Time is a Flat Circle or: Haven't I Seen True Detective Before?

by Tony Dayoub

When True Detective promos started popping up on HBO months ahead of its debut, it was difficult to figure what it was all going to be about. About all one could dig up was that it was an 8-episode series, shot in Louisiana (employing a few of the actors of HBO's just-cancelled Treme), starring two well-established stars, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson—neither of whom were on the usual descending trajectory movie stars travel when they decide to move to television—with a title that evoked the pulpy aesthetic of the mystery magazine that ran for decades.

Is Lincoln Meant to Caution or Console?

by Tony Dayoub

It's a rare occurrence when a preview screening plays to a nearly empty house, but a preview screening of Lincoln that I attended last week did just that. It's not entirely surprising since it played in an Atlanta suburb. The schizoid nature of the metro Atlanta area is such that though the city proper is a stronghold of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (fully reflected in the diversity of its population), pockets of areas outside of the I-285 perimeter still have a lot of catching up to do. It was only 2 years ago that the Daughters of the Confederacy un-ironically set up a booth in my own suburb's annual Main Street parade. Things are changing, but not at the speed one expects. One week post-election and roughly one half of the country still feels steamrolled by the Democrats' top-to-bottom victory. And into this comes Lincoln, a movie centered on the enfranchisement of a subjugated people during the most divisive era of our storied history.

Movie Review: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

by Tony Dayoub

The filmmakers behind any potential sequels to Joe Johnston's Captain America: The First Avenger would be crazy to abandon its wonderful World War II period setting. Sure, the Sentinel of Liberty's required appearance in the upcoming Avengers movie demands that the character be contemporized. But there's good reason not to do the same in his own episodic franchise.

DVD Review: No Country for Old Men - Appreciating the Unsung Heroes

by Tony Dayoub

So you've all heard about No Country for Old Men winning Best Picture at the Oscars this year. You've heard about the crafty Coen Brothers finally getting the praise they're long overdue. Javier Bardem has been all over the place campaigning for his Oscar... blah, blah, blah. But I thought that with the film being released on DVD last week, we'd sing the praises of some of its relatively unsung heroes.