Neon Bull (2016; Gabriel Mascaro) GRADE: B By Daniel Barnes A documentary filmmaker making only his second narrative feature, writer-director Mascaro invests the entrancing and upsetting Neon Bull with equal parts lived-in authenticity and dreamlike beauty. Neon Bull follows a surrogate family of cowhands and entertainers at the […]
Dragon Inn (1967; King Hu) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes A landmark of Taiwanese cinema and one of the most influential Chinese-language films ever made, the beautifully restored version of the 1967 wuxia staple Dragon Inn makes its way to San Francisco for a brief theatrical run. The […]
Office (2015; Johnnie To) GRADE: B By Daniel Barnes After a brief post-TIFF Bay Area engagement last fall, prolific Hong Kong producer-director Johnnie To’s corporate workplace musical Office gets another run at the California Theatre in Berkeley. To is best known stateside for crime and action movies like […]
Francofonia (2016; Alexander Sokurov) GRADE: B- By Daniel Barnes Another meta-documentary about a famous museum from Russian Ark director Alexander Sokurov, and seemingly starring the same faceless narrator. However, Francofonia is less of a swooning and immersive cinematic experience than a free-range, multi-media essay about the survival of […]
Louder Than Bombs (2016; Joachim Trier) GRADE: B- By Daniel Barnes Denmark-born, Norway-based filmmaker Joachim Trier scored a critical hit in 2012 with the dark-night-of-the-soul drama Oslo August 31st. That somewhat overpraised film followed a recovering junkie descending back into addiction over a long night. The more appropriately […]
Fireworks Wednesday (2006; Asghar Farhadi) GRADE: B By Daniel Barnes After the overwhelming acclaim of A Separation and a mini-crossover with The Past, the early films of Iranian director Asghar Farhadi have started trickling into American arthouses. His excellent 2009 film About Elly toured stateside arthouse theaters last […]
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