To Die For (1995; Gus Van Sant) GRADE: A- By Mike Dub Director Gus Van Sant has always been sympathetic to the anguish of teenagers. With varying quality (anything from My Own Private Idaho to Finding Forrester) his films express the troubles of American youth with great sensitivity. […]
Youth of the Beast (1963; Seijun Suzuki) GRADE: A- By Daniel Barnes “Irreverent Energy” Youth of the Beast is the first movie I have seen from Seijun Suzuki, the Japanese director best known for flashy crime films like Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter. I am eager […]
L’ECLISSE (1962; Michelangelo Antonioni) GRADE: B- By Daniel Barnes As much as Antonioni stripped the narratives of L’Avventura and La Notte down to their bare essentials, those films had natural forward momentum and classic narrative shapes. L’Avventura takes on the basic structure of an unsolvable, Laura-like mystery, while […]
Antoine and Colette (1962; Francois Truffaut) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes Every month in our Time of the Season feature, we will be offering seasonal movie suggestions based on a common theme. In honor of Valentine’s Day, our February Time of the Season theme is “First Love.” It’s […]
Fear (La Paura) (1954; Roberto Rossellini) Grade: B+ By Mike Dub Italian Neo-Realist director Roberto Rossellini and Hollywood superstar Ingrid Bergman engaged in one of the most scandalous affairs of the 1950s. Each was married when they worked together for the first time on Stromboli (released in 1950), […]
Exit to Eden (1994; Garry Marshall) GRADE: D- By Daniel Barnes *Originally published on The Barnesyard blog on October 20, 2005. If nothing else, Exit to Eden is an example of how attempting to play to every demographic will only wind up making everyone unhappy. The film is […]
