Blogcritics Author: Tony Dayoub

Movie Review: The Wrestler

Tony Dayoub — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 22:03:15 EDT

An ode to Mickey Rourke...
Mickey Rourke triumphantly returns to the screen in the best role he's played since... Marv in Sin City (2005)? Well, that wasn't so long ago. Yet it seems that every time Rourke continues to impress us with a tour-de-force performance, as he does in Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler, he is hailed as the "Comeback Kid," when in...

Movie Review: McCabe & Mrs. Miller

Tony Dayoub — Sun, 7 Sep 2008 13:21:04 EDT

Robert Altman's subversive western is examined almost forty years after its release.
Perhaps it was the disillusionment with Vietnam, or the revolutionary assault of American society by its younger generation that led to the marked change in film from the sixties into the seventies. One thing is certain, westerns had up until then been the dominant genre in American film. And as the realities of the civil rights movement, anti-war...

Movie Review: Elegy

Tony Dayoub — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 16:12:44 EDT

Character piece is year's first serious Oscar contender.
The year's first serious Oscar contender, Elegy, directed by Spain's Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me), is a fascinating character piece. Ben Kingsley (Sexy Beast) gives one of his most vulnerable performances as college professor David Kepesh, an egotist and womanizer left nursing a growing insecurity after starting a relationship with...

Movie Review: The Express

Tony Dayoub — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:05:16 EDT

Football flick falls prey to the usual cliches.
The Express is the story of Ernie Davis (played by Rob Brown), the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy. Davis was actually given the moniker of "The Elmira Express" since he was from Elmira, New York. Though based on a true story, the fact that the film's title has been modified to make it more marketable is indicative of...

DVD Review: Redbelt

Tony Dayoub — Thu, 7 Aug 2008 17:39:06 EDT

Mamet's mixed martial arts movie is a magnificent mashup
Redbelt is writer-director David Mamet's exciting movie set in the burgeoning world of mixed martial arts. The movie's diverse cast is brought together from the worlds of sports, film, and Mamet's usual ensemble. This riveting film is a mashup of two classic genres, the samurai movie and the fight movie. Using some of the traditional...

DVD Review: The Bank Job

Tony Dayoub — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:25:38 EDT

This intricate heist thriller is worth a look.
The Bank Job, directed by Roger Donaldson (Thirteen Days) is a little gem that surprised me. I admire its streamlined "all business" procedural attitude and the fact that not a minute is wasted on extraneous character touches. Note the use of the word "extraneous," for I don't mean that character personalities are ignored....

DVD Review: Batman: Gotham Knight

Tony Dayoub — Thu, 3 Jul 2008 00:41:58 EDT

The finest take yet on the Dark Knight
Why someone hadn't thought of this yet is a surprise to me. Available on July 8, Warner Premiere's newest direct-to-DVD release, Batman: Gotham Knight, is a anime-influenced feature that ostensibly bridges the gap between Batman Begins and the yet to be released The Dark Knight. It is reminiscent in tone and design to Warner's earlier...

Movie Review: My Blueberry Nights

Tony Dayoub — Tue, 1 Jul 2008 08:24:35 EDT

Singer Norah Jones debuts in Wong Kar Wai 's first English language film.
Wong Kar Wai's films live in the space between romantic daydreaming and obsessive longing. His films dwell in the ether that hangs over nostalgia for an ex-lover, where one idealizes all of that person's qualities and flaws fade away. Music that may have played in the background of a long ago encounter is never forgotten. It twists itself...

Movie Review: The Incredible Hulk

Tony Dayoub — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:35:10 EDT

How Universal and Marvel successfully course-corrected the struggling franchise.
Place me firmly in the camp of those who think that Ang Lee's Hulk (2003) is almost criminally underrated. Bringing his art house sensibilities to the project, Lee chose to focus on the complex, rage-filled father and son relationship that fueled Bruce Banner's anger management issues. Giving it an icy counterpoint in the father-daughter...

DVD Review: When the Moors Ruled in Europe

Tony Dayoub — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:29:34 EDT

A welcome alternate view of the rich and proud Islamic culture.
Hosted by Bettany Hughes, When the Moors Ruled in Europe is a stunningly beautiful and informative documentary that debunks a lot of the myths associated with the Moors' invasion of Europe. In the course of doing that, it also illuminates the rich and advanced Muslim society of the Middle Ages, presenting an alternative view of the Islamic...