COLOSSAL * * * 1 / 2
Starring Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, Austin Stowell, Tim Blake Nelson and Dan Stevens. Written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo.
Author Archives: Sean Burns
TWO BY CRONENBERG AT THE COOLIDGE
“Both pictures hinge upon their star’s rare ability to engage an audience while playing cards close to his vest, and the films are fraught with doppelgangers and doubles, characters and scenes designed to serve as distorted mirror images of one another. Cronenberg depicts violence as a virus, infecting the pastoral settings and perverting formerly idyllic interactions.” – Metro, 04/07/2017
AFTERMATH
AFTERMATH * *
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Scoot McNairy, Maggie Grace, Hanna Ware and Martin Donovan. Screenplay by Javier Gullon. Directed by Elliott Lester.
SALT AND FIRE
SALT AND FIRE * *
Starring Veronica Ferres, Michael Shannon, Gael Garcia Bernal, Volker Michalowski and Lawrence Krauss. Written for the screen and directed by Werner Herzog.
AFTER THE STORM
“This insistently compassionate filmmaker has spent the past twenty-odd years crafting the kind of modest, humane dramas that even indies have all but abandoned. Kore-eda films aren’t sexy or controversial, but in their small, observational ways offer unexpectedly complete emotional journeys. When they’re over, you feel like you’ve been somewhere.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 04/05/2017
THE ASSIGNMENT
THE ASSIGNMENT * * 1 / 2
Starring Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver, Caitlin Gerard, Anthony LaPaglia and Tony Shalhoub. Screenplay by Denis Hamill and Walter Hill. Directed by Walter Hill.
BOFCA REPERTORY PODCAST: APRIL 2017
Talking with fellow Boston Online Film Critics Association members Bob Chipman, Greg Vellante, Evan Crean and Charlie Nash about this month’s repertory offerings. Topics include double-shots from Cronenberg and Lynch at the Coolidge, the Arrival-esque shittiness of Robert Zemeckis’ Contact and going to the movies when you “got tired” beforehand. – BOFCA, 04/01/2017
GHOST IN THE SHELL
“The searching, philosophical qualities of the original have been tossed aside in favor of bold-stroke, blockbuster battles between good and evil, less concerned with what it means to be human than with showing Friday night audiences a grand old time. As far as dumb action movies go this is a great-looking one, but it should have been so much more.” – North Shore Movies, 03/31/2017
IT’S KIND OF A STURBRIDGE VILLAGE THING: ACCOMPANIST JEFF RAPSIS
“Remember, these films were made when the only place to see them was in a theater, usually with a lot of other people. To really understand why people first fell in love with the movies, you need to put Humpty Dumpty back together again and recreate the whole experience: the big screen, the live music, and, most importantly, the shared experience of the audience.” – Metro, 03/31/2017
THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER
THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER * * * 1 / 2
Starring Emma Roberts, Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Boynton, Lauren Holly and James Remar. Written and directed by Osgood Perkins.
SPLICED PERSONALITY 