Movie Review: Land Ho! (2014)

by Tony Dayoub

While it hasn't been too hot a summer around most of the U.S., a bracing dose of clean, icy winds might still do you some good. The Icelandic road comedy Land Ho! is just the kind of small indie ready to usher them in. In just about every way, it is the antithesis of the majority of films currently playing in theaters. It stars two relative unknowns, Earl Lynn Nelson and Paul Eenhoorn as Mitch and Colin, two ex-brothers-in-law on a journey through Iceland's beautifully austere countryside. That's it. No explosions. No chase scenes. No sexual situations... save for Mitch's incredibly raunchy jokes.

Blu-ray Review: Black Orpheus (Orfeu negro) (1959)

by Tony Dayoub

Sometimes our intellectual sophistication can get in the way of enjoying an entertaining film on the uncomplicated level of "pure cinema." This conflict is more pronounced when a movie with a tinge of social realism could be tagged as profoundly naive, as is the case of Criterion's Blu-ray release this week, Black Orpheus (Orfeu negro). However, reframe the film as a musical, one driven by the burgeoning sounds of the Bossa nova and samba, and one's perspective on Black Orpheus might shift rather mightily.

Seventies Cinema Revival: Walkabout (1971)

by Tony Dayoub

As I tweeted earlier this week (you may follow me on Twitter here, if you wish), Walkabout is very difficult for me to approach critically because of the personal significance it holds for me. This is the first film I remember ever seeing, a strange one to be sure. With its sexual subtext and copious nudity, it is not a film I would expect my parents would have exposed me to before, say, the typical Walt Disney cartoon. Yet, it was a different time, and my parents were liberal for even that era, the mid-seventies. How else could I explain the clear memory of Jenny Agutter's nude swim in an edenic oasis located somewhere in the Australian outback?

Movie Review: Australia - Spectacle for Those in Love with the Artifice of Cinema

by Tony Dayoub



Australia is a throwback to the WWII-era romantic melodramas from the hyperimaginative, and just plain hyper, Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet). It is clear that for the native Aussie, it is a labor of love. The movie is the most restrained effort in a series of progressively loopier films that culminated in the love-it-or-hate-it musical, Moulin Rouge! (2001). While still employing some of his trademark touches of magical realism, Luhrmann manages to incorporate it into the story organically. And much of the movie's charm lies in its casting of some beloved Aussie actors, both old and new.

DVD Review: When the Moors Ruled in Europe - A Welcome Alternate View of the Rich and Proud Islamic Culture

by Tony Dayoub



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 culture that has, unfortunately, become our society's bogeyman post-9/11.

It traces the roots of modern society's misunderstanding of the Muslims to their expansion into Europe. Contrary to popular notions, when they invaded what is now Spain, they were welcomed by many as saviors from the more primitive Visigoths. The Muslims, who valued education highly, quickly established a number of libraries, irrigated the land, and erected architectural wonders that survive to this day (like the Alhambra, pictured above). Over time, cross-cultural pollination softened some of the more orthodox practices of the Muslim conquerors, later known as Moors, and they settled in as benevolent rulers of what were for the most part, an appreciative, newly enlightened people. But the ugly head of religious intolerance reared itself, soon enough.

Catholics slowly started chipping away at the Muslim encroachment during the time of the Inquisition. Driving them first into hiding, then into disavowing their religion, before banishing them from Spain altogether, the Catholics established their dominance over Spain. They solidified their rule over Europe during the reign of Isabella, yet a curious thing happened. The architecture and the technological advancements of the Moors became such an ingrained part of the local tradition that it was assimilated by the re-conquering Catholics.

The two-episode series does a great job of summing up some of the little-known legacy of the Moors' time in Spain. They illustrate, for example, how the architecture of the Alhambra has a seemingly ineffable harmony that is directly related to the very conscious geometrical planning of the building and the relationship with its environs. Hughes speaks to various scholars who dispel long-held myths by giving credible explanations. One example is the reframing of El Cid from heroic Moor-slayer to benevolent and well-loved ruler over a mostly Muslim people. His name is actually derived from the dialectal Arab word "sïdi", or the honorific "sayyid" which means "Lord." Illustrated throughout with cinematography depicting the still-standing architectural achievements of the Moors, the documentary serves as a tempting invitation to visit Spain and experience some of these influential buildings they left behind.

Perhaps the Moors' most long-standing and unspoken legacy is visible on the faces of many Spaniards. The majority of Spain's people still bear the strong genetic features of the invading Moors, a handsome reminder of this culture's once dominant status in pre-Renaissance Europe.

This entry first appeared on Blogcritics on 6/16/2008.

DVD Review: The Night They Raided Minsky's and If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium - Ekland and Pleshette Highlight Iffy Flicks

by Tony Dayoub

















You're wondering why I have these photos of two very striking women at the top of this review. Well, let me tell you about each of them. The one on the left is Britt Ekland, featured in The Night They Raided Minsky's, recently released on DVD. The one on the right is the late Suzanne Pleshette featured in If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, also recently released.

Ekland is a Swedish actor, underrated in my opinion, whose career never gained the notoriety that her private life has. Best known for her role as Mary Goodknight in the 007 adventure The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), she also made some more than respectable appearances in such films as Get Carter(1971), The Wicker Man (1973), and Scandal (1989). But she will always be better known for marrying actor Peter Sellers, who proposed after having only seen her in a picture. She also had a long relationship with Rod Stewart, before having a series of relationships with other rockers such as John Waite and L.A. Guns singer Phil Lewis. Her daughter with Sellers, Victoria, has been in the news, primarily stemming from her association with "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss.

Pleshette was an American actor, also underrated, who was often cast as the supporting character in such movies as The Birds (1963), Nevada Smith (1966), Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971), and was a frequent guest star in a long list of TV shows including Route 66, Ben Casey, Kojak, and Will & Grace. She was best known for playing Emily Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show which led to one of the best cameos in TV history in the later series, Newhart. In Newhart's series finale, Bob Newhart wakes up describing a strange dream, about being an innkeeper in Vermont (the premise of Newhart), to Pleshette who reprises her role as Emily. Sultry and sardonic, she later played the title role in a TV biopic called Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean (1990). She died on January 19, 2008 of respiratory failure.

I tell you all this, and show you each of their photographs, because they are each the best reasons to see their respective movies.

Minsky's is a badly executed film with an interesting premise. Notable mainly for being William Freidkin's sophomore directorial effort (though it was released after his third movie), and Bert Lahr's (The Wizard of Oz's Cowardly Lion) last appearance, the story had potential. Ekland plays an Amish woman who runs away from home to join Minsky's Burlesque, and inadvertently becomes the innovator of the striptease. Her onstage sexual awakening at the end of the film is both funny and assertive, despite being surrounded by leering men. It's too bad that the film is edited past the point of comprehension. The signs are there that a lot of effort was spent in trying to save the movie, as there are numerous zoom shots which, because of excessive graininess, appear to have been created in post-production.

Belgium on the other hand is a pleasant romp that follows Pleshette on a whirlwind tour of Europe while she falls in love with their tour guide (an unexpectedly dashing young Ian McShane from Deadwood). Directed by Mel Stuart (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), it is full of cameos by John Cassavettes, Joan Collins, Vittorio De Sica, Ben Gazzara, Virna Lisi and Robert Vaughn, among others. Witty and disarming, it is enjoyable, but beyond that, it is such a trifle, that the only thing I can really hang my recommendation on is a chance to see Pleshette carry a movie.

Not bad enough to be offensive, but not great enough to be classics, don't expect anything more than the chance to appreciate these two underrated actors in these films.