Day of the Falcon is set in the 1930s Arab states at the dawn of the oil boom, the story centers on a young Arab prince torn between allegiance to his conservative father and modern, liberal father-in-law. "Black Gold" is another wonderful epic adventure by the French director Jean-Jacques Annaud with a great international cast and wonderful cinematography in an environment of "Lawrence of Arabia". It is the highest budget Arabian related film since LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962) and was one of the most anticipated film events in the international film community this season, despite the hype, however, the film was met with mixed reviews after the press screening and premier.
The highlight of the film was a fantastic performance by lead role Tahar Rahim (A PROPHET, 2009), his soulful eyes and magnetic vulnerability can work in any film whether speaking or just looking into the camera sans dialogue. Mark Strong also plays a great bearded royal Arabian Sultan Amar, even though he speaks with a distinguishable British accent. The roles that threw the film off were those of Antonio Banderas and Freida Pinto.
It is almost impossible to watch Banderas play Bedouin Sheik Nassib without constantly being reminded that he is, in fact, Antonio Banderas. Freida Pinto lends the film her stunning Indian looks as Princess Leyla, but unfortunately her dialogue consists of cliché one-liners that might have saved the movie if not uttered; of course bad film writing is bad writing however delivered.
Expectations were high and while many were left dissatisfied, others rated it a smashing success as it apparently followed the book to a tee, I have not read the book so perhaps I am missing something, but being that I have seen a number of impressive films of late that were made for under the $1 million mark, BLACK GOLD felt like a significant letdown with its $55 million production price-tag and lackluster deliverance.
Religious and exciting thriller with Antonio Banderas! An ancient skeleton has been discovered in Jerusalem in a rich man's tomb. Coloration of the wrist and leg bones indicates the cause of death was crucifiction. Other signs, include a gold coin bearing the marks of Pontius Pilate and faint markings around the skull, lead authorities to suspect that these could be the bones of Jesus.Can you imag [...]
Sweet animated short film! A black girl has dreams of all sorts of wonderful hair styles for herself...but her hair is a huge and unruly mess. Her father has no idea how to style the hair...and fails miserably.Matthew Cherry's book, "Hair Love" is a very sweet story. So sweet that a Kickstarter campaign was organized to turn the children's book into a short film. Amazingly, they were able to get t [...]
The Surface (2015) - Amazing Science Fiction ThrillerTo save the life of her dying son, Liz must venture to the desolate surface and face the monsters that drove mankind below.Willem Kampenhout is a film director and producer. As a passionate storyteller, he seeks to imbue the story into every aspect of the film, and is comfortable in the most uncomfortable situations. He is continually finding ne [...]
Plot:Watch Black Cobra because detective Robert Malone is a maverick. He is an uncompromising policeman when he guns down several criminals during a hostage standoff. Next, he finds himself protecting a female photographer who has witnessed a murder. She is sought by a moronic gang of motorcyclists who have been murdering and raping at will. Malone finds them, confronts them, and takes care of (po [...]
Black Holes (2017) - Funny, strange and mesmerizing proof of concept filmBlack Holes is a satirical animated series about space conquest, the meaning of life and proctology. It chronicles the journey of Dave The Astronaut and his partner, an intelligent melon, as they embark on the first ever human mission to Mars. A punk-rock-Pixar animated series about an insecure astronaut and an intelligent me [...]
Oscar-Winning Short Film!**G | 7min | Animation, Short, Comedy | 2019 (USA)**A black girl has dreams of all sorts of wonderful hair styles for herself...but her hair is a huge and unruly mess. Her father has no idea how to style the hair...and fails miserably. However, he eventually learns from a blog how to make his daughter beautiful.*Matthew Cherry's book, "Hair Love" is a very sweet story. So [...]