BOFCA members Steve Head, Monica Castillo and Bob Chipman talk about all the big December movie events coming to local Boston-area theaters. Check it out HERE.
BOFCA REPERTORY PODCAST #7
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BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP 11/29
FROZEN
“…this may be the best animated offering out of Hollywood this year.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“Succeeds in updating, modernizing and even critiquing the [Disney Princess] franchise-formula – without turning into a SHREK-style jaded gagfest.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist (Spoiler-free. In-depth piece w/spoilers HERE)
HOMEFRONT
“It’s not exactly idiosyncratic, but at least it doesn’t feel as if it came off the focus-tested-$150-million-movie conveyor belt.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE
“A straightforward thriller with beatings, shootings, a young girl in peril, and a stoic hero who never loses his cool. It’s worked before. There’s no reason it shouldn’t work again.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“You can think James Franco’s turn in SPRING BREAKERS was the defining supporting performance of this year and still want to watch him get his block knocked off by Statham. At least I do.” – Sean Burns, The Improper Bostonian
OLDBOY
“I liked this movie fine but I’ll get back to you when I figure out a reason why it exists.” – Sean Burns, Technology Tell
PHILOMENA
“Provokes fury and outrage, but also supplies a balm in the form of truly gracious forgiveness.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE
“Needless to say, the grande dame’s performance, alternately goofy and grave, is an absolute tour de force.” – Inkoo Kang, Village Voice
BLACK NATIVITY
“It’s goofy and probably very easy to mock, but so full of positivity and good spirits that I can’t imagine why anybody would want to bother.” – Sean Burns, Technology Tell
“Lemmons hits all of the expected notes that come prepackaged with this sort of picture; call it corny and hammy, because it is, but she’s more than up to the task of making all of the expected “stuff” of its archetype work.” – Andrew Crump, Go-See-Talk
NEBRASKA
“This is more of a melancholic reverie than a young man’s outburst – this once-furious auteur has grown up, and mellowed out.” – Jake Mulligan, Movie Mezzanine
“Payne cobbles together a shockingly accurate portrait of the US’s flyover states, at least as envisioned by those of us living on the East and West coasts; they’re desolate, barren, cultural wastelands, places that time has forgotten, populated by people modernity has passed by.” – Andrew Crump, Go-See-Talk
“It’s a gimmicky sitcom script gussied up with “artful” affectations borrowed from the New Hollywood heyday of the early ’70s. Except it doesn’t even get those right.” – Sean Burns, The Improper Bostonian
BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP 11/22
THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE
“In many ways it’s a better film than the first one. It keeps the strengths of the first film––the brilliant casting, the striking art direction––and does a much better job telling the story.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“It’s quite engrossing until the movie abruptly stops mid-scene, teasing another sequel coming soon to a theater near you. Sigh, the perils of franchise maintenance.” – Sean Burns, Philadelphia City Paper”
“This flick is a nail biter, even in the quiet moments.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter
“Sure, it faithfully aligns with the book and safely plays to the franchise’s core audience. But this sequel is better cast, well-wound and powerfully paced.” – Norm Schrager, Meet-In-The-Lobby
DELIVERY MAN
“Slight but feel-good entertainment. It probably should have gone right to Lifetime in the first place, because it’s not going to be finding much of a home in movie theaters this weekend.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies
THE BOOK THIEF
“The finished product is so lacking in visual dynamism and cinematic texture that it plays like an audio book with images attached. You could watch the picture with your eyes closed and lose very little.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE Boston
GO FOR SISTERS
“It’s an absorbing, well-researched snapshot from the American class struggle with excellent performances and an evocative sense of time and place.” – Sean Burns, Technology Tell
THE ARMSTRONG LIE
“The underlying thread in this ruinous yarn is that the movie we’re seeing today only exists because Armstrong screwed the happy ending to Gibney’s 2009 documentary.” – Monica Castillo, DIG Boston
BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP 11/15
THE BEST MAN HOLIDAY
“HOLIDAY is aiming to offer us a profound emotional experience alongside the humorous observations, and falls pretty short.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE
THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN
“Structured like a more like a song than a conventional narrative, THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN loops through moments in time like verses returning to choruses in this ballad of a doomed couple in Ghent during the early 2000s – united by their love of music and torn apart by tragedy.” – Sean Burns, Technology Tell
“The intimacy of the connection we feel to this family is palpable; we are close to them like people we grew up with.” – Joyce Kulhawik
BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP 10/25
12 YEARS A SLAVE
“So profoundly powerful that other movies touching on or dealing directly with slavery seem weak by comparison.” – David Riedel, Raw Denim
“Treating other people as lower than shit is a tenet of this country’s history, and we need to see it in all its ugly truth.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter
“Even for someone as talented as McQueen, this is a step forward in craft.” – Andrew Crump, A Constant Visual Feast
“The desire to attain permanent fixture status, both in American History and Film Studies courses, is palpable.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist
“Remarkably, possessed of a transcendent lyricism that allows us to breathe in the suffering first hand, the horror resonating through our consciousness by way of our bones.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices
“If 12 YEARS A SLAVE doesn’t become required viewing in our schools and LINCOLN does, the understanding future generations have of slavery is doomed.” – Kris Jenson, Dig Boston
THE COUNSELOR
“It’s like getting a fortune cookie that reads, ‘Life is meaningless and then you die.’ Whether you agree with the message or not, is that really what you go to the movies to hear?” – Dan Kimmel, North Shore Movies
JACKASS PRESENTS: BAD GRANDPA
“It’s still enjoyable, sure — it’s just not so revolutionary anymore.” – Jake Mulligan, EDGE
“Apparently there’s always an audience for a joke involving explosive flatulence.” – Dan Kimmel, North Shore Movies
ALL IS LOST
“Robert Redford has long been one of our greatest movie stars. He’s never been one of our greatest actors, but here he rises to the challenge.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter