Category Archives: Movies

Sophie’s Choice – Movie Review

I have been intrigued by this movie ever since I read a newspaper article about how great Meryl Streep was in it. The fact that it was also referenced many times on The Big Bang Theory doesn’t hurt either and I recently got the opportunity to watch it.

Sophie’s Choice tells the story of Sophie (Meryl Streep), a Polish Catholic and a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. As part of her new life in the United States, Sophie falls in love with Nathan (Kevin Kline), an American Jew. The relationship is abusive at times and great at other times, but through the good and the bad, Sophie sees Nathan as her reason to live. The movie is told via a narrative by the older self of the character Stingo, a writer who decides to take up residence in the same house where Sophie and Nathan live. Soon enough, Stingo befriends the couple and starts to fall for Sophie as she starts telling him her life in flashbacks.

Sophie’s flashbacks are the most interesting part of the movie. They reveal the intricate details that have made Sophie who she is in the movie’s present time. They reveal her darkest secrets, the truths she chose to keep hidden, and most importantly, the gut-wrenching choice she was forced to make, one that will shake you to your core.

To say Meryl Streep was great in it would be an understatement. Meryl Streep is an acting Goddess. There isn’t any role that she doesn’t nail to a point where further nailing cannot take place anymore. She works with the Polish accent perfectly and even throws in some German dialogue there for good measure. When Sophie gazes into the distance, looking at her past, the gaze goes right through your soul.

The movie, however, I felt was overstretched. It runs for over 150 minutes and sometimes drags on. I thought the focus on the relationship with Nathan became borderline obsessive sometimes. The flashbacks, which are the best part in my opinion, are interspersed throughout the movie and sometimes feel underdeveloped. I definitely wanted to see more of them. Moreover, you could easily consider the movie as a vehicle for Meryl Streep to shine. The other actors in it are simply accessories for her character’s weaknesses and strengths to get across.

Overall, Sophie’s Choice is a movie that solidifies what most of us already have in our head, that Meryl Streep is, simply, the best.

[Poster] Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2

This is the first poster from this year’s most anticipated movie, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows. And may I say, it looks absolutely kick-ass!

EDIT: The movie is absolutely kick-ass. Check out my review!

Also, great news Lebanese fans, the movie will be released on July 14th, 2011 over here, one day before its wide release in the U.S.

Updated with the new movie poster:

The Adjustement Bureau – Movie Review

The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau, starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, is a movie that tackles mainly the theme of free will and fate. Do we have them both or are we simply adjusted to believe we do?

Matt Damon stars as David Norris, a young politician with dreams of becoming a senator, the youngest senator, in fact, that New York has known. On the night of the elections, he meets Elise (Emily Blunt) and sparks fly. Time goes on (and you are going to have many time jumps in this) and David encounters Elise serendipitously while going on the bus to work. However, it is revealed that he shouldn’t have gotten on the bus. He shouldn’t have met Elise again. He should have spilled coffee on his shirt while going through the park on his way to take the bus and gone back up to his apartment to change it. And so, it is revealed to David Norris the existence of an adjustment bureau that makes sure things go according to the plan set forth by the “Chairman” and according to his plan, David should not be with Elise.

Damon and Blunt have remarkable onscreen chemistry. I was surprised to see their characters blend so well together and on top of the “philosophical” aspect of this sci-fi movie, present us with a credible portrayal of a romantic relationship that transcends the obstacles thrown at it.

I appreciated The Adjustment Bureau. But I thought it lacked in punch. The issue discussed by the movie, free-will, is at the heart of many studies that are taking place today. Therefore, the premise upon which this movie is built is highly interesting, however I thought the execution rendered it meaningless and corny. The movie jumps around a lot, especially in time. You’d expect a movie to have one time jump. This movie has a bunch of them: 3 months here, 3 years there… so in this one hour and a half movie, you are taken almost through 4 years of events, all centered around the attempt to build this relationship between David and Elise, ultimately becoming a little tired of them trying to make it work.

What hurts the movie as well is a definite lack of mystery. Almost everything is revealed in the first twenty minutes and the rest of the time the characters are simply reacting to those twenty minutes. It is revealed that David’s family all died and in many instances of the movie, it is inferred that the bureau might have had a hand in their deaths. Why wasn’t the issue pressed further? There are a lot of points in The Adjustment Bureau that feel underdeveloped. Even the bureau itself loses this element of mystery because you know almost everything about it early on.

The Orwellian issue has been often discussed in cinema. And while I think it is a highly interesting topic that needs to be discussed even more and in other fields, I feel that The Adjustment Bureau doesn’t add anything new to the discussion, making it an enjoyable movie that comes off at times as kind of preachy. It does have interesting visual effects though. I mean, a door opening in your bathroom that takes you to central park is neat, no?

Citizen Kane – Movie Review

Citizen Kane

This 1941 movie is said to be the best movie ever made. It is the first feature film of Orson Welles, who was 24 years old at the time and who also portrays the main character.

The movie’s plot is given in fast points in the first five minutes in what I thought was an interesting part, a documentary about the life of late Charles Foster Kane. It is then revealed that Kane’s last word was “rosebud”. So the documentary’s team decides to suspend release and they set forth to investigate what Kane meant by that word.

Charles Kane was a poor child born to a family who owns a boarding house in Colorado. Adopted by a rich man, he soon turns rebellious against his guardian and does not seek any of the many riches bestowed upon him – except a newspaper acquired through foreclosure. Soon enough, Kane turns this newspaper into an empire, with the main goal of fighting for the voices of those whose voices have been suppressed. Kane marries the niece of the US president and soon enough, his pursuit of power begins.

Welles delivers a chilling performance as the man who makes himself by himself and then takes it all away, brick by brick, watching everything tumbling down around him. His wife leaves him soon after she finds out about his affair. Later on, she dies in a car accident with his only son. He marries the singer with whom he had the affair and she ends up leaving him too. Soon enough, the vastness of the empty castle (Xanadu) he builds for himself doesn’t even compare to the emptiness he feels inside and he spends the remainder of his life wishing upon the memories of when he literally had nothing except his snow sled, his childhood – the only time where he was really happy, deeply addressing the issue of “does money buy you happiness?”

While watching the movie, you cannot but be drawn to the intricacy of the details. The cinematography is exquisite, the sound editing, etc… are all top notch. It’s no wonder why this movie was thought to be twenty years ahead of its time. The story itself is also a representation of American Capitalism at the time and it is executed really well.

At the time of its release, Citizen Kane was not recognized, awards-wise, as much as we bestow upon it today. It might have been for political reasons. It is said that Charles Foster Kane is a biographical representation of real life newspaper giant William Randolph Hearst, who had his ways around Hollywood and sought out to stop the movie from being released.

But now to the million dollar question… is Citizen Kane the best movie ever made? I would say no. Ask me what is the best movie ever made and I would say I don’t know. Sure, Citizen Kane is revolutionary in every movie aspect but many movies have also been revolutionary. However, it remains a fine example that being showered with awards does not necessarily mean the movie will linger in people’s memories. The Hurt Locker anyone?

How Do You Know – Movie Review

How Do You Know you have a movie that is simply a dud? When haflway through, you’re wondering why in the name of God you were convinced of purchasing a ticket for it.

And then you remember, yeah, it has Reese Witherspoon and Jack Nicholson… should be enough to drive any movie right?

Well no. The actors are really good but they are given characters that are so tiresome and dull that they cannot even begin to try making them likeable enough for you to connect with them. Add to that the fact that this movie, a romantic comedy with a very predictable and cliche plot, is over two hours long and you’re in for one overly stretched ride.

Reese Witherspoon plays Lisa, a baseball athlete that is past her prime and suddenly finds herself in need to search for other pursuits in life. And naturally, what pursuit is the best one to be sought? Yes, you got it: love.

So she becomes torn between jobless romantic and prosecuted George (Paul Rudd) and millionaire athlete, who happens to be (as is the case with every single movie of the type) stupider than a doorknob (Owen Wilson).

Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson (George’s dad) provide some much needed comic relief for a movie whose scenes are extended beyond the scope of them being tolerable anymore.

The only scene in the movie where I felt serious acting chops were demonstrated involved Lisa (Reese) discovering that her whole life needs to be changed. Her standing in front of the mirror, brushing her teeth, was probably the only time you could connect with a character in the movie.

So all in all, How Do You Know is a predictable story of love in our modern-day world, one that has been done over and over again in movies that were written in a much better way and executed in sharper manners. The story of these characters discovering how you know if you’re in love and whatnot is done so laboriously slow that at times, the movie gets you wondering why people bother with love in the first place.