2015

Posted on April 10, 2015 by bofca

THE LONGEST RIDE

“THE LONGEST RIDE tells a romance narrative, but the relationship isn’t the primary focus. This is a movie about a body.” – Jake Mulligan, Edge Boston

“If you are sucker for romances, anything written by Nicholas Sparks, and cowboys, the contemporary segments of THE LONGEST RIDE has been manufactured specifically for you.” – Deirdre Crimmins, Cinematic Essential

WHITE GOD

“The best thing to do is save the money you’d spend to see White God and donate it to a local shelter instead.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

“There’s no manipulation here, no chicanery, no falsehood, just a frank, stylized attempt at critiquing man’s dominion over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” – Andy Crump, Cinematic Essential

KILL ME THREE TIMES

“…a dark comedy that would make a bucket of scorpions look like a tea party.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

“Murder, blackmail, revenge…and Simon Pegg in a Fu-Manchu moustache. What else do you need?” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

“You know what, let’s just say that there isn’t many redeemable qualities here.” – Sam Cohen, Under the Gun Review

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 04/03/2015

Posted on April 3, 2015 by bofca

furious-7-rock FURIOUS 7

“The stakes are raised in terms of possible mortality of the main players, the cars are more expensive and harder to wreck, and the overlying theme about family as the source of adrenaline-induced fury is enough to destroy a whole urban city (literally).” – Sam Cohen, Substream Magazine

“The franchise has evolved into pure action spectacle. It has transformed from a car show into a gun show.” – Jake Mulligan, Edge Boston

“…the filmmakers forgot Chekhov’s rule that if The Rock says “I’m gonna put a hurt on him so bad he’ll wish his mother kept her legs crossed” in the first act, you need to pay that off in the third.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“Everything included in FURIOUS 7 allows fans of this lengthy series to jump right in the driver’s seat of this action packed cinematic vehicle and embrace all of the entertainment that these movies are looking to offer.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“The first movie franchise to ever successfully transition to self-parody; mostly by doing so in such a ‘subtle’ (after a fashion) kind of way that anyone who might’ve been annoyed by that transition probably didn’t notice.” – Bob Chipman, Movie Bob Reviews

WOMAN IN GOLD

“…a hokey piece of cinema that uses the horrors of the Holocaust for little else but yanking the viewers’ heartstrings.” – Charlie Nash, Cinematic Essential

“…WOMAN IN GOLD is harmless and mildly arresting thanks to the efforts of its leads. It just doesn’t rise much above being more than just half-cocked schmaltz, which is a bummer at best and an insult to Altmann’s struggle at worst. ” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

“The film lets us see the tensions and sadness that are inevitable in a story like this, but also offers some wry humor.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, The Jewish Advocate

EFFIE GRAY

“EFFIE GRAY isn’t an easy viewing experience, but it has the goods for a patient audience. It will stay the dragons awhile.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

MAGICIAN: THE ASTONISHING LIFE AND WORK OF ORSON WELLES

“Although it stumbles on the details, though, the one thing that Workman’s movie does quite effectively is give us a sense of the independence spirit that Welles brought to all his art, whether they were successful or not.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 03/20/2015

Posted on March 20, 2015 by bofca

INSURGENT

“Woodley does solid work here as she’s done elsewhere, and continues to be someone to watch…” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“INSURGENT, bless its heart, relies even more on Young Adult fiction tropes than THE HUNGER GAMES, a series it resembles from top to bottom.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

“Looking to surge forward in a big way with more action and a faster pace, INSURGENT turns into something with the ability to only be incoherent and disjointed throughout its entire time on-screen.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

THE GUNMAN

“THE GUNMAN not only falls short on the action itself, but it offers little else for the audience to enjoy.” – Deirdre Crimmins, Cinematic Essential

“…a quandary of NGOs, poverty statistics and humanitarian efforts with an occasional shoot-out sprinkled in for good measure. Kinda like if Bono penned a Liam Neeson potboiler.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“What’s remarkable isn’t how the movie slides into dumb action and trite execution, but how close it comes to hitting the target in spite of itself.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

IT FOLLOWS

“Fused with a synth-pop soundtrack (thank god those are making a comeback), some genuine scares, and an eerily calm atmosphere that gets pulled without a moments notice, IT FOLLOWS is a startlingly good new horror feature.” – Sam Cohen, Sumo Skinny

“IT FOLLOWS is a throwback of sorts that utilizes certain aspects of horror that serious fans of the genre are sure to love.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“…a moody, elegantly crafted little throwback that’s probably not being particularly well-served by the breathless hype that’s been following it (har-har) around festivals ever since last year’s Cannes premiere.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“Stylistically and thematically, IT FOLLOWS is one of the best horror movies to hit the big screen in recent years.” – Monica Castillo, International Business Times

GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE

“You might hate it, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t see it anyway.” – Kristofer Jenson, Scout Cambridge

“It’s a bona fide art-house “blockbuster event movie.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“That we may not have reached the limit of language per se, but we might very well have have reached, if not exceeded, our capacity to give a shit.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

“Maybe language keeps us at arm’s length from nature, but if so, it still does a pretty solid job of articulating the full gamut of human emotion.” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

MERCHANTS OF DOUBT

“MERCHANTS OF DOUBT damningly eviscerates most of the asinine arguments clung to by bought-and-paid-for representatives of the oil companies, including an oft-cited, thoroughly discredited study signed by 31,000 scientific luminaries — some of whom happen to have the same names as BACK TO THE FUTURE’s Marty McFly and the Spice Girls.” – Sean Burns, Movie Mezzanine

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 02/20/2015

Posted on February 20, 2015 by bofca

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 2

“Even though it doesn’t live up to the outrageous quality of its predecessor, HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 2 doesn’t do any damage to the brand that was created in 2010.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“The jokes are rapid and raunchy, the rants border on nonsensical, the dashes of drama are toiling, and the sci-fi references are as thin as the narrative.” – Sam Cohen, Under the Gun Review

“When you drain out the filler of homophobic rape and masturbation jokes from HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 2, you’re not left with much else at the scuzzy bottom of this movie.” – Monica Castillo, International Business Times

MCFARLAND, USA

“MCFARLAND USA is less a sports film and more a film about community, tradition and family. It’s a film about being proud and respecting where you’ve come from, no matter what you manage to achieve in life; however grand or humble.” – Tim Estiloz, Boston Examiner

“When you think the movie should be hitting home harder, it doesn’t.” – Sam Cohen, Sumo Skinny

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

“A bitingly fake documentary about four New Zealand blood suckers sharing a flat: THE REAL WORLD for the undead.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

“…A witty gem of a movie. Mixing horror comedy with reality-TV tropes and Christopher Guest’s mockumentary style storytelling…” – Monica Castillo, International Business Times

“…Waititi and Clement hit the precise balance between playing to the niche and letting the rest of us in on the joke.” – Andy Crump, Badass Digest

TIMBUKTU

“…the few scenes of violence in the film are so visceral, so disturbing that you’ll be haunted by them long after the lights come back on.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

THE LAST FIVE YEARS

“Overall, THE LAST FIVE YEARS Years is a pleasant distraction and features solid performances from its leads.” – Monica Castillo, International Business Times

“Not only does Kendrick have a lovely voice tailor made for show tunes like the ones in this production, but she really knows how to sell a song to the audience through camera.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 01/30/2015

Posted on January 30, 2015 by bofca

PROJECT ALMANAC

” …it doesn’t quite work, but the young teen audience this movie is being pitched to probably won’t mind.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“PROJECT ALMANAC attempts and mostly succeeds at taking something weary in cinema and breathing an EDM-laden breath directly onto the screen.” – Sam Cohen, Under the Gun Review

“I can’t completely rip PROJECT ALMANAC apart since there are a few interesting features that I think are decent, but I do wish they could have cleaned it up a bit while giving us more to get excited about.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

BLACK SEA

“BLACK SEA is a leaky ship.” – Sam Cohen, Sumo Skinny

“While it’s hard to legitimately recommend BLACK SEA to people, it wouldn’t hurt to check it out if you may be interested in something like this.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY

“DUKE OF BURGUNDY is the BDSM masterpiece that we didn’t know we needed, but we can sure marvel at its beauty.” – Max Covill, Fresh From the Theatre

“The film is exquisitely framed and composed and moodily lit by cinematographer Nic Knowland, who has an eye for texture, be it ranks of butterfles pinned up in museum-quality mounts, or frilly underthings swimming delicately in soap suds.” – Killan Melloy, Edge Boston

“THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY will have an impact on you whether or not its constituent components are taken literally.” – Kristofer Jenson, Dig Boston

“Just don’t call it a love story.”. – Jake Mulligan, Movie Mezzanine

MOMMY

“While I feel MOMMY was unjustly overlooked when it came to being nominated for any Oscars, it certainly is a film that’s worth paying attention to.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

Boston Online Film Critics Association

The Boston Online Film Critics Association was established in May of 2012 to foster a community of web-based film critics.

Tag Archives: Review Round-Up

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 04/10/2015

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 04/03/2015

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 03/20/2015

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 02/20/2015

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 01/30/2015