To Infinity and Beyond

Woody helped Buzzlight year to discover his purpose as a toy, and saved him because Andy deserves to be happy in the age where space toys wins over cowboys. Few years later, when Woody discovered his legacy by coincidence, Buzz reminded him that Andy is more important and they returned home with a bunch of new friends.

When Andy went to college and chose Woody of all to be his companion. Woody chooses his friends over his Kid, because they deserve to be held again, they deserve to be played with again and they deserve to remain all together.

Woody taught Sid how to deal with toys, stopped the prospector, challenged Latso, saved a lot of toys and lost a lot of friends.

Over 24 years, Woody saw it all .. He knew what Bonnie needed, he did not hesitate a second to go after the new toy Bonnie created to sooth herself into pre-school, he knew what to do to make her happy, to face the obstacles, to unite toys, to make others happy. Until Bo Peep appears from the past to present Woody with a different reality.

Toy story 4 is brilliant, the characters transformation is GENIUS – except for buzz actually but his role this movie is not as significant as the three other so it’s acceptable to some extent-. Bo Peep’s strong re-appearance is surprising, and overwhelming. Gabby Gabby’s (the movie’s villain) character development and conclusion makes you fell in with your old toys again and again.

The movie’s final scene is full of love and hope and will remain one of the memorable scenes of Toy Story; whether it’s the final scene of the franchise or a beginning to a whole new series of adventures.

The movie is a MUST Watch … The third installment of the franchise is still my favorite.

تراب الماس ٢٠١٨

حقوق تحويل الرواية الى فيلم كانت ملك شركة شادوز المملوكة لاحمد حلمي من سنة ٢٠١١ ، و كان المفروض يبقى بطولة احمد حلمي و منى ذكي والنجم محمود عبد العزيز  .. و لو اني مش متخيل احمد حلمي في الدور ده و لكن تم سحب الحقوق بحكم قضائي… ليظهر من انتاج دولار فيلم و نيو سينتشري للانتاج الفني.

كفيلم ينتمي لنوعية افلام الجريمة … حلو
بداية هادية ، ايقاع تصاعد الاحداث ثابت، ثم تبدأ الاثارة بمقتل حسين الزهـّار و تتوالى مفاجأت الفيلم … مع شوية اسقاطات اجتماعية و سياسية و تاريخية هنا و هناك.. الموضوع ظريف مش محبوك اوي بس عنصر المفاجاة هيخطفك… 

على المستوى التقني .. ماشوفتش صورة مبهرة زي اللي عملها مروان حامد و احمد المرسي قبل كده في “الاصليين” و قبله في “الفيل الازرق” …
الاداء التمثيلي برضة ماكنش مبهر باستثناء احمد كمال في دور الاب..
آسر ياسين كان هايل بس مش احسن ادواره زي ما ناس كتير قالوا، محمد ممدوح تالت مرة يعمل بلطجي منهم مرتين مع مروان حامد و ماحستش باختلاف! منة شلبي و ماجد الكدواني كنت مستني منهم اكتر من كده بعد تألقهم في “الاصليين” برضه ( رغم ان انا معجبنيش الفيلم !)

مونتاچ مشاهد الابيض و اسود و تسلسل المذكرات مميز جداً و مثير..

موسيقى هشام نزيه ماكنتش مؤثرة نهائياً.

ثم تأتي النهاية المليئة بالتساؤلات الفلسفية الفارغة !!!
هل التخلّص من الفساد بيدك يجعلك بطل ام مجرم ؟ وهل ازهاق روح من اوّقع عليك ظلم حاجة هتريحك نفسياً و تخليك مبسوط ؟ هل هو حل اصلاً ؟ و لو عرفت ان ابوك او اخوكِ قاتل، هتتعامل معاه و مع نفسك عادي ؟ و هل هتبقى عايز تاخد تاره بنفس الطريقة وماترتحش غير لو عملت كده؟!! و هل اللي جمع منة شلبى و آسر ياسين الحب ام المأساه؟ و ده انهي حب ده ان شاء الله و انهي مأساه ؟

ومع الوضع في الاعتبار اني ماقرتش الرواية، يبقى السؤال الاهم : هل الثنائي مروان حامد/ احمد مراد over rated ولا انا بيتهيالي ؟

Incredibles 2

Back in 2005 just around the time when Finding Nemo was released , I was 19, I had a long conversation with a friend regarding animated movies and how as young adults we shouldn’t be watching cartoons anymore; they are intended for kids after-all.

In order to convince me other wise, my friend gave me a copy of The Incredibles (2004) and asked me to re-discuss the topic after watching it.
Later that year, I had already watched most of the animated movies ever made, and I became highly addicted to the genre specially Walt Disney and Pixar Studios productions with a special place for ‘The Incredibles’ in my heart. Thus I was very excited since the announcement of the sequel and thrilled when they released it even earlier than announced.

And as usual, Disney Pixar never disappoints me, The movie is just Brilliant, very entertaining on every aspect. Having Mr. Incredible a stay home dad, dealing with dash’s studies and Violet’s teenage problems and Jack Jack’s emerging uncontrolled powers, while Elastigirl is on mission to save the super heroes of the world gives the movie a social depth not expected from a superhero animated movie.
Jack Jack is the real deal, they already made a short-movie for him, but definitely i will be waiting for a feature for his humor, cuteness and purity. I loved every time he appeared on screen and how he was used during the runtime to create unforgettable moments.

Visually the movie is flawless, the animation is way advanced than the first movie of course. Loved the Elastigirl saving the train sequence and Jack Jack fight with the squirrel scene.

However, the sequel didn’t surpass the original movie. And maybe Pixar should start re-thinking the sequels. Because till now, with the exception of Toy Story 3, no sequel/prequel outranked the original story, though they are really well constructed and very entertaining to watch but part 1 always win.

The Incredibles 2 (2018) is the 20th Feature Film produced by Disney Pixar animations.
See you in Toy story 4, June 2019

The Post

Historically, the New York Times was the newspaper that first obtained the 7,000-page top-secret study of the Vietnam War and revealed secrets 4 presidents has been hiding about the political-military involvement of the United States in the Vietnam war. And thus it would be obvious to some, that when a film maker decides to take the story on-screen The New York Times should be the hero. Nevertheless Steven Spielberg was interested in Kathrine Graham’s evolution.

Spoiler Alert
Kathrine Graham is the first female publisher of a major American newspaper. She was perceived by her own board members as not worthy and that the death of her husband is the only reason of her being in this position. In her autobiography she admits to lack of confidence and distrust in her own knowledge. Moreover, at the time of the scandal The Washington post company has just been launched to the stock market and any legal challenge shall cause investors to retract destroying the company.
On the other hand, her editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee was obsessed by changing the paper’s stand from local to national, so when Nixon’s restraining order blocked publishing, he saw the opportunity to step in the big leagues.
Graham stood up to all board members, lawyers and financial investors and gave the green light to run the story that started a new era for The Washington post.
Later, The Washington post reveals the watergate Scandal.

The atmosphere of mystery and suspense added to the movie, needless to mention the stunning performances of the great Tom Hanks and the legendary Meryl Streep in their first collaboration, made it very exciting to watch.
The two unforgettable scenes for me are:
– The phone call between Ben Bradlee, the corporate advisors and Graham, that was brilliantly written and executed to reflect the emotions of all the call parties and engage the viewers in the dilemma.
– During the brief meeting in Graham’s house before printing, that moment when Katherine reconfirm her decision and stand up for herself.
The scenes showing the news room, the old printing techniques were very interesting in my opinion. I also loved the slightly desaturated image it helped set the mood of the 70’s when the movie events took place.
I was also thrilled to know that:
– In all of the scenes depicting President Nixon on the phone in the Oval Office, Nixon’s actual voice is heard from White House tapes.
– The movie was written by Liz Hanna, and Josh Singer, the later is known for cowriting Spotlight (2015) another award winning movie about investigative journalism.
-It is also the 1st collaboration between Meryl Streep and director Steven Spielberg.

Finally, It is one of the best movies of 2017, nominated for Best Picture and Best Actress in leading role Academy Awards.

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

A slow rhythm drama, with clever comedy integration and number of sudden developments and changes in the main characters, performed amazingly by Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri tells the story of Mildred, who rents 3 billboards outside her small town and writes “RAPED WHILE DYING”, “AND STILL NO ARRESTS?”, and “HOW COME, CHIEF WILLOUGHBY? trying to challenge the local authorities to solve her daughter case that occurred 7 months ago.

The movie’s moral seems very forward and has been clearly stated by one of the supporting characters “Anger begets greater anger”. Nevertheless, various hidden messages were delivered through Mildred (Frances McDormand) mixed emotions of rage, guilt, fear and compassion.
McDormand’s performance was intense, and successful in delivering all the emotions the character embraces. Sam Rockwell, as Jason Dixon the racist reckless officer working under Chief Willoughby , a complicated role with a big twist that he managed to play brilliantly.

I loved the use of music with Sam Rockwell’s character.

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri is nominated for 7 academy awards, including best picture and is considered by critics and audience as one of the best movies of the 2017. However I didn’t like the movie ending.
Spoiler Alert 
Near the end, after Mildred realized how hatred and anger can be destroying and after Cheif Willoughby’s letter made Dixon have a different perspective to life, the events ascended dramatically when Dixon over heard a conversation between the character which previously appeared threatening Mildred in the gift shop and a friend of his bragging of an incident similar to the unsolved crime.
He was then proven innocent, without explaining why he threatened Mildred earlier,  the movie ends with Mildred and Dixon heading to Idaho where he lives with the hesitant intention to kill him because they are sure he raped someone, even if it wasn’t Angela.

I agree with the open ending idea, and not miraculously finding the murderer, yet didn’t like that after all what their characters passed through due to hatred and rage, their choice was to kill the guy even if later on showed their uncertainty.

 

Oscar 2018 nominations Trivia

It’s the 90th Academy Awards, honoring the best of 2017, you can see the full list of nominees on IMDB and here are some facts about the nominees.

The Shape of water leads with 13 nominations, Dunkirk comes second with 8, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri received 7, Darkest Hour & Phantom Thread ties at 6 nomination.
Disney Pixar’s production Coco received 2 nominations, as Best Animated Feature & Best Original song.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year include:

• A Fantastic Woman (Chile) in Spanish
  Chile was nominated 2 times with 0 wins from a total of 22 submissions
• On Body and Soul (Hungary) in Hungarian
  Hungary has 53 submissions, 10 nominations and 2 wins
• The Insult (Lebanon) in Arabic
  Lebanon has submitted 14 films for the award, this years movie قضية رقم ٢٤ by Ziad Doueiri is the first to reach the final list of nominees.
• The Square (Sweden) in Swedish
  Sweden has submitted 56 films, 14 nominations and 3 wins
• Loveless (Russia) in Russian
  Russia has submitted 25 movies since 1992, with 6 nominations and 1 win. prior to that Russian films were strongly represented among the films submitted by the former Soviet Union.
  

– Director Agnès Varda (Faces places) and Screen writer James Ivory (Call me by your name), both 89 years old are the oldest to be nominated for a competitive award. Christopher Plummer 88 years old (All the money in the world) is now the oldest nominee for acting categories.

– Director Agnès Varda is the first to receive an Honorary Academy Award and then be nominated for a competitive Academy Award in the same year. She is nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film for Faces Places

– Rachel Morrison is the first female cinematographer to be nominated for an Oscar for her work in Mudbound.

– Yance Ford is the now first transgender director ever to be nominated for his work in the documentary Strong Island.

– Jordan Peele (Get Out) became the first black filmmaker ever nominated for directing, writing, and producing in the same year. He is the fifth black person to be nominated for Best Director.

– It is the 1st Oscar nomination for Christopher Nolan in the directors category. He has 5 nominations including 2 this year for Dunkirk

– Dee Rees is the first African-American woman to be nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and only the second African-American woman to be nominated for screenwriting; the first was Suzanne de Passe, who was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for Lady Sings the Blues (1973).

– Music composer John Williams (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) received his 51st nomination being the most nominated living individual. Walt Disney is the most nominated individual with 59 nominations.

– Meryl Streep (The post) received her 21st nomination breaking her own record being the most nominated actress of all time.

– Octavia Spencer is the most nominated black actress of all time tying with Viola Davis. She’s also the only black actress to be nominated again following an Oscar win: After winning for The Help (2012), she was nominated for Hidden Figures (2016), and for The Shape of Water this year.

– Logan is the first live-action movie based on a comic book to be nominated for the  Best Adapted Screenplay.

– Mary J. Blige became the first person to be nominated for acting performance and original song in the same year. She is nominated in Best Supporting Actress for Mudbound and in Best Original Song for the song Mighty River from the same movie.

In the 9th annual Governors Awards that took place on the 9th of November 2017. Academy Honorary Award was presented to:
Agnès Varda: French film director, writer, editor and producer
Charles Burnett: American director, writer, producer, editor and cinematographer
Donald Sutherland: Canadian actor.
Owen Roizman: American cinematographer.
The Special Achievement Academy Award was presented to Alejandro González Iñárritu for his virtual reality project Carne y Arena.

The 90th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, the 4th of March with Jimmy Kimmel hosting for the second consecutive time, making Kimmel the first person to host back-to-back ceremonies since Billy Crystal in 1997 and 1998.

Happy Oscars

The Greatest Showman

A feel-good movie, with no complexity and very direct messages about uniqueness and diversity. Inspiring music and powerful songs, composed by the Tony and Oscar awards winner song writers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul best known for their work in Lala Land. Personally I loved “A million Dreams”, “Rewrite the stars ” and “This is Me” the movie’s main song. Choreography on the other hand is not as energetic as the songs, and for most they seem incomplete sequences!
Visually, the movie is stunning, the set and costumes design are vivid which looks different than all other movies dealing with the same era – the 19th century – however very adequate with the cheerful theme of the movie. In addition to very beautiful light and creative camera angles from the very first scene of the movie.

It is director Michael Gracey’s feature film debut and he succeeded to create a very entertaining musical based loosely on the life of P. T. Barnum, the Founder of Barnum and Bailey Circus starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Zendaya and Keala Settle.

طلق صناعي

الفيلم لايجوز تصنيفه كفيلم كوميدي ولا يجوز تصنيفه كفيلم دراما و ده تقريباً علشان صّناعه ماكنوش عارفين هما عايزينه ايه فبالتالي مفيش اتزان في حجم الجدية و حجم الكوميديا وبالتالي ايقاع الفيلم وقع في اول نص ساعة و بالتحديد بعد الفلاش باك الغير مبرر اللي في اول الفيلم ! في مرحلة ما في الفيلم ماكنتش عارف انا المفروض اتعاطف مع حسين (ماجد الكدواني) ولا اكرهه. و ماكنتش عارف انا بتفرج على فيلم احداثه فانتزيا هزلية ولا واقعية واردة الحدوث. و في النهاية كنت محتار الفيلم عايز يقول ايه و ايه رسالته !!

بعد رفض طلبهم للڤيزا للمرة الثانيه، يطلب حسين (ماجد الكدواني) من مراته هبه (حورية فرغلي) انها تدخل الحمام و تاخد دوا المفروض انه يعّجل الولادة علشان تولد في السفارة و يحصل توأمه على الجنسية. وفي تصادم مع رجال الامن بسبب تأخر مراته في الحمام، يصبح حسين محتجز رهائن داخل السفارة و تتوالى الاحداث لحد ما تولد فعلاً ولد جوه السفارة و التاني برة السفارة!

و للأسف الحبكة ضعيفة… وخلفيات الشخصيات سواء للخاطف اوالمحتجزين شبه مش موجودة وبالتالي الدوافع غيرمقنعة و بالرغم من ان المحتجزين منهم: واحد مزور شهادة تخرج و واحد مسلم بيدّعي انه عايز يتنّصر ومتحول جنسياً وواحد بيدّعي الشذوذ الا انه لم يتم استغلالهم دراميا خالص و كوميدياً في عدد محدود من الافيهات المكررة و مابتضحكش. وبرة السفارة المفروض ان في صراع بين الامن المصري و الهيئة الدبلوماسية الامريكية و ده برضه افيهاته كانت مكررة مع محاولات مستميتة لإسقاطات سياسية محروقة بس ضحكتني شوية.

الشخصية الوحيدة اللي مكتوبة حلو (احسن الوحشين يعني) هي شخصية اندرو (اكرم الشرقاوي) الدبلوماسي الامريكي اللي بيكره المصريين علشان عارف كدبهم و بيحب چينيفر زميلته بس هي بتحب طارق زميلهم المصري، و في مواجهة بينه وبين حسين (ماجد الكدواني) تنقذه هبة (حورية فرغلي)، فيتعاطف معاهم و يديلهم رقم الغرفة المصفحة اللي بتنقذ حياتهم في آخر الفيلم! و لولا ان الفيلم من بطولة ماجد الكدواني كان ممكن اقول ان اكرم الشرقاوي هو احسن ممثل في الفيلم!!

ماجد الكدواني عامل اللي عليه و زيادة.
حورية فرغلي حاولت.
مصطفى خاطر حاول برضه.
مي كساب لو كانوا بدّلوا شخصيتها بكرسي ماحدش كان هياخد باله.
سيد رجب حاول يعمل دور مدير امن القاهرة بهزلية بس للاسف كانت مفتعلة جداً في معظم الوقت.
بيومى فؤاد و عبد الرحمن ابو زهرة ومحمد فراج انبسط اني شفتهم بس لو كان تم استبدالهم باي ممثلين تانيين ماكنش هيفرق مع حد!

لو عجبك الفيلم… اتفرج على “فبراير الاسود” و “الارهاب و الكباب” تعرف ان “طلق صناعي“  فيلم وحش اوي اوي اوي 😒😒

الجدير بالذكر ان طلق صناعي اول تجربة اخراجية لخالد دياب.
خالد دياب هو مؤلف ١٠٠٠ مبروك و بلبل حيران و عسل اسود و شارك في كتابة الجزيرة ٢ و اشتباك. وشارك في كتابة الفيلم مع محمد دياب مخرج  ٦٧٨ و اشتباك، وشرين دياب اللي شاركت في كتابة الجزيرة ٢.

 

Murdered twice

SPOILER ALERT

Murder on the Orient Express is a drama crime movie, based on a novel carrying the same name for the famous Agatha Christy. And as it is clear from the name; it tells the story of how Hercule Poirot the fictional, famous international detective solves a crime that took place on board of the orient express which he happened to be a passenger on.

The Novel was adapted twice to the cinema in 1974 and in 2017. I didn’t read the novel, and thus I am not sure which adaptation is more honest to the novel events nonetheless I enjoyed the watching experience of both movies given the fact; I watched the 2017 adaptation first.

The Founder

The movie is based on the true story of how McDonald’s turned from a restaurant run by the two McDonald brothers Richard & Maurice in San Bernardino, California into the world largest fast food chain.

Michael Keaton plays the role of Ray Kroc, an unsuccessful milkshake sales person, who partnered with the McDonald brother as a franchise agent after being impressed with their revolutionary Speedee Service System. The events follows until Ray purchases the company and the rights to the name for 2.7 million dollars.
The most interesting sequence in the movie, is the one with the McDonald brother telling Ray Kroc their story of founding their business between 1937 and 1948 and how they invented their system.
Michael Keaton succeeded in performing the complexity of a single-minded, corrupted, ambitious businessman who was persistent to pursue his dream despite integrity and principle, and kept it interesting through the entire movie.

The movie is really interesting, and it’s reflection on the American capitalism and business war is rather confusing. It’s a must see.
Remains to say; the first thing I ate after the movie is Big Tasty Combo Meal.

The Founder (2016)          PG-13
Director: John Lee Hancock
Writer: Robert D. Siegel (as Robert Siegel)
Stars: Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch
Runtime: 115 min