Kyle Amato

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BUFF 25 DISPATCH, PART TWO: Shorts, Betrothals, and Lycanthropes

3 weeks ago | bostonhassle.com | Oscar Goff |Alexis den Boggende |Kyle Amato

The 2025 Boston Underground Film Festival ran from Wednesday, 3/19 through Sunday, 3/23 at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, and the Hassle’s intrepid writers Oscar Goff, Alexis den Boggende, and Kyle Amato were on the scene. Click here to catch up with the Hassle’s first dispatch from BUFF, and watch this space for our team’s continuing coverage!THE DUNWICH HORRORS dir.
REVIEW: The Garfield Movie (2024) dir. Mark Dindal

May 23, 2024 | bostonhassle.com | Kyle Amato

The Garfield Movie is lousy. Did you expect anything else? Maybe the exact nature of its lousiness will surprise you. Opening with a shocking number of production company logos, The Garfield Movie takes away most of Garfield’s defining misanthropic traits – he’s fine with Odie, he speaks in tones other than a bored drawl, he moves with urgency, he has genuine empathy, and he doesn’t even kick Nermal when presented with the opportunity, which many of us would take.
REVIEW: Babes (2024) dir. Pamela Adlon

May 17, 2024 | bostonhassle.com | Kyle Amato

Though we’re still feeling the effects of last year’s strikes (which, to clarify, were good and this is worth what they fought for), the first half of 2024 has been blessed enough to have actual comedies in theaters. Lisa Frankenstein, Problemista, Drive-Away Dolls, Stress Positions, and now the directorial debut of Pamela Adlon, Babes, are all comedies with jokes that have punchlines, not just weird awkward silences or fake pathos that feels unearned.
INTERVIEW: ‘DOGFIGHT’ Director Nancy Savoca and Producer Rich Guay

Apr 30, 2024 | bostonhassle.com | Kyle Amato

In honor of the Criterion release of Dogfight, an underseen romantic gem starring River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, I spoke with the film’s director Nancy Savoca and her husband and producer Rich Guay!BOSTON HASSLE: I love Dogfight. I got to see it a few years ago when TCM was doing a program highlighting female directors. My friend saw it on the schedule and recommended I watch it and I really enjoyed it. NANCY SAVOCA: I’m so glad. BH: When I saw it was coming out on Criterion I was thrilled.
REVIEW: Challengers (2024) dir. Luca Gudagnino

Apr 26, 2024 | bostonhassle.com | Kyle Amato

Rightfully the only film people are going to be talking about this spring, Challengers is a thrilling, sexy character study about the only good sports: tennis and kissing. Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist are all at the top of their game, cementing their places in the new generation of movie stars by making an actual film for adults that isn’t totally idiotic and doesn’t look like crap.
REVIEW: SPY x FAMILY CODE: White (2024) dir. Takashi Katagiri

Apr 19, 2024 | bostonhassle.com | Kyle Amato

Since its manga debut in 2019 and subsequent anime debut in 2022, SPY x FAMILY (written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo) has become a global phenomenon. Half espionage drama and half silly hijinks, the series focuses on a fake family composed of a spy, an assassin, and a telepath, navigating their secret lives during a Cold War-esque conflict.
REVIEW: The Beast (2024) dir. Bertrand Bonello

Apr 12, 2024 | bostonhassle.com | Kyle Amato

In a strange, totally implausible future where climate change has ravaged the planet and AI seems to have taken charge of humanity, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) is undergoing a procedure to “purify her DNA” by stripping her past lives of all strong emotions. To do this she must sleep in a bath full of black goo while previous versions of herself in 1910 and 2014 have meaningful encounters with a man named Louis (George MacKay), who has a habit of coming into her life at crucial inflection points.
'Drive-Away Dolls' - queer comical road trip has drive

Feb 13, 2024 | ebar.com | Kyle Amato

The film world was given a strange shock when Academy Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen announced they'd be splitting up, each tackling their own passion projects. There seems to be no bad blood (Ethan was spotted attending the New York Film Festival premiere of "The Tragedy of Macbeth"), but the end of their partnership still feels significant.
REVIEW: Orion and the Dark (2024) dir. Sean Charmatz

Feb 2, 2024 | bostonhassle.com | Kyle Amato

Dreamworks and Charlie Kaufman may seem an odd pairing, but this is technically the second animated film Kaufman has scripted, following 2015’s Anomalisa. Orion and the Dark is Kaufman in miniature, an existential crisis for kids told with a ’90s comic strip style. I’ve been less enthused with what we can generously call “his whole thing” than some, but Kaufman’s brand of malaise is tamped down by necessity.
PREVIEW: The Brattle’s (Some of) The Best of 2023!

Jan 18, 2024 | bostonhassle.com | Kyle Amato |Oscar Goff |Anna Hoang |Nick Perry

It’s that time of year again: the studios have released their most prestigious offerings, Oscar nominations are imminent, and you’re about to realize (if you haven’t already) just how many movies you missed this year. Whether boning up for the awards-season blitzkrieg or simply looking to fill in your cultural gaps, catching up with a year’s worth of movies can be daunting. Thank god for the Brattle.