Winter’s Bone – Movie Review

This 2010 drama, set in the Ozarks Mountain in the U.S. is the story of a community that is deeply rooted in the manufacturing of amphetamines. This is the story of a rural community where keeping your mouth shut is the first commandment.

The director of this movie, Debra Granik, lived for a while in those communities. So it’s only natural that her representation of the community in this movie feels real. It’s bleak, dark, haunting… She shows the poverty, the patriarchy, the holiness of family and everything that this holiness entails, the rural aspect of it in such a brilliant way that at times you feel like you’re watching a documentary about the region. Even the accent was perfected by the actors and actresses that you forget this is actually a quest, more than a community presentation.

The movie stars Jennifer Lawrence, a brilliant newcomer, as Ree Dolly, a girl who’s the only caregiver of her mother, there in body only, and two siblings. She drops them out of school, teaches them to hunt and care for themselves, just in case… Her dad, Jessup, has gone missing and in order to keep her house and property, she needs to find him – dead or alive. Or else she’ll lose everything.

Now insert this in a community that is, the least you can say, non-helpful and very rigid about following the aforementioned first commandment and you get a movie that is thrilling, haunting and deservedly so, nominated for best picture as this year’s Oscars.

Everything in this movie is vicious. Even the moments of silence in it are terrifying. You don’t know what the people of this secluded community would do to harm Ree. And you can’t but feel what Ree is feeling, as the 17 year old girl trying to keep it together.

Jennifer Lawrence is epic in this. She’s my favorite acting performance of this year as the girl who, on her path to find any information about her dad, she will go through everything you don’t expect a 17 year old to live through. She portrays this role with a resilient stubbornness, indicative of the hardships she has gone through but she lets you in certain moments glimpse at her soul. There’s one scene, in a boat, that will leave you shaken to your core. When you watch it, you’ll know.

On her quest in this patriarchy, she must go through the wives, not the men. And the wife portrayed by Dale Dickey is a brilliant contrast: ice-cold, non-caring but human. Ultimately, this is the whole society. Even Ree’s uncle, played by John Hawkes, is at the same time ruthless but loving.

All in all, if you’re up for a movie that is deep, cold, dark and haunting, this is the movie for you.

Lady Gaga’s perfume to Smell of Semen and Blood

You got it folks, Lady Gaga is releasing a fragrance to the markets that will apparently smell as a mix of semen and blood. Maybe she thinks that combining them together might make a scent that would not repel everyone within a 100-kilometer radius, but as far as I believe, it will stink.

Also, I have no idea how she’ll recreate either smells. The idea is discomforting to begin with. Ah well, to each their own, I guess.

Who’ll be buying this? :p

New Services from Lebanese Mobile Operators Alfa and MTC

Lebanese people rejoice…

According to Lebanese telecom minister, Charbel Nahhas, Alfa and MTC will be launching their 3G services in 7 months time, for about 900,000 subscribers.

This will allow Lebanese mobile users to get access to speeds in the range of 7 – 21 mbps, which is a huge increase over what’s currently offered, be it through DSL or through mobile data packages.

In addition that, a fiber optic network is being built across the country, to set the path for a drastic improvement in internet speeds for end-users.

No pricing was discussed for 3G services but hopefully they won’t be as expensive as the horrid BlackBerry service currently offered.

Moreover, for those who like their phone number but dislike their operator, apparently you will be able to switch operators and keep your number. Maybe this will help create some competition between operators as they try to keep their subscribers?

Moreover, for prepaid subscribers, three new recharge options will be available soon.

The first package, available late February, will allow you to recharge a value of 30 minutes for 30 days, for $10. The second one available two months later will give you 60 minutes that will last you 30 days, for 25,000LL. And the third package, available in July, will give you 120 minutes of talktime for 48,000LL or $32.

Hopefully this won’t be just political talk and that we’d get more tangible information soon enough. A true broadband experience will do wonders for the Lebanese economy.’

Source

29-Year-Old to become Britain’s Youngest Grandfather

A jobless British 29 year old man is set to become a grandfather after his fourteen year old daughter got impregnated by her fifteen year old boyfriend.

She is to give birth in August.

This man’s mother also gave birth to him when she was 18 years old, a teenager. And when his daughter delivers, there will be six generations of his family alive: his great-grandmother, his grandmother, his mother, himself, his daughter and his grandson/granddaughter.

Honestly, this is all too weird. How messed up can a family be to have a sequence of teen pregnancies with two of them being as early as early adolescence? It’s like a vicious circle. His mom brought him into this world when she was young and he brought his girl into this world when he was fifteen. Anyone else sees a pattern? This is too dysfunctional!

For more information, consult this link.

Stray Bullet (Rsasa Taycheh) – Movie Review

Currently in cinemas across Lebanon, this movie is a must-see to every Lebanese. It will leave some of you in tears, especially if you’ve actually lived some of the events firsthand. And if you haven’t and you actually can think for yourself, you will come out of it amazed. That was the case for most of the people in the cinema I went to tonight.

Let me start with what I saw when the movie ended. I looked around and there were grown men drying up their tears… men my dad’s age. This movie is that poignant.

Set in 1976 Lebanon during a period when people thought the civil war had ended. The story revolves around a 30-year old named Noha, portrayed by the ever brilliant Nadine Labaki – and we will be discussing her in due time. Noha is getting married to a guy she doesn’t love, in fear of becoming a spinster like her sister. And on the day that her family is preparing a dinner for her fiance’s family, she decides to meet up with her ex-lover.

The events that follow are what make this movie so real. The meeting with the ex-lover, the dinner, the family dynamics, the emotions expressed on screen, the witty dialogue…. This movie is very Lebanese. It was set in 1976 and yet it still feels very familiar. We have all had at least one scene in that movie happen in our households – regardless of how modern and classy you believe your household is. This movie brings us, with our mentality that we have come far since then, back to the ground, telling us: you are still the same people, 35 years were simply added to the date.

Apart from the heartfelt and close to home plot, the movie feels rustic. The art direction here is just terrific. I have no idea about the techniques with which they filmed this but it feels like the movie was actually filmed in those times.

Now to the acting… all the actors and actresses in this movie have apparently given their services for free, which rendered the budget a simple $0.5 million. And the acting is so brilliant, in fact, that I think the actors and actresses gave it their all. I honestly didn’t know Lebanese acting personnel had it in them to give such raw, gut-wrenching and real performances without coming off as fake.

Nadine Labaki, whom I repeat is as brilliant in what she does as brilliant goes, is terrifyingly good. Portraying the character Noha, she reminded me of a review I read by an American top critic of her 2007 movie Caramel. He said to look out for this woman, both directing and acting-wise. While she doesn’t showcase her directing chops in this movie, she more than excels in her acting. There’s one scene at her brother’s house that will leave you dumb-founded. Also the scene that follows that will leave you shaken to your core.

This movie’s title “Stray Bullet” is very poignant. And the content is even more so. It is reminding us, all of us, to beware of going back to times like the ones the movie illustrates without coming off as preachy. Some say the running time is too short. But I thought it was perfect. I wanted more. But I felt it ended right where it should have ended. It didn’t embellish the story with needless subplots. It just lets your mind fill in the blank with your own version of events.

Let me conclude by saying this: Stray Bullet will hit you straight in the heart. It’s that good and I think it’s an obligation for every Lebanese to watch it.