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Bosta (2005)
Just No...
This film manages to take everything that is corny and cheesy in Lebanese cinema and squeeze it into 2 hours and 20 minutes, then it also takes elements from bad Hollywood romantic comedies and adds it to the mix. Aside from the fact that the director decided to use the civil war as a background for the events (which has become a staple of Lebanese cinema) he does it badly, so badly, I found myself cringing involuntarily. The main character is attempting to assemble a Dabke (traditional Lebanese dance) dance troupe and add a contemporary flavor to it - contemporary flavor that he's gained from spending 15 years in the country that colonized Lebanon that is civil and advanced unlike the peasants there- with the help of his childhood friends. Along the way, we observe the diversity of characters and their daily struggles in such a society while trying desperately to gain a laugh or two from "Some Ol' typical Lebanese-y behaviors"... HAHA- NOT. After these old friends get together, suppressed emotions rekindle and they now have to deal with them, with the inclusion of some bad Dabke choreography and singing that really serves nothing.
Conclusion: this movie is bad. And Lebanese cinema has good directors, Phllipe Aractanji does not fall in that category. People should stop giving him money to make films.
Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Worth a watch but not too accurate
All in all, the movie isn't so bad... Especially considering how awful some biopics are. However, I don't believe the film is very accurate. Now, before you go like "What?! the films' producers are two of the main characters, of course it's damn accurate!" to which I'll say: That exactly is the problem..." Besides not including a pivotal member in the formation and release of NWA's first record and pretending he never existed (I'm referring to Arabian Prince here), the movie focuses too much on Dre and Ice Cube, since they're the two members that achieved the most fame as solo artists, and Eazy E of course, since 1- He's deceased and it's out of respect for his legacy, 2- His - controversial and not really liked- widow serves as a producer for the film also. The film really takes away the importance of DJ Yella and MC Ren and minimizes their roles in NWA to focus on Dre and Ice Cube probably because it was assumed that it'll attract the audience more as to this day these are two huge names in the hip hop world whilst DJ yella and MC Ren -despite being real OGs- aren't as known to the mainstream audiences. So, overlooking the fact that history is re-written, the cast does live up o the expectation, especially Ice Cube's son: He does a wonderful job portraying his father, so does Paul GIamatti as Jerry Heller. Some scenes are a little cliché (Ice cube listening to NWA dissing him and hopping in the studio to spit "No Vaseline" and NAW in turn listening to it sitting in Heller's office arguing if Ice Cube knows what anti-semitism is... -,-' ) Conclusion: it's worth a watch but to get the real NWA story and beefs, it's best to do some reading from around the web.
All Eyez on Me (2017)
Quite disappointing and saddening.
I was truly disappointed after watching the film, basically because there was a chance to portray the life and times, the ideology and thoughts, and, the black and white of a truly exceptional being who was a combination of so many beautiful, unlovely, raw, and sometimes contradictory things and turned it into 2h 19 mins of superficial shots of Wikipedia references.
Instead of introducing Tupac Shakur to an audience/generation that he may not be known to, and highlighting his significance to those who do, this film manages to render him into someone below average: No one will ever watch this movie and think "Hmmmm.... now I get what all the hype surrounding him is". No one will see this film and comprehend why Tupac's legacy is so important. No one will see this film and understand why he is what he is.
The dialogue is not of a proper standard to narrate and discuss the life of someone who was a true craftsman with words. Many key events are done in an embarrassingly corny manner (Listening to "Who shot ya?" in the jail yard, witnessing a man being beaten by police as a teenager, meeting Kidada Jones, the entire *%$#&^% thing...)
For those who are "meeting" Tupac through this film, I advise you to go and watch his interviews and read his poetry, because there's so so much more to him than this. And I think I speak for many when I say that a more skilled crew of filmmakers should redo this project, he sure does deserve it.