Assault on the Pay Train (1962; Roberto Farias) Grade: B+ By Mike Dub Almost every heist movie ever made invests half its time depicting the expertise and professionalism involved in the detailed planning of the caper, then leads to an ostensibly heart-pounding climax in which the crime is […]
Intimidation (1960; Koreyoshi Kurahara) GRADE: B- Underworld Beauty (1958; Seijun Suzuki) GRADE: B+ Pale Flower (1964; Masahiro Shinoda) GRADE: A By Daniel Barnes On Saturday at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco, the “A Rare Noir is Good to Find! – International Film Noir 1949-1974” festival offers a […]
Ida (2014; Pawel Pawlikowski) GRADE: B- By Daniel Barnes “Understated and Carefully Controlled” Nominated for Best Cinematography and winner of Best Foreign Film at this year’s Academy Awards, the bone-dry, black-and-white Ida is the fifth film from Polish writer-director Pawel Pawlikowski, but it’s just his second in the […]
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011; Stephen Daldry) GRADE: D- By Daniel Barnes In the decade following the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Hollywood made a few films that attempted to recreate the events and aftermath of that day, most notably United 93 and World Trade Center. However, neither […]
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974; Martin Scorsese) GRADE: A- By Daniel Barnes In the recent Australian chiller The Babadook, Essie Davis plays a widowed mother who feels trapped by parenthood. She eventually becomes a greater threat to her screeching son than the titular monster. I thought about […]
Timbuktu (2014; Abderrahmane Sissako) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes This Best Foreign Film Oscar nominee from Mauritanian director Sissako (Bamako) looks at life in an African city forcibly placed under the rule of a new but brutal jihadist regime. Before your eyes glaze over and you start dreaming […]
