يا هبة كلّ ما في الفنّ جادا!

من عمق حاجتنا الى الفنّ الأصيل، اتى ألبوم هبة طوجي الجديد كشعاع نورٍ يتحدّى الفنّ الرديء ويقاوم مع قلائل المقاومين جحافل المغنّين المتعدّين، ليعيد الإعتبار للمستمع المشتاق للموسيقى الراقية، والأمل بالفنّ ،الفنّ الهادف الّذي يفيض عشقاً وشغفاً وإيماناً.

"يا حبيبي" يأخذكك إلى مساكن الحبّ والشّغف وأبعاد الوطن والقضيّة، فتتضارب بك المشاعر وتتصارع داخلك الأحاسيس . أتطرب لصوتٍ استثنائي ؟ أتفرح لحبٍّ جديد ؟ أتضحك على واقعٍ مرٍّ أم تتوجّع لحبٍّ انتهى ووطنٍ ضاع؟

يتضمّن الألبوم 16 أغنية تختلف في المواضيع وطريقة المقاربة في الّلحن والغناء، ما ساهم في خلق جوٍّ متنوّع محبّب إلى القلب. 

فلقد استطاع كلّ من هبة طوجي وأسامة الرّحباني مرّةً جديدةً أن يقدّما عملاً متكاملاً يلامس المثاليّة. فأتت كلّ نوتة بمكانها غناءً ولحناً، مكمّلةً الشعر والكلمات وخادمةً للفكرة المبتغاة. هبة بصوتها الرائع وأدائها القويّ وتقنيّتها السّلسة الغير مدّعية أبدعت، وأسامة بغزارة فكره وامتداد ثقافته أبدع أيضاً وأيضاً. أمّا الكبير منصور الرحباني فهو  الحاضر الدائم الذّي يعطي بشعره وروحه الثّقل الأهم لهذا العمل الذي استمعت له حتى الآن اكثر من خمسين مرة ولم أملّ. وكيف أملّ من كرم الفنّ اذا أكرم.

عبير 

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The Lebanese General Security MA BIO2TA3!

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Lebanese director and actor Lucien Bou Rjeily was denied his right as a Lebanese citizen to get his passport. According to Bou Rjeily (repost from Stop Cultural Terrorism page on FB):  “The Lebanese General Security today (May 21, 2014) confiscated my passport and refused to renew it, which means I’m no longer allowed to leave Lebanon to perform in the festival: the reason? - They categorically refused to give me a reason... I pleaded for an answer but they kept refusing to give the reason... they said that we will revert back to you in the coming month or month and a half and they hinted "you should know why... something that happened in 2013". 

So it seems it is payback time for fighting against censorship and corruption in his banned play “Bto2ta3 aw ma bto2ta3”.

The Lebanese law is very clear about the rights of all citizens but it seems that the General Security forces have their own way of following and respecting them.

I am not going to start cursing the country. We did it to ourselves. We allowed such wrong behaviors to occur, again and again, gave on our basic rights since ever. Didn’t we shut up after Lebanese deputes extended their own mandate illegally (except for an uprising from courageous young people who got beaten up for demanding to abide by the law)? Don’t we act as if it’s none of our business when we see their corruption since “b3ide 3n dahre bassita” and “what can we do, Hol henne?” Don’t we get carried away by the Zaim or the religious figure’s demands instead of seeing clearly what is rightful and correct?

An uprising against corruption, censorship and dictatorship is a must. The current system with all its elements ma bio2ta3!

Pascale Asmar

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Noah

Questions are very simple to ask, but it is the answers that consume a person's time and energy.

Who is Noah? Many, including me, vaguely know the story of Noah. For me, he is a man chosen by God to save Life from a flood which purpose was to punish humans for their committed sins.

However,Darren Aronofsky does not only ask questions, he thinks hard to try and answer them. His movie is a journey in the life of a simple man with a great burden to hold and a heavy task to achieve. 

The story that we know is very general and does not explain the ways in which he accomplished his mission, nor the feelings and difficulties that he suffered while doing it. It is general to the extent of undermining one's common sense. Aronofsky did not accept that  because he saw in Noah a fascinating character, someone worth travelling into the depth of his complexity. Apart from the religious view, or myth for some, no one knows what really happened in that ark and everyone has the right to imagine it and try to understand it. Darren Aronofsky does that in a magnificent way. 

His imagination is far beyond the story and his approach to the unknown is very realistic in terms of the human's psychology and very creative in terms of the ways in which Noah built his ark. He respects the intelligence of the viewer.

As for the acting, Russell Crowe depicts the struggle of a man with a huge responsibility, convinced that all humans, including him and his family, are evil and deserve to be punished by death, a man absorbed by the task in hand and blinded by his will to serve his Creator. Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson were not much impressive; they deliver a passable performance that could have been better in some scenes.

I appreciate an unconventional movie and a director who does not aim to please the masses and Noah did not disappoint me.

Rating: 4/5

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