Trial by Fire (2019; Edward Zwick) GRADE: C+ By Daniel Barnes *Opens Friday, May 17, at the Tower Theatre in Sacramento. “Bold But Mercurial” Chunks of a pretty good prison movie occasionally bob to the surface of this bleeding-heart biopic about Cameron Todd Willingham. Unfortunately, they eventually drown […]
Pasolini (2019; Abel Ferrara) GRADE: C+ By Daniel Barnes *Opens Friday, May 10, in New York City, and expands to other select theaters in the following weeks. “Obsessed with Banality” After playing Vincent van Gogh in At Eternity’s Gate, Willem Dafoe continues his biopic tour of tragic artists with […]
Gotti (2018; Kevin Connolly) – Dare Daniel Podcast Episode 31 “Let’s get into this fucking travesty.” In this Family-friendly episode of the Dare Daniel Podcast, Mafia history buff Corky McDonnell and legitimate businessman Daniel Barnes take their whacks at Kevin Connolly’s 2018 critical punching bag biopic Gotti, starring John Travolta as […]
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Blaze (2018: Ethan Hawke) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes *Opens Friday, September 21, at the. Landmark Embarcadero and Sundance Kabuki in San Francisco and the Landmark Shattuck in Berkeley. Ethan Hawke gives the best performance of the year so far in my favorite film of 2018 so far […]
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (2017; Juho Kuosmanen) GRADE: C+ By Daniel Barnes Shot in a hazy and washed-out black-and-white, and so slight and unassuming that it barely qualifies as a movie, this true story about the titular Finnish boxer training for the fight […]
