Pulp Fiction (1994)

I can't believe I haven't written a review on Pulp Fiction yet! How could I overlook one of my all time favorite movies? WHAT WAS I THINKING!! But, after a long break from movie reviewing, I am happy to announce that I'm back in full force this time.  Released on October 14th 1994, Pulp Fiction was a box office and critical hit. I won't ruin the story for you but it basically involves 7 sequence of events and throughout the film we witness how they are tied together.

The acting in Pulp Fiction was on point. Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) have such an extraordinary on-screen chemistry together it's actually unbelievable, it's like they were born to be partners in this movie. The script was fantastic and the dialogue in the movie was so smooth and natural and John Travolta's improvised line "I shot Marvin in the face" has to be one of the best improvised lines I've ever heard.  Not to mention the one liners were fantastic.

Pulp Fiction is pure genius, the technique used to tie together events that seem so random is just extraordinary. Another thing I loved about this movie was the joyful atmosphere it creates. The movie is almost 2 and a half hours long but truth be told, It didn't even feel like two hours because of the lively atmosphere. I was so hooked to the movie first time watching it that I couldn't even pause it, it's that powerful. Not to mention, the soundtrack was amazing, it matched the movie like toast matches butter.

So what are you waiting for? Grab that Royale with Cheese in one hand and that glass of beer in another and fill your fries with mayonnaise, because you're about to watch one of the greatest movies ever made. I strongly recommend watching this film because it's one of those films that revolutionized the modern movie industry in my opinion. So I hope you have fun watching it, and leave your feedback on the comment section.

You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese in Paris?

 "Say What Again!"
Ahmed

Miami Vice (2006)

Miami Vice is really one of those movies that I really looked forward to watching for a long time. I bought the DVD but I kept stalling and stalling. But I forced myself to watch it today, which was....a mistake *sigh*. Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell, Miami, drug busts, and flashy sports cars. What could go wrong? Well, my hopes for a great movie crash landed and burned so badly that I could feel the heat in my insides. It ruined my day, yes it was that bad. The plot tells us the story of two Miami police detectives who go undercover as drug smugglers in order to combat drug trafficking. What sounds like a potentially good plot is in fact killed by some horrible acting, bad camerawork, and an awful romantic sub-plot.

I never watched the series from the 80's, but I'm not here to compare. Now, was this movie shot with a camcorder bought form amazon.com? Or a mobile camera, hmmm. It sure felt like it. Although they were using a Digital Movie Camera, which captures movies as digital images, it just failed badly in my opinion.Why didn't they just use a normal movie camera, that would've worked. The camerawork is so bad. It doesn't even feel like a proper motion picture, I honestly felt like I was watching an undercover drug bust documentary on The National Geographic Channel, seriously. Miami Vice had a budget of over 100 million Dollars, and they didn't have the decency to employ a proper cameraman?

Gong Li, the lady that portrayed Isabella, just pissed me off so badly. She was horrendous. She projects no emotion when talking. She was like a robot, just reciting what she read in the script, no emotion, no change of tone, just the same rhythm throughout the movie. It doesn't feel natural, it feels like its been recorded and she was just lip syncing. The romantic sub-plot with her and Sonny (Colin Farrell) was catastrophic. There was barely any chemistry between the two characters.

Nope, It just didn't work.

There are a few good points about the movie though. For instance the chemistry between Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell was actually pretty decent. And I really enjoyed the bittersweet ending, because I didn't see that coming. I always thought that it would be a happy ending. But seriously, Don't watch the movie. Unless you're REALLY bored. Its totally not worth wasting your time on. I was shocked, I never expected it to be that bad.

"I'm a disco guy"
Ahmed 

Disordered (Short Film Review)

Disordered is a short 10 minute film that was featured in a competition amongst two other films in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The films were shown in the largest cinema in the country (I'm talking huge here), in which they were judged by a panel of three theater experts. The story is about a gangster who's wife was murdered, in his quest to find the killer, he starts to question reality from fantasy, hence the title: "Disordered".

I actually just got the chance to watch Disordered now, Its been like five minutes since I finished watching it. Just to get this out of the way, although my cousin is the main actor in this film, I am not letting this fact influence my opinion on the movie. Now that that's clear, let's get this show on the road shall we?

Ok so the movie starts out and I immediately get the impression that something bad is gonna happen, which is good because anticipation induces suspense, I liked that. I'll be honest, I clapped when my cousin said his first lines. It's definitely not lacking intensity, I mean throughout the 10 minutes, I actually was kinda biting my nails. The music, although a bit too loud, complemented the movie really well. The acting was convincing. The last scene in the movie was intense, and overall it was not that bad a movie actually. For a short film, the character development for the main character, Al Bash (Hassan Ahmed), wasn't detailed, but it was satisfying.

Now we move on to the negative points. I didn't like the dialogue in the movie, I felt like it was something that they just read and recited, it didn't feel natural, there wasn't much emotion. The ending, although containing a twist, disappointed me; it was very abrupt, and not in a good way. Moreover, the film did have some acting "errors" if I may say so. Like the smile in the final scene, although I would've just overlooked it, but you never know when mistakes can be repeated.

But let's not forget, this is a first time effort, and I'm impressed. The directing and editing were fantastic. I'm really happy with the outcome, I just wanna say to the team that made the movie, Bravo. I mean you did a good job. It's not easy to make a movie, trust me it's not a walk in the park. So I hope you take my points to heart, because without criticism, you can never learn.  Good luck in any future projects.

"Ain't nothing, but a thang"
Ahmed 

Training Day (2001)

I honestly lost count of how many times I watched this movie, it's actually pretty ridiculous because every time I watch it I feel like it's my first time seeing it. It's one of those movies that you just can't get enough of. After watching this film, my respect and admiration for both Ethan Hawke and Denzel Washington reached sky high. The story is basically about a man named Jake (Ethan Hawke) being evaluated by a respected narcotics detective Alonso Harris (Denzel Washington) throughout a 24 hour period. as the story unfolds, we find out that in order to be a narcotics officer, you need to bend some rules, and we also discover a dark secret about Alonso.

What I admired about this move is that, unlike many other films, it depicts L.A  in a way that's I felt was always hidden in films. It shows the real L.A that people know, not the one that's mostly depicted in films, and I respected that very much. I think there is no doubt that the real star in this movie is most definitely Denzel Washington. That guy impressed the hell out of me, his acting was right on point and he made it look so natural and smooth, you'd think that he'd actually been a narcotics officer before. Everything from his body language, his style of talking, all the way up to the way he dresses. In fact he nailed the part so well that he got an Academy Award for Best Actor, you can't argue with that. What I also liked about his character was the fact that you never know if he was good or bad until the end, you can never tell, and to be honest not many people can pull that off as convincingly as he did in my opinion.

Ethan Hawke also did a fantastic job portraying Jake, in fact he did such a brilliant job that he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The soundtrack was pretty awesome, the setting was on point, the story was intriguing, and the cast was fantastic. I definitely recommend this movie because it's one of those movie that you just have to watch without any excuse. Trust me you won't be disappointed.

"Do you wanna go home or do you wanna go to jail?"
Ahmed

Disordered (Short Film Preview)

Hey Guys! I'm officially a high school senior at school and let me tell you, it WAS NOT an easy year, academically and socially. Anyways I'm very excited to say that I have the whole summer to write on this blog, It'll be raining reviews soon! I'm also extremely happy to announce that my cousin, Hassan Ahmed Janahi, is starring in his first movie, as the main character! It's a short film called "Disordered", I'll hopefully review it when it gets released on the 2nd of July. I watched it's trailer the other day and I was really impressed (my cousin is the guy that gives a death stare). I was supposed to have a cameo in the movie as a garage mechanic, but my part was taken (CURSES!!).  I'm very happy for him and I hope this will be the first of many more films to come. If you are indeed in Bahrain, come and watch it at the Bahrain City Center cinema on July the 2nd, I'll DEFINITELY be there. 

The Movie Blogger.

Hey guys! How's it going, hope you all are enjoying yourselves (and the movies you're watching). I'm writing this post as something to kinda hold you over, I'm under a lot of tension at the moment because of my external exams and I barely have time to write up anything. But alas! summer is right around the corner and I do have some big plans for this blog.  Just know that I'm forever thankful for all your support my dear readers. So anyways, I've been a blogger for about ten months now and let me tell you, it's been great! I just want to dedicate this post to anyone who has just started as a movie blogger or someone who is aspiring to be one.

Here's some tips that I can give all you early/aspiring movie bloggers:

1. Start by watching really old movies, then work your way up: Like every subject you want to write about, you need to do some research on its historical background and witness how it revolutionized throughout the years. This will give you a better understanding of how films were made back in the day and  trust me, you will learn a lot from old movies. The oldest movie I own is Der Golem that was released in 1915!

2. Don't let anything cloud your judgement: In the end, movie reviewing is all about presenting your own opinion, so don't let anyone or anything change your opinion on any movie.

3.Build your vocabulary: This step is extremely crucial to any movie reviewer, to build your vocab, especially your descriptive language. As a non-native English speaker, it was really hard for me in the beginning, but I worked on my English and look at me now! Movie reviewing is conveying your emotions about a certain movie to your audience, so descriptive language is key.

4.Open up to different genres: When I first started, I hated Romantic comedies, historical movies, and a lot of other different genres. But then I realized that this wasn't going to make me an accomplished reviewer, so I forced myself to watch movies in the genres that I previously hated, and let me tell you, some of the movies I watched were absolutely fantastic.

5.Collect DVD's: You don't have to do this but it'll look really good because that will show you love and dedication for movies. ]

6.READ,READ,READ: Read until your mind can't take anymore. Read the biography of any actor/actress, read reviews of other critics, and any movie news you can get a hold of. This will not only make you more creative in your writing, but it'll also give you a better understanding of the movie industry nowadays.

So I hope that these tips help you , and remember, creativity has no limits.

"No, I am your Father"
Ahmed

Iron Man 3 (2013)

It's been a while. Hello my dear readers, I'm very glad to inform you that I have finished my finals, and I'm officially on a semi-summer vacation since I do still have some IGCSE's. Anyways, I got the chance to watch Iron Man 3 this weekend, and I enjoyed it.....alot. As you may or may not know, I am a HUGE Batman fan so it's only natural that I have this mild hatred for Marvel characters, but hey, I won't let that get in the way of my opinion on a movie.

So anyways, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is suffering from panic attacks and anxiety because of the events from The Avengers. Nonetheless, as a new foe, The Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley) arises, it's up to Tony to fight his inner demons and protect the security of himself and that of the United States of America.

First of all I would like to say that Robert Downey Jr. is one of my all time favorite actors and I believe that he was literally born to play Tony Stark/Iron Man, I honestly can't think of any other person that can portray Tony other than him. The plot is definitely more interesting than the first two in my opinion and it this time, it's personal in every meaning of the word. There's definitely more gadget galore going on in this movie, and as a technology freak, I could do nothing but appreciate that. Another thing I appreciated was the amount of humor that was injected in the movie, it's honestly unexpected and it did make me laugh maybe a little too much in the theater (yeah, I was getting death stares from some people). Also, the plot is twisty, which is always a good thing because it makes the movie unpredictable, and you guys know how I feel about predictable movies. Iron Man 3 is a pure popcorn flick, definitely not Oscar material in my opinion but it's just a very entertaining movie, I was really satisfied with the outcome and it really exceeded my expectations.

So, what are you waiting for? Get out of the house, go to the theater, grab some Dr.Pepper and a bucket of popcorn, and ENJOY. I promise you guys won't be disappointed with the outcome, and I'm positive that you'll be just as entertained as I was, oh and stick around for the post credits scene, a very unexpected character will make an appearance. By the way, my Metropolis DVD finally (it took two months) arrived today, it comes with the restored version of the movie and a 50-page booklet, how spectacular!

"I'm Tony Stark, I build neat stuff, got a great girl, occasionally save the world, so why can't I sleep?"

Ahmed