Co-host of the Dare Daniel and Canon Fodder podcasts and a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle.
Kapo (1960; Gillo Pontecorvo) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes At the age of 17, I saw Schindler’s List in the movie theater along with everyone else and loved it along with everyone else. I never revisited the Spielberg film, but I remain somewhat suspicious of my affection for […]
The Class (2008; Laurent Cantet) GRADE: A- By Daniel Barnes While Hollywood films are typically and predictably dismissive of school teachers (and all public servants, really) as pedants, snobs, fascists, and/or layabouts, there also exists a mostly icky vein of educator-as-hero stories. Movies ranging from Goodbye, Mr. Chips […]
Equus (1977; Sidney Lumet) GRADE: B- By Daniel Barnes Adapted from a Tony Award-winning play by Peter Shaffer, Equus came at a seemingly perfect time for director Sidney Lumet to shepherd a prestige production to the screen. A workhorse since his TV days, the economic limitations and concomitant […]
By Daniel Barnes and Mike Dub Daniel Barnes: My main reason for putting together this festival, beyond exploring a few actresses whose films I had never seen, was to examine cinematic sexuality in the silent era. As I said in my festival intro, movies don’t create trends, but […]
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014; Marc Webb) GRADE: C- By Daniel Barnes It is so difficult to relay in writing what doesn’t work about both The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and its 2011 predecessor. Both films rely heavily on tropes and clichés that worked for superhero movies in the […]
The Back-up Plan (2010; Alan Poul) GRADE: F By Daniel Barnes The “and” credit is hallowed ground in the opening credits of any film, an honorable position of respect not to be bestowed lightly. Naturally, the film’s stars are always listed first in a movie’s credits, followed by […]
