MONOS
“When taking everything into account, MONOS works in ways I didn’t anticipate.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential
BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 09/27/2019
Reply
Category Archives: Review Roundups
BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 09/20/2019
DOWNTON ABBEY
“There is a tinge of nostalgia that clings to every nook and cranny as we follow the thread of its legacy through the inevitable passage of time. May Downton continue to thrive in Mr. Fellowes imagination and lead him to conjure up yet another gilded installment on the big screen.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices
“If you find yourself encountering the Crawley family (and their relatives and servants) for the first time, you may not be moved to track down the 52 episodes of the series, but the movie is a pleasant and entertaining story.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies
AD ASTRA
“Most of the negative attributes that I see in AD ASTRA wouldn’t matter as much if they would have just sped things up.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential
AUGGIE
“AUGGIE answers the age-old plaint of ‘what do women want?’ with the question ‘what do men want?'” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies
BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 09/13/2019
HUSTLERS
“Writer/director Lorene Scafaria takes what could have been a tired and predictable tale and takes it in unexpected directions.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“The script written and directed by Lorene Scafaria fleshes out the characters well beyond their physical requirements, honors the grit and stamina it takes to do what they do, and gets to the moral ambiguity of the situation.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices
THE GOLDFINCH
“Nothing lasts forever. That’s the ultimate message communicated by John Crowley’s THE GOLDFINCH, but with a duration that seems to last a lifetime and cinematic storytelling that is dead on arrival, the film seems entirely intent on proving the notion wrong.” – Greg Vellante, Spectrum Culture
TATTOO UPRISING
“A word of warning for the uncut: You may walk into this film pristine of dermis… but you’re going to want to correct that soon enough after drinking in this colorful, eccentric movie.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE Media Network
CUT OF THE DEAD
“For genre fans, it’s like suddenly waking up in a world where you no longer have to defend your love of all things horror.” – John Black, Gruesome Magazine
LINDA RONSTADT: SOUND OF MY VOICE
“Wisely the film lets us revel in the sound of that lustrous voice, soaring rich and sweet on the ballads, raw and sexy on the R & B and uptempo pop tunes, cool and smooth on jazz-inflected standards, and climbing octaves toward a lilting soprano as easy as skipping stones across a crystal clear lake.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices
BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 09/06/2019
IT CHAPTER TWO
“In a particularly strong cast for this kind of film, Hader emerges as MVP. He may not carry the film, but he makes a difference.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“To be fair, much of the movie’s horror is captured through a flurry of CGI shit being hurled at the screen with loud accompanying noises, but the nightmare-esque ingenuity of these creations is where the film finds its greatest strength when it comes to terror.” – Greg Vellante, Spectrum Culture
“Just because King makes fun of himself for not being able to write a decent finish doesn’t mean we should let him off the hook for this one.” – Sean Burns, The ARTery
“At its core, IT CHAPTER TWO is a traditional horror movie that tries to be more with a strong bit of assistance from its cast.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential
“Part of the thrill of watching IT CHAPTER TWO is experiencing the way director Andy Muschietti (IT) weaves together past and present, memory and history to complete the story…” – John Black, Gruesome Magazine
“As each member of the now adult Losers wrestles with their childhood memories and horrors revived by Pennywise; we the audience are reminded via new flashbacks just how amazing the original cast of relatively unknown child actors were in their performances as compared to those of the new cast of seasoned actors playing their adult selves.” – Tim Estiloz, Kaleidoscope Reviews
BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 08/30/2019
GIVE ME LIBERTY
“This is a film with many uncomfortable passages, and it has a way of telling us its truths with too little varnish. But its comforts have a rough-hewn charm, from a paper cone used to play a vinyl record to a suite of understated, naturalistic performances that keep us engaged even when the film stumbles.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE Media Network
A SPIDER IN THE WEB
“There are good spy movies out there — there are even good, or at least entertaining, movies about the Mossad, and about the intersection between big business and authoritarian regimes. A SPIDER IN THE WEB gets too wrapped up in its own sticky elaborations to qualify.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE Media Network