Reviews

This movie is a peculiar take on the 'one long, challenging day/evening' narrative, where the protagonist races against time to reach her destination or face dire consequences. Sarah, our protagonist, embodies the traits of the Naga (female camel): strong, proud, yet also spiteful and vengeful, unwilling to forgive any offense. Newcomer Adwa Bader shines in portraying Sarah, skillfully bringing out her multifaceted personality. Bader fearlessly embodies an unlikeable and flawed character with a bad temperament, unafraid to attack or lash out, making it challenging to sympathize with Sarah. However, I found myself remarkably invested in her well-being, largely due to Bader's bold performance.

The film boasts commendable cinematography and production values, showcasing assured direction. However, director Meshal Al Jaser's debut feature tends to throw on screen everything under the kitchen sink, making it feel slightly indulgent and overstuffed. Yet, these cinematic flares find some justification as they reflect the protagonist's state of hallucination, panic, and disorientation, cleverly maintained by the director's camera and editing tricks.

Despite these strengths, I hold a grudge against the film for its promise of a story about a vengeful, demented camel chasing our heroine. While the movie offers glimpses of this aspect, it falls short of delivering as much as expected. The mismatch between the advertised premise and the actual depiction left me slightly disappointed and annoyed. Nonetheless, the film still centers around a spiteful camel, so yes it's misleading, but the title Naga is still apt. It's a good movie that reflects a paradigm shift in Saudi cinema, and I am here for it.

Consider my mind blown! Yes movie, you lived to my expectations, but you also broke my heart. That said, Cruise and company delivered. This was my most anticipated movie of the year, and it didn't, I rebeat, it didn't disappoint. 2hr45min of non-stop breathtaking action with not a single dull moment. Hayley Atwell is the MVP of the movie (aside from the man himself, of course). Now Dead Reckoning part 2 is my most anticipated movie ot 2024 (that if they didn't delay it), but until then, I will be happy to see this one again, and hopefully on the big screen. Thanks for a great time, movies are truly back this summer.

This is a film that will sneaks up on you with how good and effective it is as horror mystery. The central relationship in this film is between Christine (Eva Green) a fashion designer who suddenly falls to a mysterious and debilitating illness, and her Filipino helper Diana (played by the wonderful discovery Chai Fonacier) who appears from nowhere and starts taking care of Christine using unorthodox methods that alarms Christine's husband Felix (Mark Strong). Diana has drive and determination, but her motives and agendas are mysterious, is she a snake-oil salesman taking advantage of Christine? Or is she un altruistic healer who wants to take care of her? By the end of the film, you will realize this is a horror film that delivers the goods, and it all ties up its threads logically. It's not a very scary horror film, but it's thoughtful and it's cathartic. I really like this one and I highly recommend it.

Today I watched the most spectacular film I have seen all year. It's visuals are breathtaking, characters are well drawn (for the most part), and the allegory of the story (how spice and Arrakis are stand in for oil and the Middle East) is unmistakable. Hans Zimmer's score combined with fantastic art direction, and beautiful cinematography, all work intandem with Villeneuve vision as a director, to make this ambitious film worth the long wait, and a must-see in the biggest screen possible. The performances are all around great, although Rebecca Ferguson is the MVP. Timothée Chalamet acts like a sad emo for most of the film, but I suppose that's what's asked of him in the role. I don't agree with anyone who says the film is dull, but I suppose I am a sucker for the palace intruge part and all the politics, betrayal, and backstabbing, so the film having more drama and less action is fine by me. This is half a film (it says Dune-part 1 at the top of the film), so expecting a story that wraps up by the end of one film, is just as silly as being angry at "Fellowship of The Ring" ending with Frudo and Sam at the top of the that mountain looking at Mount Doom. I for one found this film very effective in building the world and preparing for the next part of the story, and I really hope we don't have to+o wait too long for part 2.

I had a blast watching The Suicide Squad, which was the best good time I had in cinema in a long, long time. It ia weird, twisted, nasty, bloody, gory, and so so funny. The film opens with fantastic fake out that came from the Deadpool playbook, and it genuinely surprised me. It cleverly introduces a host of new characters, reboots the series, and emphasizes how dangerous it is to be a part of the Suicide Squad. It also reminds you how badass and ruthless Viola Davis's Amanda Waller is, as well as how badass and deranged is Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn. The latter gets her own side adventure, which gives her the opportunity to have her own short fim within the film, and Robbie proves all over again why Harley Quinn is one of the best DC characters of recent memory.

The core of the newcomers squad members consists of a mish-mash of anti-heroes led by a suave Idris Elba as Bloodsport. He is the reluctant leader of the bunch, mirrored by a squad member with similar skills (Peacemaker played by John Cena) who is a spoof of the All-American G. I. Joe type. Ratcather 2, Polka-dot Man, and King Shark round up the Suicide Squad, which is newly branded as "Task Force X" (because Suicide Squad is apparently bad for morale), and you could not ask for weirder, more haphazardly assembled yet wonderful team than this one. The mission they are coerced into doing is to destroy Jötunheim, a Nazi-era prison and laboratory in the South American island nation of Corto Maltese. From their craziness ensues in the bloodiest, most visually creative and playful way. The squad's main mission is put on hold at first to rescue Colonel Flag (returning player Joel Kinnaman), which leads to another mission to rescue captured Harley Quinn, and both rescue missions, we found out, are elaborate jokes by writer/director's James Gunn that have hilarious punchlines. The film keeps reinventing itself and changing gear from one moment to another, which made the 2hr+ runtime zips away without a dull moment.

I came to this film fearing that there is too much high praise heaped at it, and that it could not possibly live up to the hype, only to be pleasantly surprised of how much I genuinely loved it. The Suicide Squad is cinematic escapism in the most wonderful way possible, and I can't wait to rewatch it again and again.

Snake Eyes is too violent to be a kids movie and too stupid to present a grown-up plot. It's cartoonish in all the wrong ways, without ever being surprising or even that entertaining. Lots of great talents are sacrificed to revive a dead franchise, and while the previous G. I. Joe films were stupid but lots of fun, this one is too high on stupid and too low on fun. Samara Weaving is in it for a hot minute, and focusing on her might have brought so much levity this film desperately needed, but alas the film is centered around Henry Golding who fails to bring much to the table. I give this film some points for some good action scenes, but none of them were good enough to justify my trip to the cinema.

The Book of Sun is both a high school coming-of-age comedy and a film about guerrilla filmmaking, and it nails it in both areas. The story is very entertaining from start to finish and invokes an atmosphere I have enjoyed in films like Bowfinger and The Disaster Artist without actually being anything like either films. Here is a film that was truly made for the local sensibility and very true to that, yet I believe would be a smashing success has it been given the chance to play internationally. The filmmaking is very well done, and the camera shots are smart and dynamic without being flashy. The filmmakers smartly imploys music, animations, outdoors shoots, and camera flourishes in service of telling a really good story. Set in 2010, it would have been a tall order recreating that time and place in a country with little infrastructure and expertise to pull that off, but the filmmakers managed to do that on a budget that must have been modest, and used the limitations to double down on the DIY atmosphere of a high school kids with talent and passion trying to make a movie in an atmosphere that was anything but supportive. There is a high level of situational comedy, and the cast who consists of mainly unprofessional and unseasoned young actors really delovered on the jokes. Baraa Alem, playing Hosam the aspiring filmmaker, is very good in delivering a wide range of emotions between the drama and the comdey. He is the straight man in this mayhem. The stakes are high for him, because his future is on the line, and the pressure is high on him to succeed in school to become what his family and society deem a successful man, even if it means abandoning his passion for filmmaking which he is clearly good at. The supporting team lead by Sohayb Godus, Ahmad Sadam, and especially Ismail Alhassan truly deliver on the comedy in a big. If Baraa Alem's Hosam is the brain here, Ismail Alhassan's Ma'an his best friend is the beating heart of the gang. There are many funny gags that I believe should not be spoiled, and I feel they are ripe for repeat viewing. Not only the film is great, even the film within a film is the kind of shlock horror films I would totally watch and enjoy. This is in no way a perfect movie. If I have to say where it could have been improved, I would say the plot is predictable and the film would have been better off cut to 100 to 105 min instead of 2 hours. That said, it still is a very impressive effort considering it's the debut feature film of Godus Brothers. It is one of the rare times that I don't have to qualify my enjoyment by saying it's a good enough for a Saudi film, and instead I think it's a film that could stand on its own merits and represent us everywhere and not be graded on a curve, which might be the highest praise I can grant the film.

Tonight I needed a cathartic experience, and instead of escapism, I opted for doubling down on a good cry. I love this movie with all my heart. It is just so beautiful, sad, yet hopeful, and ultimately uplifting. By this point, Denis Villeneuve could film paint drying and I will be there for it. He can do no wrong in my book, as he just made a magnificent symphony of visuals and sounds, aided by a breathtaking performance by Amy Adams that was criminally under appreciated. And just as powerful was the use of music in this film especially the brilliant Max Richter's piece "On the Nature of Daylight" which is employed from the first scene and throughout the film fitting like hand a glove. There is no question in my mind that Arrival is my favorite film of 2016, and one of my favorite films of all time.

And just liked that Jojo Rabbit managed to make me roar with laughter and broke my heart in the same time. This is not exactly a feel good film, but it has a big big heart and it was like putting on a safety blanket while watching abd being reminded about the horrors and cruelty humans are capable of, and also how ridiculous yet corrupting Nazism, racism, and white supremacy can be. Shout out to Roman Griffith Davis as one of the best protagonist of the year, Thomasin McKenzie as his foil, Taika Waititi as imaginary Hitler, Sam Rockwell as the conflicted and jaded Nazi captain, and especially to Scarlett Johanson as the brave, funny, beautiful, and all around good person Rosie Jojo's mother. I can't wait to see it again.

One of my most anticipated films of the year totally lived up to my great expectations. The all-star cast delivered a very entertaining film that gave us a great homage to one of my favorite literary authors Agatha Christie, yet managed to deliver an original and exciting entry to the genra. Would not have expected less from Rian Johnson, a writer director who does not know how to make a bad movie. I am so ready for more Benoit Blanc stories and I hope Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig keep them coming.

I was hoping to love this film, but alas I only ended up mildly positive about it. My biggest issue is the clunky dialoge which was excruciating at times. The actors did their best with what they had, but I think the script should have been looked at by Saudi filmmakers to make sure not only the actors got the dialect correctly, but also that the words coming out of their mouths ring true. That said, it is nice to see a chapter of our history depicted on big screen, and the film looked good with great production values.

If you are coming to this film expecting an action packed space opera, then it is safe to assume that you have never seen a James Gray film before. This movie is a one man journey, so even though he is literally drawing on the biggest canavas that a director can get, and the stake here is the survivor of all living things, Gray is ultimately still telling an intimate story.

The performance of Brad Pitt in my opinion is one of his best ever, and more the reason to see the film. There are no showy scenes, he is not busy eating something as he does in many films, or doing a funny accent. It is all in his face in one of his quieter more subdued performances, yet still emotional and expressive. Everyone else in the film is disposable two sometimes one dimensional probe or stepping stone. That is one of the thing I didn't like about the film, along with the predictable story itself. That said, it is a well paced, beautifully shot, and competently directed movie, with some excellent set pieces like the opening and a portion set on the moon that should only be experienced in the biggest screen possible. Overall, I liked this movie a lot, but I would not recommend it for someone who likes a fast paced action film or conventional sci-fi drama. I am still wrestling with my thoughts, but I do think this might be appearing in my best of the year list.

I loved Yesterday. Many critics are lukewarm toward it, but it's a corky funny film with all the tropes of a Richard Curtis film, so what's not to like. It has some Danny Boyle flairs but not enough to distinguish it as a Danny Boyle film. It seems he was content making a Richard Curtis film. I liked Himesh Patel as Jack, but Lily James makes the screen lights up everytime she is on. It is also a very funny film too, and Kate McKinnon's Deborah insured I laugh hard everytime she'd crack a mean insults toward Jack. The biggest problem I have with the film is that Himesh's singing is not really great, but he carries the acting part very well. I would highly recommend it.

As far as I know, Roll'em is the first Saudi film to be commercially screened in Saudi cinemas after lifting the ban on public theatres in 2017. Our Saudi cinema has a lot of catching up to do, so I went to watch this film with my expectations lowered, but I am happy to say it exceeded them by a lot.

The protagonist Omar is an a aspiring and frustrated filmmaker. He is a flawed yet well rounder character. He is hotheaded and broody, and he really hates his 9-5 job as a director in an ad agency, and despised the compromises he has to do to make ends meet. He is in love with a lovely woman Leena who has aspiration of her own and feel suffocated by him. She needs a distance to evaluate the relationship, which attributes to his depression and state of loss he ends up in. One day while scouting for location in Jeddah's Old Town (AlBalad) he finds Farid Lutfi, a 70somthing antique shop owner who he finds out was once accomplished but now a retired filmmaker. Omar convinces Farid to work with him on a film about Old Jeddah, and in the process he teaches him a lesson or two about live, love and how to overcome the odds against him.

What I liked about the film is how at brisk 90 min, it managed to tell a well rounded story with a few clunky moments here and there. The performances for the most part were good, considering most of the actors are not seasoned, but the two leading roled played by Khaled Yeslam and Shaher Al Qurashi were especially strong. The film is beautifully shot, and the director knows where to place the camera and and how to frame qnr shoot a scene, and plays with depth of field in the external shots to alternate the focus between the actors in the foreground and AlBalad in the background with its busy streets, stray animals, and flocks of pigeons flying everywhere. Such flourishes made the film always interesting to look at, and not your run of the mill boring film. The music and the score of film is another strong elemnt, as it stirrer nostalgia without overwhelming the narrative. The ending of the film was wrapped a little bit too neatly with a scene I could only describe as nothing more than wish fulfilment, but it did not really take away from the film overall message. I will be looking forward to the director's next film, but this was a good step in what I am hoping it will be a long and successful career.

What a terrific film!! One of the most touching, beautiful, romantic films I have seen a long time. It is not Bollywood and it is not Hollywood. It is in a class of it is own up there with the greats.

The story of two lost souls, a neglected housewife vying for her husband attention through his stomach, and a jaded old widower who has given up on life and people. Two people cross paths through the one lunchbox that lost it way in otherwise an impeccable delivery system. Two people needed each other and their fate found a way so the can offer each other solace from their desperate situation.

Irfan Khan solidify his position as one of the greatest actors of our times, and Nimrat Kaur, a new discovery for me, is almost as amazing as he is. Director Ritesh Batra in his debut feature film offers a terrific story that is unsentimental yet magical. There is no holding hand or exposition in this film. It is an adult film that gives you enough to chew on but doesn't give you instant gratification or happily ever after, yet it leaves you with hope that the two of them will find happiness, may be! Do yourself a favor and watch this film, it is a gem and an instant classic. 4.5/5

Let me start with this statement: I LOVE THE SHOW!! It is one of the best of this year, and this year featured quite excellent shows, Pushing Daisies, Aliens in America, Chuck, Reaper, and Gossip Girl, to name a few. Alas the rating system failed the show and the plug is almost pulled off that show. However the show is amazing and it can be considered as a mini series, an excellent one.

I want to mention the acting, it was good across the board even though the stars of the show aren't exactly household names. Kevin Mckidd as Dan did an excellent job, it seems that American networks can always rely on Brits to deliver. As for the two leading females Gretchen Egolf who plays the wife Katie, and the extremely beautiful Moon Bloodgood who plays Livia the past lover and fellow time travelers, they both fit right in. The other supporting characters and guest stars did a fairly good job. The show started formulaic, not that there is anything wrong with that, but as the episodes progressed, the show evolved and became much more interesting as the stakes became bigger, that started with episode 5 "The Legend of Dylan McCleen". The consequences and the fall out from that episode effected the outcome of the following episodes. Finally someone wrote that this is show is "Truly a Gem" and I can't agree more, it is a gem that will be missed come 2008.

One of the best shows on TV. I can't believe this show wasn't recognized in the Emmy's, but again what does they know, Veronica Mars came and gone unrecognized. You have to be Two and a Half Men to be seen by them. Back to Dexter, this show is really good, the acting is first class, Michael C. Hall is just fantastic, so is the supporting cast. It is dark without losing it's touch of humor. The violence in the show is really tuned down so you get the idea without grossing you out. Even with nudity I think Showtime has shown restrain in this department so it doesn't alienate us with unneeded scenes of sex and violence. I have seen more violence in network shows that don't have serial killers, so kudos to Showtime. Finally. I hope this show continue its success story because it so entertaining that makes you almost in no rush to see movies.

Total disgrace! Truly awful! The screenplay and dialogue is a joke, and combined with a director who doesn't have a clue about life in Saudi Arabia. It's not a surprise, quite Saudi film ha, the director is Palestinian-Canadian, the writer is Lebanese, the lead actress is Jordanian, and the shooting took place in Dubai, and all these inauthentic elements shows well to make the film far from representing the Saudi society. Yes it contains some Saudi clichés, the stuff we see in cartoons in the newspapers everyday, but that's about everything. The film had the opportunity to show real problem with Saudi society, or at least give us something new and genuine about the youth troubles and concerns in Saudi Arabia, instead it copied and pasted from here and there, and the result was a mess. Even the supposedly love story in the movie doesn't exist or at least we haven't seen it. The only bright side in this total debacle is some good acting from the supporting cast. The veteran Khaled Sami was funny in a badly written role as the grand father, which he is clearly got miscasted for, as he looks younger than the actor who plays his son. Also the actor who plays the fanatic brother's role, Turki Al-Yusuf, has done well, in fact he was the best actor in the film. The rest of the cast, being professionals for long, did an OK job, but the lead actor Hisham Abdulrahman was just bad. He had one look of a little adorable bobby for all situations. He couldn't even say his lines in a proper manner. He has charisma that made him wins the title of Star Academy, a very famous reality show, and he is good in interviews and TV shows, but he was just the weakest link of this film. The lead actress I didn't mind very much, but even she wasn't exactly a strong presence, gave bad performances in some key scenes,, and overplayed her sensuality in unnecessary way.

The Film was a huge hit, Saudi flocked in thousands to neighboring Bahrain and Dubai to attend it when it was screened there, and it made a tone of money, then it was screened in pay-per-view, then in broadcasting TV, and that was in a span of a few weeks. This was to cash on Saudis eagerness to homegrown entertainment, but alas; the film was neither homegrown, nor entertaining.

I won't write about the movie much more because other people did that very well. I just want to comment on Vidya's acting. She was so natural and was perfect for the role of Lolita. Sure Saif did a very good job, but he has been acting for so many years. But this new face is really great, she fits the role like a glove in a hand. Someone mentioned that she resembles Madhori Dixit. That's so true! Way to go Vidya. She is the opposite of Diya Merza who can't really act. She's just a pretty face who can't handle a leading role and is destined to settle for a supporting roles and guest appearance.

I also loved the song Piyu Bole very much. The movie length is perfect, not to long. I think that they rushed the end a little bet, but that's not really a big deal. I give it 8/10.