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BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP 8/8/2014

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TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (2014)TMNT

“The worst thing to happen to turtles in a movie since CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

“The action makes one appreciate the subtlety of the TRANSFORMERS movies and the humor consists of things like one of the Turtles facing death admitting he didn’t get the ending of LOST, a TV show that ended four years ago.” – Daniel Kimmel, Sci-Fi Movie Page

“I have no stake in the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES reboot/remake other than its entertainment quotient, which rates somewhere on the “meh” part of the scale.” – David Riedel, SF Reporter

“Just looking at it for what it is, this movie doesn’t give you much to hate outside of the unnecessary changes.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

 

INTO THE STORM

INTOSTORM

“It is weather porn. That’s not a glib cheap shot. It’s an accurate summing up of a totally empty film that exists for one purpose: to thrill people who get off on extreme weather.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“If INTO THE STORM embraced its terribleness in a self-aware kind of way like Syfy flicks, it would be much more fun to watch.” – Evan Crean, Starpulse

“INTO THE STORM would be a perfectly solid made-for-TV movie, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how it got a theatrical release.” – Deirdre Crimmins, All Things Horror

“So derivative that one imagines [David] Spade sitting a row behind you at the theater, taunting the screen, saying, “I liked INTO THE STORM more the first time I saw it…when it was called TWISTER.” – David Riedel, SF Reporter

 

calvary03CALVARY

“Despite McDonagh’s occasionally messy overreaches, this is an extremely moving portrait of a man trying to live his faith in a time and place where such a thing seems damned near impossible.” – Sean Burns, Movie Mezzanine

“For those interested in watching a movie that’s different from the normal summer blockbuster in just about every way imaginable, CALVARY may be something that you may want to see.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“McDonagh is trying to deal with the fact that talk is cheap. But he also seems to think the rest of the things we do – the social climbing, the status searching, the fighting, and yes, the drinking – are pretty damn cheap, too.” – Jake Mulligan, Movie Mezzanine

“One doesn’t jump from a story about child rape to casual guffaws easily, but writer-director John Michael McDonagh pulls it off.” – Dave Riedel, San Antonio Current

 

MOOD INDIGOmood-indigo

“In fine European art-house style, MOOD INDIGO relishes its quirky style and magical realism, but refuses to flinch from pain and horror.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

 

 

WHAT IF WHAT IF

“Maybe that’s too tall an order for what is supposed to be a romantic comedy, but if you can accept the fact that WHAT IF isn’t funny from the outset, you may find some worthwhile qualities.” – Kristofer Jenson, DigBoston

 

 

THE HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEYTHE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY

“It’s pleasant, it’s professionally produced, and leaves you with that warm bath feeling. It’s not a great film but it is one that will please many.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“You’d need a pretty big Venn Diagram to jot down all the audiences this movie is hoping to endear itself to.” – Jake Mulligan, Edge Boston

 

 

STEP UP ALL INSTEPUP ALLIN

“In the last chapter of the series, b-boys and girls took on the 99% motif and saved small businesses on the Miami waterfront. Two years later, they learn the hard way that idealism doesn’t pay the bills.” – Monica Castillo, Movie Mezzanine

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 08/01/2014

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guardians_of_the_galaxy_castGUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

“GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY plays less like a Marvel Studios commodity and more like a two-hundred-million-dollar version of 1980’s sci-fi cable staples like THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BONZAI ACROSS THE 8TH DIMENSION or THE ICE PIRATES.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY defies Marvel’s house style. By the time the credits roll, you’ll be eager for Gunn to do it again.” – Andy Crump, Movie Mezzanine

“I do like GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, but it’s not something that gave me a lot to love.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“It turns out to be the goofy and action-packed antidote to most of the summer’s blockbusters.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“It feels like someone threw Spielberg movies, Stephen Chow movies, and FLASH GORDON into a blender, and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is what came out.” – Jake Mulligan, Edge Boston

“What a joy—and not a little bit of a relief—it is that GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY may be the best Marvel movie, period.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

 

GET ON UP
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“Anyone buying a ticket to see Get on Up, the new biopic of legendary soul singer James Brown directed by Tate Taylor (The Help), should be given a CD of Brown’s greatest hits with each purchase.  At least then they’d walk away with a better sense of what made the man famous in the first place.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

“If you like James Brown and the music from that era, you’ll find a plethora of things to like in GET ON UP.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“… it can’t distract us from how familiar the story feels, even if you know nothing at all about Brown. What makes the film worth seeing–even if you don’t know his music–are the two lead performances.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

 

 

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 07/25/2014

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Lucy-Movie-2014-WallpaperLUCY

“LUCY is great junk –a headrush of a film so bizarre you’ll spend the entire fleeting, eighty-something-minute running time wondering how it ever got made in the first place.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“And now for something completely different: Luc Besson presents COSMOS.” – Andy Crump, Movie Mezzanine

“More quality overall is what was needed to save LUCY from fading into science fiction’s version of oblivion.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“It will not destroy your brain, so long as you only use 10% of it going in.” – Kristofer Jenson, C-Ville

” …behind the shootings and special effects is a smart movie that may surprise you.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“Feels like something you’d think up after passing out from heatstroke at Epcot Center.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

 

dwayne-johnson-as-herculesHERCULES

“…most of the film is devoted to repetitive battle scenes of scythes slashing necks and spears squishing into chests.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

“In exploring the power of myth to inspire men to fight, it aspires to be something more than just a lot of guys clanging swords, shields, and clubs.”- Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

 

And-So-It-Goes-Douglas-Crazy-EyesAND SO IT GOES

“…a lazy, easy, thunderously dull movie from a veteran talent who’s capable of more.” – Andy Crump, Movie Mezzanine

“…a broad and sentimental comedy with dick jokes that manage to be funny without ever feeling like they belong to this particular movie.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

“The movie is mush, featuring a two-dimensional turn by Diane Keaton and a truly atrocious performance by the usually dependable Michael Douglas.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

 

BmfNQxAIEAErdjKMAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT

“If Allen once rejuvenated, even reinvented, the romantic comedy, he now only contributes to its demise with the kind of “sugar-coated claptrap” his protagonist so intensely despises.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

“MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT stacks the magician’s deck here, indulging in a fair amount of magical thinking of its own, or at least transparent narrative charting.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

 

-ffb4c3e1f95e5845HELLION

“…for everything Candler has going on within the movie’s framework, there’s a looseness in the connective tissue that stymies its cohesion.” – Andy Crump, In Review Online

 

 

happy-christmas-e1406169409267HAPPY CHRISTMAS

“…nobody seems to have any interests outside of mumbling painfully unscripted small-talk at one another until the scenes mercifully end.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

 

 

IORIGINSI ORIGINS

“Hey kids, cool news! Turns out there IS an Intelligent Designer predestining and ordering everything — but don’t worry! It’s not the boring judgmental churchy version your parents were into! Naw, it’s one of those cool trendy Eastern ones white hipsters can appropriate to mean whatever they want it too!” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 07/18/2014

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The Purge AnarchyTHE PURGE: ANARCHY

“But what makes The Purge: Anarchy interesting is that the real enemies are not the head-clubbing street gangs nor any stray rapists who are bound to become Grillo’s bullet fodder. No, the problem here is the 1%…” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“The Purge: Anarchy isn’t great, but it serves its purpose by providing fans of the first film an expanded look at the universe that’s been created.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“Escalation to absurdly gratuitous heights would have suited this story perfectly, but it’s nowhere to be found.” – Kristofer Jenson, C-Ville

“Like a 13-year-old know-it-all, The Purge: Anarchy reveals its bone-deep inanity by trying to appear smart.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

“This is a movie with plenty of violent action–including a chase through a subway tunnel involving a flame thrower–but that also has a brain in its head.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

BOYHOOD - 2014 FILM STILL - Ellar Coltrane

BOYHOOD

“Much like in Linklater’s Before trilogy, there’s a cumulative power in watching these people age before our eyes.” – Sean Burns, TechnologyTell

“Boyhood turns out to be far more than a movie using a gimmick to get the attention of potential moviegoers.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“The passage of time is a tricky concept to capture on film, but Boyhood nails it: Nothing in the world is permanent, but everything that happens—no matter how small—has repercussions, even if you’re not aware of it at the time.” – Kristofer Jenson, Dig Boston

Sex TapeSEX TAPE

“This last section utterly deflates the rest of the movie’s energy and its viewers of the hope that Sex Tape might offer anything more than its initial observation about the unreliability of technology and its one-laugh-per-five-jokes rate.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

“It’s not unlike the porn videos that inspired it: with bad acting and a flimsy script it may temporarily satisfy but will soon be quickly forgotten.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

Wish I Was Here

WISH I WAS HERE

“Those Big Moments can represent catharsis, however, only to a viewer already on Braff’s wavelength. Otherwise, they merely strike audience members (including myself) as self-indulgent, even silly.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

“Braff understands the secret that parents keep from their children: We’re making it up as we go along. Wish I Was Here is a sweet film that reminds us that we’re not alone on the journey.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, The Jewish Advocate

 “And because Wish I Was Here is my kind of trash, I admit it may, in reality, be a total piece of shit. I wouldn’t know that, of course, as I was caught up in its smarmy splendor.” – David Riedel, San Antonio Current