Nada meets the pilot officer Adel at a party with her liberal colleague Safaa, and goes out with him in the plane he is piloting. She is absent from school, which causes her problems as the headmistress informs the mother of her daughter’s absence. Adel proposes to her, but her family refuses her marriage to the officer and forces her to get engaged to... Her cousin after insulting and beating her.
I’m still trying to comprehend the psychological and moral implications of their fascination with each other, or why their almost written-in-the-stars depth of connection makes so much sense.
In a film where a Black couple is framed to be the lead characters, they still managed to get shuffled off to the sidelines. The enthusiastic cast delivers well on goofy bits- but can only go so far before they begin to fall flat.
"Warrior" is a Bruce Lee written and inspired story that follows a diverse cast of Chinese American characters and does a terrific job of setting the story in 1878 San Francisco - all without pulling their punches with the systemic racism, discrimination, and struggle for power that old and young immigrants that crossed the country at that time had to go through.
Remakes. Reboots. Reinventions. Redundancy. It's the common practice in Hollywood of late, sometimes offering us victorious reimagining of what can be considered cinematic classics while also, more often, falling flat on their UN-imaginative faces in utter defeat and lackluster results. Admittedly, with this in mind, I went into the newest incarnation of "The War of the Roses" with typical trepidation and cautious optimism.
Emma Stone (Estella and Cruella) and Emma Thompson (the Baroness) did not come to play around in Cruella. They embodied the perfect balance of sinister and sincere. Estella went through a great hero's journey, and what a journey it was!
