
Steve Head, Sean Burns and Bob Chipman look at the Boston area repertory scene for September 2016.
Jake Mulligan talks INTO A DREAM
Evan Crean interviews Eric Latek
Spoilerpiece Theatre digs into WAR DOGS, KUBO and LO AND BEHOLD
Max Covill talks movie trailers and Jai Courtney
Sean Burns reviews THE KILLING JOKE, talks his Ten Best of 1982 and looks back at GET CARTER and POINT BLANK
Joyce Kulhawik reviews THE WITNESS
Andy Crump interviews Ira Sachs and reviews THE LOST ARCADE, THE GET DOWN and Herzog’s LO AND BEHOLD
Bob Chipman talks SPIDER-MAN casting and also in video form
John Hanlon talks Meryl Streep
Deirdre Crimmins interviews Steven Shainberg and wraps up Fantasia Fest
Kristofer Jenson presents Boston Reel Editors’ Picks
STAR TREK BEYOND
“Defines itself as the first of the new TREK that firmly grasps what makes the old so special and how to play that against the more modernized take.” – Allyson Johnson, TYF
“If at first the muscle car dude might seem a strange choice for TREK, remember that he’s coming off of four films in which a diverse ensemble accomplishes impossible feats thanks to friendship and teamwork, so when you stop and think about it he’s pretty much the only guy for this job.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality
“With both its humor and action, STAR TREK BEYOND provides what’s needed for it to be absorbing and delightful.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential
“As worthy an entry in the STAR TREK canon as we’ve had in well over a decade (probably the best overall movie in the franchise since THE VOYAGE HOME in 1986.” – Bob Chipman, Geek.com
“There’s no complex ethical conundrum at the movie’s core, but there is a reliable message: Fear can be used to manipulate entire civilizations, and there are bad guys out there willing to exploit it for just that reason.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE
“Longtime fans will remember that there used to be a rule of thumb about the movies: the “even ones” were the good ones. Now with the reboots it looks like the rule will be look out for the “odd ones.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“Easily completes its mission as a fun and energetic sequel that will keep the audience entertained and thrilled during its 120-minute running time.” – John Hanlon, Townhall
ICE AGE COLLISION COURSE
“Probably the laziest to date, but it still manages to provide a tolerable enough time at the movies that to hate it feels excessive, and to love it or even like it feels superfluous as well.” – Greg Vellante, EDGE
“For the first time there’s enough humor for the adults to make it bearable enough to sit through with the kids.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies
THE FITS
“She’s got a watchful gaze and a naturally commanding screen presence; imagine if Steve McQueen was an eleven-year-old black girl and you’re starting to get the idea.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS
“Echoes the TV version on a larger and more lavish scale — look! Edina’s kitchen leads out into a garden! — but it all comes back to the characters.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE
“Spends far too much time trying to get the audience to care about these characters we have been gleefully emotionally distant from, and it sacrifices precious screen time in doing so.” – Deirdre Crimmins, Cinematic Essential
CAFE SOCIETY
“Allen’s best since “Midnight in Paris,” and they’d make a great double bill, both films interrogating a warm and fuzzy nostalgia that’s incredibly soothing and ultimately useless.” – Sean Burns, WBUR
MICROBE AND GASOLINE
“Gondry’s intentions (and young actors) are good, even as this likable film suffers from a pesky lack of cohesiveness.” – Norm Schrager, Film Racket
“There are singular moments — like waiting in line at the beginning of the school year, making awkward eye contact with peers, studying how people have changed — that transported me back to my youth like a cinematic catapult.” – Greg Vellante, EDGE
Jaskee Hickman interviews Mike Birbiglia and Chris Gethard of DON’T THINK TWICE
Kristofer Jenson offers up the Boston Reel Editor’s Picks
Sean Burns looks back at Robert Aldrich’s HUSTLE
David Reidel interviews Joe Berlinger of TONY ROBBINS: I AM NOT YOUR GURU
Andrew Crump reviews THE MERMAID, PHANTOM BOY and interviews Taika Waititi
Spoilerpiece Theatre talks GHOSTBUSTERS, THE INFILTRATOR, CHEVALIER and TONY ROBBINS: I AM NOT YOUR GURU
Kilian Melloy reviews CUISINE & CONFESSIONS
Max Covill talks GHOSTBUSTERS & POKEMON GO
Bob Chipman talks THE BFG, WRECK-IT RALPH 2 and remakes
Jared Bowen checks out Highfield Hall & Gardens, talks to Soprano Jane Eaglen and looks into Broadway Dance Lab & Folk Art
Daniel Kimmel authors a short story
GHOSTBUSTERS (2016)
“Those naysayers have been undermined by the quality of this reboot, which hopefully will relaunch the series and it’s obvious that the writers here had fun playing up the hatred of those commentators” – John Hanlon, John Hanlon Reviews
“It may be called GHOSTBUSTERS, but the Bill Murray and Harold Ramis comedy that this remake most resembles is the military send-up STRIPES; in as much as both feature two solid acts’ worth of really funny people mining hilarious jokes from training sequences and character interactions that then kind of falls apart when the plot takes over in Act 3.” – Bob Chipman, Geek.com
“There’s no getting around how inadequate Wiig and McCarthy are. The breakout here is “SNL” star McKinnon, who needs co-stars who could keep up with her.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“What makes GHOSTBUSTERS a pleasure to watch is how much these women obviously enjoy working with one another, generously feeding each other straight lines and setups as opposed to other comics who too often compete for attention.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality
“As a quick guilty pleasure, it’ll do. But unlike the original, it’s easily forgettable.” – Tim Estiloz, El Mundo Boston
“Doesn’t have a ghost of chance of saving this lackluster summer movie season, but it’s a chance to see some of the best comedic actors working today have a little fun while we’re all waiting for SOMETHING of biblical proportions to hit the big screen– before the fall.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices
THE INFILTRATOR
“If only the quality of the film could match the quality of Cranston, who unearths enough underlying emotion from the character to make up for what the script fails to say.” – Allyson Johnson, Cambridge Day
“Bryan Cranston has become a character actor who can command attention in leading roles, and he shows why here.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“Overall, a forgettable experience becomes memorable only in its pitfalls.” – Greg Vellante, Edge Boston
LIFE, ANIMATED
“The intention isn’t to celebrate Disney as a brand, or as a market entity, but to acknowledge the objectively massive role the studio’s output has played in [Owen Suskind’s] life.” – Andy Crump, The Playlist