Kagemusha (1980; Akira Kurosawa) GRADE: A- By Mike Dub It might be hard to think that, at the age of seventy and already recognized around the world as a master of modern cinema, Akira Kurosawa would be capable of surprising us with a film that is as grand […]
Dersu Uzala (1975; Akira Kurosawa) GRADE: B- By Mike Dub Kurosawa has always been considered by critics to exhibit the most “western” style of filmmaking of all the Japanese greats. So it shouldn’t come as too big a surprise that Dersu Uzala at times feels more like one […]
The Zero Theorem (2014; Terry Gilliam) GRADE: C+ By Daniel Barnes In the opening shots of Terry Gilliam’s cheeky sci-fi dystopia The Zero Theorem, a bald, naked, future man studies the churning menace of a black hole on a large computer screen in an abandoned church. All the […]
Dodes-ka’Den (1970; Dir.: Akira Kurosawa) GRADE: B By Daniel Barnes Made in 1970 during a period of intense personal and professional turmoil, the ramshackle Dodes’ka-Den is a strange anomaly in the Kurosawa filmography. It was his long-awaited return to filmmaking after a string of high-profile projects withered on […]
Law Abiding Citizen (2009; F. Gary Gray) GRADE: D- By Daniel Barnes I graduated from college a little over a decade ago, but judging by a cursory Google News search, one of the most annoying and frustrating aspects of my campus experience continues to this day – the […]
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007; Cristian Mungiu) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes The first film in our Romanian New Wave festival was Corneliu Porumboiu’s low-key comedy 12:08 East of Bucharest, in which several men debate the existence of a “revolution” in their small town, with […]
