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| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
26275 |
| Total Ratings: |
247309 |
| Total Reviews: |
26424 |
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| TRANSCENDENCE |
"At Last--This Generation's "Lawnmower Man""
Peter Sobczynski says... ""Transcendence" is a would-be technological thriller that not only utterly fails to achieve its titular state but cannot even work up the necessary oomph to make it to the level of basic competence. It has a potentially promising premise and a strong cast but both are squandered on an end product that wastes both thanks to clumsy screenwriting, listless acting and a fundamental lack of interest and insight into the issues that it raises and then abandons. Put it this way--if you ever wanted to see what a David Cronenberg movie might be like if all of the quirky, icky and genuinely thought-provoking concepts that make his films so distinctive were kicked to the curb in exchange for a jumbo-sized production budget and a star-studded cast, this is your kind of movie. For everyone else, this is one the kind of dopey potboiler that is all the more frustrating because it clearly thinks that it is smarter and more profound than it really is." (more)
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| OTHER WOMAN, THE (2014) |
"The road to hell is paved with Nicki Minaj cameos"
Daniel Kelly says... "It’s likely that director Nick Cassavetes believes “The Other Woman” to be an empowering mainstream comedy, a flick in which sisters really are doing it for themselves. The reality of the situation is different; the film an imbecilic and withered concoction of flat humour and creepy plotting. “The Other Woman” feels like a calculated attempt to offend audiences, particularly those of the fairer sex, at whom this celluloid dump has been unapologetically marketed. Its character choices and fixation with middle-class strife intensify the nausea, but ultimately it’s the witless writing that sinks the enterprise. Granted, no movie that features multiple poop gags, an impossibly gross Don Johnson subplot and a Nicki Minaj cameo has much of a chance, but a few solid rib-ticklers might just have made it bearable. Instead “The Other Woman” bungles even the easiest bursts of jesting, focusing on its overstretched narrative and deplorable consequences." (more)
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| STARRY EYES |
"Does not have to sell its soul to tell its story."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT BOSTON UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 16: I am going to guess that the makers of "Starry Eyes" have not necessarily always enjoyed their time trying to make it in L.A. Sure, just by having made this movie, they have managed to get further than their characters, but it's not hard to see the inspiration for this movie: Take everything people say in jest about what it takes to succeed in Hollywood, and mean it." (more)
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| JOE |
"Two greats do their best work in years in the same movie."
Jay Seaver says... "Look at "Joe", and you see a couple of people who haven't necessarily done their best work for the past few years. Some will say director David Gordon Green's "Prince Avalanche" was a return to form after a string of crude Hollywood comedies, but even those who liked it more than I can look at star Nicolas Cage's career and point out that just doing one good movie doesn't put things back on the right track; you've got to stick with it. And while there's no guarantee that this is the start of a good run for either, it's the best work either has done for some time, both working at the top of their game to make a terrific movie." (more)
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| CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY |
"Making mountains out of molehills for amoral merriment."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT BOSTON UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 16: Even by black comedy standards, "Crimes Against Humanity" is kind of on the mean side. That's no knock; mean can work, especially in a movie like this that is more about tying jokes together than building to one thing - especially if it's got some pretty good jokes." (more)
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| QUIET ONES, THE (2014) |
"Anything but quiet"
Daniel Kelly says... "The reinvention of Hammer Studios hasn’t really worked thus far. 2010’s “Let Me In” was a functional but inferior remake of a stronger Swedish picture and 2012’s “The Woman in Black” whilst lucrative, was stricken by anaemia. However these misfits represent the best Hammer has been able to conjure post rejuvenation, and that fact doesn’t change with “The Quiet Ones”. Taking traditional Hammer tropes (haunted houses and sinister intellectuals) and combining them with found-footage shooting feels more desperate than inspired. In the wake of last summer’s “The Conjuring” (which dealt in a similarly jolty aesthetic) “The Quiet Ones” comes off as terribly flat. The casting of Jared Harris proves amusing, but the rest of the enterprise stutters with alarming regularity." (more)
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| CALVARY |
"Have you heard the one about the priest and the murderer at confession?"
Daniel Kelly says... "John Michael McDonagh’s “The Guard” was a darkly-gilded and anarchic debut, a morality tale preoccupied with roving bursts of challenging comedy and a superb exhibition of anti-hero attitude courtesy of Irish national treasure Brendan Gleeson. The duo reunite with “Calvary”; switching their focus from law enforcement to religious institution, taking the narrative to parts of Ireland that make the Galway of “The Guard” look like a hub of metropolitan energy. “Calvary” adopts a bleaker and even more introspective tone than its predecessor, asking questions about faith that the Irish population constantly need posed. The issues it raises have informed Irish public affairs and ethical debate for decades, but rarely have they been so delicately positioned within the sphere of art. It’s a film that should ascertain praise from all sorts of viewers due to its gorgeous form and strong character study, but those with bonds to the Catholic Church or Ireland itself should uncover extra resonance in this ball of subdued fire. There’s a raw honesty and aura of torment to “Calvary” that renders the dying moments of Stephen Frears’ “Philomena” superfluous by comparison." (more)
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| DRAFT DAY |
"They Want To Play For Cleveland? Must Be Fantasy Football"
Peter Sobczynski says... "Ever watch a football game where one team builds up such a commanding lead in the first half that they decide to put the rest of the match in the hands of the lesser scrubs and they somehow manage to transform an easy win into a heartbreaking and disappointing loss? The new sports-themed comedy-drama "Draft Day" is a lot like that. For roughly the first half of its running time, it provides viewers with an intriguing look at the behind-the-scenes machinations of a football franchise during the annual event in which destinies can be made and destroyed long before the players even hit the field but then it squanders it with a second half that makes that old Disney movie about the place-kicking mule seem plausible by comparison. This is a bummer because the film does have some smarts and a nice lead performance by Kevin Costner but not even they can help a finale so ridiculously contrived that it would leave even Chris Berman speechless, which might be its only advantage." (more)
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'THEY MARCH YOU IN NAKED AS THE DAY YOU WERE BORN, SKIN BURNING AND HALF BLIND FROM THAT DELOUSING SHIT THEY THROW ON YOU, AND WHEN THEY PUT YOU IN THAT CELL... '
- Red, The Shawshank Redemption
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