Dan Barnes presents Movie City USA

In the words of DB himself:

Dear Friends,

Many of you may remember that I used to run a little film criticism blog called The Barnesyard. It provided me with an informal setting where I could "rap" with the kids about the real issues facing today's youth - the validity of the auteur theory, the effects of the monolithic American movie distribution model, early Ozu vs. late Ozu, peer pressure, bullies, and the like. I shut down The Barnesyard almost one year ago due to pressure from Homeland Security - apparently The Terrorists were so disemboldened by my tales of freedom that they had become lazy and uninteresting - but I'm ready to restart it under a different banner - Movie City USA at
www.moviecityusa.blogspot.com.

Essentially, Movie City USA is a more structured version of The Barnesyard, with a more intense focus on film reviews, games, polls, lists, quotes, and other regular and semi-regular movie-related features. I am rolling over many of the beloved Barnesyard recurring bits - Dare Daniel (first up: Stallone and Parton in "Rhinestone"), Bump It or Dump It (our first specimens: Robert Downey, Jr. and Ron Howard), Weekend Box Office predictions, Dan and Dub's Dueling Reviews (starting with reviews of Antonioni's 1957 "Il Grido") - but with a regular Monday-Friday posting schedule where each bit gets its own day. I am already working an amassing several weeks worth of content in order to stay regular. My good friend Mike Dub from Chicago (aka the SECOND most outlandishly obsessed film geek in the U.S.) will be making contributions to Movie City USA as well.

If you go check out the site now, you'll see that I have already put several lists, one poll question, and my posting schedule up. I will be putting up more lists throughout the week, and regular posting will begin on Monday, August 20. I hope to see some of you there. My e-mail address book is old and incomplete, so please spread the word to people you know who might be
interested in checking out Movie City USA. It should be a very fun and informative experience for all. Personally, I believe that movies are in worse shape now than they have been at any point in my lifetime - neutered, timid, unimaginative, un-cinematic juvenilia is the widescreen soup de jour - yet most film critics live in mortal fear of disturbing sacred cows. All I intend to do is bring a semblance of sanity and irreverence back to the proceedings.

Onward,

DB (www.moviecityusa.blogspot.com)

P.S.: I am ALWAYS accepting suggestions for Dare Daniel, Bump It or Dump It, Dueling Reviews, etc.

FFT responds: Just when I thought FFT was the premier film-blog-without-film-content blog in the 916, along comes the Barnes to fuck me over. My entire existence is predicated upon exclusivity and being one-of-a-kind. Now, I'm a nobody. I'm fucked. Thanks a lot Barnes, you jhole. (BTW, I corrected your misspellings of "dueling." You're welcome.)