Interstellar

Original, brilliant and intense are the only words needed to describe Interstellar, one of the most anticipated movies of the year 2014 and having Christopher Nolan as a director and co-writer was an enough reason for that. This anticipation was met with an amazing movie that will surely satisfy every cinema lover: the curious scientific geeks, the action enthusiasts and emotional sensitive people.

A smart twisted plot, perfect scenery and mind-blowing sound and visual effects are combined together and completed with fine performances from all the actors, especially little Mackenzie Foy and Jessica Chastain in the role of Murph who immediately became my favorite character in the movie. 

The story flows smoothly through the three hours running time that some might find too long, but believe me when I say that you won’t check your clock; the events develop very fast and you have a lot to process and think about. At the end of the film, I thought: “Can Nolan be the next Jules Verne? Does the human imagination have any limit?”

Maybe one day, I’ll be able to have an answer and to be a part of a loop that will mix my present with my future and past. At that day, time will become a refundable, controllable and quantifiable entity or even a currency.

Rating: 4.5/5

Read More

Review: Lucy.

Lucy 3.5/5

Luc Besson is by far one of the most entertaining writers and directors today. From The Fifth Element, to Leon: the Profeesional, Taxi, Taken and many other, his movies never fail to attract action lovers, but also never fail to introduce good ideas, simple emotions and a wide imagination. His latest movie, Lucy, fits perfectly into this description.

Lucy builds its story around the widely known myth* that humans use only 10% of their brain and imagines what could happen if a human used his full brain capacity.

The movie starts slowly and becomes faster as the events unfold and in the end unstoppable when the idea is fully developed. The director/writer doesn’t leave you unsatisfied; on the contrary, he stretches his imagination and gives you a fulfilling closure, and that is what I liked the most in this film.

Scarlett Johansson delivers a straight to the point performance. The intelligence and self-existence awareness evolutions of Lucy convinced me: her fear and ignorance at the beginning, struggle and adjustment in the middle of the crisis and the peace and acceptance at the end when she reaches the ultimate knowledge and enlightenment.

 Lucy might not be a perfect movie, but it’s surely entertaining, fun, witty and daring. When it ended I couldn’t keep the smile out of my face and I felt definitely more curious about life.

*Many scientists refute this theory and new studies on brain damage prove it wrong.

Abir Lebbos

Read More

Maya Diab in her interview with Neshan.

Please subscribe to our blog to get our latest update ------->>>>>

Not long ago, “Maya Diab” was a neutral name to the Lebanese society.
I still remember the first time she appeared with her new look and back then I did not think even for once that she would become “that famous” and that despite her limited singing capacity she would create a unique space for herself.

Maya Diab was Neshan’s guest in his last episode of “wala te7lam”, and for the first time I had the opportunity to see what lies behind her perfect appearance and to discover different sides of her personality.

One of the things you have to know about Maya is that she is not only a beautiful woman with a sexy body but she is also strong and smart. Anyone who watched her episode with Neshan can simply reach this conclusion.
For more than an hour, Maya was able to avoid Neshan’s questions, questions that included her private life, her work, her conflicts with Bassem Feghali and lots of tricky subjects that only a smart person can avoid. However, at some point Maya was unable to hide her arrogance, and her unreachable ego.

When Maya first began to talk, she looked very artificial especially when compared to Neshan who is one of the most spontaneous talk shower in Lebanon. She was counting her words, replying shortly most of the time and smiling when she did not want to answer. Her gestures and her attitude reflected her high self-esteem.

Neshan’s first tricky question was about Maya’s marriage. Maya, who replied directly to Neshan’s question about love in her life saying “ma fi gharam”,  insisted that she is still married and refused to talk more. Upon Neshan's insistence on this subject, she lost her temper a bit and claimed that her private life is not for discussion. Although, I totally understand Maya’s concerns I do not really agree with her. Any famous person does not really own his private life. At the end, this is the bad side of being famous!

Maya’s arrogance was featured the most when Neshan asked her about her competitors. Her cliché respond, “Of being in competition with every successful star”, and her attitude gave me the feeling that she did not really think she has any worthy competitor.  Moreover, I could not tolerate the part when she begun talking about her TV show. Any realistic person knows  that people watch Maya’s show to see her, and to see what she is wearing (or not wearing :P) .  

In the last part of the episode, Maya showed a beautiful human side of her personality when she offered Mohamad, a handicapped 16 years old boy, a dream. She looked very honest and I really appreciated her gesture when she went down on her knees to kiss Mohamad.

Watching this interview of Maya Diab did not change my opinion toward her. I still find her over rated and I still think that she is not the kind of successful women I like to see in our society. She is beautiful, smart, and strong but she does not offer more. I am not against the success of attractive women as long as their appearance is not the only reason behind their fame. Till now, Maya didn't show a distinction in singing, acting or performing and I wonder if she will ever do!

Rihab

Read More

"لو"...بعد عن الواقع وفشل في اﻹبداع.

Please subscribe to our blog to get our latest update ------->>>>>

لو...هي كلمة بنى بعضنا قصوره و هواجسه عليها...وبعضنا تلاحقه كلعنة أبدية أينما ذهب... ولبعضنا تحمل اشعاع اﻷمل بغد أفضل..."لو" كلمة تصلح كعنوان مسلسل، تشدك اليه وتشعرك بحشرية لمعرفة لماذا طرح السؤال...أثار مسلسل "لو" منذ بدء عرض الpromo قبل بدء شهر رمضان اهتمام المشاهد العربي، و الجميع تحمس لمشاهدته وذلك لبراعة شبكة الosn في الترويج لبرامجها و للوجوه "الجميلة" التي تشارك التمثيل..ولكن سرعان ما بهت ذلك الحماس بعد الكشف عن حبكة المسلسل وربطه بوجود نسخة "هوليودية" بعنوان Unfaithful تعود الى ال2002 بطولة ريشارد غير.

فمن الواضح انه بعد نجاح "لعبة الموت" السنة الفائتة في مجال سرقة المسلسلات، قرر العربي الخوض في التجربة ذاتها هذه السنة، مما يدعوا لللقلق تجاه الفشل في اﻹبداع وابتكار أفكار جديدة واللجؤ الى المساعدة اﻷجنبية. واﻷشد وقاحة في هذا العمل هو مدى تشابه المشاهد واﻷحداث بين الفيلم والمسلسل حتى باتت نسخة طبق اﻷصل، حيث يقتصر الجديد على إضافة عدد من الشخصيات الثانوية.
من الواضح أن التمثيل، في المفهوم اللبناني "اﻷعوج"، مرتبط بالجمال. حيث  أن يكون الممثل جميلا أهم من أن يكون متقنا لمهنته ( الشئ ذاته ملموس في "عشرة عبيد صغار")...
فنادين نجيم مثلا، ملكة جمال لبنان سابقا، أبرزت مهارتها في أن تكون باردة جدا في أداء دورها، حيث لم نستطع التماس الشخصية، أو التعاطف معها. بدت مبتدئة ينقصها الكثير من "فت الخبز". وهذا ما نستطيع قوله عن معظم الممثلين في العمل ما عدا السوريين منهم، وخاصة عبد فاهد حيث يبرهنا سنة بعد اﻷخرى باتقانه مهنته بحرفية...

قصة الحب بين يوسف الخال و نجيم بدت مثل قصص حب المراهقة، سريعة الانشعال حيث اندلعت في الحلقة الثانية وغير عقلانية بعد محاولة الانتحار التي يقوم بها يوسف الخال بعد ترك نجيم له(هذا ما لا نراه في الفيلم اﻷجنبي).  وبالرغم من اﻷسباب التي دفعت نجيم للخيانة، تعويض النقص والملل في الحياة الزوجية، إلا أن المبالغة في الدراما كان جليا، حيث نسيت نجيم أن لديها طفلة ولم تشعر بالذنب تجاه زوجها (أو باﻷحرى لم تشعرنا بذلك) وتصرفت كأي فتاة مراهقة. وحتى اننا لم نقتنع بهذا النقص الزوجي، اذا أن زوجها فعل المستحيل ﻹسعادها في أولى حلقاته.

أما بالنسبة لمدى ارتباط المسلسل بواقعنا، فهو كل البعد عنه.
في لبنان "لو" لا تنقطع الكهرباء، اﻹنترنت سريع جدا؛ skype لا ينقطع أبدا بعكس الواقع.
المسلسل برهن فشله و ضعف بناء الشخصيات وضعف بالتمثيل. واقتصرت جماليته على أغنية الشارة وعنوان المسلسل البسيط والذي يملك أبعاد مختلفة، عوضا عن المشاهد المصورة في تعنايل.
من المؤسف تقليد الغير في حين وجود أفكار مميزة و مبدعة عند الشاب البناني بشكل خاص. ومن المؤسف اﻹستغناء عن الشباب المتخرجة من كليات التمثيل واﻹستعاضة عنهم بملكات وملوك الجمال، عديمي القدرة التمثيلية.

ولو وافقنا على ان المسلسل نسخة، يجب علينا  ان نعطيه فرصة لنرى امكانات التمثيل واﻹخراج.

في لبنان "لو" لا وجود للبنة أو غيرها من اﻷطباق اللبنانية. في لبنان "لو" لا وجود للعجقة الخانقة. في لبنان "لو" كل اللبنانيين "لسانون حلو" حيث لا شتائم تلفظ. في لبنان "لو"، فقد لبنان لبنانيته وضربت كل مبادئه عرض الحائط؛ الخيانة سهلة جدا والجنس سهل الحصول عليه.

تم "أمركنت" هذا المسلسل حتى بدا مثله كمثل أي مسلسل أجنبي آخر.

Moustafa Moustafa

Read More

Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait au bon Dieu?

Please subscribe to our blog to get our latest update ------->>>>>

Based on a good friend’s recommendation and on a very interesting trailer, I watched “Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait au bon Dieu?” a new French comedy now showing in Lebanon.     

The plot is very simple, so are the acting and the scenario; yet, the subjects discussed are important and need to be pointed at. A traditional catholic French couple faces a tough time when three of their daughters marry immigrant French men: a Muslim Arab, a Jewish Israeli and a Buddhist Chinese. The new big family tries to co-exist, but as soon as it reaches certain stability, the fourth daughter decides to get marry and everything is threatened by this new son-in law.

The movie gives us an insight to new French society and to the struggle of its different components to deal with the ethnic and religious diversity; however, this struggle is international and can be projected to the whole world.  

“Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait au bon Dieu?” is a question that we have all asked at some point in our lives and I wish that, in the real world, it can be answered with humor and lightness as it was in this movie.

The film’s message is clear: communication and acceptance are the only solution; because, in the end, we are all alike and if you think that religion and race are worth the fight than they are not. So put your negativity aside and erase all the prejudgment that you were taught to live with and preserve, for what matters in life is humanity powered by tolerance and love.

If you want to watch a different and funny movie, away from Hollywood mainstream repetitive movies, check this film.

Rating 3.75/5

Abir Lebbos

Read More

Her

Her 4.5/5

“Her” is the most bizarre yet familiar movie I have ever seen.

The idea of falling in “Love” with an operating system is a very improbable event for anyone of us, but what if it could just happen?

Think for a second about your relationship with your cell phone or with the internet. How do you describe it? Is it normal, healthy or very reliant? Note how all of these descriptions are humanly relevant, which makes me seriously wonder.

People have become more and more dependent on technology in every aspect of their lives. Some are becoming isolated and introverted and they tend to communicate indirectly via social media.

This is an issue that needs to be more addressed and that’s what the writer and director Spike Jonze  tries to do, by sharing with us a phase in the life of Theodore, a lonely unsocial writer, struggling with his feelings during a hard divorce. Theodore buys a smart Operating System (O.S.) and decides, to his bad luck, to give him a female voice. The O.S., which chose to name herself Samantha, will expand quickly and will soon become an entity, but not only a binary code one, but someone with feelings and personal ideas. It’s not long before Theodore falls in love with her virtual perfection.

What is really smart in this movie is that the director approaches this “love relationship” as if it is very normal. He places it in a society where it is very usual for someone to talk to his computer while walking on the road and he shows that all traditional phases of a two human’s relationship apply to it.

This movie presents an interesting idea and a phenomenon that is starting to form in our societies with a clever approach using a high caliber cast including Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson (playing the role of Samantha- we never get to see her in the movie)  Rooney Mara and Amy Adams who all deliver a outstanding performance.

This movie carries a very smart/ interesting message to us, something we miss to notice or to remember in our quick modern life “even the smartest operating system fails to understand the complexity of the human’s feelings and to satisfy his emotions.”

Read More

Killer Karaoké (غني لو تقدر)

Killer Karaoké  (غني لو تقدر) برنامج عم ينعرض على شاشة ال MTV. الفكرة  تبعو منا جديدة ومأخودة من برنامج أجنبي متل كل هالبرامج العم تستوردا اذاعاتنا. منيحة كانت أو عاطلة، مش مهم، المهم نعبي الهوا "ونسلي" هالناس شي شوي.  

 المشارك بدو يغني وبذات الوقت بكون عم يتعرض  لمواقف كتير صعبة بدو يضل خلالها مركز عالغنيّة  لو شو ما صار معو. بأول مرحلة، الجمهور بصوت لأكتر شخص احترم قواعد البرنامج وبتاني مرحلة، المشترك بيتكل على توازنو ليربح لحد ٣٥٠٠٠$.

راح أعطيكن متل زغير عن أول مرحلة من :Killer Karaoké مشترك غطّسوا بالمي السخنة و ومن بعدا بالمي المسقعة و بيرجع مي فاترة بس مع ضفادع اكسترا  ومشتركة  حطوا بتابوت فراعنة و كبو عليها دود و حيات من كل الأنواع؛ و كل ما صرخت كل ما كبو عليها أكتر، و غيرا و غيرا من المواقف المقرفة (صراصير, فيران ، كهربا...) يللي بتستغل خوف الناس وبتستفز المشارك. ما بعرف شو خطرلن  هالناس ليوافقو يكونو بهيك برنامج، وما بعرف شو خطرلن ال MTV ليجيبوا هيك مقدمين  ويسمحولون يضحكو عالعالم و ينبسطو بصريخن (كل هيدا و هن عم بصرخو علينا بذات الوقت).

أنا و عم بحضر، كذا فكرة خطرت عا راسي. منا إنو قدي الناس مستقتلة لتربح مصاري، لوين مستعدة تروح كرمال مبلغ من الكاش.  معقول صرنا مجتمع رخيص بيعمل المستحيل كرمال المصاري، و بيقنع حالو إنو عم يتسلى  ويسلي غيرو؟  معقول صرنا مجتمع بيتسلى لما يشوف غيرو عم ينذل و يصرخ و يعاني و كل ما صرخ غيرو وخاف كل ما انبسط أكتر؟ خلصت الأفكار الحلوة لبتسللي بلا ما تهين الإنسان؟

عيب هيك برنامج ينعرض ع شاشتنا وبما إنو ما في شي جابرني احضر، كانت أول مرة واخر مرة.

Rating : 0/5

Read More

كعب عالي

من أكثر من شهر حضرنا أنا وعبير هالمسرحيّة، وللأسف واجهنا صعوبة بكتابة مراجعتنا. وبرأيي الّسبب واضح وبسيط: "ما في شي ينحكى عنو".

ما بدي أظلم هالمسرحيّة  أو خفف من قيمة وأهميّة النّاس لي شتغلوا وتعبوا عليا و خصوصي الممثّل عمّار شلق والممثّل طلال الجردي   يلّي بحترمون وبقدرون كتير وبعتبرون فنّانين حقيقيّين بكلّ معنى الكلمة وتكون صريحة أكثر، وجودن كان السّبب الرّئيسي الي خلّاني أصرّ انّي تابع هالعمل رغم الأراء العديدة  يلي سمعتا ويلي أكّدتلي أنو هالمسرحيّة " مهضومة ما بها شي بس منّا واو".

 "كعب عالي" بتدور احداثا حول موضوع العلاقات العاطفيّة والجنس. طريقة  طرح الموضوع كانت الى حدّ ما جديدة وجريئة. فالبنت هي المحرّك الرّئيسي بالقصّة والشّباب هنّي عم يجربو يفهمو تصرفاتها  ويجاروها.

  جيورجي (ريتا الحايك) بتحبّ أندريه (طلال الجردي) شاب مثقّف ومثالي بدّو يغيّر العالم. أندريه  الي ببادل جورجي هالحبّ بتمنعو حواجز فكريّة واجتماعيّة كثيرة من الاستسلام لأغرائاتا المتكرّرة. من ميلي أندريه خاطب ليديا (نسرين أبي سمرا) والشّهامة والاخلاق ما عم بيخلّو يخونها، ومن ميلي تانية، جورجي منا من نفس المستوى الفكري أو الاجتماعي. أمّا إدي (عمار شلق)، رفيقو لاندريه، محامي محتال ونسونجي، وظّف جورجي عندو بناءً على توصية من أندريه وما منعوا هاشي من امو يجرّب يتحشّر فيا.  

 الإيقاع سريع وما بزهّق، والتّمثيل كان على مستوى جيّد. المشاهد "الجريئة" استعملت بكثافة ما شفت إنو إلها مبرر غير استقطاب الجمهور وحتى مرّات كثيرة كانت مملّة ومتكرّرة. بسّ المشكلة الرئيسيّة بهل العمل كانت غياب الجوهر. لأنو اذا كان الهدف هو اضحاك الجمهور بيأسفني قول انو هل الهدف ما نجح أما اذا كان الهدف إيصال فكرة معيّنة فللأسف كمان الفكرة ما وصلت.

 2.5/5:Rating

أنا بوافق رحاب على كم نقطة طرحتن. الموضوع منو جديد بس الطريقة كنت فعلاً جريئة وهيدا يلي رفع من قيمة العمل بالنسبة إلي. أنا شخصيّاً ما عندي مشكل مع المسرحيّة يلي ما إلها هدف واضح، فيّي إستمتع بالشخصيّات  المعقدة والمواقف السّريعة يلّي بتخلص  بلحظتها وكون حبيت يلّي حضرتو متل ما صار "بكعب عالي". النهاية ما توقعتها بس كانت ضمن سياق الشخصيات وعبرت عن ضياعن وتعقيدن. بدّي زيد إنو انبسطت كتير بتمثيل  ريتا الحايك يلي ضهرت من الأدوار النّمطية  وكانت أد التّحدّي ولازم تكفّي بالمسرح لأنها ممثّلة واعدة.  

      Rating: 3.5/5  

  

Read More

300: Rise of an Empire

Have you ever tried the French cuisine? Have you experienced its perfection? If so, you will understand this review because this movie is like a French dish. 

Every scene, every flash of an eye, every drop of blood and every word were deeply and profoundly studied to create a perfect successor to the movie that caught the hearts of millions all over the world. This movie is neither a sequel nor a prequel to "300", it is both at the same time.

It starts with "The battle of Marathon" when Themistocles a Greek soldier killed King Darius of Persia in front of his son Xerxes. Seeking revenge, Xerxes came back to Greece years after declaring war. With the huge Persian fleet led by Artemisia threatening all the Greek, Themistocles asked the council to unit and sought the help of Sparta. The Spartans refused his request and King Leonidas marched to the war with his 300 brave soldiers. Armed by the promise of freedom and a united country, the Greek fleet fought the Persians bravely. But when the Persian seemed to end the war to their favor, Themistocles already knew that the 300 Spartans were dead and sought the help of Queen Gorgo of Sparta asking her to revenge her beloved king.


This movie is a great watch; it takes you back thousands of years, to the era of the great warriors. The director Naom Murro manages to create the perfect atmosphere and I felt completely taken for 102 minutes. All the characters were well-developed and perfectly casted. Eva Green was excellent playing Artemisia; I can even say that she surprised me. 

I enjoyed this movie although I am not really a fan of 300. I had a tough time watching the killing scenes but I admit that they served the large scheme perfectly. 

Like French dishes, this movie is very well done, it is perfect BUT it is not the kind of 
movies that I, personally, crave to see.

Rating: 3.5/5 

Read More

"The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine" book review

“Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one-step at a time.”

 Lyndon B. Johnson  

This book was a great journey, a one that took me to another world where love rules. It made me see that understanding, humanity and friendship exist in each one of us.

Coming from an Israeli Family, Miko Peled is a man who sacrificed his life to put an end to the injustice and discrimination targeting Palestinians. In his book, he retells the events of his works and encourages his people to love and accept others.

After fighting in the wars of 1948 and 1967, Mattityahu Peled an Israeli general and Miko’s father, became a peace activist and was nicknamed by many Palestinian by “Abou al salam”. He worked faithfully for a dialogue between both sides of the conflict, aiming for a life of peace where only humanity would be valued.

Miko’s lived safely in the U.S.A. trying to turn his back to all what was happening in his birth land. Nevertheless, the death of his niece tipped the scales and he found himself concerned about a cause that goes further than his personal life and touches the life of thousands of people.

Being able to feel sympathy toward your supposed enemy, searching for a way to build up amity, and believing that no war can be fair or just, are things that few of us are able to do

Miko Peled did not question his responsibilities towards humanity. He worked and he is still working to make a difference, to give the weak a reason to believe in tomorrow, to give back to the children of Palestine their right of a normal safe life, to create a place for harmony and love between the different zones of war and killing.

In his journey, Miko faced some huge personal barriers and he went through all of them holding his faith in humanity. He went to the other side, to the enemy quarter, he felt strange and scared but nothing stopped him from following the voice of his conscience.

Dear Mr. Peled, you gave me a reason to feel safe, you rebuilt hope in me and you made me understand that humanity is far beyond conflicts and nationalities; it exists inside each one of us.

A friend told me once:” I was born in this country out of my choice, I don’t really want to spend my life trying to make it better”.

My friend, now I have the answer: “When you try to make a change in this world you are not doing it for “your country”, you are doing it for yourself. Being Human is a responsibility that you carry on your shoulders. If you want to ignore it, this is your choice. However, do you not feel jealous when you see someone working for humanity while you are sitting in front of the TV?”

I absolutely do.

Read More

Non-Stop

I often prejudge an action movie as being very predictable and unchallenging. I must admit that it is not actually my favorite genre, but due to many recommendations, I watched Non-Stop and even though I quiet enjoyed it, I have some issues that I need to share.

Non-stop is a fun movie to watch, it does not bore you but at the same time does not offer you anything new.

One of the clearest weaknesses of this movie is the unfinished cycle of accusations. This very predictable step to make us doubt certain characters, then turn them out to be innocent became very annoying at some point.

Moreover, speaking about the plot, I have to mention the insufficient way in which the different motives of the crime were explained.

The key in this kind of movies is that the audience must be intimidated by the bad guy and intrigued to reveal his mystery. He must believe the threat in order to root for the good guy. It was not the case here, the bad people were simply not challenging enough and the story behind their actions was not convincing or profoundly treated, but despite that, you’ll like the action that this movie offers.

Also, there is something about Liam Neeson that attracts me enough to tolerate this kind of movies. He is just so pleasant to watch and very charismatic.

In conclusion, if you have some time to spare and could not find another movie that interests you, you can watch Non-Stop and have some instant fun.

Rating: 3/5

Read More