2014

Posted on September 12, 2014 by bofca

THE DROP

“What you have here in THE DROP is a solid film that does a bunch of things well, but nothing really amazing.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“Sometimes you need coincidence for the sake of a good thrill, and THE DROP has thrills to spare.” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

“It’s a flabby Boston noir transplanted to Brooklyn for budgetary purposes, starring Tom Hardy as a sad-sack bartender who finds a new lease on life when he discovers an abused puppy pitbull stuffed in a garbage can.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“…THE DROP is a classy, intelligent genre exercise, and a worthy sendoff for Gandolfini.” – Kristofer Jenson, Dig Boston

DOLPHIN TALE 2

“You could accuse DOLPHIN TALE 2 of trying to have its kelp and eat it too. But the whole thing just works; the film gets pretty close to the Platonic ideal of accessible but still meaningful edutainment.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

“…as a story that’s designed for kids, this movie conveys important messages on the values of treating sea creatures as animals that belong in their natural habitat, as opposed to exotic pets that exist merely for our own entertainment.” – Charlie Nash, Edge Boston

“The characters are sympathetic, the families care about one another, the theme of not letting your disabilities own you is so resonant that it’s allowed to be as overt as it is, and there’s even a genuine struggle as difficult as the grimmest of grown-up movies.” – Kristofer Jenson, C-Ville Weekly

“If you don’t have youngsters in tow, there’s no reason to waste any time with this.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

NO GOOD DEED

“Much of the scant 84-minute running time is wasted on loud noises: a crash here, a car alarm there.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

BOFCA Review Round-Up: 09/05/2014

Posted on September 5, 2014 by bofca

LOVE IS STRANGE

“If the struggle for gay marriage has taught us anything, it’s that love is patient, love is kind, but same-sex love is a fount of bureaucratic nightmares.” – Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

“How long did Lithgow and Molina film before their relationship felt so lived in? Within the first few moments of separation, we can see the anguish etched into the actors’ faces.” – Monica Castillo, Movie Mezzanine

THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD

“Structured clunkily as a series of flashbacks, as Florence relates the story to a writer looking to wring a sensationalistic book out of the scandal, THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD has a workmanlike feel and, often, a tin ear.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

“The best thing THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD does is focus on the Aadlands and how they were affected by this man’s (waning) power and influence.” – Kristofer Jenson, C-Ville Weekly

INNOCENCE

“The story has (Kelly) Reilly go from being the standoffish headmistress to banging Beckett’s dad with no real dramatic reason – or real reaction from anybody else in the film. It’s unbelievable, but so is most of what you see.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 08/29/2014

Posted on August 29, 2014 by bofca

THE NOVEMBER MAN

“Sure, it’s dumb. You already knew that. But it’s worse than that.” – Kristofer Jenson, C-Ville Weekly

“Donaldson knows the nuts and bolts of his craft and, perhaps more importantly, knows when to stay out of the way.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“Because of the fact that they take no risks with THE NOVEMBER MAN, the vast majority of the audience who sees it will come out realizing that there is also no reward.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“It’s significant because one’s expectations for the releases just before Labor Day is that they are trash being swept out the door by the studios.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

“There’s so much about this film that sounds right on paper that it’s amazing how much it gets mangled in execution.” – Andy Crump, Movie Mezzanine

“AS ABOVE/SO BELOW is easily one of the worst movies of the year.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“…if you like those amusement park rides, or want to enjoy the feeling of claustrophobia from the comfort of a roomy movie theater, AS ABOVE, SO BELOW does say “boo!” often enough to provide a few jolts or nervous laughs.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

LIFE OF CRIME

“Life of Crime is an entertaining movie featuring adult content, but it’s actually relatively safe for something that’s mainly about kidnapping and extortion.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“…while there is a nice bit of turnabout at the end—it is a Leonard plot, after all—the
rest of the picture lacks the precise comic beats that made other Leonard adaptations so memorable.” – Brett Michel, The Improper Bostonian

“Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) and John Hawkes work very well together…at least as actors. The dialogue they share sparkles, especially as their plan starts to go astray and it seems only a matter of time before their words turn deadly.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

THE TRIP TO ITALY

“…it’s difficult to imagine how anyone with even a mild affinity for dry English wit and ennui could be turned off by Brydon’s and Coogan’s sharp brand of self-aware, self-deprecating banter; these guys have the rapid fire ebb and flow of witty discourse down to a science.” – Andy Crump, Movie Mezzanine

“While two middle aged men driving around listening to Alanis Morissette may be a funny idea, it doesn’t work at all in the movie, although Coogan and Brydon seem to disagree and milk it dry with increasingly little to laugh about every time they bring it up.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

Much of the joy in THE TRIP TO ITALY revolves around Coogan and Brydon doing spotless impersonations of famous actors (Brydon’s Hugh Grant is so good you’d swear he was there), and taking barbed but loving jabs at each other’s abilities. – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

THE ONE I LOVE

“Terrific ideas for setups don’t always come with equally terrific notions for resolutions.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

THE CONGRESS

“Bashir’s flights of fancy in the animated half can be dazzling, until it returns to the plot that it never fully established.” – Kristofer Jenson, Dig Boston

“A free-flowing, wackadoo meditation on stardom, identity, illusions, ageism, technology, the life and work of Robin Wright, chemical dependency, kites and whatever else crossed the filmmaker’s mind at any given moment. Then about halfway through it becomes an animated adaptation of a Stanislaw Lem book. Yeah, there’s a lot going on here.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

A LETTER TO MOMO

“…while the story and acting is all top notch in the movie, the real stars of A LETTER TO MOMO may just be the team of artists and animators who spent seven years making the movie.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

Adults will quickly be able to decode the central mystery here, or suss out the details enough to make an educated guess, but A Letter to Momo really isn’t for them. It’s for their kids. If you need proof, then let the film’s one well-timed fart joke do the talking. Your whippersnappers will probably laugh their pants off. – Andy Crump, Movie Mezzanine

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 08/22/2014

Posted on August 22, 2014 by bofca

SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR

“It’s weirdly enervated and the novelty has worn off. A DAME TO KILL FOR is almost a half-hour shorter than its predecessor yet feels twice as long.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“If directors Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez spent half the time writing a better script than they did on coming up with ways to get Eva Green to stick her naked boobs out at the camera, SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR For might have been an entertaining movie.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

“Sensitive moviegoers may complain about the film’s relentless celebration of bad taste. What they really ought to be offended by is its sloppy craft.” – Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

“The most detrimental difference between A DAME TO KILL FOR and its predecessor is that it takes itself too seriously. The film fails to achieve the same balance of over-the-top violence and biting humor that Sin City pioneered.” – Evan Crean, Starpulse

“For an action movie that boasts features large quantities of blood being splashed around the screen like water in a swimming pool during the heart of the summer, it’s a bit shocking that much of SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR is as dry and as lifeless as it is.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“…SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR has finally hit theaters, and it feels less like a long-awaited arrival and more like a term paper that is thrown together at the last second by piecing together previous assignments and using a thesaurus to hide its self-plagiarism.” – Kristofer Jenson, Dig Boston

“This is the second time this year [Eva Green] has done the femme fatale thing in a Frank Miller sequel nobody asked for, and the second time she’s bent the whole damn picture over a rail to get the job done – between this and 300 she’s gonna be THE feminine ideal in the eyes of an entire generation of horny young brats.” – Bob Chipman, Escapist

“It’s not exactly a “check your brain at the door” sort of movie, but it is one that appeals to our more animal instincts.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“It’s unfortunate to report, then, that the film’s long-awaited sequel — nine years in the making — SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR ultimately feels stale and monotonous, despite its abundance of delicious eye-candy. – Charlie Nash, Edge Boston

IF I STAY

“IF I STAY eventually begins to dissolve into something that made me want to walk out of the theater as fast as I could.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“What might have been simply a cheap bid for tears turns into a complex portrait of a girl navigating an extremely difficult path to adulthood.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“Just make the goddamn choice.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

FRANK

“The audience will get to experience a smooth ride with Frank with some expectedly rough edges that will take them to a place where they’ll be satisfied with after the journey ends.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 08/15/2014

Posted on August 15, 2014 by bofca

THE EXPENDABLES 3

“Hughes has no idea how to film his stars. All the would-be-iconic reveals fall flat, and everybody just appears uncomfortable at unflattering angles.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“THE EXPENDABLES 3 is an action movie that clearly just wants to have a good time doing whatever they can think of for about two hours before the end credits begin to roll.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“While many critics have, correctly, noted how much the EXPENDABLES series owes to ‘80s action films, Stallone has a deeper debt to an entirely different group of movies: the 1956 AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD, and WHO FRAME ROGER RABBIT?” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“The film pays so little attention to narrative that the plot (not really very different from that of the second movie, 2012’s THE EXPENDABLES 2) scarcely registers.” – Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston

THE GIVER

“There’s nothing groundbreaking in THE GIVER, but it’s a nice movie overall that should satisfy fans of Lois Lowry’s award-winning novel.” – Jaskee Hickman, The Movie Picture Show

“In the movies, as in life, timing is everything. In the case of THE GIVER, it’s a movie that’s several years too late.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, Sci-Fi Movie Page

RICH HILL

“Not a stretch goes by without a tragedy, in fact – it’s as if Palermo and Tragos picking the moments and images that will pack the most punch, with no regard for the rhythm of actual day-to-day life.” – Jake Mulligan, Edge Boston

LAND HO!

“LAND HO! is going to be massive at the blue-haired art-house I frequent where I’m always at least three decades younger than everybody else in attendance. And deservedly so: the sucker plays.” – Sean Burns, Movie Mezzanine

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 roundup

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