Persepolis: a Review

per·sep·o·lis/pərˈsepəlis/

A city in ancient Persia, northeast of Shiraz. It was founded in the late 6th century bc by Darius I. This is the story of Marjie, her family, and the Iranian nation Islamic revolution. First of all let us discuss the graphics; I for one loved the artwork and the fact that there weren't many frames per second so the film went a little slow, which was great. Modern day Marjie is in color while her flashback are black and white, a movie culture cliche, yet it went very well with the storyline. The second thing I want to talk about is the star of the movie. Marjie is really easy to relate to. Okay, not everyone thought they are the next prophet and that they could talk to God while growing up, but we all thought we had some secret special power that no one else can posses or access. One scene I absolutely loved was after the Shah's regime fell, Marjie smuggled a Bee Gees record into school to show off in front of her friends. Another girl wanted to show off as well and brought out an ABBA record. "What? ABBA they SUCK!" Of course, sh grew up right into a punk phase, wearing what qualified as punk shoes in the 80's, which was a pair of Nikes. She wore a "PUNK IS NOT DED" jacket over her hijab and jelbab. Four for you, Marjie. You go, Marjie. Another scene I loved was the introduction of the martyr's assembly. It was very powerful. They cleverly showed the audience how those actions do not represent all, but a few who are in position to force those actions on others. Marjie is sent off to Austria to study in a French boarding school, she gets mixed up with some crazy crowd. When she gets home she starts having an identity crisis and sees a psychiatrist, who then proceeds to diagnose her with clinical depression. After being diagnosed with depression she falls into nothingness for a while, then makes her huge comeback by singing Eye of the Tiger. I know. I KNOW! The whole film is filled with little witty remarks and jokes, and there is no wonder as why it was nominated for the best animated film Oscar back in 2008. My favorite character would have to be the grandmother. She's fierce, strong, funny, witty, sassy, and fills her underwear with tiny flowers everyday to smell "nice and fresh". Could this film get any better? Final rating: 4/5

Suits: a Review

Everyone is talking about the "new" hit TV show, Suits. I watched the entire first season, and while the shows is filled with overused TV cliches and stereotypes, I'm hooked.

The following is a list of why this show sucks:

1. Harvey Specter, the boss, a winner that gets the job done. He's always right and he knows it. He doesn't care about anyone but himself and his job. Oh, wait, yes he does, because his life's purpose has been changed after he met:

2. Mike Ross, he gets away with breaking the law because he's super smart.
Suits producers: "No one is THAT smart?"
Suits writer: "Didn't you read the line about him having a photographic memory?"
Suits producers: "seems legit."

That's not the whole deal, though. He falls hopelessly in love with:

3. Rachel; glamorously classy, and the biggest tease Mike has ever set eyes on. Don't you start thinking this show is about white people in suits because of the title, Rachel isn't a white person in a suit.
She's a paralegal, a position just under a legal associate, that is Mike Ross (no puns intended), but she can get away with anything she says to him because he's got the hots for her. Don't get the writers wrong here, the reason she's not a lawyer yet isn't because she's a woman, it's because she doesn't test well. To prove this point, here:

4. Jessica Pearson; the strong black woman who is managing partner of the law firm. See?

5. Lewis Litt. The whole reason they even wrote this character was to get a bad guy from within the company so the episodes don't bore you to your death.
Suits writer: "Hey, let us make him LOVE the ballet and add hints and joke about him being gay!"
Suits producers: "..."
Oh, and not only does he annoy the lead characters, but his assistant as well:

6. Donna; she's a slightly older female assistant that knows the lead character oh so well, just like a wife would.. Oh, where have I seen that one before? She's fiery, and can tell a certain junior partner to basically suck it because she's Donna. Wait, that, too, sounds familiar. I forgot something, she's isn't afraid to flirt and seduce her way into knowing things from that same junior partner because he has the hots for her.

Didn't I just write that about Mike Ross and Rachel?

7. We know nobody is going to fire Ross. If they did fire him, they'll have to cancel the show. Stop it already.

I have to admit, the only reason I watch this show is because I'm a sucker for subplots. 

The Dark Knight Rises: a Review.

Warning: this post contains spoilers.

The most anticipated film of the year finally hit theaters in the middle east on august 17th. I didn't see it until Monday, the 20th.

The movie's director, Christopher Nolan, and the production company, Warner Brothers, released very little, if any, information about the movie itself. With 4 trailers showcasing nothing but fight scenes between Batman and Bane, Bruce Wayne walking with a cane, and Anne Hathaway in a mask, you wouldn't know what to think about the movie. Well, except for expecting AWESOME things.

Let us start with the new faces in the cast; Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mathew Modine, and Juno Temple.
Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge fan of Joseph and Juno. Joseph's appearance in the trailers was very insignificant in comparison to his role in the movie. I was sitting in the theater thinking, "Who needs a Robin when you've got THIS guy on your side?". I've heard a rumor that Christian Bale refused to do the final film if a Robin was involved. Well, we all know how that turned out.
Juno Temple's role was a tiny supporting character as the apprentice of Selena Kyle, The Catwoman. Now, Juno has every independent film director falling head over heels for her after great performances in Mr.Nobody, Cracks, and Dirty Girl, but as of now, every major film production company has fallen for the charms of Temple.

Although Mathew Modine did a very good job playing Foley, I feel that his character was very disposable, as I grew very tired of that role being repeated in every crime or action movie.

To everyone who thought Anne wouldn't make a great catwoman, did you guys SEE that?

As for Tom and Marion, WOW. First of all, I wasn't sure Tom Hardy could pull on such a huge role, but my doubts have been cleared 3 minutes into the movie. Unlike most, I didn't find his muzzled voice funny, but sad. I felt sad for Bane. Hardy's role was about inflicting pain and fear onto others. He did that while wearing a mask. A MASK. You couldn't see 3/4 of his face yet you felt his expressions.

Am I the only person who actually knew that  Ra's al ghul has a daughter but thought, "Cool, they changed the story to fit the film." and then was, "I shouldn't have fallen for that!" Genius!

In terms of special effects and gadgets; aside from the bat and the atomic bomb, this movie was more based on the physical confrontation and characters development. The thrill came from -as Bane would say it- the soul, instead of the body.

I was sitting on the edge of my seat throughout the entire movie. Surprisingly it was more of a tear-jerker than I thought. The scenes between Alfred & Bruce were just heartbreaking.

The ending was great. The scene where Alfred sees Bruce & Selena together after he pretends to die is just..  EPIC.

Everyone says they want another film, but I don't. This trilogy is perfect the way it is.