Marvel's The Avengers

I am waiting standing on my toes for May, 2012. I am very biased to Iron Man among all the avengers, I think the avengers are way cooler than the justice league :p "go figure!" Although my beginning with comic books was with Tarzan and Superman "from DC comics", through my brothers old Arabic translated ones. Which at the time, I did not have much interest in.

Of course the movie Batman gave another dimension to comics, then I got to know what is a graphic novel through the amazing V for Vendetta.

Summing up their Avengers in one movie is a MUST see :}

Cute and funny movies I can't wait to see

Muppets, I am a huge fan of them and can't wait for this movie to come out

I can't even begin to say which Muppet is more fun! Miss piggy, Kermit, Gonzo, Baker the Ode to joy performer, the Mahna Mahna team, which reminds me I just knew that Mah Na Mah Na is a real song!!

The whole combination is amazing, although I used to think that sesame street is the big show and the muppet show is just a part of it, since I thought, hey costumes, funny?! All the same?  I came to know the difference quite well :p The muppet show far more enjoyable and funny.

Also HAPPY FEET two :>

Other than the ADORABLE baby penguin you have the crazy shrimps! Although I have a feeling it won't be nice, yet I can't skip cuteness! 

The Kuwaiti film : Tora Bora - الفيلم الكويتي : تورا بورا

Picture source

I went to see Tora Bora, a film about a family that went all the way to Afghanistan to return back their son Ahmad who went there for Jihad. To see a Kuwaiti full feature film after The Cruel Sea (1972) with this quality brought joy to my heart beyond description,  being a cinema lover who truly appreciates this art, I have long waited for something this big and serious to come out of Kuwait, having absolute faith in the creative people we have in Kuwait. In terms of short movies I have wrote many posts about them and how we have such amazing talents that work on their own with simple self-paid-worked movies! But to see a Kuwaiti movie by the director Walid Al-Awadi to be internationally screened in Canes and is included in the internet movie data base, is pure pride. 

The movie was great story wise and in terms of making us really feel and see what is it like out there in Afghanistan and how Jihad is misinterpreted and Islam being portrayed in an ugly demeaning way to all human beings, how the simplest life necessities are lacked in a country with such a RICH natural environment! How brutal and inhuman killing is. Of course being Kuwait, movie loving and pro national efforts I am biased to the movie and gave it it 5/5 and that was my 1st initial impression, however, after a discussion with Bloggylife on twitter and revisiting the movie I do admit its a 3/5 I would see it all over again however the -2 was due to the increase in loopholes, sudden cuts and the need to improve the script, in terms of direction it needed more, acting was convincing to me, YET the effects needed more work. I wished to see subtitles for non-Arabic audience and for the Arabic ones some translation for the Afghani lines said along the movie. Still I am very happy with the movie and proud, would love to see more of the work of Walid Al-Awadi and progress in the overall Kuwaiti film industry.

الفيلم الكويتي تورا بورا يستحق المشاهدة و التشجيع، يحكي قصة اسرة كويتية تذهب لافغانستان لتعيد الإبن أحمد الذي ذهب للانضمام لصفوف المجاهدين. جميل جدا بعد بس يا بحر ان ارى فيلم سينمائي من انتاج و اخراج و تمثيل كويتي، يتم عرضه في كان الفرنسية و يشمل من ضمن افلام قاعدة افلام الانترنت، سعادتي لا توصف و الفخر كبير بهذا المجهود و الفيلم الذي اتمنى ان يحفز المبدعين الكويتيين الذين اثق كامل الثقة بقدرتهم على صنع سينما كويتية بان يتحفونا بافلام راقية و ذات رسالة. مما رأيت من افلام قصيرة من مبدعين شباب كويتيين تبنوا تكلفة ووقت و جهد صناعة افلامهم القصيرة، يجعلني اثق بشدة في مقدرتهم على الابداع و كلي امل ان ارى هذا الابداع بشكل كبير و مدعوم بقدر فيلم تورا بورا للمبدع وليد العوضي.. سعيدة و فخورة ب تورا بورا و اشدد على كل من يقراء هذه المقالة ان يذهب لرؤيته

القصة جميلة، جسدت بشاعة الحرب و الوضع تحديدا في افغانستنا و التلاعب بالدين و مفهوم الجهاد. بشاعة تصوير و تطبيق الإسلام و بالاصح التذرع بالإسلام لتشويه واقع دولة باكملها، دولة ثرية بالمصارد الطبيعية و الطبيعة الخلابة و تفتقر لابسط مقومات الحياة الكريمة للإنسان، و اهمها الامان! فالدخول للبيوت و قتل الناس من المشاهد المعتادة للافغانستانيين، و ما اقتبض قلبي له هو سهولة ازهاق الروح و بشاعة القتل الممارس بشكل اعتيادي و بإسم الدين الإسلامي! لم اقاوم الدموع ببعض المشاهد لاني على ثقة بان الفيلم يجسد جزء من واقع دولة وشعب ،، فكيف هي ثقافة الاطفال هناك و اي انسان يقتل اخيه بحجج واهية و يذهب لمنزله ليعايش اسرة و جيران؟

تقييم الفلم ككويتية محبة لصناعة السينما سيداااااا ٥/٥ و كان هذا تقييمي بعد الخروج من الفيلم لاني بصراحة انبهرت بمستوى الفيلم، لاننا اخيرا قطعنا شوط كبير نحو صناعة الافلام من بعد بس يا بحر و المحاولات الغير مجدية في سنوات سابقة لانتاج افلام كوميدية عرضت في السينما و لم ترق لي ، حتى اني نسيت اسماءها! لكن بعد نقاش مع صديقة في تويتر اعتقد ان تقييم ٣/٥ اكثر واقعية. نقص النقطتين لم يزحزح الفيلم من قائمة الافلام المفضلة و حتما سأحتفظ به :) لكن كان بالفيلم الكثير من المقاطع الغير مكتملة و غير مفهومة و ان كانت بسياق الحدث ككل، الا ان بعضها يتركك حائر لما تم قطعها بهذا الشكل؟ و النص يحتاج للكثير من الاضافات و التقليل من التكرار و اعترف لما سعد الفرج كرر له جم كلمة "على الرغم من جدية الموقف" الا اني "كعكعت" لاني تذكرت شخصياته الكوميدية السابقة و القابعة بذاكرتي لذلك الفنان القدير اطال الله بعمره. و التقنيات المستخدمة لم تقنعني ببعض الاحيان و الخدع كانت واضحة (لون الطلقة بمشهد قتل صاحب الباص) كذلك عدم تواجد ترجمة للنصوص الافغانية قطع الكثير من ترابط الافكار، ولو ان الاحداث كشفت المقصود الا ان النص بالنسبة لي جزء من الفيلم ويجب ابقاء المشاعد على علم به، كذلك فكرت بالمشاهدين من غير المتحدثين باللغة العربية و تمنيت لو توفرت بدور العرض نسخ من الفيلم المترجم بما اني على ثقة بان عرضة في كان مترجم بالتاكيد. انا جدا سعيدة و فخورة بالفيلم و اقدر مجهود المخرج وليد العوضي و كافة الممثلين و الطاقم، اعجبت بالممثل قيس ناشف بدور الصحافي الفلسطيني كان اكثر الادوار الثانوية تأثيرا و قوة، اعتقد انه ممثل يستحق الكثير من الاهتمام.

احسنت يا وليد العوضي و كل من كان معك من ممثلينا: سعد الفرج - اسمهان توفيق - خالد امين و كاااافة من عمل بهذا الفيلم ،، يعطيكم العافية 

A gem!

Was looking for sound clips from the movie "You've Got Mail (1998)" and found this amazing site called movies sound clips! If you want some movie "voice" quotes or clips, this is a good start , the quality is really good :)
http://www.moviesoundclips.net/

Remember the 5th of November?

Pic source

V for Vendetta is one of my ALL time favorite movies :) as previously said in this post. I'm still amazed how the brilliant Alan Moore has incorporated the story of Guy Fawakes in his comic book V for Vendetta, to express how one could effect many in a simple act, done with high enthusiasm, believe and passion. I for many times wish for such a revolution, cause by those who believe in true freedom and not freedom for hidden reasons :]

Enjoy the following video, containing my favorite part of the movie's dialogue :) I am amazed on how well the words are manipulated and carefully picked, as if they were balls being juggled smoothly.

Iron Man 2 - Soon in theatures

As per Qortuba Vally who took the word from Cinescape site, Iron Man 2 will be out in Kuwait VERY soon! Sooner than what I expected, before May :) ALTHOUGH I am dying to see it, I truly fear the amount of scenes cut from it, knowing how strict is the censorship over here makes me really reconsider. But I know me, I wouldn't wait to get it on dvd.

Either way, the trailer looks very tempting :>

The List

Catching up with movies is probably THE BEST activity I can think of for the upcoming weekend/holiday that will start on Thursday 25th of February till Monday 1st of March :> The initial list "more will be added later" is as follows:

• The Blind Side 
• Funny people 
• The Box 
• Coco Avant Chanel 
• Monty Python & the Holy Grail 
• Barak Obama 
• As Good As It Gets 
• You've Got Mail 

The last two I have seen before, I go back to "as good as it gets" to remember that there must be something(s) nice in the worst people you can ever meet :} and "you've got mail" to remember the age where e-mail was revolutionary, anonymity allowed two people on the opposite sides to unbiasedly see each other, that there are tolerable differences we can live with, and that we can virtually pass over and see the beauty in each other :}

Mary Poppins

Poster source

I've always seen the lady in the navy blue/ black coat fly with her umbrella scene across my life, in various channels but never got to see the movie Mary Poppins. Last night I did, thank you cinemagic it was a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious night!

Footnote: The roots of the word have been defined as follows: super- "above", cali- "beauty", fragilistic- "delicate", expiali- "to atone", and docious- "educable", with the sum of these parts signifying roughly "Atoning for educability through delicate beauty". From the mighty Wiki :>

Old Fashion!

Image from impawards

My best line in the whole movie is when Daniel says:

But I do care about you. And so I will give you a divorce, gladly. Because call me old fashion, but when you love someone, I believe you should be unselfish enough to give them whatever they want. I'll be around later to pick up my things.

5th of November

This year I remembered :p on time!

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

V for Vendetta is one of my all time favorite movies! I thank them for letting me know who is Guy Fawkes and what is The Gunpowder Plot. A movie among very less that made me really think! I loved the symbolism and the transformation for the story to fit our current world :> If you did not see it, NOW you should.

AKS - عكس

AKS is a group of independent Kuwaiti film makers, lovely talents gathered in a rather odd name that stands up to get your attention, the small 3 letter word provoked my curiosity of why AKS in particular, yet I never thought of asking them why AKS, sometimes the charm in leaving some blanks here and there is enjoyable.

From the documentary Occupation 101 I knew about Cinemagics and since then started attending the screenings they hold, when ever I can, I must say it has been and is a great joy! In the future I will write more about it to promote such an amazing opportunity to see the art of movie making from all over the world and not only from Hollywood.

Last Saturday was a very special screening night, 4 Kuwaiti short movies were screened, it was an enjoyable evening and event, here goes my review of the 4 movies:

1. The Sniper - القناص : by Dawood Shuail

It's the shortest in run time, yet enjoyable, the story revolves around a sniper caught in a cat and mouse chaise, and it reminded me of "Enemy at the Gates" it was a very simple movie, it can be elaborated more I wished for it to be longer, but المخرج عاوز كده :) and I totally respect that and enjoyed the movie.

1. Hosha - هوشة : by Faisal Al-Duwaisan

Fisal Al-Duwaisan is a pro in photography I have seen his work in P2BK, and in many scattered places around the net. In Hosha the cinematography is amazing, you will be stunned of the level of professionalism and well use of light and technology! The trailer says a lot about that. The story is simple and touching, also an enjoyable movie.

1. Just Human - مجرد إنسان : by Omar Al-Masab

It's more like a preview of what is next in Omar Al-Masab trilogy of a trip to explore the human being, its a simple animated movie, all what you see is simple black and white sketches, a perfect color combination that diverts the attention to the ideas displayed, no distractions what so ever. My full judgment will complete when the trilogy does too, but I can say that I have high hopes in whats next. Me likey.

1. Banana - موز : by Meqdad Al-Kout

Is probably the longest in run time. The trailer is very simple compared to how complex the movie is and how controversial it was in the reviews from Kuwait and from the interview with the director in an Egyptian magazine. The performance of Nizar Al-Qandi, the hidden humble actor/artist with many talents, is very impressive, he played a part that took out a lot of his potentials out loud, and yes he can make you hate him, sympathize with him and not just laugh with him. Although its a short movie but it has a lot of depth in it, idea wise, symbolism was strongly used in it and many messages were sent with in the movie. Yes it's not easy for our community to accept such a movie but on the other hand he does display a lot of matters that are kept at the end in our list of interests! In the time with the consistent need for us to shed light on them instead of hiding them. I certainly enjoyed the movie very much.

About the controversy made by Banana I say that movies send a message! Some might say that when actors / directors describe their work as messages to the community, they really don't mean it! But I say yes most of them do, and Al-Kout certainly does! Art can make us think and provoke our community. We are human, we will never be prone to anything in this universe, one day we are very happy and every thing is clear, but what the next day hides is unknown and it can carry many contradictions to the one proceeding it! Opening up and discussing our problems, finding solutions is far more better than keeping them hidden, hiding will one day turn them into a tumor that will eat us up. The movie is not suitable for young people and is a wake up call to discuss rather than hide the problems any man or woman can face when confronting their sexual identity and needs, and some people among us and around us face that confusion and may get lost in the process of surrendering to the idea of tabooing any thing related to sexuality.

Last but not least, the above 4 movies participated in the Gulf Film Festival held recently in Dubai, it is worth noting that there are other Kuwaiti (co-Kuwaiti) movies that participated in the festival and the winners from Kuwait are:

- Amer Alzuhair
WHEN THE PEOPLE SPOKE - PART 3
Special Jury Prize
Official Competition Documentary

- Meqdad Al Kout
MOUZ (BANANA)
Special Jury Prize
Official Competition Short

- Omar Al-Masab
NAKED HUMAN
Special Mention

P.S: Pictures taken from "AKS" Facebook group.

Where to go!?

Madagascar 2 [Trailer] & Bolt [Trailer] are out :D

Animation makes me happy! VS pixar Easter egg!

I am crazy about Scrat from Ice Age of course I thought the first part didn't give him enough space to appear in, however he made me laugh my head off when he did appear and chased the acorn! And in part two man did he make me laugh! I could not hold my self at the Piranha's scene it was hilarious along with this character a mammoth thought she was a possum and her possum brothers Crash & Eddie were not less crazy, their stunts miniclip that was in the DVD says it all. Ice age 2 is the only sequal that was better than the first part in my opinion :) of course bourne series [ One - Two - Three ] are a favorite of mine too! although I still have the untimatum to see ;p its still on my to be sceen list!

Ice age 3 is on the way next summer :D Can't wait till its out

Moreover, I will go see Wall-E today :D I don't think it will be an amazing one, it looks cute but I don't think it will be that funny, this is my pre-movie thoughts lets see if they change by this afternoon :D

I am very thankful that the animation making got this advanced, I'm so crazy about animated movies, yet still enjoy the good-old classic hand drawn Beauty and The Beast! and many others who were very popular in the 90's when I was a teenager :)

Check this video out where they say that Wall E is Pixar's Easter egg! is it true :D if so than this is so much fun :D I think I will see those movies again tonight ;p

Remember Remember ,,,,

"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition."

Last weekend

Spent sometime clearing out the pilled movies "to be seen" saw the listed below:


Thursday:
fast food nation



The movie is disturbing but true, highlights some of the issues in the dark side of the fast food industry, I can't say I enjoyed it, as I said I thought its disturbing but the peek in the world of fast food was enlightening! it could have been made better
3/5


Friday:
Rendition


The movie mostly took place around Morocco, the people there did not speak with their accent instead this Arabic/ fixed with some Egyptian/ Lebanese accent is made up! that ruined the feel of the country they were in! It was a mutant language, however the foreign viewer would hardly care for that :D translation solves it, but for me it was annoying!

The plot is good, and highlighting "Rendition" as a desperate measure to protect the "national security" of the USA raised and given a big part after 9.11, and what if this renhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifdition violated the life of an innocent person?

All in all I liked the movie
4/5


Premonition



Not the usual Sandra Bullock type of movie, the cute lovable girl we are used to from speed, miss congeniality and the ever cute movie while you were sleeping I simple love her goofy moments. In this one she is a mother/ wife that wakes up every day to face a challenge between what is real and what is not, on the edge of her loosing sense she out smarts this thing that hits her and gets things back on track trying to fix her life and be normal again not knowing that no matter what she does, she will not escape from her fate. A very nice drama and kinda reminded me of Lake House, she is linking this theme of movies as it seems :)
4/5

Again, again & again

Its not my all time favorite romantic comedy but I do love this movie a lot, at this moment it is playing on showtime's Movie Time, I can't miss it when its on! although am dead tired I had a long day, but can't resist Love Actually......

Something's Gotta Give on One TV tonight

I'm enjoying this lovely movie now showing on one tv, I think I will get the dvd annnnnnd definitely the sound track! I love it.

المرافقون لي بالمشاهدة:

شاي دارسين
حليب كارنيشن
و كمبيوتر

:]

على الرغم من اني متحسفه مارحت للعرض بس على الاقل ارتحت و نمت نومه سنعه