All posts by Tarek Fayoumi…The Paterson of his Craft!

I am someone who strives to become a professional critic. I watch and review many movies. I view the eyes of movies as something as an art form. I have followed many critics over the years, but once I was thirteen I knew writing film reviews was going to be my passion. I learned from watching multiple episodes of Ebert And Roeper in my teen years, and then in middle school I began writing film reviews for a newspaper club. I am also an avid fan of the arts of Chicago including Theatre, Comedy, and music. Films, however, are my primary focus.
Film reviews

Blonde Review

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The new film from director Andrew Dominik is rated NC-17, which means that—unlike R rated films—no one under 18 can be admitted to the film even with an adult. But what causes Blonde to be NC-17 instead of R? Is it sexual content or language? Is it violence or disturbing content? Again, why is Blonde rated NC-17, and not R? Viewers will need to see this brilliant film and decide for themselves.

Blonde is the story of the life of Norma Jeane, aka Marilyn Monroe. Ana De Armas plays Norma Jeane. The film opens with many harrowing moments from Norma Jeane’s disturbing childhood. Gladys is Norma Jeane’s mother, and she is played by Julianne Nicholson. After the disturbing events for Norma Jeane at a young age, the film jumps to her life of glamour and fame, when she becomes blond and takes the name Marilyn Monroe. From there, Blonde is an intense exploration of the good and the bad times of this complex woman. Dominik does not hold back on the drastic facts or information, which may be true or not, about the wild and dangerous life of Norma Jeane or Marilyn Monroe. It is lethally enticing.

Blonde is based on the award-winning novel by Joyce Carol Coates. With intense realism, the film is a blur of many emotions. As the film moves towards the fame days for Marilyn Monroe, the unsettling backstory continues. With quiet, sad, or harsh moments, the cinematography fades to black and white. These black and white fading transitions are one of the most effective film techniques I have seen in a life story adaptation in a long time.

Marilyn’s acting contracts and her relationships are the most cohesive aspects of her life, fueling the many emotions of the film’s storyline. Her relationships go in chronological order with those relationships involving Cass (played by Xavier Samuel), Eddy (played by Evan Williams), the ex-athlete (played by Bobby Cannavale), and the playwright (played by Adrian Brody). With all the odd or twisted relationships, and her mental health problems, Dominik’s direction makes the characterizations seem very authentic.

Dominik is also the screenplay writer for Blonde, and his writing is faithful to keep his audience in tune with the new chapters or new events in Norma Jeane’s life. And Armas is the true lady to portray the role of Norma Jeane. She has the voice, the looks, and the aptitude. She also stays in character and is amazing in her role. Her performance is Oscar-worthy.

Blonde was definitely one of the best cinematic experiences of the year for me. I have not seen a director who uses technology as well as Dominik does to shift the emotions of his audience. Viewers will certainly feel sorry for Norma Jeane, but Dominik also makes viewers hope that there is still light for her. Blonde’s tagline, “Watched by all seen by none,” is one that is important to the dark and uncharted territories for Norma Jeane. The film’s overall message is that money and fame are not the key to happiness. To the contrary, they can be the key to dark places and, for Norma Jeane, the can bring disconnect from family, mixed up relationships, and abuse.

From my experience, the heartbreaking moments on a film like Blonde can actually create a sense of connection for its audience. And as someone who appreciates film and cinema in many forms, I loved so much about Blonde. What I truly appreciate it for, though, is how it proves that even for the famous, that there can be times of tremendous struggle. Four stars for Blonde.

Film reviews

Don’t Worry Darling Review

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There are films where sci-fi is captivating and there ones where artificial intelligence is out of this world. In Don’t Worry Darling, both those elements are mediocre. Don’t Worry Darling lacks in both entertainment and characterization. The biggest appeal is the film’s cast. The film may have a stellar lineup of celebrities, but that aspect does not make the film any better. Even the writing is unstructured. That leads to the pacing being off also. Don’t Worry Darling look cool (to me) at first, however it is a disaster in all forms.

The film falls in genre categories of Drama, Mystery, and Thriller. Realistically it is sci-fi. The sci-fi aspects are vibrant in the beginning. When the conflicts arise, the film is poor and uninviting. From my experience with Don’t Worry Darling, it is because of its lacking foundation in the setup of the film. There is not much detail to why or how the setting is in the film. There is also not much evidence or background on the conflicting issues or resentments with all the cast in the film. The one inviting aspect was the actress, Olivia Wilde. She is not only one of the leads of the film, but also the director.

In Don’t Worry Darling, the film takes place in California. The setting is an experimental community that is utopian. It is setup where the men go to work, and the women stay home. The characters are Alice Chambers (played by Florence Pugh), Jack Chambers (played by Harry Styles), Bunny (played by Olivia Wilde), and Frank (played by Chris Pine). The film is setup where the men work for a prestige company, while the women stay home. As the more secrets tend to cause questioning, the ladies begin to rebel against their husbands wishes. That is where Don’t Worry Darling begins to lack. There is no foundation setup of the dynamics of the families. To further elaborate, it is also just poorly written and one where I felt I could not take the performances seriously. There may be a bigger secret to the film’s center of its problems. The film’s directing though is absurd.

As the tensions starts to add fuel to the fire in the film, that is where I felt there was more not making sense. The expectations of husbands and their wives is wacky. On top of that, there is occurrences that do not add value to the film’s suspense theme. Most of the unexplained dramatics are out of tune. There is little to no explanation of their happenings. Don’t Worry Darling do not know how to captivate its audience. It also does not know how to create invigorating character dynamics. All the moments of its characterization factors are ridiculous.

Don’t Worry Darling was promising for me at the start. I knew of the mixed clashing conflicts with the actors and filmmakers, that the film may not be that great. I still had faith in it though. It did not live up to my expectations though. It did though live up to the technical aspects with the brisk and amazing scenery of California. Regardless though, the film had disappointment after disappointment. That is rather unfortunate, because the all-star cast had me excited to have the experience to see Don’t Worry Darling. Sadly though, it is one where many should expect to set their expectations low.

Trying to remain positive here, but it is not coming easy. Don’t Worry Darling was probably one of the most mediocre experiences for me this year. I feel that it could have been so much better. It is obvious though, that the film was rushed and with all the previous conflicts, that that probably was factor to why the film turned out how it was. Two stars for Don’t Worry Darling.

Film reviews

The Silent Twins Review

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The Silent Twins is a true story. One where its realism is expanded with lighting and colorful cinematography through many increments of the film. The technical aspects tie into the true story of June and Jennifer Gibbons. The story is heavy. Heavy enough where I found it challenging to experience the moments of sadness or frustration between both the twins. The film may lead others to have all kinds of emotions due to the seriousness of the issues in which are true in the film’s writing. The Silent Twins gets deep and dark with drastic scenarios, but it only inspires its audience to keep the ones we love close.

The true concept of the twins choosing to be silent shows growth in the twin’s life. It also shows deceit and challenges between the two. One develops better academic skills while the other lacks, and one is more of a risk-taker than the other. The Silent Twins is a film that shows how siblings have clashing relationships. Not just with falling apart and not getting along, but also realizing the differences between each other. As an individual who has a sibling, The Silent Twins hit close to home for me. That is because of how the twins have their moments that go awry. When that does happen, they still want to feel connected. I have had my moments in my life where I have had that, and I still wanted to feel connected. The Silent Twins is a landscape spanning many years of a deep relationship between two sisters, and how they always wanted to stick together.

In elaborating on the plot, this is the setup of the film. Letitia Wright plays June and Tamara Lawrence plays Jennifer. They are two twins with a very close bond. The secret to their troubled lives though is because of how they remain quiet. They never talk with anyone in the real world except for each other. Throughout their years together, they have shared love for the arts, and always have correlated the fragments of their creative minds. Despite their touching and empathetic bond towards each other, they become known as “the silent twins.” Their silence though has caused disconnect with their families and their resources. It has also caused them to fall into moments of criminal activity and legal issues. As their lives spiral to be a disaster, they remain silent and only communicate with each other. Their criminal choices though, result in having to stay at Broadmoor. That is a psychiatric hospital. After a wildlife of growing up in Whales, and a unique pattern of behaviors, the Gibbons only remain close to each other, no matter the negative circumstances.

The psychiatric hospital moments left me with mixed feelings. I asked myself questions. Is June or Jennifer better than one another? Has one made more mistakes than the other? Do their lives have to suffer when they have so much to live for? The Silent Twins correlates past and present in many hard scenarios. They may be hard to see, however, I will say the empathy grows strong throughout the many trial and error situations for Jennifer and June.

The Silent Twins is visually moving. Its storyline is in-depth with its authenticity. I will say this one of the most empathetic and visually moving films I have seen in a long time. There is light in many corners in The Silent Twins. Viewers will hope that there is lighter than that they experience with the film. Three and a half stars.