Hepta (The Last Lecture) was probably the most anticipated Egyptian movie of the year, which comes as no surprise as it is based on the massively successful, best-selling novel of the same title. The novel received polarising reviews, which ranged from being called a masterpiece of modern Egyptian romantic fiction to a piece of overly …
By Romain Raynaldy/ AFP Julia Roberts has taken time off from Hollywood of late to focus on her three young children — but admits she enjoys being back on the big screen, as a fairytale villain in her latest movie. Playing the evil Queen in “Mirror Mirror,” a new version of Snow White, marks a departure …
By Joseph Fahim What was the very first movie you’ve ever seen? Mine was Victor Fleming’s classic musical “The Wizard of Oz” starring Judy Garland. I was probably four years old. The film was showing on TV and I remember being transfixed for its entire duration. I gasped when the muted sepia-tinted Kansas suddenly gave way …
A strong vibe of comfort, of serenity and reassurance, radiates from its frames. The fascinating, elusive subject matter of the documentary, the vast picturesque green vistas of the southern grazing lands captured so lovingly, so reverently, by the poised, perceptive lens, and the patient narrative that is thoughtful and romantic in parts yet alarmingly …
By Myriam Ghattas “Chronicle” (2012) is the story of three high school students who stumble upon a mysterious alien-looking substance that, upon contact, endows them with the formidable super-power of telekinesis. As Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan), Matt Garetty (Alex Russell) and Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan) begin to explore their newfound powers, they graduate from silly …
By Myriam Ghattas The trailer sold a sci-fi type horror flick with cheap thrills and a snowy destitute landscape. The subject of its advertisement seemed to fall into that category of films listed in eponymous actor Liam Neeson’s overflowing portfolio of projects in which he graces us with his presence for fun rather than for any …
The oppressive world of Communist East Germany was brought back to life in a haunting new film called "Barbara" at the Berlin Film Festival, the first of three German productions in the main competition. A fictional tale of a young doctor banished to the East German provinces because she requested to move to West Germany, …
By Myriam Ghattas The second installment of the Sherlock Holmes franchise sees Guy Ritchie treat us to the much anticipated face-off between Scotland Yard’s notoriously astute detective and his brilliantly immoral arch-nemesis, Professor James Moriarty. “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” (2011) follows Holmes’ deductive reasoning as he connects the dots between a series of small-scale …
By Maha ElNabawi Nearly one year ago, the unprecedented 18-day occupation of Cairo’s Tahrir Square — which led to the fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak — has become a global symbol for citizen activism and peaceful dissidence against despotism. As the first anniversary of the January 25 uprising approaches, Egypt continues to evolve the culture of …
By Myriam Ghattas Khaled Youssef’s “Kaf El Amar” (The Moon’s Palm; 2011) tells the story of a widowed mother, Amar, played by the actress Wafaa Amer, and of her five sons whom she entreats to leave their native rural village to establish themselves in the big city, Cairo. The film’s introductory segment explains the mystifying title: …
By Christy Lemire / AP The same problems that plagued “La Vie en Rose,” starring Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf, exist in “The Iron Lady,” a biopic about Margaret Thatcher starring Meryl Streep as the former British prime minister. While both films feature strong performances from strong actresses playing strong, real-life women, the scripts are weakened …
By David Germain / AP It is no surprise that the grief-drenched Sept. 11 drama “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” should turn out incredibly mawkish. A cloying exercise in sentimentality, the film also winds up extremely annoying, even infuriating. Director Stephen Daldry’s film, featuring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, centers on the worst day most Americans …
By Myriam Ghattas Child abuse, infant abduction, rape, incest and abandonment are just some of the cases that we get a glimpse of in “Polisse” (2011) that explores the day to day business of being a BPM (Brigade for the Protection of Minors) in France. Set in Paris, the film tells this special division of cops’ …
By Myriam Ghattas “La Guerre est DĂ©clarĂ©e” (Declaration of War, 2011) is the story of a young couple: Romeo (JĂ©rĂ©mie ElkaĂŻm) and Juliette (ValĂ©rie Donzelli) find out that their son Adam (CĂ©sar Desseix) — just one-and-a-half years old — has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Within a moment that must have lasted emotional light-years, …
By Myriam Ghattas “Tambien La Lluvia” (Even the Rain, 2010) is, on the surface, a movie about the making of a movie. As such, it is a film that could have easily fallen into the familiar narcissistic trap of cinema directing its camera lens onto itself for inspiration, oftentimes with disconcerting results. Yet, the present film …
By Myriam Ghattas Telling a poignant and gritty tale of a boy’s downward spiral to hell, Peter Mullan makes no concessions as he writes and directs “Neds” (2010) revisiting his native Scotland in his third feature. In his previous films, Mullan exhibited a mastery of entrapment exploration, as seen in “The Magdalene Sisters” (2002) and “Orphans” …
By Myriam Ghattas Revolution…revolution! “Made in Dagenham” (2010) puts the sassy in strike, one that yielded revolutionary results in England in 1968 and had repercussions all over the world thereafter. Sporting a motto of “We Want Sex Equality” around their town before expanding to neighboring cities, 187 women machinists from the Dagenham Ford car factory in …
By Myriam Ghattas British director Richard Ayoade’s debut film for the big screen, “Submarine” (2010) tells the tale of Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts), a 15-year-old kid with run-of-the-mill teenage concerns: the conquest, and safekeeping, of a girlfriend, Jordana (Yasmin Paige), and the preservation of a healthy relationship between his parents, Jill Tate (Sally Hawkins of “Happy-Go-Lucky”) …
