BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP: 6/7/2024

MICKEY HARDAWAY

“Marcellus Cox makes a powerful debut with his first feature film, Mickey Hardaway.” Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

 

 

THE MATTACHINE FAMILY

The Mattachine Family shows that we’ve come a long way from a time when a character being gay was the “issue” the film needed to address. Instead, in focusing on the particular lives of these characters, it succeeds in speaking about friendship and family in ways that ought to connect to everyone.” Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP: 3/15/2024

FRENCH GIRL

“French Girl is a serviceable romantic comedy that could have been better, with a solid cast that makes the most of its benefits and does its best with its deficits.” Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

 

ONE LIFE

“Some may find the film overly sentimental, but it earns those emotions honestly. It’s hard not to be moved to tears at the moment when the elder Winton is confronted with the enormity of what he accomplished.” Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

UPROAR

“From the outset, Uproar, directed by Paul Middleditch and Hamish Bennett, captured my imagination and stole my heart. While it certainly has much to say about the characters’ time, place, and culture, Uproar does it with a universal voice.”John Black, Cinekong

ESCAPE

Yes, there are women in bikinis who get kidnapped by a ruthless (and creepy) gang of criminals, and some of them fire guns before the film ends. But thanks to writer/director Howard J. Ford, Escape is nothing cheap or salacious; it’s all about empowerment—and bloody, well-deserved revenge.John Black, Cinekong

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP: 7/21/2023

BARBIE

“Barbie’s about to confront real life, feet on the ground…until Greta and co-writer/husband Noah Baumbach turn into Chatty Cathy (also created by Ms. Handler) and kill the momentum by scripting the elaborate details of a metaphysical portal to the real world, how to get there, all the gadgets on the journey and why weird Barbie is weird.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices

“The biggest message that we all have to find our own way.” – Byron McNeal, On The Reel On Tumblr

“The movie revels in the history of Barbie, from the related dolls that didn’t quite take off (including one that got pregnant), to the notion that the doll presents both an impossible physical ideal and yet also allowed the children playing with Barbies to imagine endless possibilities not only for her but for themselves.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

OPPENHEIMER

“Nolan has not only crafted one of the best films of year. He has made one that will be watched and discussed long after much of its competition has been forgotten.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

“Christopher Nolan has orchestrated a blazing field of talent around a detailed, masterfully edited, multi-faceted plot with a central core: the making of the bomb and its fallout, globally and personally for the genius at the helm: J. Robert Oppenheimer.” – Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices

BOFCA REVIEW ROUNDUP: 7/7/2023

TIGER WITHIN

“By focusing on the interior life of only one of the two main characters, Tiger Within is more of a missed opportunity than a film rediscovery.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

 

BIOSPHERE

“In a 53-minute segment of an anthology series, they might have gotten away with the audacity of their premise. At twice that length, this is at best a potential cult film for a limited audience.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies

THE OUT-LAWS

“Perhaps one of the few benefits of the pandemic is that this is the sort of movie unlikely to attract theater-going audiences anymore.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies