Elevator to the Gallows (1958; Louis Malle) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes This punchy debut feature from French New Wave satellite Louis Malle recently received a 2K digital restoration and a restored soundtrack. All the better to admire the documentary-style depiction of Paris nightlife and the electrifying jazz […]
Mia Madre (2016; Nanni Moretti) GRADE: C+ By Daniel Barnes The 39th annual Mill Valley Film Festival kicks off in about a month, and I plan to cover it here in a fashion similar to my 2014 and 2015 coverage. A full schedule comes out in a couple […]
Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World (2016; Werner Herzog) GRADE: C+ By Daniel Barnes *Opens Friday in San Francisco, Berkeley, Monterey, San Jose and San Rafael. From the “repulsive” corridors at UCLA where scientists invented the Internet to the gleaming surfaces of Elon Musk’s rocket lab, […]
Little Men (2016; Ira Sachs) GRADE: B- By Daniel Barnes With this melancholy number and 2014’s autumnal Love is Strange, the films of Ira Sachs are becoming the cinematic equivalent of rustling leaves. I’m sure that I don’t mean that as a compliment. While Little Men is a […]
Miss Sharon Jones! (2016; Barbara Kopple) GRADE: B By Daniel Barnes The 1960s soul revival band Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings built a worldwide reputation primarily on their electric live shows, gaining a devoted following without ever recording a hit song. At the center of the Dap-Kings sound […]
Phantom Boy (2016; Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol) GRADE: B By Daniel Barnes *Opens Friday at the Landmark Opera Plaza in San Francisco and the Landmark Shattuck in Berkeley. The New York-based independent distributor GKIDS is becoming as sure a sign of quality animated cinema as Pixar or […]
