Annette (2021; Leos Carax) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes *Now playing in select theaters; premiering on Amazon Prime on Aug. 20. “So, may we start?” The best film of the year so far. Holy Motors director Carax takes the logical next step with his English-language debut Annette, an anti-ecstatic […]
Nine Days (2021; Edson Oda) GRADE: C+ By Daniel Barnes *Opening today at the Tower Theatre in Sacramento. “This has nothing to do with being good or bad.” Accomplished short film and commercial director Oda makes his feature-length debut with this uneven existential fantasy. Winston Duke (Us) gives […]
Jungle Cruise (2021; Jaume Collet-Serra) GRADE: D By Daniel Barnes *Now playing in wide release and streaming on Disney+ with Premier Access. Knockoffs Upon Knockoffs Based on an opening day Disneyland ride heavily inspired by John Huston’s The African Queen, the long-delayed Jungle Cruise is unnecessary, unoriginal and practically […]
Black Widow (2021; Cate Shortland) GRADE: C- By Daniel Barnes *Now playing in wide release and streaming on Disney+ Premier Access. MCU Filler Material In a tightly structured movie, the characters and the story become inseparable, with one element informing and supporting the other. Think of story and […]
Zola (2021; Janicza Bravo) GRADE: B- By Daniel Barnes *Now playing. “It’s kind of long, but it’s full of suspense.” So begins #thestory, A’Ziah Zola King’s 2015 Twitter thread recounting a Florida “ho trip” gone wrong. However, while a 148-tweet thread epic for Twitter, the film version of […]
Crimson Gold (2003; Jafar Panahi) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes *Opening Friday, June 25, in virtual cinemas nationwide. Incisive Naturalism Crimson Gold opens with a single-shot jewel heist gone wrong, then circles back to the origin story of the misguided thieves. It may bear the trappings of a […]
