Movie Review: She Said (2022)

by Tony Dayoub


The opening scenes in She Said, Maria Schrader's new movie about the media coverage that first addressed Hollywood's colossal #metoo problem, spend a considerable amount of time introducing us to the New York Times reporters at the center of the film, Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan). It contextualizes each of them within their respective family dynamics and contrasts their identities with respect to family life. There's Twohey—the WASP-y career-driven new mother contending with post-partum depression—and Kantor—the more family-oriented mom juggling her work, supervising kids' homework, and marriage while trying to maintain Jewish family traditions. It's not unusual for a movie to telescope their character's background details succinctly in order to get to the central themes, namely how these two women's distinctive backgrounds are the stage for the pervasive societal sexism they are exposing with their reporting.

Best of 2021: The 10 Best Films of the Year

by Tony Dayoub

(With Ukraine under fire and Europe on the verge of war, it seems like an odd time to discuss such a trivial matter as cinema. However, assembling this list helped distract me from current events in which I am largely helpless to affect change. I say largely because there are still avenues for assistance, one being Voices of Children, a Ukraine-based aid organization that provides psychological support to children who have witnessed war. It uses art therapy and storytelling to support children’s wellbeing, and provides financial support to families who have suffered as a result of war.  I encourage you to contribute.)

The 94th Academy Awards air on Sunday, March 27, so it's past time to share my picks for last year's best movies. As the way we watch movies is undergoing a slow transformation, and in the interest of assisting you in finding each film listed, the platform where each title can be streamed has been included whenever possible.

Here, for your consideration, are my top films of 2021 followed by the winners of the respective critics' polls I participated in.

Best of 2020: The 11 Best Films(?) of the Year (and just a few months more)

by Tony Dayoub

The question mark in the post title is because some have taken issue with whether my nominee for best film of the year is actually a movie or not (as I'll address when discussing it below). But then the pandemic made this a strange year, right? This morning, the Oscar nominees were announced. Due to the shutdown of movie theaters this year, the Academy extended their eligibility window to include films released all the way through February 28, 2021 instead of the usual deadline of December 31st. Of course, the other unusual consideration is that pictures need not have played theatrically for at least one week in New York and Los Angeles as is typically the case in previous years. An unexpected byproduct of the shutdown has been that it has allowed viewers' attention to shift from the popular blockbusters (which saw their releases mostly postponed this past year) to the smaller independent films that are usually crowded out by these tentpole movies.

Surprisingly then, 2020 turned out to be a staggeringly great year for cinema, especially in the arena of documentaries, for people of color, and for women. There were so many good nonfiction works in 2020 as to make it difficult to process which are the most memorable. Many of the movies below, in fact most, are either made by or focus on women or people of color. The other weird wrinkle this year is that many of these films can be streamed from home. Whenever possible, the platform where each title can be streamed has been included in the interest of assisting you, dear reader, in finding the movie.

Here, for your consideration, are my top films of 2020 (and the beginning of 2021) followed by the winners of the respective critics' polls I participated in.

Best of 2019: The 13 Best Films of the Year

by Tony Dayoub

It's Oscar Day! No predictions. Here, for your consideration, are my top films of 2019 followed by the winners of the respective polls I participated in.

Atlanta's Plaza Theatre Presents Nine Days of Tarantino

by Tony Dayoub

Tied to the release of Quentin Tarantino's ninth film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Atlanta's historic Plaza Theatre and the Atlanta Film Society are hosting a special retrospective of his previous eight films. It started this past Thursday with screenings of Reservoir Dogs, a 25th anniversary screening of Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and Kill Bill Vols. 1 & 2. Next weekend sees screenings of Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, and The Hateful Eight.

Best of 2018: The 12 Best Films of the Year

by Tony Dayoub

As Academy Awards night approaches this Sunday, and for your consideration, my top films of 2018 followed by the winners of the respective polls I participated in.

Best of 2017: The 13 Best Films of the Year

by Tony Dayoub

As Academy Awards night bears down on us, here is my annual filmic appreciation. For your consideration, my top films of 2017, followed by the winners of the respective polls I was invited to vote in.

Freeze Frame: Mindhunter (2017)

by Tony Dayoub

Adapted by Joe Penhall from the book by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, Netflix's 10-episode Mindhunter is my latest binge-worthy obsession.

Movie Review: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

by Tony Dayoub



After a number of previous attempts at getting the alchemy right, Sony Pictures finally gets its (500) Days of Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Ironic, because not even (500) Days of Summer director, Marc Webb, ever came close in the two Spider-Man movies he directed, starring Andrew Garfield. This time, the financially shaky Sony had to stow its pride and go running to Marvel, the very company it had scooped up the superhero franchise away from back when the roles were reversed, and ask it for help in developing the property. A wise decision as it turns out, because Marvel knows that what fans have wanted to see the most is its iconic hero interact with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I mean, what would DC be like without Superman or Batman, right? Disney without Mickey Mouse? Looney Tunes without Bugs Bunny? Marvel has long been scratching that phantom itch with Spidey, but they've played the long game, first introducing Tom Holland as a high school-age Peter Parker in 2016's Captain America: Civil War. This through Marvel's eminence grise, Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man.

Movie Review: Logan (2017)

by Tony Dayoub


When Ryan Reynolds was beating the bushes for an Oscar this past year, he dropped the tantalizing tidbit that even if his pattern-breaking, adult-oriented Deadpool failed to garner any nominations, he was sure Logan would have its turn at the awards dais. Wouldn't that be something, to see the childish superhero genre graduate to the same fully respected mythos status as the Western? Well, Logan is not the awards worthy graphic novel-based film Reynolds touted it as. But it is a damn good stab at that kind of a movie.

Best of 2016: The 13 Best Films of the Year

by Tony Dayoub

As usual, I'm running late with this. But I had the opportunity to see more films for 2016 than I have for any previous years, so I wanted to be comprehensive in my viewing. Fortunately, I just got this under the wire and am posting my list of last year's top films before the Oscar nominations are announced.

For your consideration, my top films of 2016, followed by the winners of the respective polls I was invited to vote in.

Return of the Capsule Reviews: 2016 Edition

by Tony Dayoub

Let's discuss some of the recent films up for end-of-the-year consideration.

Movie Review: Suicide Squad (2016)

by Tony Dayoub


The highly anticipated Suicide Squad proves to be a not entirely unsurprising fizzle. It's the second in DC's expansion of its extended film universe (it's really not fair to count the far classier Man of Steel, which was never really meant to start this particular ball rolling, as part of the series). On paper, Suicide Squad looks like the most daring of the upcoming DC films. It features a deep stable of super-villains instead of the predictably stolid heroes. It is directed by David Ayer (End of Watch), a throwback to Walter Hill and the closest we've seen to a true auteur shaping this kind of film since Guillermo del Toro helmed Blade II. But save for a couple of lunatic performances by Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Jared Leto as Harley's boyfriend, the Joker, plus some lustrous cinematography by Roman Vasyanov, Suicide Squad is perhaps even more disappointing than its dark predecessor, Batman v. Superman.

Movie Reviews: The Legend of Tarzan (2016) and The BFG (2016)

by Tony Dayoub

Recent events in the (not so) United Kingdom have altered my perception of a couple of movies in which Britain serves as a faint backdrop. Each misses the mark in some surprising ways. Certainly, the American take on a fantasy England and its genial queen found in Steven Spielberg's The BFG makes the most obvious missteps. But The Legend of Tarzan, directed by the very British David Yates (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) isn't too far behind despite, save for its start and conclusion, largely avoiding Great Britain.

Loose Thoughts on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

by Tony Dayoub


I've been wracking my brain all week trying to figure out why I can't come up with a coherent review for this weekend's big hit, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It wasn't until I saw it again this weekend, in an obligatory revisit to take my two young boys, when I came to this conclusion. My thoughts are only as scattershot as the film itself tends to be. Dawn of Justice is Zack Snyder's attempt at jump-starting the DC Extended Universe or DCEU, the filmic counterpart to its rival Marvel's own cinematic franchise the MCU. It is reminiscent of those graphic samplers DC Comics puts out a month before they introduce a major storyline that will snake through its entire publishing lineup. The movie tries to whet the viewer's appetite for future installments, but fails to come up with a satisfying story that can stand on its own. So why not mirror the movie itself in presenting my own disjointed thoughts on the failures (and yes, some minor successes) of this schizoid superhero dirge.

2015 Online Film Critics Society Award Nominees

by Tony Dayoub

From the Online Film Critics Society (of which I am a proud member):

The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) - the oldest and most prominent society for online film critics in the world - recognized the year’s best films with nominations for their 19th annual awards.

Carol and Sicario led the race with six nominations each. Mad Max: Fury Road and The Martian followed with five nominations apiece. The Revenant, Spotlight and Steve Jobs each received four nominations while Brooklyn, Ex Machina, Inside Out and Room each received three nods.

Movie Review: Spectre (2015)

by Tony Dayoub


A bravura, single-take shot launches Spectre, the latest 007 film. Sam Mendes helms this follow-up to his brilliant Skyfall, with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema stepping into Roger Deakins' big shoes. Van Hoytema certainly announces himself loudly with the shot that propels one of Bond's best opening sequences in some time. The camera snakes through Mexico City during a colorful Day of the Dead festival, first following a thug clad in a light colored suit, before switching over to a masked reveler dressed in a skeletal suit with a top hat whose distinctive walk soon makes it clear we are seeing Daniel Craig's superspy in medias res. Before long, Van Hoytema has taken us through a busy public square, up a palatial set of stairs, into and out of a cramped elevator, into a bedroom and out a window to a balcony where Bond sets up to assassinate the thug in question. For those brief minutes, Spectre soars higher than even Skyfall did. It all goes downhill from there sadly, with Spectre devolving into probably the most conventional of all the Craig flicks (yes, more so than even the unfairly maligned Quantum of Solace).

Movie Review: Bridge of Spies (2015)

by Tony Dayoub


Director Steven Spielberg reunites with Tom Hanks for the cold war thriller Bridge of Spies. Based on fact, the film details the capture and arrest of Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), an otherwise unremarkable man who was passing on information to our enemies in the most nondescript way, as he painted landscapes in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. James Donovan (Tom Hanks) is a formerly prominent attorney asked to take Abel on as his client in order to give the impression that Abel is getting the best defense there is. When Donovan begins to take his assignment more seriously than anticipated, saving his client from a death sentence, the CIA enlists him to negotiate the release of a downed U2 pilot standing trial in the Soviet Union. The kind of double-play Donovan then chases is a gambit that surprises everyone.

Movie Review: Beasts of No Nation (2015)

by Tony Dayoub


There is a sense that Netflix is venturing into new territory with this week's release of Cary Joji Fukunaga's Beasts of No Nation. Fukunaga, whose greatest claim to fame so far is the much lauded first season of HBO's True Detective, trains his focus on the plight of African child soldiers, measuredly delivering his message by placing us in the shoes of Agu (Abraham Attah) as he comes of age in the war-torn jungle of some anonymous country. There he falls under the spell of the charismatic Commandant (Idris Elba), a nameless fighter who resembles pretty much every megalomaniac ever. And therein lies the problem with the film.

Docs x 2: Finders Keepers (2015) and Winter on Fire (2015)

by Tony Dayoub

Two wildly different documentaries worth your time go into wide release today. One is Winter on Fire, a sober chronicle of the early days of the unrest in the Ukraine that bows exclusively on Netflix today. But first, let's take a look at the gonzo, stranger-than-fiction story recounted by the far more intimate Finders Keepers, now playing in theaters (including Atlanta's Landmark Midtown Art Cinema) nationwide and available on iTunes and On Demand.