Movie Review: The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

by Tony Dayoub

Neither the lush, poetic expression of everything its target audience of foodies and mature movie-lovers might hope for nor the cloying, overripe romance other critics accuse it of resembling as they all gleefully pile on, The Hundred-Foot Journey is a pleasant diversion from the excess provided by the usual summer blockbusters. That our screening was preceded by a taped message from producers Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey hinting how much they want you to really, really like it, signaled that the movie would try very hard to be inoffensive, a kind of paradox if you think about it. The selection of Lasse Hallström as director, the man behind such vanilla fare as Chocolat and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, all but underscores that the movie will be devoid of surprises. Predictable as it might be, though, The Hundred-Foot Journey does possess some charm, emanating mostly from its offbeat cast and its surprisingly frank approach to racism in the otherwise alluring French countryside.

Not Your Father's Camelot

More than thirty years after its theatrical release, John Boorman’s Excalibur is still an outrageously galvanic depiction of Arthurian legend

by Tony Dayoub

"...Anál nathrach, orth’ bháis’s bethad, do chél dénmha. Anál nathrach, orth’ bháis’s bethad, do chél dénmha..."

- Merlin, reciting the charm of making

On the occasion of director John Boorman's 80th birthday, I call attention to my personal favorite of his films. Boorman's bloody, erotic, violent and ultimately enchanting Excalibur (1981) is the definitive motion picture version of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. There have been many notable film adaptations, each focusing on a different aspect of the legend: Knights of the Round Table (1953) centers on the friendship between Arthur and his best knight, Lancelot of the Lake; Disney's animated The Sword in the Stone (1963) adapts the T.H. White version of the story, a humorous look at Arthur's magical upbringing by the wizard Merlin and the events leading to Arthur's coronation; and 1967's Camelot (adapted from the musical of the same name) riffs on White's later stories about the love triangle between Arthur, Lancelot, and Queen Guenevere. Excalibur's strength lies in the way its story, told in a short 140 minutes, encompasses all of the other films' themes while still introducing its own central motif. Boorman's film most resembles Knights of the Round Table because both share Malory's tale as a primary source; such iconic imagery as a meeting of the knights at Stonehenge, or a floating, shimmering Holy Grail appearing in a vision to the brave knight Perceval (Paul Geoffrey in Boorman’s version) are important to both films. Excalibur also integrates the playful relationship between Arthur (Nigel Terry) and his mystical mentor central to Sword in the Stone, and the idea of the king's betrayal by his closest loved ones as the root cause for the kingdom's destruction (as touched upon in Camelot). Yet Boorman also brings an auteurial component missing from previous filmic endeavors.

End of Year Mayhem: Flight, Hitchcock, This is 40

by Tony Dayoub

Here are more capsule reviews for a mixed bag of films (including one yet to be released that I have high hopes for).

Excalibur: 30 Years Later, at Nomad Editions Wide Screen

by Tony Dayoub

"...Anál nathrach, orth’ bháis’s bethad, do chél dénmha. Anál nathrach, orth’ bháis’s bethad, do chél dénmha..."

- Merlin, reciting the charm of making

Today, I discuss one of my personal all-time favorites, John Boorman's Excalibur (1981) over at Wide Screen. It's a film I never get tired of watching, and the gorgeous new HD transfer on this week's Blu-ray release ensures all will enjoy it for years to come.

CONTINUE READING AT NOMAD EDITIONS: WIDE SCREEN

NYFF10 CENTERPIECE Movie Review: The Tempest (2010)

by Tony Dayoub

I've long defended director Julie Taymor from detractors who accuse her of sacrificing substance for spectacle. Titus (1999) may have been eye candy but it was also a fairly brutal, if not the most brutal, depiction of a Shakespeare play I had ever seen onscreen. And Frida, a film about the painful life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo which wonderfully incorporated the Latin magical realism tradition amply demonstrated throughout the painter's work, was one of the best pictures of 2002. I guess the rumblings about Taymor's style began around the time Across the Universe (2007) came out, which I just chalked up to the film being a sort of trifle celebrating the music of The Beatles. Too bad I can't speak directly to it since I missed that film, but I feel like I understand some of this criticism now that I've seen The Tempest.