Reviews

Jacir starring Malek Rahbani and Lorraine Bracco is a great independent movie with a beautiful message. Set in Memphis, the movie follows Jacir, a Syrian refugee who escaped the war back in his country and who's the neighbor of Meryl, a confused and sick racist woman. Events unfold that let the two characters meet and trust each other. The movie is all about the performances of the two lead actors. Malek Rahbani is outstanding as Jacir. He gave everything to portray his part. Emotional and powerful acting! He was at the level of Bracco who as usual doesn't disappoint. From Alleppo to the Ghetto... Do not miss that movie!

Broken Keys by Jimmy Keyrouz is wonderful and very well made. Cinematography and directing are at their best! The actors did a great job portraying the atrocities of the Syrian war and the terrorism that frightened the country. It's a story of hope portrayed by a piano, by the love of music not matter what! The movie wouldn't be complete without the music of the great Gabriel Yared! He doesn't disappoint!

Capharnaum is the new precious gift to Lebanese cinema. Directed by Nadine Labaki and written by Labaki, Joelle Keserwani, Jihad Hojeily and Georges Khabbaz the movie follows the journey and the misery of a boy called Zain that led him to sue his parents for giving him life! The movie took years to finish with a total of 500 hours of rushes filmed! Shot in a "Cinema Realité" style without any professional actors and with a raw cinematography you're going to witness the dark side of the country, the unacceptable neighborhoods, the unfair life that poor children are facing. Everyone is absolutely well casted! Zain was the ultimate discovery a super talented boy, the Ethiopian maid was great also and even the real retired judge did a good job. Each actor is really telling his own personal story so you will arrive at a point where you couldn't differentiate if you're watching cinema, a written script or even a documentary. Wonderful job from Labaki and well deserved Jury Prize at Cannes! Thumbs up also to Khaled Mouzanar for giving us another remarkable score. The movie is nothing less than heartbreaking. As Truffaut freezed his last scene back in 1959 in "The 400 Blows" giving us some hope, the last shot of Capernaum will speak a lot...!

The Insult is the definition of a great cinematic achievement. It is the new movie directed by Ziad Doueiri and tells the story of Toni a Christian Lebanese who got into a fight from an insult blown out with a Palestinian plumber. Haunted by their past and the civil war, they went really far with it and the movie took unexpected turns and surprises. Doueiri and Touma wrote a splendid courtroom drama script that is really tense, exciting and really fair for the two sides. It reminded me of the great Sidney Lumet movies with a touch of political background. That film has great characters rich with backup stories and it wouldn't be great without the marvelous cast. Each actors gave an Oscar worthy performance. Thumbs up for Karam, Hayek and Diamand Bou Abboud. I must give credits to Camille Salemeh because he led the show for sure! Doueiri worked hard on letting the actors give their best for the characters. Cinematography and score were also on a high level here! Doueiri is a superb director. His debut West Beirut has always been every Lebanese's favorite. The Insult was competing in Venice (It won best actor for Kamel Basha and had a 5 minutes standing ovation), Telluride, TIFF and it the official submission for Lebanon at the Oscars for best foreign language movie. Daring, bold and smart, this movie is big step forward for the Lebanese cinema.

Go Home is another outstanding Lebanese movie! Directed by Johane Chouaib the movie handles the horrific details of the civil war through the eyes of a young Lebanese emigrant played by the Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani! She gave a mesmerizing performance with the collaboration of Julia Kassar whose always in the right movies! Suspenseful and scary sometimes it's really a step forward in our local production of art house cinema!

The Traveler "Le Voyageur" is a Lebanese/French production directed by Hadi Ghandour starring Rodrigue Sleiman and Aïda Sabra! Straight to the point, this movie is a masterpiece! I can finally say that I found a perfect Lebanese movie this year! The performances are just mind blowing especially by Aïda Sabra who excels as always without forgetting the french cast that was great also! Shot and directed in a splendid style the movie follows Rodrigue Sleiman character through a trip to Paris facing nostalgia, temptation and discovery! This is pure cinema that shouldn't be missed!

As everyone is referring to till now this is a love letter to 1950's Hollywood. Written and directed by the Coens the story involves a producer who is trying to get everything right in Capitol Pictures, and is faced with a major problem: His star has been kidnapped by an organization called The Future. What this movie is trying to show through the lens of the amazing Roger Deakins is the beauty of filming that was all shot back then in studios. We passed by almost most types of movies: Musicals "Kelly Style", Drama, Western and of course the main set was the Hail Cesar one, the kind of epic "Ben Hur Style". The movie is full of cameos of very talented actors that were given a screenplay of pure and smart comedy lines directed in a crazy and fun way by the Coens! Josh Brolin took the lead by giving an awesome performance as the producer. What people didn't enjoy in this I guess is those smart comedy moments and characters that maybe only a true Coen fan can enjoy! Not the best Coen, "Inside Llewyn Davis" was by far better but I really suggest it for all cinema lovers.

I was very glad that i attended the opening ceremony of the Beirut International Film Festival with the presence of Juliette Binoche screening this touching movie! We're talking here about a festival movie so if you're not ready for a lot of talking scenes, well this is not for you! The story itself is brought by Binoche to director Olivier Assayas about an actress at the peak of her career who is asked again to play a role in a play that made her famous years ago! Let's be clear: this movie is all about stunning performances by a great Trio of actresses Binoche, Stewart and Moretz! Everyone was so great performing the characters. Binoche made it clear that this movie talk about her career and how can it be disturbed or touched emotionally on every level when she'll reach a certain age and when new generations of actors will rise! A must see for cinema lovers and especially for professional actors!