Miracle in cell no 7*
-Director: “Mehmet Ada Oztekin”
What a movie! What an extremely warm-hearted, tiring, depressing, yet eye satisfying drama movie.
What an exceptional choice of main cast.
This film was first released back in 2013 in a Korean comedy-drama version.
I personally watched the turkish remake version few weeks ago, and I still have all those emotional scenes engraved in my heart.
Aras Bulut Inyemli or “Memo” as known from the movie, did an exceptional job in making this character alive and it was too good to be true and real! Hats off to his memorable performance.
This mentally challenged father made me believe in his mental illness, and I totally forgot he was acting, and that all the story scenes are not actually now happening in front of my eyes.
I believe this film is a must watch..
You will end up having some moral lessons after finishing it.
And the most needed thing to be remembered as a human being, is that people deserve to be appreciated and loved no matter what their physical condition is.. And whatever their case is, don’t forget that this is actually what makes them special in the way they talk, act, think, and most importantly purely love.
Finally “humanity” was the key to this film’s ending.
I highly recommend all of you to watch it!
A tear tissue is not an issue, so prepare it!
Lingo Lingo 💚
Prison break*
Let me start by saying that i just finished watching it, so technically it took me 6 consecutive days to watch 5 seasons and finish it (which means a total of 90 episodes!) , and by that you can easily tell how much I liked this series. 😉
I believe the first two seasons were the highlight of the show.
The good thing about it is that there is always more to know about the characters and their challenges, and they are literally always unpredictable..
The main actor Wentworth Miller, who played Michael’s role gave me the feeling that I wouldn’t be interested to watch him again playing other characters in other movies/series, and this is just from my own point of view.
From what I saw from his acting, he has that ONE same facial expression used in every scene. After all, people don’t actually react the same way to every situation, and specially when it comes to actors!
However, and specifically in this series, you don’t really get bothered by his acting since he’s playing the role of a genius low-profile leader expert in finding smart solutions to everything..and this is actually kinda fine for me and it’s also the reason why I sometimes believed in the character that he is personalizing.. But again, I don’t really think he has interesting acting skills to succeed in playing other complicated roles.
Robert Knepper (Theodore) was the best actor according to me.. He was the most evil person, a rapist and a murderer, and you might all hate him and his character just like I do, but this has nothing to do with my opinion on his acting, which I found really impressive!
His gestures, way of talking, everything.. was simply on point.
Now talking about the editing of the scenes, sometimes it bothered me a bit.
For the rhythm, it was good and fast, which is something that I recommend in such genre of series.
Cutting off the number of episodes would have been a smarter idea.. This series should have been shorter, which means 4 seasons are more than enough to keep a strong narrative structure and treatment for such a story.
Too many events happening with the characters, and you tend to forget some details later on.
What you learn from this series is to fight for those you love and help them whenever they are in need. In addition, look at things and people differently.. And never generalize, specially when it comes to judging..
For example: “Not everyone in jail, deserves to be there.”
My two favorite lines from the show are:
“You know, we spend so much of our lives not saying the things we want to say, the things we should say. We speak in code and we send little messages. So now, plainly, simply, I want to say that I love you so much”
“Preparation can only take you so far. After that, you have to take a few leaps of faith.”
The TRIALS of GABRIEL FERNANDEZ*
I don’t think many of you watched this, but If you don’t have enough patience to know everything behind the real story.. this is not for you.
This 2020 crime documentary mini series by Brian Knappenberger, reveals the truth behind the story of an 8-year-old California boy who has been abused.
The series shows the investigation on his death, and the truth behind what unfortunately happened with this kid in 2013.
The heartbreaking reality of the events, will move you to tears!
In each episode, you get to know another side of the story and the background of each family member, and you start to know that in some cases, culpable people are themselves victims.
It is a shocking, upsetting, traumatic truth that makes you question the lack of humanity and empathy that some people have in this cruel world.
This is definitely an unforgettable crime in the history of crimes.
MONEY HEIST
The popular series “MONEY HEIST” that I guess the majority already finished watching.
My review is based on the first 4 seasons, and as I know there will still be 2 more.
First of all, this “crime-drama thriller series” is very exciting, the idea and plot are both interesting, and there’s a logical link between the scenes that makes every spectator aim to watch more.
The choice of cast is brilliant specially that they all have amazing acting skills and they fit the roles so much.
The important and positive thing to mention is the fact that heist actors and actresses were not chosen based on looks, and still no one can deny that they were big time the right cast for this series.
Even Arthurito, the one I really can’t stand watching, and I bet all of us actually hate this guy, but he succeeded in playing his role perfectly.
As a matter of fact, each member of this heist has an extremely well developed background to his character.
The love story between Raquel and the professor and how he didn’t give up on her even though he was pretty sure that this might affect his heist plan negatively.. kept the emotional structure alive in the script.. In parallel, Raquel who turned out to be one of them after being an inspector is just another interesting point to watch specially that it made us question and imagine what may happen.
Actions are quick, episodes are exciting and not long, and knowing that locations are kind of limited, but you still never get bored and can’t even blink an eye when watching since you know you’ll miss too much!
My favorite characters were “Alvaro Morte” known as (the professor), the leader with a very complex character, and “Pedro Alonso” known as (Berlin) the one with a dialectical character and which whom spectators can relate a “love-hate” relationship. These two characters should be analyzed on a psychological level also, specially Berlin since he combines many contradictions in his actions and reactions too.
My chosen inspirational quote from the series was:
“After all, what’s more human than the fight for survival?”
THE SPY*
Today was “the spy day”! Such a very well executed series directed by “Gideon Raff”, delivering nice shots and mood of scenes suitable with the story and genre.
Cast was good, specially Sacha Baron Cohen (Eli Cohen) and his wife Hadar Ratzon (Nadia Cohen)
What I’ve noticed about this mini series is that the way it was written wasn’t strong enough.
You get attached to the story because after all it’s something political, and truly happened before. In addition to the fact of having in it an Israeli agent working as a spy, this is already something interesting!
However, I loved the touches of the Direcfor of Photography “Itai Neeman”, it added some needed tension and richness to the picture.
I also liked that they didn’t went cliché by filming the torture moments in the last episode, specially that sometimes it’s good to let the viewer’s imagination work alone.
-My favorite line in the series was:
“We owe our people the right to live in peace and security.”
— Jacob Shimoni (Moni Moshonov)
BENJI*
I’m receiving some questions from my friends who have kids, and want to calm their kids for a while, and make them busy watching some movies during this quarantine, otherwise they will lose their mind few days later! 🤣
So I am posting this, to tell you that I recommend this FAMILY movie, I watched it last week and it’s fun to watch, and the story is also nice, in fact I enjoyed it a lot.
This dog actually acts better than many actors 😂 plus his CV is good since he acted in other films as well.
At some point the story gets a bit emotional, and of course it’s always entertaining.
Parents and kids would enjoy it both, and it’s also available on Netflix.
If you like it, you can later on watch the second part “For the love of Benji”, available on YouTube.
PEAKY BLINDERS*
What an extremely well-written script, brilliant cast, with a great choice of frames and mood.
This british series is excellent on all levels!
It’s rare to have a strong story, acting, and directing all together gathered in one series.
Now talking about the content, love and hate, war and peace…All these contradictions make you fully attracted to what you see specially that all this reflects life in its ups and downs.
You can see how Grace’s death was really heartbreaking and also a turning point to Tommy’s revenge plan, but never to his heart that always belonged to her.. and as he said: “No one compares to her, not even close.”
Thomas Shelby, that powerful character amazingly played by”Cillian Murphy” tells you that no matter how tough you choose to be in ur life, there is always that one person who knows the other side of you.
His love story with Grace reminds you that real love can never fade away no matter what the circumstances are, and that flame of passion lights up as soon as you choose to listen to your heart, not your mind.. Knowing that without this feeling, you will always have something missing in ur life.
This series is a mix of power and different kind of emotions linked all together.
Parallel editing chosen in some scenes in addition to the background music, both created a nice tempo.
And what fully got my attention was the choice of WARDROBE! That epoque was known for its elegance, and I personally can’t get enough of the cast’s clothing style.
Extremely classy and remarkable.
What I loved the most is the fact of ending the scene right before you as a spectator expect it to end, while at the same time still being able to deliver the message.
By that, you always want more, and wait for more from the story and characters, and this is what makes you always NOT fully satisfied, and avoids you from losing interest in the story.
A one of a kind crime/drama series, and I can not write enough about it. Briefly, a must watch!
My favorite inspirational quotes from the series are:
-“Yes I’m old school, I have manners. I show others respect and I will always help those who need me. It’s not because I’m old fashioned, it’s because I was raised properly.”
-“Never sacrifice these three things:
Your family,
Your heart,
Or your dignity”
YOU*
This addictive thriller series is really exciting to watch.
However, season 1 was better than the second one according to me.
For those who love to know more about the psychological side behind each character just like I do, the main character of this series should be analyzed from a psychological point of view to be able to logically accept his illogical behavior and actions, and also putting yourself in his state of mind might get you better involved in the events happening.
Joe Goldberg, that fictional person, knows he’s wrong, admits he is wrong, but his personality disorder avoids him from stop doing what he’s doing.
You get lost in whatever title you might give to his character after watching the series, is he actually a sociopath? A psychopath? Or even himself can’t find his own identity?!
I love the way each scene develops quickly but clearly, in addition to a target point focused on.
Even though I’m waiting for season 3 to be released, but I am not aiming to see the same story happening with another new female character. I hope they can find a new interesting idea, and work on it well before delivering the product, to make sure it’s gonna be an added value to the show.
LION*
This movie is one of a kind, and it’s actually one of my favorites.
This film with 18 awards, is one of the best adapted screenplays.
I personally love true story films, specially when it’s based on interesting and emotional events.
Garth Davis as a first time feature film director, still was able to greatly deliver the story esthetically.
I personally loved that innocent little kid Saroo played by SUNNY PAWAR, he has good face expressions, even his eyes talk.
For those who didn’t get the chance to watch this film yet, don’t miss it.
LOCKED UP*
I have tooooo many points to discuss about this series, so mainly this is going to be a long review.
Anyway, let me start with this:
The first two seasons were really thrilling, the show presented many crimes and characters and made us know more about their background from different perspectives.
The 3rd season was a big fail ! Nothing important in the development of the characters, and not even the story.
Plus I didn’t get the message behind having chinese girls to be controlling the prison and strongly focusing on their nationality.. Well what was the exact point of this? It wasn’t a smart idea actually.
The only good thing about the 2nd part of the show was giving us some break from Macarena’s story, we needed a break from her unstability on all levels,drama, and also being available in most of the scenes to be able to focus more on the other part of the story. Few episodes later, we got to a point where we started to miss her, and need her back to the show. No one can deny how important she is to the series. But yes.. again, her disappearance only for a while was a necessity to change the rythm, and to make the audience appreciate her character’s presence more and wait for her come back.
I think that the total number of episodes should have been shorten up to 30 instead of 40.
Which means 10 episodes/season, and this is to maintain a strong story structure.
I usually wait for the monologue of each prisoner in this series because it reveals a lot about their grief, and it briefly describes a massive dramatic story behind their behavior, and what emotionally and mentally contributed in making them ”locked up”. Monologues were an added value to the show and characters as well.
What’s even more pitiful, is that sometimes a victim under some circumstances, turns out to be guilty.
The story treatment was good, and editing was great .. The way the script was written feels like editing was initially done in the pre-production phase and not the post one.
I would have preferred to watch the series with english audio, simply to focus less on the subtitles.
Such a dramatically entertaining female prison series, where you get to know more about each character and how life could be unfair to some people sometimes.
Living in such an environment and discovering only the ugly side of life while experiencing downs only, makes you sometimes do things that you wouldn’t ever want to do. Until the right time comes, and some specific situations push you towards reviving your identity and what you have unfortunately lost. And you finally go back to the original good soul that you used to have before life has hit you hard several times.. And by that time.. you would only wish to be lucky enough to win back people and things you’ve previously lost.
One thing important to mention here (far from all what happened in this series specifically), but what’s good to talk about generally is that usually prisons abroad work on the psychological level and evolution of the prisoners, after all people need to learn from their mistakes and work on themselves way before facing society.. And this is a major thing to fix what they previously broke in their relationship with their lover, family or even people in general who were emotionally or physically killed by them.. Their improvement as human beings, is as important as being locked up.
Spanish production is normally interesting on many levels.. I personally like it a lot, specially that they have skilled actors, good stories, and great production.. In addition to the fact that it’s also likeable all over the world since themes are usually varied, so every society can somehow relate to at least one of the topics presented in a spanish series or film.
However, what is bad about it, is the fact that they tend to go always over extreme in the picture and analyzed subjects, thats why they sometimes go cheap in the way they present some scenes to the audience using the direct/cliché way.
Now talking about the acting part, all actors with no exception were fully committed to their roles..But my favorite one was ZULEYMA, played by the exceptional jordanian-spanish actress Najwa Nimri ! She’s one of the greatest spanish actresses according to me. Her gestures, voice tone, eye expression, body language…All these artsitic details were simply phenomenal !!
WHEN THEY SEE US*
An impressive american limited drama series that will leave you speechless.
How this case was actually analyzed will massively shake the audience.
Those kids broke my heart, the way they were mind tortured and emotionally raped is tough to watch.
Good directing and slow tempo. Dark image referring to the story darkness as well. Nice choice of soundtrack and also, a wonderful performance by actors, specially Jharrel Jerome who portrayed Korey Wise.
The best thing about this story is that it gives u a reminder to never give up on people you love and care about, and never stop fighting for your rights in this cruel world.
The ending parallely combined with “Moon river” song by Andy Williams is great. I love the song lyrics and music and It perfectly relates to the content of the series.
Such an interesting true story to know more about.
INSIDE*
-Directed By: Miguel Angel Vivas
This ”Inside” movie has a 1rst version released in 2007, and here is the 2nd one released in 2016.. But this version is actually less extreme, and more predictable.
A film that according to me started intriguing, continued to be getting on my nerves, and ended illogically logical.
This mystery,suspense, and horror film had interesting scenes in the beginning, but then the writer obviously lost control on the characters until it turned out to be a sarcastic ”cat and mouse” film instead of keeping the scenes strongly linked together.
I think the writer and director both, failed to deliver a mysterious content material to the audience.
Briefly, It’s not the best film you can enjoy it artistically, but you still can watch it since it’s somehow entertaining.
UNORTHODOX*
This is not something exciting or thrilling on the level of the story, but it definitely is on the level of the characters.
Not your favorite type of series maybe, but actors fit their roles even though “seem to have no charisma”, and this is something not usually liked by allspectators, but according to me, this point is appreciated and needed in such a story, and I believe that this specific cast choice was made on purpose because it represents the type of people the series is projecting. After all, actors kinda have similar face expressions sometimes, but too many remarkable personality traits.
This is a series with a message! And I loved the way that several scenes had too many clear messages revealing a lot about the character’s emotional status while comparing it to the religious status too, and also many hidden messages adding more logic to the events happening after that the main character escaped… I wouldn’t go into more details with this, just to avoid giving spoilers and make you watch it.
Personally, I can easily write an essay on ESTY, that innocent yet forced to be matured character.
You sometimes feel empathy towards her, and imagine how you would react if you were at her place.. In parallel, you can sometimes feel sympathy towards her husband who loves her at his own way, and here you can tell a lot about his religion that negatively affected his behavior and mind, which made him a character with a personality disorder..
However, being ambivalent towards all characters is something you get used to while watching the series.
ILa_beirut_Al_Ontha
It’s been a long time since I haven’t watched such a nice video clip with a good and strong message delivered smoothly to the audience.
I salute the choice of cast, specially the one who played the role of the mother.
The song context and music video are perfectly combined.
Thank you Samir Syriani for delivering a great content while reminding us of who we actually are and what we are actually passing through in this country. You highlighted our struggle in the most beautiful way, far from complexity and over analysing.
The chosen location is great, I can easily see the majority of lebanese houses and families presented in this video clip.
Nancy Ajram Congratulations! And as they say, Simplicity is everything!
“BEIRUT, the city that everyone HEARD its noise, made everyone now HURT by its silence..”
#ILa_beirut_Al_Ontha 🎶
MONEY HEIST SEASON 5 🎭 (no spoilers)
This is an example of what I always say that whenever a series is good, and they simply try to add more episodes for business/money reasons (as expected)..unfortunately not everytime this would work! And in this case, it obviously didn’t.
After the longggg wait, here comes season 5 less than expected…They couldn’t even find new varied events because simply the series could have ended in a strong way in season 4 specially that the main story is shot in one main location which is the bank.
5 episodes in season 5 with only few updates happening, and only having a twist at the end of the season isn’t something good I guess.
Exaggeration in everything, and unfortunately and for the 1st time, you don’t feel that excitement level to know what’s gonna happen in the next scene or even episode.
Okay episodes were getting better in terms of story development, but that was not enough at all due to the lack of suspense. The only satisfying thing was what happened to Arthurito actually ! That was soooo faiiir and satisfying to watch !
What I liked is the unexpected ending even though it will add more flashbacks in the last part in December, and for me the series has already too many flashbacks so far, so this is not something that I like, but at least something major finally happened, and would definitely have a strong impact on the heist.
My favorite scene was the parallel editing/scenes between what was happening when Alicia Sierra was giving birth with the help of the professor, and what was happening inside the bank.
For me, this series was my favorite, but unfortunately it was supposed to have 4 amazing seasons with great strong content.
I was expecting much more from the producers for this season after making everyone wait for several months, and then we got this.
However, will definitely wait for part 2 which will most probably be the last one, hopefully it would be great on both levels: image, and content.
