The Act of Killing (2013; Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn and Anonymous) GRADE: A By Daniel Barnes *This review originally ran on March 6, 2014. Reprinted in anticipation of Joshua Oppenheimer’s follow-up film The Look of Silence. “More Profound Than Mere Fact” One of the great, unique, often intangible […]
Cartel Land (2015; Matthew Heineman) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes Beyond the usual genre themes of heroism and sacrifice, the greatest war films tend to project a sense of an intractable and ultimately unwinnable situation. Whether it be WWI in All Quiet on the Western Front or WWII […]
A Poem is a Naked Person (1974/2015; Les Blank) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes Documentarian Les Blank (Burden of Dreams) started shooting A Poem is a Naked Person in 1972 and completed it in 1974. However, the film was held up for decades by legal issues, and it’s […]
The Wolfpack (2015; Crystal Moselle) GRADE: B- By Daniel Barnes *Opens today at the Embarcadero Center Cinema in San Francisco, the Landmark Shattuck Cinema in Berkeley, and the Regency in San Rafael. Many hardcore cinephiles are socially maladroit misfits, and many more behave as though they learned how […]
Live From New York! (2015; Bao Nguyen) GRADE: C By Daniel Barnes WIFE: It’s a revolution! HUSBAND: It’s an institution! WIFE: It’s a revolution! HUSBAND: It’s an institution! WIFE: It’s a revolution, I’m telling you! HUSBAND: It’s an institution, you cow! SPOKESMAN: Hey, calm down, you two. Saturday […]
I Am Big Bird: The Carroll Spinney Story (2015; Dave LaMattina and Chad N. Walker) GRADE: B By Daniel Barnes A behind-the-scenes documentary about puppeteer Caroll Spinney, who played Big Bird (and Oscar the Grouch) for nearly fifty years. I Am Big Bird is a fascinating, open and […]
