Critics Corner: EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT

Embrace_of_the_Serpent-863726984-largeBeautifully shot in black and white – a rarity these days – Ciro Guerro’s Embrace of the Serpent is Columbia’s nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, and deservedly so. An “elegy for lost cultures and an indictment of exploitation,” this saga of human endurance in the wilderness – also the theme of fellow Oscar nominee The Revenant – plays like “a rainforest fever dream.” Critics Daniel Barnes and Dennis Harvey present their takes on this vivid physical adventure, which opens  across North America in February and March.

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His and Hers Beer Notes – Sudwerk Uncle Fester

by Daniel Barnes and Darcey Self-Barnes

Uncle Fester Batch #4 (Sudwerk) 9.3% ABV Available at Sudwerk Dock Store through Brewers Cut membership (16.9 oz. bottle) and poured into mini wine glasses. This barrel-aged doppelbock from Sudwerk.

Uncle Fester Batch #4 (Sudwerk)

9.3% ABV

Available at Sudwerk Dock Store through Brewers Cut membership (16.9 oz. bottle) and poured into mini wine glasses. Continue reading

Critics Corner: A WAR

The Danes think enough of Tobias Lindholm’s A War to nominate it for best foreign-language film in this year’s Oscars. See how Bay Area reviewers Daniel Barnes and Richard von Busack view Lindholm’s “… look at the burden of leadership and the psychological toll of living through hell” in this week’s Critics Corner.

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Critics Corner: HAIL, CAESAR!

The Coen Brothers love the movies—making them and watching them. Their films often pay homage to classics from The Man Who Wasn’t There with its direct links to Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt (both black and white murder stories set in Santa Rosa) to O Brother Where Art Thou filled with references to Sullivan’s Travels (a movie about making movies). And now they return with a new behind-the-scenes look at the cinematic creative process so darkly explored with Barton Fink—but this time it is an all-star farce. Read what our film buff critics think about Hail, Caesar!

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