ibrahimz-32228 Reviews

Of Fathers and Sons (2017)

Al-nusra Front

[5/10 · 4 June 2019]

These people are from Al-nusra front which is belonging to Al Qaeda. Ironically the US government was not considering them a terrorist group and was supporting them with other groups which it calls resistance front against Asad's regime. If you watch Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore you can see that even Taliban in Afghanistan was not considered by USA a terrorist group until 9/11 itself. Until finally the US government forced to admit it that they are terrorist groups.

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)

Really beautiful and deserves a second watching

[8/10 · 9 November 2018]

Really beautiful i really enjoyed it and wants to watch it again. The redemption scene is awesome (about 96 min) when Maquia and Leilia are escaping on back of a white dragon. You only watch this scene and hear it's fantastic music to understand what i means. It is really great and makes you want to cry. The end is great too when Maquia is return for her son who is now old and is on his death bed. Overally a good Anime movie and deserves an Oscar nomination for best animation of the year. For sure it is very better than the Boss Baby.

Lu Over the Wall (2017)

Very beautiful don't miss it.

[10/10 · 9 April 2018]

It is not a conventional Anime at all still it is very beautiful with a deliberate playfulness witch you will like. The mermaid itself and the characters all are amazing. The first half is more beautiful than the second but at whole it is a fine Anime film which is worth watching. Just do not miss it a recommendation.

Downsizing (2017)

Did anybody notice the big wall in this movie?

[8/10 · 23 March 2018]

I think this film is a good political satire which really shows some big important issues of our world nowadays. Poor and rich, global warming, pollution, Trump and even the American dream. Yes maybe not that much of plot it got for you but still very brave and satirical it is. For example the big wall and beyond it which is obviously very look like Mexico than any other place and all the poor which Matt Damon character is helping. Obviously he is doing this on purpose in the film sending a message for everybody. Maybe the message is: yes in the face of some corrupted politicians who call these poor people trash. I think director Alexander Payne has done his job well and you bet you will have to expect more films like this in the future which will criticize more boldly and more bravely.

The Maritime Silk Road (2011)

Eating barbecued bats

[8/10 · 30 July 2017]

A very good film witch has everything from adventure and sword fighting with pirates to romance and poetry. The dramatic score of the film is perfect and the acting is good too specially Payam Dehkordi and Dariush Arjmand. In Iran we don't have such adventure films and they should make more movies like this. Of course this is one of the most expensive films in Iran's cinema but it deserves it and they didn't waste their money. One of the funniest moments of the film is when they been captured by the savages on an island. The hospitality of the savages is very funny when they offer barbecued bats to the Iranians. The facial expression of Bahram Radan in that moment when eating the barbecued bat is telling you everything.

The Salesman (2016)

The Academy did a great job and Farhadi deserved it

[9/10 · 17 June 2017]

First of all let me tell you that don't mix up yourself trying to find clues between the story of this movie and the original Arthur Miller's play because the plot has another layer inside and that is The Cow (1969) which you can see to grasp it. Of course that film is among 1001 films you must see list by itself. Only remember that this is an Asghar Farhadi's film so you have to expect something like A Separation or even the better About Elly. Secondly unlike what some are saying the Academy did a good job by choosing this movie over others just like what happened in Cannes film festival when The Salesman won two prizes for best screen play and best actor while for example Toni Erdmann didn't win anything at all. What critics are saying is proving that too. They said about Toni Erdmann for example that it is a dull prolonged version of The Birdman (2014). One critic was saying that when finished watching it he felt just like watched the Birdman once again and of course a much more prolonged and dulled version. On the other hand Variety is praising The Salesman and it's director Asghar Farhadi as he is a very smart director. Also The Salesman grossed more than the other nominees in it's world wide screening and even with fewer theaters comparing to the others and also IMDb users' higher ratings all are proving that the Academy did a great job.

One signal which i can give you why Variety is praising Farhadi is when in the movie for the first time the protagonist Emad meets the old man who is the antagonist. There you can see that Emad doesn't know the old man at all and is not aware a bit that this is the man who attacked his wife. But in the continue how the truth is unfold and how everything reveals to him is what proves that Farhadi is not an ordinary director and that he really deserved his second Oscar and all the praising by Variety and others. If he was an ordinary director something by accident for example was to happen to reveal the story but it's not. And from this point the horror and suspense is beginning and that's what Farhadi is master in. You just remember that Farhadi is the Hichcock of Asia and you never will say about his films ordinary again. At the end of the movie when the old man is trapped by the now monstrous Emad there you can see all the horror and suspense which you can not see in any other movie but only in a Hichcock's perhaps.

The Scent of Joseph's Shirt (1995)

A nostalgic for the Iranians

[9/10 · 5 June 2017]

This film is nostalgic for the Iranians. It's because of the beautiful music by Majid Entezami and even the great acting by the actors which made this film a classic. The music is so beautiful that is often used by the Iranian television as a background theme. The story is about the returning of the Iranian war captures from Iraq and their families who are waiting for them. But at the end it has a very beautiful twist of the story. While Ghafor who is disappointed about his own son helping a girl Shirin who he meets in the airport by accident to find her brother among the freed captures Shirin is finding Ghafor's son for him. Ghafor who waited for his son for years runs for him unbelieving while crying. The name of the movie itself is symbolic and is an allegory to the story of Joseph the prophet and his father Jacob who waited for 30 years to meet his missing son. Finally when a messenger was coming to give him news about his missing son Jacob who was blind by then said that i smell the scent of Joseph's shirt from the distance. His family didn't believe him but when the messenger arrived and he smelled Joseph's shirt he was able to see again.

Silence (I) (2016)

Showing an untrue picture of Japan

[4/10 · 5 June 2017]

I only want to make a point about this movie and that is how it shows the Japanese in matter of religion. It shows them very zero while it is not true at all. If you are a little familiar with Japan or at least watched a few Japanese movies you easily find them very different from what this picture is showing them. They actually know many religion such as heaven, angels, hell, demons, souls, purgatory, wearing white for marriages and black in funerals and even when praying for god they looking to sky. They believe in immaterial totally and miracles too. They know too much that i began to doubt that perhaps in one period of times they had a prophet from themselves too. Of course in this movie the cinematography is excellent but with the help of some CGI so it is visual effects too and not pure cinematography. While if you compare it with a movie like Ida (2013) which won the Oscar for best foreign language film it was pure cinematography and it was in black and white too.

Red Nail Polish (2016)

A very sad and dark movie.

[8/10 · 3 June 2017]

Very sad and dark movie. This movie that much sadden me that i don't want to watch it again ever. It was nominated in the first film's category at Fajr film festival and of course didn't win and that's obviously why. The film begins with a happy high school girl but the much the film is going forward the much it hurts you more. The scene in which her father is felling from the roof and dies and then when her mother is going mad and specially when she meets her little brother and sister in the orphanage all are very painful. I think the director should consider it to lightened the plot a little bit more so the story at least would be more believable.