BOFCA MID-WEEK ROUNDUP FOR 10/28/15

Sean Burns reviews BONE TOMAHAWK, ALL THINGS MUST PASS and reports on IFFBoston’s Fall Focus

Deirdre Crimmins reviews BACKTRACK and THE DIABOLICAL

Kilian Melloy reviews THE EXPERIMENTER, HEART OF A DOG and Blu-rays for SOUTHPAW and DOWNTON ABBEY

Jared Bowen reports on the new director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Boston’s best performances

Andy Crump reviews THE ASSASSIN, BROOKLYN NINE-NINE, WE ARE THE ROOM, THE MUPPETS, new Criterion releases and The 15 Most Ridiculous Horror Movies

Jake Mulligan reviews STRAY DOG

Bob Chipman looks back at THE MANITOU

Spoilerpiece Theatre talks VICTORIA, BEASTS OF NO NATION and THE LAST WITCH HUNTER

Joyce Kulhawik reviews A SMALL GOOD THING

BOFCA MID-WEEK ROUNDUP 8/12/15

Jaskee Hickman looks at SAMBA

Joyce Kulhawik reviews THE RUNNER

John Black looks at ASSASSINATION

Bob Chipman looks at Forgotten Video-Game Heroines

Sean Burns reviews COP CAR and PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID

Sam Cohen reviews THE END OF THE TOUR

Jared Bowen looks at WAITRESS and David Lynch

Monica Castillo reports on AWKWARD Season 5

Spoilerpiece Theatre talks FANTASTIC FOUR and SHAUN THE SHEEP

Andy Crump looks at HOUSE and the Best of Criterion’s New Releases

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP 7/31/2015

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATIONMISSION

“The summer movie we’ve been waiting for: filled with action, exotic locations, and enough plot twists that you simply can’t check your brain at the door.” – Daniel Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“Prince Tom is on screen, at an operatic scale yet again. None shall sleep.” – Jake Mulligan, Dig Boston

“The way Cruise and Ferguson dispatch baddies clearly stronger than them is balletic, shooting people the way Astaire and Rogers danced: cheek-to-cheek.” – Sam Cohen, Under The Gun

“For a wildly fun, mindless night out at the movies don’t miss MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices

“Not much of a thought in its head but impeccably crafted nonetheless and always delightful to watch.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

“If nothing else, “Rogue Nation” has the sense to stick with what the “Mission: Impossible” movies do best.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE

“Proves to be one of the year’s best blockbuster action movies thus far.” – Tim Estiloz, El Mundo Boston

“Clearly falls short of Ghost Protocol, but there is some fun to be had if you can accept the lack of depth that we’re asked to watch.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

 

VACATIONVACATION (2015)

“Instead of relying on sight gags and absurdist humor (there’s an incest gag in the original film, people), Vacation follows a new family versed in more smarm than charm.” – Sam Cohen, Under The Gun

“Nothing in Vacation is spectacular, but you’ll most likely feel satisfied with what’s there after you’ve finished watching it.” – Jaskee Hickman, Cinematic Essential

“The original is much better. In fact, all four of the original Vacation movies – National Lampoon’s Vacation, European Vacation, Christmas Vacation and even Vegas Vacation – are better.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

 

A LEGO BRICKUMENTARYBRICKUMENTARY

“Directors Kief Davidson and Daniel Junge manage to capture the essence of what makes playing with these colorful plastic bricks so entertaining (some would say addictive) to those who do.” – John Black, Boston Event Guide

 

PHOENIX 2013PHOENIX

“A masterful melodrama that pays loving homage to cinema’s past.” – Charles Nash, EDGE

“…a German movie that is smartly and emotionally written, is beautifully acted, has a camera in the right spot with the right lighting in scene after scene and asks that the audience think for itself instead of leading it around by the dick.” – David Riedel, Santa Fe Reporter

 

 

SUGARTHAT SUGAR FILM

“The sight of the filmmaker munching on a sandwich of sugar cubes and spooning up sugar from a shockingly full cup is comical, but also revolting. He makes his point.” – Kilian Melloy, EDGE

 

irrational-man-woody-allen-810x486IRRATIONAL MAN

“Woody is famously averse to taking vacations, but sitting through IRRATIONAL MAN you’ll wish he’d try — just to give us one.” – Sean Burns, Spliced Personality

BOFCA MID-WEEK ROUNDUP – 2/25/2015

Megan Kearns opines on the Patricia Arquette Oscar controversy

Monica Castillo talks Oscar history, the new Aquaman, John Legend & Common’s “Glory” performance and Oscar win, Arquette and Sean Penn’s “green card” joke

Deidre Crimmins talks evil moms for BitchFlicks and reviews WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

SpoilerPiece talks The Oscars (pre-show)

Andrew Crump talks Oscar oversights

Tim Estiloz reports on Eva Longoria’s Harvard honor and interview’s THE DUFF’s Bianca Santos

John Black reviews THE LAST FIVE YEARS and WHAT WE DO IN THE DARK

Jared Bowen interviews Iran’s Parvis Tanavoli on OPEN STUDIO

BOFCA REVIEW ROUND-UP: 08/22/2014

green-sin-city-brand-new-poster-for-sin-city-a-dame-to-kill-for

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

 

IIS_03150.jpgIF 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

 

-a95292ef-59ef-4d77-ad66-d1963d60bb25FRANK

“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