The Three Faces of Eve (1957; Nunnally Johnson) GRADE: B- By Mike Dub The Three Faces of Eve, the true story of a woman suffering from multiple personality disorder, debuted at an interesting crossroads. Released in 1957, as psychiatry was growing both in terms of practice and social […]
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014; Marc Webb) GRADE: C- By Daniel Barnes It is so difficult to relay in writing what doesn’t work about both The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and its 2011 predecessor. Both films rely heavily on tropes and clichés that worked for superhero movies in the […]
By Mike Dub Edward Everett Horton was one of the first great character actors of the sound era. A veteran of the stage by the time he joined Hollywood in the early 1920s, Horton was one of the actors for whom the looming sound era was not a […]
The Back-up Plan (2010; Alan Poul) GRADE: F By Daniel Barnes The “and” credit is hallowed ground in the opening credits of any film, an honorable position of respect not to be bestowed lightly. Naturally, the film’s stars are always listed first in a movie’s credits, followed by […]
Strange Days (1995; Kathryn Bigelow) GRADE: C By Daniel Barnes One of the fascinating and unfortunate things about director Kathryn Bigelow is her natural and often exploitative appropriation of the male gaze. As I wrote in this 2010 SN&R column on Bigelow, “Her great cinematic obsession is the […]
Pandora’s Box (1929; G.W. Pabst) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes Some people have argued that the black bob haircut popularly associated with Louise Brooks was first sported onscreen by actress Colleen Moore. This may be true, even if pre-fame photos of Brooks show her with an evolving version […]
