Luckiest Girl Alive

I haven't seen a movie for so long that compelled me to write.

This is a hardship, a terrible memory, and let me say it as it is a story of RAPE. Do not be afraid to say the word, do not be afraid to share and do not be afraid or ashamed. Always know it was never your fault, and never forget that.

Watching out of curiosity of the title "Luckiest Girl Alive", and damn was she lucky..

It hooked me from the beginning from the first flash back scene and I was right there with her, living her teenage years at school. The girl that portrays Ani as a young girl, she did a tremendous job Chiara Aurelia is a brilliant actress, that needs to be more out there, I need to see more of her in movies, she captured my heart and soul.

And as for Mila Kunis, I believe this is one of her strongest movies, yet it seems very underrated, that I stumbled by it, never really knowing what it was about, again as the title doesn't give anything away, this movie needs to be talked about more, it is excellently executed from start to finish, though I wish there was more to the mom, more for her to say at the end, as she was left speechless.

The performances in all of the scenes is pure perfection, every emotion and pain portrayed is felt by the audience. This got me thinking if there was more to it, therefore, after a slight digging, it appears to be a portrayal of a book by Jessica Knoll, and guess what it is actually based on her life story, as some of the characters real. This just makes a lot of sense as the pain and anger reflected on screen felt so real, that I too felt it from where I was, I too was angry and waiting for her to get her revenge.

And luckily, she did get her revenge, thank god, that she taped the confession, this as a first time watcher, I prayed that she was taping it the whole seen, just me praying for her to be a smart research writer, and record the conversation. And lucky she was to come out the other side, head held high, with a powerful article in the TIMES, now that is lucky!

As for her fiancé, poor him..not in money of course but poor in mind, as not being able to handle the whole truth and would have rather kept things under wrap. He seemed supportive of her, but maybe he too was keeping up with the image of a gentleman, the image of the good supporting man that he couldn't be or keep up at the end. This I was so pleased to see her letting go of him and actually supporting herself. Yet there is no denying that Finn Wittrock from American Horror Story is a phenomenal actor, he delivered this performance with such ease, you could forget he is actually acting.

Now that I know this is based on a book and you do too, you should definitely check out the book, as it seems that a lot has been left out for the sake of the movie timing, a lot of the major plot lines were changed as well.

This goes out to the #MeToo movement, as it is something that I deeply stand and support, and would always give my voice to. I hope one day there would be no more hurting and no more agony in this world, but as long as people are still suffering there will always be more stories to tell. 

The Lion: Sheru

A little thief that steals your heart from the first scene, a brother, a helper, a scavenger for food and a mighty fighter Saroo. The film opens on the little guy helping his brother to collect coal from a train to trade later for some milk, you would think poor little thing and how sad it all looks, yet that was nothing compared to what’s coming ahead.

A train ride gets him a long, long way from home. Lost, scared and alone Saroo the little boy tries to get off the train, but it's sealed shut, and he has to sit around for hours, probably days until the train stops and he finally could get out. He then starts to follow a little girl that leads him to this group of children sleeping on the station’s floor. When he finally could rest his head down, he awoke to screams and struggles of children trying to get away, the body snatchers had come, they had come to collect the poor souls.

However, that’s when Saroo starts running for his life and he keeps running. He runs till he’s tired. He goes through other obstacles, till he is taken into the police station and from there he goes on a journey from a reformatory to Australia. The story doesn’t end here, it’s only just beginning and so is his new life and his search for answers.

In addition to all that, the cinematography is amazing, even breathtaking at times, you’d feel like you’re running with the characters, every scream and every tear you can feel it in your bones. As well as it’s based on a true story, with such diverse and brilliant actors, with Nicole Kidman, Dev Patel and Rooney Mara, it is worth every minute. You need to watch it, to understand why the name Lion was chosen for the movie.

  

Gimmie Shelter

It's more of a plea for help.

It's one of those movies that makes you so angry at the world and how things work, as you meet this character that seem so aggressive yet so desperate for help and is trying to run away from the first scene, she dashes out of her mother's place to go find her father with nothing but an address on an old letter he sent her when she was born 16 years ago.

She keeps reminding herself that she can do this and that she is fine, even though she's the furthest thing from being fine at all.

Nothing ever comes easy, the journey there is rough and she gets man handled and thrown out of a taxi for not having enough cash for the ride, or so the driver says, then having to find a bus to take her, then when she finally reaches the place, she gets busted as if she was a criminal and gets pushed to the ground and cuffed, this is one brutal scene, not to mention the rest of the movie.

I don't want to ruin it for you but it is one of those movies that you just want to watch in one breath as you are terrified for what's going to happen next to the poor girl "Apple" how is she going to survive and strive against all this, meanwhile her so called mother is out to get her.

You have to develop some tears while watching this, if you've not cried at the end of it. The amazing bond a mother forms with its baby before it's even born is purely heartwarming and amazing, how a little girl can be so strong willed and protective of something she haven't met yet and doesn't know what it is, yet decides it's all what she has in the world.

The ultimate, love and sacrifice is that of a mother, which Vanessa Hudgens portrays beautifully, wouldn't have thought she had it in her, it was really brilliant to see her transform into "Apple", however, in every good movie there must be something that destroys it, let's talk about Brendan Fraser what the hell is he doing in this movie, I felt as if he's trying to get emotions, and he looked out of place the whole time. Unlike Rosario Dawson who slayed her role, for a minute there I was scared of her and believed that she was a druggie and an abusive mother, the way she talked, the way she walked, it was perfected.

I think this movie might be underrated, I have been eyeing it for a while and I just never got to watching it, I wonder if others did that too, I've not met anyone who've seen it, have you ?

Bridget Jones is having a baby

The title of this movie speaks more about it than the movie does. I don't know what I was expecting from it, yes they have a good cast and everything, and however it was just a flop.

I don't know if it's me or if Renee's British accent is just too fake, I couldn't believe a word out of her mouth, and I couldn't watch the movie while looking straight at the screen as the way she says "uh" or "oh" is utterly repulsing to watch, even though her fashion changes seemed to get better, until the end when she gets locked out and is drenched in water, she was wearing the ugliest coat I've ever laid eyes on.

Bridget just seemed stunned throughout the movie, it was too awkward, I wasn't pleased with it, the only thing good was the tension between the two fathers to be Mr. Darcy and "Derek" and yes throughout the movie in my head he was Derek, till like the last 10 mins of the movie did I find out he was called Jack I think, still not sure about the name.

And speaking of Mr. Darcy old age has certainly caught up with him which is sad, still very handsome though, still trying to be stern, rescues the girl at the end. Classic carrying her all the way to the hospital, let's not forget the great entrance by folding the pregnant Bridget while being carried by 2 men (since Mr. Darcy is too old to do the job himself) Derek came to prove his presence and he just happens to be passing by the same street they're walking in and helps in carrying her and cramming her through the revolving door as they all tried to fit in one partition at the hospital.

Oh and one last thing too, that twist at the end the one they make you unsure who the father is and who is she marrying, I as a viewer was certain the camera wants to play a trick when they passed her by Derek first at the alter before they reveal Mr. Darcy, seemed like a pathetic attempt really to try and add a last second suspense.

This movie definitely doesn't compete with the previous sequels, even though they weren't that good themselves, however they were funny at times and had much cuter scenes in comparison. I think they took a very long time to make this sequel it should have been done years ago, since the other two were released in 2001 and 2004, waiting till 2016 is just too damn long. Hugh Grant definitely knew what he was doing when he passed on this movie.

Last but not least, why the hell did they make the movie 2 hours long?? The whole story could be said in 2 minutes, why take 2 hours to present it, it was very long for a supposed romantic-comedy.

Fathers and Daughters

Love is hard, love isn't easy, find love and keeping it is the hardest thing, love is sometimes selfish, yet love at the end elevates you and lifts you higher, and surrendering to it makes you strong and happier.

 

This movie tells the story of a struggling single father who happens to be a  famous writer, is trying to do the best for his daughter Katie (Potato Chip), he's broke and he just wrote a book that got harshly criticized by others and now he's facing a lawsuit from his wife's sister that wants to adopt his only child as he continues to struggle to provide and raise her, he also struggles with a much stronger illness of mind and has several seizures, that corrupt his day and ruin his signings.

 

The girl Katie grows to be deeply mind sick as she thinks everyone that loves her will eventually leave her, so she destroys every relationship, she doesn't want commitments, until she meets Cameron who falls deeply in love with her and tries to show her his heart, but she strikes out and runs out.

 

In addition to that Katie works at a social center that helps kids, and she gets attached to one of them, and she tries hard to improve the girl's case she didn't want to speak, but later on bonds and they find something to hold on and raise upon in each other.

 

This movie just touches your soul, it helps you to coupe with your greatest fear, which is loneliness, it allows you to run and scream, it also leaves you satisfied with a beautiful happy ending for everyone. I myself was happily satisfied watching the movie end in that way, it was sweet and romantic.

It's like reading a story and jumping through time, back and forth. It's beautifully written and shot, the scene when she starts running that continues shot is very skillful.
 

It was all directed by the talented Italian Gabriele Muccino, who directed the Pursuit of Happyness and Seven pounds. Amanda Seyfried played the grown up Katie, while Kylie Rogers played the young Katie, this part was beautifully acted out by both of them, I felt every word the little girl felt and every emotion she went through. Russell Crowe was just brilliant as always and he embodied the role of the sick Jake Davis so powerfully, with the vigorous shakes and seizures he went through. Aaron Paul, was just the topping of the cake for this movie. This movie also included Diane Kruger and the amazing Jane Fonda.

Nawara.

Looking back at the trailer and how it was so intense and strong, I feel the movie was such a flop and it le me down and crushed all my high expectations of the movie.

 

The ending was terrible, it was just so unexpected and annoying I felt it was half time and it would continue after a while, I just couldn't believe it was over like that, it just ended all of a sudden, while it was boring throughout, why do I have to watch this woman named Nawara go to work, every single day while she's using different transportations. I already got the point that she's living a harsh life and that the world isn't kind to her and that there are millions out there that can't afford simple things in life as water. There was this scene that stood out, when her mother told her I'm scared of suddenly dying and you not being able to find some water to wash my dead body with, these words were chilling.

 

Another thing that really bothered me is the pace of the movie, it was so slow, no action or struggled happened for a long time, I almost forgot what was going on. I was bored at moments too.

 

However I can't deny there was some good framing thrown in there, yet there was also some weird camera movements and out of focus part that disturbed the viewing due to repeating it. This movie was directed by Hala Khalil, and stars Menna Shalaby as Nawara the main lead actress,

 

One last thing that was so very unnecessary, is the killing of the guarding dog Putch, he was brave and kind, and he was representing fear to Nawara and how she overcame it, but the dog didn't need to die to prove this point, and even if they killed him, they didn't need to show it dying and the blood, it was just wrong and too cruel, that if the director was there I'd had run over her the same way she did to the dog. I died crying in that scene, the whole movie theatre watched me cry instead of watching the dog die.

 

Other than that it was okay, just a failed expectation. I wouldn't give it much of a rating and I wouldn't recommend or ever think I'd watch it again, I still don't know how it won so many awards, where to me it was just a big lie and a flop.

It's all about number 7

Hepta

I entered this movie for one purpose and one purpose only which is to criticize the heck out of it!

Let's start from the beginning, I didn't expect much, I had no thoughts, no previous information about the book, I just knew it's famous, loved and the release of the movie has been awaited by many of the fans, so me and some friends of mine decided to watch it for fun.

It was the cheesiest love story and very expected dialogue and scenarios, to me at least it was, even though I haven't read the book it's based on, I just knew what was going to happen, maybe it's the way my mind is set or maybe just because I've seen to many of these movies in all languages so I knew somehow what was going to happen.

The saddest part though, the one that killed me, is the scene where the little kid, sat on the naughty chair thinking his mom left, because he wasn't behaving very well, so he just sat there for hours during the funeral until everyone had left..

I cried my eyes out watching this scene, it just hit you straight into the heart.

There are a lot of tear jerking scenes in this movie, it's cheesy, sad and cute all at the same time, I felt my heart being squeezed and then released all at the same time, you feel sad and hurt, you feel broken, it's a little devastating to enjoy it, but for a movie it's a wonderful roller coaster, a journey for the heart something you'd remember how you felt afterwards than what you saw, as it's all about the feels.

This movie is directed by Hadi El Bagoury and it stars a lot of big names from Nelly Karim,Yasmin Raes, Amr Youssef to Kinda Allouch and Maged El Kedwany who provided a beautiful voice over throughout the movie that just wrapped everything together, I loved the ending it was reasonable, it also had some young actors, they can't be considered new faces since they've been on the small screens before like Ahmed Malek and Jamila Adel Awad, it had many others who provided their own unique touch to the movie.