2015

Posted on April 17, 2015 by bofca

UNFRIENDED

“Do u like scary movies? Lol. Coz OMFG! This 1 is about ppl dying on Skype. Srsly! Like, WTF?!?! #Yolo” – Charlie Nash, Cinematic Essential

“Like the cast, we’re trapped in a browser with no means of escape. Even Ctrl+Alt+Del can’t save us.” – Andy Crump, Movie Mezzanine

EX MACHINA

“What starts out as a smart psychological thriller with an edge of speculative fiction proves to be a clockwork amusement built from standard parts and not wound sufficiently to get it through its full running time.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

“…there’s an underlying ickiness to the entire film, and not just the inherent “OMG, THE ROBOTS ARE LIKE PEOPLE” ickiness. There’s an undercurrent of sexism that’s unpalatable.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

“With all of the complaining that I do in this review, you might think that I hate EX MACHINA, but that’s not true.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“As a film that utilizes misdirection and provokes users to seek through layers of subtext, EX MACHINA proves to be intellectually appealing without materializing into a thesis on one’s own ideas.” – Sam Cohen, Under the Gun Review

TRUE STORY

“That [Hill and Franco] are pals gives TRUE STORY an existential stink, but they, and the movie, acquit themselves well.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

“The film wants to feel important, and it flirts with being a procedural — but it would have done better to stick with celebrating the slippery interface between facts and the human truths we construct from them.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

“The laughably telegraphed revelations wouldn’t cut it as CBS prime-time fodder.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA

“It’s a movie you’ll find yourself turning over in your mind for quite some time after the closing credits roll, marinating in the heady swirl of ideas and defiantly unresolved resolutions.” – Sean Burns, The Artery

THE MAFIA ONLY KILLS IN SUMMER

“Diliberto doesn’t hand-hold in the slightest. He does, however, deploy background carefully. Attentive viewers should have no trouble keeping pace with his brio.” – Andy Crump, Movie Mezzanine

MONKEY KINGDOM

“The subtle, empowering themes at the core of this latest Disneynature film are heartening and certainly something to share with our children (much more politically correct than stories of princesses).” – Michael Cox, Edge Boston

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 04/10/2015

Posted on April 10, 2015 by bofca

THE LONGEST RIDE

“THE LONGEST RIDE tells a romance narrative, but the relationship isn’t the primary focus. This is a movie about a body.” – Jake Mulligan, Edge Boston

“If you are sucker for romances, anything written by Nicholas Sparks, and cowboys, the contemporary segments of THE LONGEST RIDE has been manufactured specifically for you.” – Deirdre Crimmins, Cinematic Essential

WHITE GOD

“The best thing to do is save the money you’d spend to see White God and donate it to a local shelter instead.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

“There’s no manipulation here, no chicanery, no falsehood, just a frank, stylized attempt at critiquing man’s dominion over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” – Andy Crump, Cinematic Essential

KILL ME THREE TIMES

“…a dark comedy that would make a bucket of scorpions look like a tea party.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

“Murder, blackmail, revenge…and Simon Pegg in a Fu-Manchu moustache. What else do you need?” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

“You know what, let’s just say that there isn’t many redeemable qualities here.” – Sam Cohen, Under the Gun Review

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 04/03/2015

Posted on April 3, 2015 by bofca

furious-7-rock FURIOUS 7

“The stakes are raised in terms of possible mortality of the main players, the cars are more expensive and harder to wreck, and the overlying theme about family as the source of adrenaline-induced fury is enough to destroy a whole urban city (literally).” – Sam Cohen, Substream Magazine

“The franchise has evolved into pure action spectacle. It has transformed from a car show into a gun show.” – Jake Mulligan, Edge Boston

“…the filmmakers forgot Chekhov’s rule that if The Rock says “I’m gonna put a hurt on him so bad he’ll wish his mother kept her legs crossed” in the first act, you need to pay that off in the third.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“Everything included in FURIOUS 7 allows fans of this lengthy series to jump right in the driver’s seat of this action packed cinematic vehicle and embrace all of the entertainment that these movies are looking to offer.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“The first movie franchise to ever successfully transition to self-parody; mostly by doing so in such a ‘subtle’ (after a fashion) kind of way that anyone who might’ve been annoyed by that transition probably didn’t notice.” – Bob Chipman, Movie Bob Reviews

WOMAN IN GOLD

“…a hokey piece of cinema that uses the horrors of the Holocaust for little else but yanking the viewers’ heartstrings.” – Charlie Nash, Cinematic Essential

“…WOMAN IN GOLD is harmless and mildly arresting thanks to the efforts of its leads. It just doesn’t rise much above being more than just half-cocked schmaltz, which is a bummer at best and an insult to Altmann’s struggle at worst. ” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

“The film lets us see the tensions and sadness that are inevitable in a story like this, but also offers some wry humor.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, The Jewish Advocate

EFFIE GRAY

“EFFIE GRAY isn’t an easy viewing experience, but it has the goods for a patient audience. It will stay the dragons awhile.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

MAGICIAN: THE ASTONISHING LIFE AND WORK OF ORSON WELLES

“Although it stumbles on the details, though, the one thing that Workman’s movie does quite effectively is give us a sense of the independence spirit that Welles brought to all his art, whether they were successful or not.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 03/27/2015

Posted on March 27, 2015 by bofca

GET HARD

“GET HARD is the comedic equivalent of listening to a couple of bros regurgitate prison rape jokes at a family dinner table.” – Sam Cohen, Sumo Skinny

“What [Cohen] lacks in insight he almost makes up for in moxy (and an endless supply of dick jokes).” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

“Will Ferrell needs to be stopped.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

“At least Hart and Ferrell have solid comic chemistry.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

“While I wish it offered more intellectually in the form of a meaningful story, GET HARD does provide legitimate entertainment.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

HOME

“HOME is not going to be anyone’s new favorite film from Dreamworks. It will, however, serve as a really fun time out with your kids to the theater.” – Deirdre Crimmins, Cinematic Essential

“…a charming entertainment for children that should amuse the adults that have to accompany them.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

SERENA

“…director Susanne Bier never veers from a tone of mournful humorlessness, sticking firmly to prestige-picture blandness when the material clearly calls for something much soapier and wilder. ” – Sean Burns, Movie Mezzanine

“certainly a mixed bag, but has enough in it to keep me interested, and another chance to see these two actors at work.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices

“Some guys just don’t look good in hats.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

“Handsome to look at, but saddled with tonally inconsistent plot points and performances, SERENA falls short, and falls flat.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 03/20/2015

Posted on March 20, 2015 by bofca

INSURGENT

“Woodley does solid work here as she’s done elsewhere, and continues to be someone to watch…” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“INSURGENT, bless its heart, relies even more on Young Adult fiction tropes than THE HUNGER GAMES, a series it resembles from top to bottom.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

“Looking to surge forward in a big way with more action and a faster pace, INSURGENT turns into something with the ability to only be incoherent and disjointed throughout its entire time on-screen.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

THE GUNMAN

“THE GUNMAN not only falls short on the action itself, but it offers little else for the audience to enjoy.” – Deirdre Crimmins, Cinematic Essential

“…a quandary of NGOs, poverty statistics and humanitarian efforts with an occasional shoot-out sprinkled in for good measure. Kinda like if Bono penned a Liam Neeson potboiler.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“What’s remarkable isn’t how the movie slides into dumb action and trite execution, but how close it comes to hitting the target in spite of itself.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

IT FOLLOWS

“Fused with a synth-pop soundtrack (thank god those are making a comeback), some genuine scares, and an eerily calm atmosphere that gets pulled without a moments notice, IT FOLLOWS is a startlingly good new horror feature.” – Sam Cohen, Sumo Skinny

“IT FOLLOWS is a throwback of sorts that utilizes certain aspects of horror that serious fans of the genre are sure to love.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“…a moody, elegantly crafted little throwback that’s probably not being particularly well-served by the breathless hype that’s been following it (har-har) around festivals ever since last year’s Cannes premiere.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“Stylistically and thematically, IT FOLLOWS is one of the best horror movies to hit the big screen in recent years.” – Monica Castillo, International Business Times

GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE

“You might hate it, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t see it anyway.” – Kristofer Jenson, Scout Cambridge

“It’s a bona fide art-house “blockbuster event movie.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“That we may not have reached the limit of language per se, but we might very well have have reached, if not exceeded, our capacity to give a shit.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

“Maybe language keeps us at arm’s length from nature, but if so, it still does a pretty solid job of articulating the full gamut of human emotion.” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

MERCHANTS OF DOUBT

“MERCHANTS OF DOUBT damningly eviscerates most of the asinine arguments clung to by bought-and-paid-for representatives of the oil companies, including an oft-cited, thoroughly discredited study signed by 31,000 scientific luminaries — some of whom happen to have the same names as BACK TO THE FUTURE’s Marty McFly and the Spice Girls.” – Sean Burns, Movie Mezzanine

Boston Online Film Critics Association

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: 04/17/2015

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 04/10/2015

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 04/03/2015

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 03/27/2015

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 03/20/2015