Movie Review: Maleficent

So, for me, this was either going to be a totally lame movie or an amazing new classic! The first 10 minutes of the movie set the tone and guess what Disney fans, IT’S TOTALLY EXTRAORDINARY AMAZING!!!

From the beginning with the beautiful scenery and moving soundtrack, it just takes your breath away!! I don’t think I should mention the plot of the story; it’s the Sleeping Beauty fairytale with a twist! This story this time is told through the eyes of the fairy we all grew to fear, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie).

This twist gave a life to the somehow lame sleeping beauty story. I mean in the previous Disney animation Aurora (Elle Fanning in this movie) does nothing but grow up and get pricked by the spinning wheel and then she sleeps. This time we hear the heartbreaking story of Maleficent and how she became the evil fairy that she is and Angelina Jolie played her part beautifully!!

The thing we don’t know is that Maleficent was good, but she was turned evil because of betrayal. That scene when she switched from good to evil gave me the chills! I mean talk about raw emotions! It made me cry to be honest! Angelia did more than delivered, she was Maleficent and I applaud her! You can see her shift in her eyes, her tone and even the way she walks! Chilling I tell ya!

I’m so happy we saw this side of Maleficent, it explains a lot! I remember I knew her story from an episode of Once Upon a Time, but not like this! At all! This was different and totally awesome!

The production side of it didn't fail as well! The magical creatures, the forest and everything was mesmerizing! It's a fairy place indeed! No wonder this world came from two time Oscar winner Robert Stromberg. This is actually his first movie to direct, as he dealt with visual effects before only. No wonder, the movie is dazzling.

Fun fact if you haven’t known yet, the 5 years old Aurora is actually played by Angelina’s daughter Vivienne Jolie-Pitt. She was just so adorable!

I wanna say so much more, but I don’t want to ruin it for you! And to all those who are waiting for my verdict I say, RECOMMENDED!

Oh, one thing that I loved from the previous animation is the song, Once Upon A Dream. It’s just so special to me, and guess what?! An all new haunted version of the song by Lana Del Rey, hear it here.

This made me happy! For more info, click here.

Till again ;)

Kemz

Twitter & Instagram: @KemzMovies

Movie Review: How To Train Your Dragon

This is by far my favorite none Disney animation of all times!! I love Vikings and I love Dragons and this movie have both! It’s action packed and full with Dragon fights!! Therefore this movie is AWESOMELY SICK!

It’s the story of Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) a young Viking who is keen to kill his first Dragon and mount up to his father’s (Gerard Butler) expectations. As known by everyone in the Berk village, Hiccup is weird, troublesome and just plain different. When Dragons attacked the village, Hiccup miraculously hit one of them, the most deadly one, Night Fury! But no one saw the beast falling deep in the forest and didn’t believe him. When he went to find it to try and show everyone how a true Viking he is, he finds Night Fury wounded and scared. Because Hiccup is truly different, he decides not to kill it and help the beast with his wound and with that the cutest best friendship begins!

This is not all, many things happen and the story picks up!! It’s so exciting and really entertaining! The script is hilarious! Just sharp and witty! There are just too many lines that stick in your head! It what makes this animation adult appropriate!! Or maybe crazy adults :p like me. I watched this movie maybe three times! Is it obvious how much I love it :p?!

What I loved as well is the scenes with the recruits training where all the teen Vikings go to train on how to kill a dragon!! There are different types of dragons and their different shapes, colors and powers are freaking awesome!! There’s even a Dragon book that the recruits study from!! You can tell there’s been a lot of thinking going on to build all that world!!

What I love as well is this movie is about accepting yourself and how you can show that being different is not wrong, it’s actually sometimes needed. It is those who question the way of life who can find new better ways to live it! It’s also about the unexpected friendship between Hiccup and Toothless (The Dragon). It’s so sweet and just heartwarming. You’d be amazed by the things and people you will find if only you opened your heart and mind a little ;). 

So Highly Recommended!! I’m super excited for How To Train Your Dragon 2!!! Coming out THIS Summer!!! CAN’T WAIT!!! I saw the trailer! Amazzzzzzzing!! Check it here.

For more info on part 1, click here ^-^

Well, till Maleficent!

Kemz

Twitter & Instagram: @KemzMovies 

Movie Review: Need For Speed

Need for speed tells the epic story of Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) and his friends racing to make money so he can save his business after his dad passed away. Then one of his friends is killed “accidentally” by a rich white kid and Tobey ends up in jail and he tries to seek revenge, so what you got here is your typical underdog and your rich powerful douchbag.

If you’re a car fanatic and play the video game you will love it because you will notice the similarity between the movie and the game but if you have never played the game then this movie maybe not be your cup of tea since most of the emphasis is on the game. This shouldn’t surprise anyone since EA sports produced the movie, they didn’t even bother bringing well-known actors except for Aaron Paul who is known for his role as Jessi Pickman in the TV hit Breaking Bad.

The journey of Tobey seeking revenge is amazing. He needs to catch this big race orchestrated by Monarch played by Michael Keaton, so he can win the cash prize, save his business and avenge his friend. If you love car stunts and consider drifting as an art you will fall in love with this movie. Especially that the stunts are real there is no CGI in the movie as mentioned here by Mr. Aaron Paul himself with an interview promoting the movie.

I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone but if you decide to watch the movie, look for the scene where one of Tobey’s mechanics quit his 9 to 5 job and reunite with his old team. It’s super funny. 

The movie itself is entertaining like you won’t be bored watching it but don’t expect to be attached to the story. What you will attached to is the action and chase of revenge, his chase for making things right. 

For more information on the movie and the trailer, click here.

By:

Nedal Atawneh

Twitter: @nedal_3750

Blog Twitter & Instagram: @KemzMovies

Movie Review: X-Men Days of Future Past

The original X-Men finally return in this amazing new movie, which is set in the future with the need to go and correct what happened in the past and that starts the Days of Future Past. Because of one act done by Raven/Mystiqu (Jennifer Lawrence) in 1973, Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is sent back by both Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen). With the help of Ketty Pryde (Ellen Page) Wolverine wakes up in the past and start his journey to change history and it is AMAAAZIING!! LOVED IT! 

I can’t express how excited I was to see everyone and how all the kids from the first movie grew and their powers evolved. This made me enjoy the movie even more as I feel like the X-Men returned to their roots and their original story. As a fan of the X-Men and someone who watched all the parts, I could see how this movie linked all the rest together. All the secrets and gapes we figured out as we moved along the whole series came together. It made it even more special. You can watch it on its own, but there are these scenes here and there and lines that are like inside jokes, you have to see the previous movies to get them. So I advice, if you haven’t, watch the ones before and then watch this one ;) (Here’s the order: X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class and last but not least, X-Men: Days of Future Past)

I’m a huge fan of time travel and how everything effects everything and what I loved about this movie is how simple yet effective it has been. The move between the past and future is smooth and understandable. I’m glad they made it work!

The action scenes are just brilliant! You can tell the amount of work and DETAILS behind it. Some movies focus on the force and power rather than the details. You should see the scenes with Quicksilver (Evan Peters), loved it! It’s really remarkable to see all those powers and how they work. It’s entertaining on its own.

And of course those powers would not be as awesome without the people behind them. The cast in this movie is AMAZING!! I mean you have the cast from the first X-Men movies and from First Class! I mean come on!! How mind blowing is that!! Even Peter Dinklage who is a genius actor joined the club! What more would you want??

Another thing, X-Men has always been about finding your path, the right path and how you always have hope for those who lost it. The depth of that idea and the suffering that they all endured gave the movie an alive soul that would easily float from the screen and into your heart without knowing it. Finding our path on daily bases is a struggle on its own, just imagine if the whole world was against you. The movie delivered that image perfectly, and I’m happy that they didn’t force it on it.

And don’t forget reader, Peaceful Thoughts ;)

For more info, click here and for the review on X-Men First Class, please click here!

Till the next one!

Kemz 

(Twitter & Instagram: @KemzMovies)

نقد فيلم: هي HER

قصة الفيلم مختلفة جداً بحكم الطابع الفلسفي الأنساني الذي عشتُه من خلاله، ماذا الذي ستختارهُ عندما تكون منفصلاً و على شافه حفرة من الطلاق ، هل ستحاول حل كل شيء قبل فوات الآوان أم تحاول التقيد بالموجود كما صنع بطل الفيلم ثيودور الذي خسر مرتين حتى تعلم ما معنى البقاء منتظراً لما هو مناسباً ... 

الفيلم سيقودك الى عالم المستقبل حيثُ إن التكنولوجيا محضرة بشكل واضح و الكثير من الوحدة تتمركز حولها مع الدور الذي يؤديه خواكين و هو كونهِ كاتباً يكتب الرسائل البريدية لعملائه يقع في حب صوتً خلاب و يعيش معهُ على إنه الحب الأزلي الذي سيعتني بهِ و يعتني به و يستمر معه مدى الحياة حتى يعلم حينها إن الحقيقة و الواقع يتلاقيان و لكن في ظروف غير صحيحة وقتها سيفهم إن تلك الأنا التي خدعته لكي يكون خيالياً هي بالأحرى تقتل الذات و المشاعر التي تترتب عليها و تبدأ بطرح أسئلة فلسفية لفهم كل شيء و لأستعياب ما هو الذي علينا أن نعيش لأجله .

الفيلم رائع و ربما أرشحه لأن يكون من ضمن قائمتك لهذه السنة الأ أنني أفضل إن تكون فوق ٢١ عاماً لأستيعاب طبقات الفكرية الجميلة و الفلسفية المطروحة فيه. لجماله رُشح لخمس جوائز أوسكار و لكنه حصل على جائزة واحدة وهي أفضل سيناريو كلاسيكي قد كتب .

مخرج الفيلم هو سبايك جونز و قد خاض لمثل هذه الافلام العديدة و حصد جوائز سابقة  و لكن عرف بحب تعاملهِ مع فئة لا يحب تغيرها و ظل في العمل معهم و هم الإنتاج المدهش لـ كي كي باريت و رائعة الالوان و الملبس لكيسي ستورم والديكورات لجين سيردينا، والموسيقى الجميلة الخلابة لأركيد فاير، والكثير من تصوير الشائق لـهويت فان هويتيما.

و لا ننسى جميل من أظهر القصة بطل الفيلم هو الممثل خواكين فينيكس و مثل بدور ثيودور تومبلي ، أما صوت الحاسب الالي ( الكمبيوتر )  فهي سكارليت جوهانسن بدور سامانثا ، و مثلت دور جارتهِ ايمي آدامز بدور آيمي . 

و أرى إن هذا الفيلم لا يمل من التكرار منه أحببته جداً كونهُ يمثل بعض الشيء مني. أحببت الأنتظار و الأعتذار الأخير لثيودور لزوجته حينما قال : سأظل أحبكِ لأننا قد ترعرعنا معاً و ذلك ما أدى الى كوني من أكونُ اليوم و ستظل هنالك دوماً ذكرى تسكنني و أنا ممتن لها و لكِ على ذلك و مهما أصبحتِ مختلفة في هذا العالم إني إرسل إليكِ الحب ، أنتِ صديقتي  إلى نهاية المطاف. و أحببت كون الأنسان إن يكون من يريدُ إن يكون مع من يحب كلمات ثيودور لسامانثا حينما قال لها : يعجبني كوني أستطيع إن أكون من أريدُ معكِ. هذه الكلمات بحد جمالهِا الأفاق جعلني أؤمن إن الأنتظار خير و أجمل لمثل هذه القلوب كقلب ثيودور .. 

للمزيد عنه، اضغط هنا. 

بقلم:

منيرة محمد 

انستغرام و تويتر : its_munira

انستغرام وتوتر الموقع: kemzmovies

Movie Review: The Book Thief

I watched this movie on the plane in an adventurous flight that was like a movie in itself, and after watching a very cruel movie that I hate to even remember, (12 Years a Slave). But when I started watching this movie, I forgot all about that cruelty and the state of our flight! The movie started with a traveling train that drew me deep into the story for the whole two hours.

The story takes place in Germany during the Second World War. A communist mother has to give up her two children to an adoptive family in order to save their life. Liesel (Sophie Nélisse) loses her brother during the journey, and is left alone with her new family; Rosa (Emily Watson) the thunderstorm like mother, and Hans (Geoffrey Rush) the kind hearted father. Liesel who knows not to read nor write gets help from her new father, who teaches her through her first book “The Grave Digger's Handbook”; the first book she stole after the burial of her brother.

During the extermination of the Jews, the family hides Max (Ben Schnetzer) in their basement, which left them in constant fear of being discovered. Liesel gets attached to her new friend Max, and lets him have a glimpse of the outside world through her eyes, and her words. While delivering the laundry to the mayor’s house, Liesel discovers wonderland in a room: in the study room there are the books she was forced to burn! And so starts her story of stealing books.

I liked so many things about this movie as it had many inspiring scenes. For example, when Max asks Liesel to report the weather he said: “If your eyes could speak”, so that he can visualize the outside world through her words. And when he gives her a diary and asks her to write, as if to find someone in words. It will probably lead you to think, do I have anyone whom I would find in words? I liked Max’s personality, and I liked Liesel so much; she is a brave devoted girl. Also, the lightness of the movie, the story and set, the family, and the idea of Liesel’s dictionary, where she creates her own dictionary on the walls of the basement made me like this movie even more.

This is a very light and beautiful movie. During the winter of December, the houses in Heaven Street give the Bavarian test of Germany. The soundtrack by John Williams is so light and beautiful, the kind of music that would lift up your soul and draw a smile on your face! Yet, you are in constant fear of what would happen next, since that story is narrated by Death!

This is a good family movie; it shows how a child is devoted to his/her family, how valuable friendship is, and how to keep a secret! Even for grownups it is a nice movie, you will laugh at some parts and shed tears on others.

The Book Thief movie is based on the novel by Markus Zusak and directed by Brian Percival. It won three awards and was nominated for one Oscar.

It reminded me how much I miss school!

By:

Noura AlNaimi

Twitter & Instagram: @nouranaimi

Blog Twitter & Instagram: @KemzMovies