12 Angry Men

This film deserves to be on anyone's list of top films. My problem is that it is so perfect, so seamlessly polished, it is hard to appreciate the individual excellences.
The acting is top notch. I believe that monologue acting is quite a bit simpler than real reactive ensemble acting. Most of what we see today is monologues pretending to be conversations. But in this film, we have utter mastery of throwing emotions. Once the air becomes filled with human essence, it is hard to not get soaked ourselves as the camera moves through the thick atmosphere. Yes, there are slight differences in how each actor projects (Fonda internally, Balsam completely on his skin...) but the ensemble presents one vision to the audience.
The writing is snappy too. You can tell it was worked and worked and worried, going through several generations. It is easy to be mesmerized by this writing and acting, and miss the rare accomplishment of the camera-work. This camera is so fluid; you forget you are in one room. It moves from being a human observer, to being omniscient, to being a target. It is smart enough to seldom center on the element of most importance, so expands the field to all men.

Double Trouble

You Can not blame Ahli for being One eyed among Blinds

"Ahli's current generation have what it takes to fulfill the fans' aims and expectations,"
Manuel Jose


You forgot to thank Ismaili ...and you know for what to thank !!

007 ...more than solace

This film could have been so good, but Marc Forster's clichéd and ham-fisted direction completely ruined it for me. To be fair, his handling of the quieter moments between the action was adequate, but he clearly has no grasp of how direct action sequences, which are clearly central to any good Bond. I'm afraid the 'shake the camera and cut at least once a second' school of action direction doesn't really cut it.

It's tragic really, as the setup and the stunts for the sequences looked pretty promising, but you had to look pretty hard to tell once Mr. Forster's hopeless direction kicked in. Such a waste.

I think I'll hold out for the special edition DVD - you know ... the non-directors cut!



Will the "New Bond" be an African American Star ?!!!


Tahrir Cinema (Dokki)

9:30 PM
11/11/2008

هشام وأنا...فريق مشروع البورصة

بس هنا في ملعب كورة

Burn After Reading عندما يتلاعب كاتب السيناريو بممثليه

I watched “BURN AFTER READING” movie last night…ok…from a small media window on my desktop during my working on translating a philosophical text…!! Any way, Burn After Reading a Hilarious Spy vs Moron Spoof of Stupidity, Narcissism and Paranoia BURN AFTER READING is wildly funny, but it’s also very sly and subversive as a piece of filmmaking, and is a spoof of the American way of stupidity, narcissism and paranoia, a shaggy-dog tale set in the spy-vs-moron style. It stars George Glooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, and Francis McDormand.

Clooney has never played it goofier than he does here as Harry, who has been virtually castrated by his successful career woman wife (Elizabeth Marvel), who is always traveling overseas to promote her children’s books. All the while, Clooney’s character isn t sure what foods he s allergic to and keeps teetering noisily on the verge of anaphylactic shock with phlem. However, this does not stop Clooney from screwing Malkovich s wife, and for that matter any other woman he can lure into his sex dungeon whenever his own wife is out of town.

Brad Pitt plays Chad Feldheimer, a clueless gym employee with a bizarre streaked hairdo and a toned body continuously in motion. Brad Pitt adds another fantastically quirky character to his resume as a meathead personal trainer and the rest of the cast is wonderful as well. John Malkovich is hilarious and Tilda Swinton plays Malkovich's wife with heartless acidity that is as funny as it is cruel.

Malkovich is a CIA agent about to be demoted to another branch of the government, with lower security clearance, because of his alcoholism. When his memoirs accidentally falls into the hands of two unwise Washington, D.C. morons when a CD copy of the rough draft ends up on the locker room floor of the Hardbodies fitness center, employees Frances McDormand basically reprises her role from "Fargo" as a clueless yet determined woman, but the role is not tired.

Interestingly and perhaps ironically, in Burn After Reading the civilians engage in subterfuge with more passion, but no more success, than the so-called professionals. But if you didn't mind the hit or miss mania of The Hudsucker Proxy, or just find everything these actors do to be fascinating, you'll easily enjoy Burn After Reading.

Burn After Reading is that rare satirical thriller--a devilish, delicious, diabolically dark, irreverent and insanely funny movie that could only have come from the minds of Joel and Ethan Coen. Whom audiences can rely on the Coen brothers for snappy acting, hilarious dialogue and off-putting amounts of bloodshed, and Burn After Reading is no exception.