Looper
Looper is the latest must see sci-fi film. Starring Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt. With just the right kind of general Hollywood ridiculousness but with a clever and tricky plot, Looper is a film to keep an eye out for.
The film is set in 2074, where time travel is possible but inevitably made illegal. Criminal organisations use it to get rid of anyone they want gone without a trace, using assassins called loopers. The target is sent 30 years into the past where a hired gun is waiting to kill him. Things get complicated when they want a looper to kill an older version of himself. Though it sounds like the traditional action film paradigm, the reviews for this film have all been positive and the film is the perfect mix of action and intelligence.
We are not sure why Gordon-Levitt is obsessed with films that are designed to make stupid people feel smart (read: Inception) but the film is not concerned with audiences obsessing over an infallible plot line. Anthony Lane of the New Yorker said, “the reasoning behind all this may not reward prolonged inspection, but Johnson [the director] is smart enough to press onward with his plot, leaving us with neither the time nor the desire to linger over the logic.” Go see it!
Cairo: IMAX, Galaxy Cineplex, Galaxy, Golden Stars, Stars Cinema
Alexandria: Green Plaza
The Possession
The Possession is a new thriller/horror film that relies on old but time-tested methods of creeping you out. Drawing inspiration from both The Exorcist and an actual haunted box, the film’s plot revolves around something called a Dybbuk box, which is a mythical, restless and evil spirit in Jewish folklore. The film’s script is based on an actual Dybbuk box that was sold on eBay with an accompanying horror story (no, we do not care if you want to know).
The film follows Em, a young girl who forms a connection with the spirit inside the box and subsequently becomes possessed by it. What follows is not difficult to guess, and the film has received mixed reviews from critics, with Lou Lumenick of the New York Post saying, “the script, credited to Juliet Snowden and Stiles White, adheres so closely to formula that it is possible to predict not only which characters will end up dead, but in what order.” Stephanie Zacharek of Film.com said, “the first half of The Possession is suitably atmospheric and reasonably creepy.” Well, at least you get one half (read: you can make out in the second).
Our personal favourite, however, comes from Rafer Guzman of Newsday, “another horror movie about a little girl possessed by a demon? Seriously?” Our sentiments exactly.
Cairo: Stars Cinema, Galaxy Cineplex, Galaxy, IMAX
Alexandria: Amir and Green Plaza
Here Comes The Boom
We hate to say it but a film written by Kevin James for Kevin James is likely to leave you, the viewer, out of the loop. The film is about a former collegiate wrestler turned high school teacher (James) who needs to raise money for the music programme at his school. The most obvious way to do this, of course, is to become a mixed-martial arts fighter at 42.
This transforms James into the “unlikely” hero he is, in a typical underdog story where everyone thinks he is crazy but somehow loves and supports him. James undoubtedly also ends up getting the girl (Salma Hayek, too) and rallying the entire (yes, entire) school around him. With such a heartwarming story fit for the likes of the glorious Zee Aflam, the Arabic channel that shows a continuous flood of subtitled Bollywood movies, you would think the film would garner favourable reviews, but unfortunately most critics say you should avoid this film and one even says it falls flat on its face, just like its protagonist.
Cairo: Galaxy, IMAX, Stars Cinema, Golden Stars, Galaxy Cineplex
Alexandria: Green Plaza.
