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BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP: 05/09/2014

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NEIGHBORSNEIGHBORS

“A completely shallow flick that doesn’t come close to delivering much quality in any way.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“[The film] displays a similar empathy for both sides of a feud in NEIGHBORS, and it’s that rare emotional intelligence – along with the film’s sly, surprising jokes and self-aware sidestepping of comedy clichés – that makes this Seth Rogen vehicle an instant classic.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

“A moronic comedy pitched to the lowest possible denominator. No thought was given to anything beyond the initial premise. After that it’s all sex, drugs, and people acting like idiots.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“It’s smart (in its stupidity), it looks better than any college movie should and it’s laugh-out-loud funny. And you get to see an almost naked Seth Rogen. Who could ask for more?” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

 

 

BELLEBELLE

“BELLE’s plotting may be described as formulaic at best, but its incredible production design, thought-provoking writing, and pristine acting offset that rote structure.”  – Andy Crump, Movie Mezzanine

“This warmly poignant tale of two illegitimate sisters’ efforts to marry despite their social handicaps (one is dowry-less, the other half-black) offers all the passionate idealism, the precise social insights, and the delightfully sharp-tongued dialogue that recall the best of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

 

MOMS’ NIGHT OUTMOMSNIGHT

“Debuting two days before Mother’s Day, MOMS’ NIGHT OUT has only one message for its harried, overworked, women-on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown characters (and, by extension, its audience): Jesus loves you, so get over it.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

 

LEGENDSOFOZLEGENDS OF OZ: DOROTHY’S RETURN

“Strictly for the little ones, although serious students of computer animation may want to take a look as well.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies

 

 

FEDUPFED UP

“A riveting new documentary.” – Jared Bowen, WGBH

“The film approaches the issue systematically on all fronts: scientific, social, personal, and puts it in context historically.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices

“A clearinghouse for theories about the obesity epidemic that threatens not just America, but nations around the world.” – Killian Melloy, EDGE

 

BLUERUINBLUE RUIN

“Macon Blair’s portrayal of Dwight, the vengeful son, is subtle and nuanced, and it completely blew me away.” – Deidre Crimmins, All Things Horror

“Eventually, the film’s insistence on human bloodlust becomes too much, and Saulnier fatally undercuts his own meditation on cycles of violence by reveling in them.” – Andy Crump, In Review Online

“Filmmakers who adore violence should stop pretending that they abhor violence.” – Jake Mulligan, Letterboxd

“It’s too early to make proclamations about the best movie of the year, so let’s put it this way: BLUE RUIN has a spot in the top 10 unless 10 other superlatively spectacular films come out between now and Dec. 31.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

 

hero_Locke-2014-01

LOCKE

“You may have all kinds of theories as to what LOCKE is really about based on its trailers, but leave your suppositions at the door and allow the film’s mesmeric, hypnotic sheen to wash over you.” – Andy Crump, Movie Mezzanine

“LOCKE is an innovative film that is able to give you something new while still feeling that much of what you’re seeing is familiar.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“Tom Hardy is nothing short of magnificent in LOCKE.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 04/04/2014

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CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIERla_ca_0102_Captain_America

“For those invested in the Marvel superheroes, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER ranks high up there. It’s not THE AVENGERS or IRON MAN, but it’s better than most of the rest of them.” – Daniel Kimmel, NorthShoreMovies

“136 minutes of badly edited action sequences linked together with an overheated plot and some lukewarm performances.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

“A fantastic comic book movie that is sure to entertain the overwhelming majority of its viewers.” – Jaskee Hickman

“Once you take him out of a fanciful WWII era, you can’t not get political with a character who’s named after a country and wears its flag as his uniform.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

“Blows its predecessor out of the water and rivals THE AVENGERS for slam-bang action and thrills. It’s the best Marvel movie thus far.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

 

UNKNOWNTHE UNKNOWN KNOWN

“But if Rumsfeld twists and spins, Morris seems to lack the energy to pin him down.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE

“Just remember the root of all these conversations is nearly 4,500 dead Americans and more than 500,000 dead Iraqis. File that under ‘known known.'” – David Riedel, San Antonion Current

 

NYMPH()MANIAC VOL IINYMPHOMANIAC2

“Von Trier has made a psychological epic but he’s also made his greatest comedy.” – Jake Mulligan, Movie Mezzanine

“NYMPH()MANIAC VOL II is, mercifully, not as bad as VOL I, but it has its share of problems. The largest remains its rampant misogyny disguising itself as empowerment.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

“Feels like the work of both an erudite professor you’d like to spend time with and an immature college student you’d like to kick in the balls.” – Norm Schrager, Meet in the Lobby

 

DUNEJODOROWSKY’S DUNE

“”It is the greatest movie that never got made. … At least it is in the opinion of the man who wanted to make it.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP 03/07/2014

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EW-300-rise-of-an-empire-banner300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE

“[Eva Green] doesn’t simply dominate the film, she cuffs it to the bedpost and works it over until it can’t remember where it left the car and probably doesn’t care.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

“I actually enjoyed most of the action in 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE, but there are some clear and obvious complaints that no one on this planet can excuse.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“…it seems more like a video game than a real battle. One almost expects numbers in the corner keeping track of Greek and Persian casualties so we can keep score.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“This movie is so over the top, so stylistically acute, so surging with testosterone, and so visually brisk that there’s never a dull moment. There are plenty of laughs — not all of them intentional — but it’s all in bloody good fun.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE Boston

“The film plays like leftovers, a sketchbook of deleted ideas. It doesn’t even have a narrative arc; it just fills out a narrative that already exists, consisting of scattered scenes that occur prior to, during and after the events of Snyder’s original.” – Jake Mulligan, In Review Online

“300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE has no ideology, purpose or ambition beyond being blood-and-guts spectacle on a massive scale. If that’s your idea of a great flick, please enjoy. If not, avoid it.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

 

724674-mr-peabody-sherman-movie-6MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN

“While MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN may not be as popular and beloved as some of the cartoons from the past, it does make a nice debut as a feature film with this installment.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“Solidly assembled if fundamentally soulless, MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN is a gift to parents: a shiny, never-dull chunk of edutainment for Baby Einstein grads that’ll keep the kids amused with pratfalls and butt jokes while reassuring their moms and dads that not even a Nobel Prize-winning, Olympic medal-collecting time-machine inventor can get something as hard as parenting right.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

“…a family film in the true sense. It is something that will appeal to all ages, even if your kids are laughing at different jokes than you are.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

 

GrandBuda_2798049bTHE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

“[Anderson’s] films feel like they might be set in the same universe as the Muppet Movies… if the Muppets themselves had all been raptured away decades prior; leaving only their human co-stars to meander, glum and without purpose, through the ruins of whimsy.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

“…in making THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, he’s waved a red flag in front of a bull, except the flag is one of 2014’s most technically accomplished films and the bull is the vocal critical minority which has decried his cinema as nostalgic hackery over the years.” – Andy Crump, In Review Online

“”Being what it is, I was surprised how much I liked “THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“Wes Anderson accentuates the comedy, like “concupiscent curds” atop a heady brew of murder, mutilation, and even deeper mayhem.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices

“When a film contains such ornate riches (it’s masterfully photographed in three separate screen aspect ratios—on film!—by Anderson regular Robert D. Yeoman, scored like your childhood music box by composer Alexandre Desplat and, yes, even allowed a little animation), you simply want more.” – Brett Michel, The Improper Bostonian

“Because the lead character arrives so well defined, so put together, Budapest is allowed to be Anderson’s plottiest picture. Gustave wins and loses riches, solves mysteries, and vanquishes bad guys, yet he remains the same man from frame one through the end credits.” – Jake Mulligan, Esquire

“I fucking hate Wes Anderson’s movies. It feels really good to get that off my chest. But The Grand Budapest Hotel ain’t half bad.” – David Riedel, San Antonio Current

 

the-bag-man-3THE BAG MAN

“Movies this bad don’t happen every day, and it goes without saying that when they do, they’re best avoided.” – Andy Crump, Movie Mezzanine