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Angle
(2023)
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Wael Khairy
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By exposing untold stories of what was happening behind the scenes of Kurt Angle’s most iconic moments, Perry adds a layer of depth to Angle’s remarkable achievements.
Posted Apr 23, 2024
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Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
(2014)
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Wael Khairy
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...a film that is just as much about the film industry itself, as it is about the pursuit of happiness, and our ridiculously desperate need to be admired, recognized, and respected by people that shouldn’t really matter to us.
Posted Apr 15, 2024
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Winter Sleep
(2014)
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Wael Khairy
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...one of the greatest films ever made.
Posted Apr 15, 2024
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Werckmeister Harmonies
(2000)
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Wael Khairy
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“Werckmeister Harmonies” presents itself as a cosmic vision of creaturely vulnerability to the inescapable atrocities that come with time.
Posted Mar 31, 2024
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Dark Water
(2002)
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Wael Khairy
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...the real horror in Dark Water has nothing to do with the ghost, and everything to do with losing one’s own parent or child.
Posted Mar 04, 2024
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Saint Maud
(2019)
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Wael Khairy
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In Saint Maud, post-traumatic stress disorder is not told, it is felt.
Posted Mar 04, 2024
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Listen to Me Marlon
(2015)
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Wael Khairy
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...the best-documented film on not only the greatest and most influential actor to walk this planet, but on acting itself as an art form. Riley paints Brando’s words with corresponding visuals that perfectly encapsulate the meaning behind the spoken word.
Posted Jan 24, 2024
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Arrival
(2016)
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Wael Khairy
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The film not only discusses complex theories about time, but also exemplifies it by creating a circular sequence of events. Embarking on the mounting steps of Villeneuve’s hypnotic structure is assured to leave viewers spellbound.
Posted Nov 20, 2023
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Lilya 4-Ever
(2002)
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Wael Khairy
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The film left me completely devastated and Oksana Akinshina’s performance is absolutely heartbreaking....“Lilya 4-ever” was so powerful it helped reshape laws within society. This is as important and urgent as cinema gets.
Posted Nov 20, 2023
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Whiplash
(2014)
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Wael Khairy
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Here the classroom is the battlefield and dropping a drumstick feels just as devastating and crucial a moment as a grenade falling between your feet.
Posted Nov 06, 2023
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The Tree of Wooden Clogs
(1978)
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Wael Khairy
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The photographic images in this film are on par with the greatest paintings ever made. The warm lighting and earthy texture within each perfectly composed shot are so vivid, rich and layered, you could almost smell the scent of soil as it rains...
Posted Oct 22, 2023
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Macario
(1960)
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Wael Khairy
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I was immersed in the beauty of Mexican tradition and culture. It also happens to have one of the greatest “last shot” twist endings ever committed to film.
Posted Oct 22, 2023
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Godzilla
(2014)
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Wael Khairy
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Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla is a beast of a film, and while it does brush its thick tail close to greatness, it is not without its flaws.
Posted Oct 08, 2023
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The Look of Silence
(2014)
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Wael Khairy
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...at the end of each interview, Rukun reveals his identity to the former killers. The camera captures the most extraordinarily reaction shot, the look of silence.
Posted Jul 30, 2023
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The Act of Killing
(2012)
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Wael Khairy
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"The Act of Killing” is unquestionably the most innovative piece of documentary filmmaking to come out this decade.
Posted Jul 30, 2023
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Enter the Void
(2009)
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Wael Khairy
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...unlike anything you have ever and most likely will ever see.
Posted Jul 05, 2023
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Cairo Station
(1958)
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Wael Khairy
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Chahine is judging an entire system by forcing us to see that city through the eyes of a psychopath. It is extremely difficult for a director to handle a picture from both a macro and micro perspective, but Chahine manages to pull it off beautifully.
Posted Jul 05, 2023
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Moon
(2009)
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Wael Khairy
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the film is rich with philosophical ideas grandeur in scope...it presents them in a tightly focused and efficiently structured psychological thriller
Posted Jul 05, 2023
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The Young and the Damned
(1950)
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Wael Khairy
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...this film was the main inspiration behind “City of God”, and I can see how. It is just as brutal, if not more so.
Posted Jun 20, 2023
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The Lighthouse
(2019)
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Wael Khairy
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...you can almost taste the sea-salt and smell the stench of booze in the air. Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse” is a sea yarn full of sailor superstitions; it could be the most haunting film about sea-lore ever made. Save it for a cold stormy night.
Posted Jun 20, 2023
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Shutter Island
(2010)
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Wael Khairy
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Teddy Daniels walks the dark empty hallway of a mental institution. The tiny flame of his match goes off. He lights another one. A couple of minutes later a man behind bars tells him “Don’t you get it? You’re a rat in a maze.” So is the viewer.
Posted Jun 20, 2023
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Death in Venice
(1971)
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Wael Khairy
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“Death in Venice” is a film about humanity’s slow transcendence into nothingness and everything. It exists in the space between life and death, between youth and old age, between ignorance and wisdom.
Posted Apr 20, 2023
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Canoa: A Shameful Memory
(1976)
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Wael Khairy
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This brutal film is a complex psychological study of group hysteria, mob mentality, and religious fanaticism.
Posted Apr 20, 2023
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Yi Yi
(2000)
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Wael Khairy
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Yang has graced us with a thought-provoking film about the uncertainties awaiting us in the span of a lifetime.
Posted Apr 20, 2023
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Shame
(2011)
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Wael Khairy
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Steve McQueen’s painful cinematic display of loneliness in the city features acting of the highest caliber.
Posted Mar 31, 2023
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Koyaanisqatsi
(1982)
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Wael Khairy
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“Koyaanisqatsi” is one of the most eye-opening works of art created in the late 20th century.
Posted Mar 31, 2023
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Lessons of Darkness
(1992)
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Wael Khairy
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The visuals here pack the grandiosity of anything we’ve seen in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”. The only difference is, this is real, and it’s not outer space, it’s the tip of the Persian Gulf.
Posted Dec 30, 2022
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Land of Silence and Darkness
(1971)
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Wael Khairy
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This study of what it means to be human is one of the most empathetic documentaries out there.
Posted Dec 30, 2022
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Amarcord
(1973)
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Wael Khairy
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Like a record you listen to on a cold winter night, or a soup that reminds you of your grandma’s fireplace, “Amarcord” is a mood piece above anything else.
Posted Dec 11, 2022
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Three Colors: Blue
(1993)
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Wael Khairy
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“Blue” is the rarest of all films, a film that reveals its knowledge on humanity through melodic rhythm and artistic imagery. It should be regarded as one of the most insightful and inventive films ever made.
Posted Dec 11, 2022
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Three Colors: Red
(1994)
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Wael Khairy
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...the film’s most impressive feat is its metaphysical connection with the medium itself, the cinema, which is also about coming together and sharing experiences.
Posted Nov 24, 2022
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The Irishman
(2019)
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Wael Khairy
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In a lot of ways, this film is the antithesis to “Goodfellas”, a eulogy to the gangster genre the same way “Unforgiven” was a eulogy to the western genre.
Posted Nov 24, 2022
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And Life Goes On...
(1992)
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Wael Khairy
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...an absolutely beautiful film from a filmmaker who knows how to capture the human spirit.
Posted Nov 11, 2022
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Land Without Bread
(1933)
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Wael Khairy
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...the imagery captured in this anthropological expedition is quite unsettling, but nothing is more disturbing than the truth behind the making of this film.
Posted Nov 11, 2022
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Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
(2010)
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Wael Khairy
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“Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” is a gateway to another world; it exists in the space between life and death, between past and present, between reality and fantasy.
Posted Oct 27, 2022
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A Brighter Summer Day
(1991)
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Wael Khairy
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“A Brighter Summer Day” swept me away into a world of juvenile delinquency and rock and roll. Politically charged and boasting with energy, Yang’s novelistic vision is something to behold.
Posted Oct 14, 2022
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Dawson City: Frozen Time
(2016)
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Wael Khairy
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Like the buried gold and the lost films, “Dawson City: Frozen Time” is a treasure waiting to be discovered.
Posted Oct 14, 2022
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A Woman Under the Influence
(1974)
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Wael Khairy
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John Cassavetes’ most revered film, “A Woman Under the Influence”, is one of cinema’s exemplary works of realism.
Posted Oct 14, 2022
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Goodbye CP
(1974)
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Wael Khairy
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It forces you reevaluate your own humanity.
Posted Sep 28, 2022
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Taste of Cherry
(1997)
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Wael Khairy
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“Taste of Cherry” doesn’t argue for or against the concept of suicide, but it does ask for a compassionate view on the desire to do so.
Posted Sep 28, 2022
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Come and See
(1985)
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Wael Khairy
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I do not believe any human being can watch this alarming film and ever be the same. No words can prepare you for this experience. No matter what I write, the effect it will have on you remains the same; “Come and See” will shake you to the core.
Posted Sep 28, 2022
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Z
(1969)
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Wael Khairy
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It is such a shame that a film that holds up with so much relevancy is not not as widely discussed today as it was back when it was first released. “Z” should be essential viewing to every governmental official in every country around the world.
Posted Sep 28, 2022
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Kladivo Na Carodejnice
(1970)
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Wael Khairy
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The film argues that the witch trials were never really about implementing the teachings of Christ or exposing witchcraft, but rather to feed man’s darkest desires – greed, lust and the hunger for absolute power.
Posted Sep 28, 2022
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Ghost Hunting
(2017)
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Wael Khairy
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In “Ghost Hunting”, the set is akin to a rehabilitation centre; and the director becomes the healer.
Posted Sep 28, 2022
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The Ascent
(1977)
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Wael Khairy
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“The Ascent” is one of the most spiritual films out there. It dabbles with complex existential questions...
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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The Cranes Are Flying
(1957)
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Wael Khairy
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What makes “The Cranes Are Flying” so unforgettable is the visual splendor of its cinematography. The fluid camera movement is simply put, astounding.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Carandiru
(2003)
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Wael Khairy
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If you enjoyed epic Brazilian crime dramas such as “City of God”, “Pixote”, and the “Elite Squad” films, I urge you to seek out this underappreciated film from one of Brazil’s most renowned directors.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Limelight
(1952)
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Wael Khairy
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“Limelight” is much more than a late-career masterpiece from the pioneer of the movies, it’s a beautiful exercise of cinematic self-therapy.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Ordet
(1955)
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Wael Khairy
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In “Ordet”, life is made up of small moments that shape who we are and how we think. I couldn’t help but feel enveloped by greatness as I watched this message being delivered in picturesque monochrome frames worthy of being placed in a museum.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Viy
(1967)
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Wael Khairy
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“Viy” is disturbing, absurd, bizarre, and outlandish at the same time. A real treat for anyone who wants to take a deep dive into a world of phantasmagoria.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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