers get rewarded. It’s all a matter of what lens you’re viewing the franchise through.” – Greg Vellante, Edge Boston

“These movies have yet to fizzle out and lose their appeal or run out of creative space to explore, and frankly, because they use the lives of two very real people as their bases, they probably never will.” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK

“If anything, one might wish the film had gone even farther, but for it to have done what it has — sitting in a pit of its own urban provincialism, hard and bright as a diamond and as alluringly lethal as a hateful smile — is, in itself, nothing short of refreshing.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

MARJORIE PRIME

“…you feel active while you’re watching MARJORIE PRIME — engaged in a way you don’t at films that lazily spell everything out for you.” – Sean Burns, The ARTery

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 08/04/17

Posted on August 4, 2017 by bofca

THE DARK TOWER

“The failures of THE DARK TOWER don’t fall at the feet of Idris Elba.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“I know THE DARK TOWER has its set audience out there, I would say between the ages of 10-18. They will flock to the theater for the opening weekend, have a blast, and forget everything about it in less than 24 hours.” – Nick Casaletto, We Live Entertainment

“If there is anything to take away from this flick it’s the landscapes and costuming. [Nikolaj] Arcel definitely paints a pretty picture.” – Byron McNeal, Nerd Caliber

“…this is hardly the excursion to fantastical and enticing places one might hope it to be. “The Dark Tower” feels like lukewarm, greasy takeout.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

“It’s a kind of serviceable fantasy/horror film that may work for the middle school set…” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“…if you’re gonna make a lousy movie I appreciate the courtesy of keeping it brief.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

DETROIT

“…as a 62 year old white film critic, let me point out that there’s nothing here, other than perhaps some historical details, that black viewers don’t already know. It’s white moviegoers who need to see this instead of turning away.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“Tersely and expertly shot to create unparalleled tension and pit-of-your-stomach anxiety, you’ll leave the theater brimming with anger over the injustice you just watched take place onscreen. Unfortunately, you also might leave wondering if Bigelow was really the right person to tell this story.” – Allyson Johnson, The Young Folks

“I can understand why some people don’t want to see DETROIT. (Let’s face it, if you’re black you already know all this shit far too well.) But given that the film was released on a day when the President of the United States advocated roughing up suspects while uniformed police cheered on live television, I can think of quite a few people who really should.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“In February, Jordan Peele’s GET OUT offered an explosive critique of racism, but his scares were tempered with laughs; Bigelow offers no such release. Sadly, the type of horrors she’s unflinchingly put on display here are as familiar today as they were 50 years ago.” – Brett Michel, The Improper Bostonian

KIDNAP

“This film travels a long road to its obvious (and overstated) destination. It tells you something when a film that clocks in at around 80 minutes ends up feeling like a three-hour tour through genre cliches.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL

“If this set of documentaries is to become a trilogy, one wonders what the third chapter will be. A decade from now, what was once merely inconvenience might have become irreversible.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 07/28/2017

Posted on July 28, 2017 by bofca

ATOMIC BLONDE

“Oozing with uber-style and ultra-violence, this espionage action film pretends a morally complicated worldview, which ironically questions the need for an alliance with any nation.” – Michael Cox, Edge Boston

“If you’re only in it for the action, ATOMIC BLONDE could be something that you could find entertaining.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“The first thing that sticks out in this film is its style, with a big blaring capital hot pink neon ‘S.’” – Byron McNeal, Nerd Caliber

“ATOMIC BLONDE isn’t a terrible movie per se, it’s just a painfully forgettable one.” – Nick Casaletto, We Live Entertainment

“While there is no doubt discussion to be had about Lorraine breaking the mold-–both the violence and the sex here are very much on her terms––no one should mistake this for anything other than a summer action movie.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

THE EMOJI MOVIE

“To say this feels like the first sign of the Apocalypse does not feel like hyperbole. What’s next? THE MEME MOVIE?” – Greg Vellante, Edge Boston

“You shouldn’t hand out business cards for your side gig as you give candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween, and you shouldn’t make a movie celebrating the virtues of being who you are if it means paying royalties to Instagram.” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

LANDLINE

“The film does dig fairly deep into its vault of ’90s throwbacks — wired phones, wall-to-wall carpeting, floppy discs — but it never veers too far into becoming a time capsule parody of itself.” – Greg Vellante, Edge Boston

“It’s a real pleasure to watch Slate and newcomer Abby Quinn as bickering sisters brought together by the ordeal, especially since the former is having an affair of her own.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“LANDLINE works as well as just about any drama that you will see in 2017.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“The film falters when it rushes, wrapping everything up in the last 20 minutes of the film.” – Allyson Johnson, Cambridge Day

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 07/21/2017

Posted on July 21, 2017 by bofca

DUNKIRK

“DUNKIRK is able to show all of Christopher Nolan’s strengths while completely avoiding almost all of his weaknesses.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“DUNKIRK is a spectacle, a cinematic event that will be sure to please not only fans of Nolan, but those of us who appreciate film on a technical level.” – Nick Casaletto, We Live Entertainment

“What DUNKIRK is, more than anything else, is a portrait of heroism, and to paint it Nolan looks in some improbable places.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

“No matter the talent of the actors, cinematographer or composer, the star of DUNKIRK is undoubtedly Nolan’s work as director.” – Allyson Johnson, Cambridge Day

“DUNKIRK instantly enters the pantheon of great modern war films, like PLATOON and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“DUNKIRK is Nolan’s leanest and most impressive film, boasting his most audacious structural gambit to date.” – Sean Burns, The ARTery

VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS

“The movie is a cuckoo-bananas, madcap mess with stilted dialogue, iffy performances and the final half-hour just kind of stalls when it should soar. Still, I want to see it again as soon as possible.” – Sean Burns, North Shore Movies

ENDLESS POETRY

“Existential ennui is as important a detail in the fabric of Jodorowsky’s film as unapologetic weirdness, and the two enjoy more overlap than not.” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 07/14/2017

Posted on July 14, 2017 by bofca

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

“These movies aren’t just serious, they’re *serious* in a young man’s overcompensating manner that becomes monotonous.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“It’s clear that Reeves…has studied up on the Westerns of Sergio Leone, films like THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, since he loves getting in tight on Caesar’s eyes, much like Leone did on Clint Eastwood’s.” – Brett Michel, The Improper Bostonian

“…as an example of crisp and compelling storytelling, this WAR is a loss.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES is a nice finish to a trio of solid movies.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES takes every aspect of the films preceding it and improves on it in every way possible.” – Nick Casaletto, We Live Entertainment

WISH UPON

“The PG-13 rating disservices the genre, the film has no real target audience, and I don’t expect to be seeing WISH UPON staying at the multiplex for too long.” – Nick Casaletto, We Live Entertainment

“Because WISH UPON is taken so seriously, it ends up becoming a semi-decent comedy.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“…in a brisk 90 minutes it provides its audiences with a few shudders at the real horror show–high school.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

A GHOST STORY

“This little low-budget film begins to contain multitudes, with the white sheet of Affleck’s costume becoming a blank slate upon which we are free to project our own yearnings and anxieties.” – Sean Burns, The ARTery

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The Boston Online Film Critics Association was established in May of 2012 to foster a community of web-based film critics.

Category Archives: Review Roundups

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 08/18/2017

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 08/04/17

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 07/28/2017

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 07/21/2017

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 07/14/2017