Category Archives: Review Roundups

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 11/07/2014

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INTERSTELLAR

“All of my quibbles aside, INTERSTELLAR is surely to be praised for its scope.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices

“It’s the best science fiction movie you’re likely to see this year, and quite possibly one of the best films period.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“…INTERSTELLAR is big, bold and beautiful, but it’s more confounding than revelatory, and all the organ music in the world can’t save it from not tugging at the heartstrings. – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

“INTERSTELLAR is Christopher Nolan’s weakest film to date, but the fact that it’s not terrible says a lot about him and his abilities as a filmmaker.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“…overall, INTERSTELLAR is a reasonably enjoyable experience, even as it strains the edges of Nolan’s comfort zone.” – Kristofer Jenson, Dig Boston

“For a film that has so much going for it, the payoff should be blue-sky beyond most viewers’ imaginations. Instead, it plays like someone explaining how to complete a jigsaw puzzle. – Norm Schrager, Meet in the Lobby

“In place of the action the movie needs, Nolan hits us over the head with the simplistic message that love is the most powerful force in the universe. It’s a nice enough notion, but it doesn’t have a chance.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

“Ultimately, INTERSTELLAR shoots for the stars but barely gets us past the soundstage.” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

“Some space is best left unexplored.” –  Brett Michel, The Improper Bostonian

“You can sense Nolan bursting to match Kubrick’s eerie, effortless combination of the familiar and otherworldly, but there’s nothing doing.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

“The movie is so pedestrian it needs to invent a Bad Guy for McConaughey to fist-fight.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

 

Big Hero 6 (2)BIG HERO 6

“BIG HERO 6 works precisely because it seems so familiar, with just enough fresh spin so that it feels like something new rather than a rerun.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“BIG HERO 6 is not a film that’s going to change the way animated flicks are made, but there is a ton of fun to be had by just about everyone who chooses to watch it.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“Thrilling, well-crafted set pieces are only one aspect of what makes blockbusters like this tick. The bond between a boy and his android makes up the rest.” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

 

MV5BMjEyNzE3Njc1MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMzg0ODY3MDE@._V1_SX640_SY720_LAGGIES

“LAGGIES explores with empathy and warmth the simultaneous feelings of panic and disbelief upon realizing in your late 20s or early 30s that everyone around you is getting married and having children.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

“Man, this is a creepy film.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

 

 

prt_300x196_1353278673THE OVERNIGHTERS

“… an incredibly personal (if troubling at times) story that challenges its viewers to accept it.” – Monica Castillo, Movie Mezzanine

 

 

« DIPLOMATIE » Un film de Volker SCHLÖNDORFFDIPLOMACY

“As DIPLOMACY’s briskly paced duologue proceeds, there’s a growing sense that it would be just at home on stage as on camera.” – Andy Crump, Movie Mezzanine

“We all know that the Nazis didn’t blow up Paris, but that won’t stop audiences from biting their nails watching this brilliant film from director Volker Schlöndorff (THE TIN DRUM).” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

 

thumbnail_19246AWAKE: THE LIFE OF YOGANANDA

“The risk of any movie that tries so hard to promote claims of extraordinary or supernatural wisdom (which this film more or less does with its subject) is the likelihood that the claims will far exceed any reliable evidence.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

BOFCA MID-WEEK ROUNDUP 11/5/2014

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Check out early-for-IMAX reviews of Christopher Nolan’s INTERSTELLAR from Jaskee Hickman, John Black, Kristofer Jenson, Kilian Melloy, David Riedel and Norm Schrager.

Did you see our most recent Repertory Podcast?

Andy Crump recaps the a BOFCA-attended Horror Marathon at Coolidge Corner

Spoilerpiece Theatre got in on NIGHTCRAWLER

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 10/31/2014

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“I can’t say how everyone else who sees it will receive NIGHTCRAWLER and its content, but I certainly found it to be a disturbed piece of work that’s also pleasantly thrilling.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“NIGHTCRAWLER isn’t a horror movie, per se, but the underlying truth of Bloom and what he represents is horrifying.” – Andy Crump, Movie Mezzanine

“Gilroy ramps up the suspense while mining pearls of black humor as Louis becomes bolder in his quest for bigger paychecks and increasingly voyeuristic images. ” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

“For a movie that tries so hard to be disturbing, NIGHTCRAWLER is actually quite comforting. It takes a societal sickness and blames it all on a boogeyman.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

 

 

C4filmCITIZENFOUR

“CITIZENFOUR plays like an international thriller, but the fact that it’s real makes everything you see in this film feel like a real and present threat.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

 

 

white-bird-in-a-blizzard-2391916WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD

“It’s easy to admire an ambitious letdown like WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD, but much harder to be moved by it.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

“While he may show some talent in capturing young Kat’s growth form virgin to seductress, Araki doesn’t have a clue how to weave that sexuality into the story in a way that adds to the mystery in any meaningful way. ” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

 

 

13936-1LISTEN UP, PHILLIP

“…a relentless downward spiral of a movie that finds the melancholy in misanthropy – like Llewyn Davis’ literary cousin.” – Sean Burns, Movie Mezzanine

“…a narcissistic asshole is still a narcissistic asshole.” – Jake Mulligan, Dig Boston

“Finally, there’s a movie that has the courage to let an asshole character remain an asshole from beginning to end.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

“We’re invited to laugh at, not with, these people; the trick is to keep them sympathetic, and by virtue of their own self-flagellating honesty it’s a trick they pull off.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

 

Horns Movie Picture (6)HORNS

“Pulling this story off would require a juggling act of three tones: satire, trouble in small-town paradise drama, and religious parable. Aja attempts all three, and is largely successful with the first two.” – Kristofer Jenson, Dig Boston

“Stunt casting or not, Radcliffe singlehandedly elevates the entire goddamned picture, so the only question we’re left with is: What kind of film would this be without him?” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

“…a nihilistic, bloodthirsty manifestation of love that celebrates violent forms of hate.” – Charlie Nash, Edge Boston

 

 

 

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 10/24/2014

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JOHN WICK

“For all its B-movie pulp bravado, JOHN WICK – a rather absurdly entertaining comeback vehicle for the preternaturally youthful Keanu Reeves – is best looked at not as an action movie, but as a dance picture.” – Sean Burns, Movie Mezzanine

“With JOHN WICK, we see that maybe Keanu Reeves hasn’t seen the last of quality movies after all.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“Sometimes you laugh with it. Sometimes you laugh at it. Either way, you’ll have a hell of a time …” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

“…the film is a predictable but excellently executed mix of hand to hand combat and bullets flying while the body count piles up.” – Deirdre Crimmins, All Things Horror

“…an entertaining action film which seems to be taking place in an alternate universe.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“The intricate action scenes are staged mostly in awesome, seemingly uninterrupted master shots with minimal editing from other angles.” – Tim Estiloz, Boston Examiner

“Far from apologizing for its reliance on the well-worn action movie conventions from which it’s cobbled together, JOHN WICK revels in them.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

 

birdman_aBIRDMAN

“A mix of SUNSET BOULEVARD and the recent Robin Wright film THE CONGRESS, BIRDMAN takes an introspective look at an actor’s career and transforms it into a savage Hollywood critique.” – Monica Castillo, Movie Mezzanine

“It’s wildly funny, thrilling, and heartbreaking, cutting deep into our hopes, fears, and need to matter in a world awash in consumerism, and just too damn much of everything.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices

“There sure are a lot of pictures about caped crusaders out there, but don’t even the most over-the-hill superheroes deserve a chance to fly anew?” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

“…a sometimes dazzling, often infuriating act of gaseous virtuosity.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“What you get from BIRDMAN more than anything is top shelf acting all the way around.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

 

13914-2DEAR WHITE PEOPLE

“DEAR WHITE PEOPLE is a peeved film, a touching film, a thoughtful film, and a funny film all at the same time, but structurally it’s an exercise in developing tension.” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

“…an empathetic exploration of both how difficult it is to navigate this paradoxical new world and the burden that “otherness” can inflict.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

“There’s hardly a straight-through plot here; instead, we open and close with moments from a climactic blackface-party-slash-”race war,” with numerous preceding incidents involving the participants of said war filling the time in between. ” – Jake Mulligan, Movie Mezzanine

 

Whiplash-5547.cr2WHIPLASH

“The movie is a sleek machine that works you over and bats you around until the climax incites the audience into the kind of frenzy I haven’t seen in an auditorium since Rocky beat Drago. It’s viscerally thrilling, and distressingly hollow.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“While the casting and characterizations mesh perfectly, and the movie creates an indelible atmosphere of creative foment and psychic disrepair, the last act loses the very discipline Fletcher embodies.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

“Good music, great acting and an interesting approach to a film about music makes WHIPLASH a winner in my book.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

 

maxresdefault (2)OUIJA

“If Hasbro want to sell us advertisements, they’re going to need to be better than this.” – Jake Mulligan, Edge Boston

“..this breaks no new ground, but it bumps along at a steady pace, providing the requisite scares and laughs along the way.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“The plot barely limps along down a completely uninspired path. The film takes itself way too seriously, and yet is horribly boring for long stretches of time.” – Deirdre Crimmins, All Things Horror

 

theirishpub6372THE IRISH PUB

“… an endearing, affectionate snapshot of a fading way of life, of places where strangers from ages eighteen to eighty can still stop for a friendly chat on their way home from wherever, taking comfort in conversation and company.” – Sean Burns, North Shore Movies