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 […]
Little Richard (2000; Robert Townsend) GRADE: D By Daniel Barnes *NOTE: This review was originally published on The Barnesyard in 2006. “Gentile, Quasi-Inspiring Treatment” Hollywood biopics are less filmed biographies than they are hagiographies. There is an assumption that every story should be “inspiring”, even if the subject […]
Against All Odds (1984; Taylor Hackford) GRADE: B- By Daniel Barnes The first few notes of synth-bass on the soundtrack and the fire engine red color of the opening credits unmistakably announce Against All Odds as a product of Reagan/Orwell’s 1984. However, the film’s roots lie in the […]
Rich Hill (2014; Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes *Now playing at the Roxie Theatre in San Francisco and the Landmark Shattuck in Berkeley. “Seething and Scowling” Rich Hill is a poor Missouri town about 75 minutes south of Kansas City, population […]
Freddy Got Fingered (2001; Tom Green) GRADE: D+ By Daniel Barnes “Annoy and Exhaust” The easiest and least honest way to dismiss the depressing grotesque of Tom Green’s Freddy Got Fingered is to insult the film solely for its wretched content. Yes, director-writer-star Green uses profoundly disturbing subjects […]
The End of Summer (1961; Yasujiro Ozu) GRADE: A- By Daniel Barnes “I was born, and here I am. That’s all that matters.” There is no more powerful a sequence of images in the cinema than a Yasujiro Ozu shot-reverse-shot. The great Japanese director was a master of […]
