Partisan (2015; Ariel Kleiman) GRADE: B By Daniel Barnes I’ve come to realize that I am abnormally fascinated by movies about cults, whether in the form of documentary (Jonestown: The Life and Death of People’s Temple), dramatic non-fiction (Patty Hearst), fiction loosely inspired by fact (The Sacrament), or […]
Finders Keepers (2015; Bryan Carberry and J. Clay Tweel) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes If there were an award for Best Documentary That You Least Expected to Be an Emotionally Involving, Lump-in-Your-Throat Examination of Grief, Ambition, Class Resentment, Imperious Fathers, Media Exploitation and Human Frailty, then this tabloid-ready […]
The Keeping Room (2015; Daniel Barber) GRADE: C- By Daniel Barnes Set in “The American South, 1865”, Daniel Barber’s pompous and lifeless The Keeping Room opens with a quote from the Civil War’s rampaging General Sherman: “War is cruelty.” Under Barber’s heavy-handed direction, it’s also tedious and inert, […]
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2015; Roy Andersson) GRADE: A By Daniel Barnes “I’m happy to hear you’re doing fine.” A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence is the best film of the year so far, and it’s not that close. It […]
The Mend (2015; John Magary) GRADE: A- By Daniel Barnes “Tense and Liberated” From where in the wide world of fucks did this crazy thing come? First-time writer-director John Magary makes an exhilarating debut with The Mend. This NYC-based comedy of ill manners exudes weird, nervous energy from […]
The New Girlfriend (2015; Francois Ozon) GRADE: B- By Daniel Barnes *Opens today at the Clay Theatre in San Francisco, the Piedmont Theatre in Oakland, the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael, and the Landmark Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley. Popular and prolific French auteur Francois […]
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