BLACULA (1972) Showing monday January 27 at The Brattle, part of the “Dead of Winter: Bloodsucking Freaks” repertory series.
BOFCA’s Steve Head, Brett Michel and Bob Chipman brave the January doldrums to bring you a fun-size sampling Boston-area movie events for the remainder of Holiday Recuperation Month. Check it out HERE:
JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT
“Probably won’t set the world on fire, but for early-year rebooting entertainment, it could be a lot worse.” – Andrew Crump, Go-See-Talk
“Even as escapism, it’s deficient: So what if the hero saves us from the financial depredations of the Russkies? It’s Wall Street that just about sank us in 2008.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE
“Has no idea what it wants to be and settles for boring and pointless.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist
RIDE ALONG
“Kevin Hart is a movie star, but no movie has yet found a way to let him play anyone other than Kevin Hart.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN
“The eternal story of wanting what you’re not supposed to have, grasping at something that might bring everything down round you, and being someone in private quite different from your public persona. That’s a state of affairs one need not live in Victorian times to appreciate.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE
“Instead of a contemporary view of 19th century social graces or an indictment of cultural mores, we get lots of grimacing and heavy breathing and dead babies. Such is life.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
“The film isn’t engaging with the dark soul of a man, it’s a work of societal criticism, disguised as a character piece.” – Jake Mulligan, Movie Mezzanine
“Eventually the movie’s gargantuan three-hour running-time becomes part of the joke. The vulgarity feels heroic.” – Sean Burns, Technology Tell
“It does for stockbrokers what GOODFELLAS did for mobsters.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“Most shamefully of all, it’s also a total blast, though you’ll probably want to take a shower afterward.” – Andrew Crump, Go-See-Talk
“About as pure cinema as a movie can get.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter
“Scorsese puts us there, right in the filthy-rich middle of it. I understood the lure, the addiction, the sheer adrenaline rush and ride.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices
“The cast is so game for whatever [Scorsese] plunges them into, it’s hard not to get a contact high.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist
THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY
“The brand name-dropping is so gratuitous that when the movie appears on television, the commercials will already be in place.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“it almost seems like a self-aware joke that never fully pays off.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist
“Trudges along – amiable, lovingly photographed by Stuart Dryburgh, and utterly forgettable.” – Kilian Melloy, Kal’s Movie Blog
“More like The Secret Life of Walter Shitty. THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY holds you in contempt, so why not make a lame joke at its expense?” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter
HER
“The film’s critical fans–seem to think he’s breaking new ground. He’s not, and the resulting film is more disappointing than the hype surrounding it lets on.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“A wholly unique work that’s peppered with humor but is more meaningfully shaped through its examination of human relationships in a culture grown overly reliant on precious gadgetry.” – Andrew Crump, Go-See-Talk
“A surprisingly sweet, melancholy, and touching meditation on how we manage relationships.” – David Riedel, C-Ville
GRUDGE MATCH
“This ludicrous movie turns out to much better than anyone might have expected.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“It’s ROCKY versus RAGING BULL by way of an anti-buddy movie formula. The genius fizzles there, and the adequate takes over, but that doesn’t mean there’s no fun to be had.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE
Just in time for The Holidays, a big chunk of the Boston Online Film Critics Association sits down to hash-out the recent BOFCA Awards and Top Ten list:
Listen HERE.
ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES
“There’s an expectation to live up to the original, tossing aside new content in favor of recalling those catchphrases and iconic moments.” – Monica Castillo, Movie Mezzanine
“There’s no doubt that McKay and Ferrell are playing big and broad here, discarding nuance entirely for on-the-nose commentary.” – Andrew Crump, Go-See-Talk
“ANCHORMAN 2 checks off a lot of the boxes you’d expect it to check off, sure, but it also checks off a bunch of boxes you didn’t know existed.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE
“There’s a surprising amount of plot, which is the same thing that killed BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter
“About all anyone could reasonably expect from the unnecessary sequel to one of the best comedies of all time.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist
AMERICAN HUSTLE
“It’s exhausting. There are no stakes. There are wigs and braless dresses and fat suits and perms. There is nothing resembling a compelling character or story.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter
“It joins the pantheon of great con job movies with THE STING, HOUSE OF GAMES and WILD THINGS. – Dan Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“Hang onto your hair and pay attention to the details lest you get caught with your brain exposed.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
“The film positions itself as a lost artifact from an imagined world, one that few even bother to imagine much anymore — a perfect treatment for a narrative about an artist that no one was ever going to bother to remember.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE
“That’s Llewyn in a nutshell: He’s the friend you’ll always let sleep on your couch, even though he brings almost nothing but ill tidings.” – Andrew Crump, In Review Online
“INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS is my favorite movie in years. It’s the Coens’ most melancholic reverie, ditching their usual clockwork plotting for a loosey-goosey collection of anecdotes that only reveal themselves to be impeccably structured in retrospect.”- Sean Burns, Improper Bostonian
“He is angry. He is frustrated by the way his life is going, and the way that he’s struggling so hard to make this work.” – Monica Castillo, Cinephiliacs Podcast
“An unexpected gem, a movie that seems completely familiar while turning narrative convention on its ear again and again.” – Norm Schrager, Meet In The Lobby
WALKING WITH DINOSAURS 3D
“It gets this critic’s traditional back of the hand for this kind of kid’s movie: parents should flip a coin… and the loser has to take them.” – Dan Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“This new 3D spectacle is a visual miracle. The animation comes alive through a celebration of corporeality: the jiggle of fat, the stretch and release of sagging skin, the tide-like motions of tendons and arteries beneath pebbled skin.” – Inkoo Kang, Village Voice