My Life as a Zucchini (2017; Claude Barras) GRADE: B By Daniel Barnes Spoiler alert: this film is not about a little boy who transforms into a zucchini. That goofball title and the Pop Art-meets-Cubist character designs do nothing to prepare you for this relatively realistic and fairly […]
ANIMATED SHORT NOMINEES (arranged from best to worst) 1. Piper (Alan Barillaro; USA) 2. Pear Cider and Cigarettes (Robert Valley; Canada) These are the only two films in either program that rise above the squishy middle, and they couldn’t be more different. Pixar’s wordless, 6-minute Piper is a […]
By Daniel Barnes When you add up my weekly reviews in the Sacramento News & Review, my work here at E Street Film Society, and my contributions to other print and online publications, I penned nearly 200 published movie reviews in 2016. Whatever the results, I worked hard […]
A final awards season observation before we flush this turd of a year down the toilet: Critics groups and other end-of-year awards-giving organizations don’t honor the best so much as they honor the most. In other words, the award for best acting is really an award for the […]
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016; Gareth Edwards) GRADE: B- By Daniel Barnes *Opens everywhere December 16. After the joyless vapidity of the prequels, J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens rebooted the franchise back to its original settings. The film honored the past […]
Evolution (2016; Lucile Hadzihalilovic) GRADE: B- By Daniel Barnes *Opens today at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco. Evolution is an unusual, fairly original entry into the horror genre, blending Lost-style intrigue, Cronenberg-ian body horror and European neo-miserable disaffection. Unfortunately, despite a truly disturbing core and some nightmarish […]
