Tag Archives: movies

Pacific Rim (2013) – Movie Review

20130710-095240.jpg

As shocking as it may be, this summer has finally found a movie worthy of being deemed the “it” blockbuster of the year in the form of Pacific Rim.

First things first, I feel I must commend the movie’s distributors for taking a risk and releasing it simultaneously with international markets despite the date coinciding with the Muslim month of Ramadan. This isn’t a movie you’d want to wait to see.

It is the near future and Earth is being attacked by huge monsters called Kaiju which are emanating from an abyss in the Pacific Ocean. Humankind realizes their current weapons are insufficient to combat the Kaijus so they devise a new defense system in the form of the Jaegers, which are driven by two human pilots who share brain function in order to do so. But there’s a twist. Soon enough, the Kaijus start learning the fighting ways of the Jaegers and humankind starts losing its only hope in defense as the threat of an apocalypse draws nearer.

Bolstered by a thrilling opening scene that might as well be the climax of other movies, Pacific Rim sets a breakneck pace from the get-go. This isn’t a movie that is only about breaking metal and firearms. While the action scenes are numerous and sufficiently exhilarating, they also happen to the backdrop of a plot that is interesting and not a complete rehash of other similar movies. Sure, Hollywood has overdone apocalypses. But it was rarely as entertaining as what Pacific Rim presents.

Directed and written by Guillermo Del Toro, the movie carries the touches of a director you’d never think would do such a movie. And it shows. In fact, Guillermo Del Toro just showed that movies about robots and monsters can, in fact, be something more than what we’ve all associated them with.

Pacific Rim isn’t a Michael Bay movie, both literally and figuratively. For many, that is enough reason to give it a shot. But I found Pacific Rim to be one of the movies that have entertained me the most this past year, something that was very pleasantly surprising given I wasn’t expecting it. I guess that’s what happens when the only aspect of similar movies have all been brainless. Underneath the facade of crunching steel and atomic bombs, Pacific Rim has charm and brains. Go watch it.

4/5

The Attack (2013) – Movie Review

20130609-055719.jpg

Ziad Doueiri’s The Attack might as well be considered as the most controversial “Lebanese” movie of recent times. But that’s not saying much. The hype surrounding the politics of the movie has been resounding. But does The Attack deliver on all the promises the director and the people who like him gave?

Amin (Ali Suliman) is an Arab-Israeli surgeon living and practicing medicine in Tel Aviv. While receiving some humanitarian award from the Israelis, Amin receives a call from his wife who sounds distressed. He doesn’t give it much attention, the focus is all on him. Soon enough, while having lunch at the rooftop of their Israeli hospital, the surgeons hear an explosion. 17 casualties ensue, 11 of which are children… And it’s Amin’s wife Siham (Raymond Amsalem) who committed the attack. Between the barrage of the Israelis who suddenly turn on the man they believe they sheltered into becoming one of them and the guard of the Arabs who believe Siham did a noble thing and are disgusted by the “bastard” who left his heritage and home to integrate in a place that is not his, Amin seeks out to find why his wife became a radical person who managed to get convinced to blow herself up for the Palestinian cause.

Sounds good, right? Well, in theory it does.

The Attack is divided into two parts. The first one is what can be called the Hebrew segment in which Tel Aviv is shown as a bustling cosmopolitan city whose people are as disassociated with the conflict raging outside their city’s confines while the other half is the Arab part, situated in Nablos, whose people struggle in their everyday life and revel in the idea of martyrdom, turning Siham into a local heroin. In a way, each part serves to pitch each side’s case.

I found the take on the issue, which the movie tries to do, shallow and borderline grating at times, even in its tackling of Siham’s radicalization which The Attack finds even more astonishing due to the fact she’s Christian. The Attack doesn’t go as deep as it should. it remains up there, flapping around the stereotypical stories of both sides – the action/reaction scenario that never ends. It never asks the tough questions: are the reactions warranted? Are they the best way to tackle the actions that led to them?

And I, for one, am glad and fully supportive of not choosing The Attack as Lebanon’s Oscar submission last year because there’s nothing Lebanese about the movie at all. In fact, the Lebanese elements of the movie are a mention of Hassan Nasrallah and Beirut – separately.

As a movie, The Attack works. It’s a decent thriller. There isn’t a dull moment, constantly keeping up the pace it sets from the get-go. The camera work, cinematography and locations are all well-done. But don’t expect it to blow you away. The acting, however, is superb. Both lead actors do a great job in their roles. Amsalem’s portrayal of Siham is gut-wrenching at times as is the life Ali Suliman gives her husband.

What The Attack manages to do, which might be the most important thing, is create a discussion. I watched the movie with 4 other Lebanese while on a stay in Paris – the movie will not be released in Lebanon – and we spent almost 40 minutes huddled outside the cinema center discussing what we had just seen. As a nation, though, Lebanon is possibly nowhere near ready for such a movie to be screened although the current state of Israel is eye-opening to what we, as a country, are so desperately lacking.

3/5

The Hangover 3 (2013) – Movie Review

20130527-113551.jpg

Milking it. That’s what The Hangover 3 is in a nutshell. After a comedy tour de force with the first part and a decent-enough black comedy with the second, comes a PG-13 level and hopefully final iteration in the series of middle-aged debaucheries. Except part 3 has no such things. Not even a little.

The same guys are back in an attempt to get Allen (Zack Galifianakis) to some form of rehabilitation center. On their way there, their car is ambushed by Marshall (John Goodman) who takes one of them hostage in order for them to get Mr. Chow.
There’s no drunkedness here. There are no prostitutes to serve up some seriously awkward moments. Even Melissa McCarthy borders on the irrelevant as a possible love interest for Allen. The talents of Bradley Cooper, recently discovered in Silver Linings Playbook, are wasted. John Goodman is simply turned silly as the thug of the show.

The same people that brought us the first two movies are back here. Director Todd Philips’ work in The Hangover is put to absolute shame with this sequel. The plot is silly at best. The laughs don’t even exist. The shock factors don’t come naturally. The characters are so thin that it’s impossible to do anything with them anymore.

At one point a third into the movie, as Bradley Cooper’s character watches Mr. Chow sing a karaoke song (Nine Inch Nail’s “Hurt”), he proclaims: “what the fuck am I watching?”
I was feeling the same at that point. But I hoped the movie would pull itself together. It didn’t happen. The Hangover 3 is, similarly to the other 2 parts in the trilogy, a big mess. Except it’s not the good type this time. It’s the type of messes you want to keep behind you and never look at again. Kill it, kill it with fire.

1/5

The Great Gatsby (2013) – Movie Review

20130516-150537.jpg

Because every American classic novel needs to be turned into a modern movie, here comes Baz Luhrmann’s take on F. Scott Fitzgerlad’s The Great Gatsby in a polarizing effort to say the least.

For the novel’s traditional fans, Lurhmann’s version is too all over the place. For the modernists, it’s an interesting take on the classic. The truth is Lurhamnn’s version exists in some form of limbo between the two.

The Great Gatsby is the story of Jay Gatsby (Leo Dicaprio) who moves to West Egg in Long Island and becomes quickly known for his extravagant lifestyle, which attracts the attention of Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) who is sought out by Gatsby in order for the latter to get closer to Carraway’s cousin Daizy (Carey Mulligan) with whom he has a past.

Lurhamnn’s take on The Great Gatsby is uneven at best. The movie’s opening act is chaotic to say the least: from sweeping camera movement that are repeated more than once in a single scene, to a story that doesn’t seem to know how to get developed, to blitz and glitz that doesn’t seem to find a limit.
However, once the director and the movie start to find their footing – especially as chips start falling into place – The Great Gatsby becomes an enjoyable experience that manages to hook you in. That’s if you can get past the fabulousness-theme of the first act without nodding off.

Bolstered by excellent performances by Leo Dicaprio and Carey Mulligan, as well as Tobey Maguire, the movie’s characters are always interesting to watch especially when they interact. Dicaprio’s portrayal of the infinitely eccentric and optimistic Gatsby is spot-on. Tobey Maguire’s transition as the wannabe writer getting used to a life of excess is interesting and Carey Mulligan as the woman torn between the life she has and the life she could have is excellent.

The music of The Great Gatsby, however, doesn’t work. Of course, Florence + The Machine’s song is excellent and Lana Del Rey’s melodrama works here. But why would a movie about the jazz era open up with Jay-Z whose only similarity with the movie is probably his name?
The soundtrack, which plays throughout the movie, serves more as a vehicle for its corresponding singers rather than to bolster the cinematic experience of the movie it’s supposed to support.

The Great Gatsby is one of Baz Lurhmann’s better movies. Despite it being uneven and all over the place sometimes, it remains entertaining enough to pass despite it feeling too lush and shallow and superficial at points. For those who find this novel to be American literature’s most prized jewel, Lurhamnn’s version is an abomination. But if you’re willing to get past that, there’s no reason not to enjoy Gatsby when it allows you to.

3/5

Beirut Bel Aswad Wel Abiad (Beirut in Black & White) – A Lebanese Short Movie

This Woody Allen-inspired short movie is one of the best ones I’ve seen lately. It’s directed by Alba student Marie-Louise Elia and produced by Marie-Noel Bou Haila (A lot of Maries in one sentence). You can find the former on Twitter here.

It’s a candid, honest, funny, sarcastic and extremely witty portrayal of Beirut – characteristics you rarely find this authentically in Lebanese productions. Many aspire to incorporate such elements in their movies but end up coming off as over-pretentious instead. Not this one.

The director, Marie-Louise Elia, is currently searching for actors for her upcoming movie. So if you’re interested, talk to her on Twitter. If her upcoming work is anything as good as this, it’ll look good on your resumé.