The Class (2008; Laurent Cantet) GRADE: A- By Daniel Barnes While Hollywood films are typically and predictably dismissive of school teachers (and all public servants, really) as pedants, snobs, fascists, and/or layabouts, there also exists a mostly icky vein of educator-as-hero stories. Movies ranging from Goodbye, Mr. Chips […]
Lianna (1983; John Sayles) GRADE: B+ By Mike Dub Lianna, the title character of John Sayles’ rich, graceful 1983 romantic drama, is a woman who has two teachers in her life. The first is her husband, Dick, a college film professor, with whom she began an affair when Lianna […]
Equus (1977; Sidney Lumet) GRADE: B- By Daniel Barnes Adapted from a Tony Award-winning play by Peter Shaffer, Equus came at a seemingly perfect time for director Sidney Lumet to shepherd a prestige production to the screen. A workhorse since his TV days, the economic limitations and concomitant […]
By Daniel Barnes and Mike Dub Daniel Barnes: My main reason for putting together this festival, beyond exploring a few actresses whose films I had never seen, was to examine cinematic sexuality in the silent era. As I said in my festival intro, movies don’t create trends, but […]
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 […]
