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

Materialists Review

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Celine Song is a director with an eye for relationships finding faith. After the success of Past Lives, there is a sense of experimentation with her newest feature, Materialists. The perception of the film feels like a blur, but at the same time the characterizations have various conflicting dynamics. Despite those obstacles, it is stellar in its continuity and keeps its focus on what the hearts of the main characters want. Theinterconnection of flaws and frustrations weaves poetically because Song knows how to portray acceptance with Materialists.

The film’s main setting is New York city and the main character, Lucy (Dakota Johnson), is a matchmaker. She makes a living by matching individuals with their potential new mate. She assesses candidate’s chances by taking into consideration multiple characteristics—age, occupation, salary, and purpose. Lucy relies upon trial and error in her work but seems to maintain a healthy lifestyle although sometimes loneliness gets to her. She also experiences ups and downs with her friend Sophie (Zoe Winters).

Fortunately, she believes she has found luck with a wealthy match named Harry (Pedro Pascal). However, her biggest challenge remains mending her relationship with her ex-boyfriend John (Chris Evans). John is a waiter and a struggling actor. The film weaves together moments of their relationship from the past along with how it is in the present. At the same time, Lucy is trying to navigate the hurdles of being a matchmaker and figure out if her heart is set on Harry or John. The life of a matchmaker is an interesting process when trying to find one’s own true love.

The scenes alternate between finding momentum and then feeling dry. At the same time, the film maintains the pattern of a thought process for its audience. Song successfully creates an atmosphere for her audience to be inspired. The humanistic approach of Materialists carries the hope of happiness waiting to be found which is explored through the performances of Johnson and Evans. These two characters are the primary ones struggling even though one of them is one making bank by helping others find love. Money does not buy happiness. This well-known fact has a sensitive side that builds on the connection between reality and true love and is portrayed with a fulfilling light of aspiration in Materialists.

Materialists is relevant to real-life especially because it is set in the current era where finding love is harder than ever in a world full of advancements and easy distractions. The evidence of distress is clearly displayed by Song in the film. The collaboration between a woman helping people find love, a struggling actor, and a wealthy businessman is complicated. The question of whether each person can find happiness is handled vividly in Materialists.

This is not the greatest film from Song, but it is a solid steppingstone. Past Lives is still her most mesmerizing project. The brilliance of her style is within the dynamics that weave back and forth. Overall, Materialists achieves an experimental form of continuity. Three out of four stars.

Film reviews

Echo Valley Review

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When it comes to relationships between parents and their children there is a sense of comfort and empathy surrounding that bond. There is also that time when a parent chooses to push themselves to the limit to protect their children. Directed by Michael Pearce, Echo Valley is a film with a rough dynamic that feels real and vigorously carries the weaving component of detrimental stress. It takes place in a vast landscape that is on a farm setting. Livelihood is a bucolic aspect of this scene, but then that gets interrupted by turmoil between a mother and a daughter. Kate (Julianne Moore) is the mother and Claire (Sydney Sweeney) is the daughter. A dynamic of hardship that rattles love to a level that is one of a heartache. 

Kate lives her life on a farm where she trains horses. Her daughter Claire is coming back for a visit and she is notorious for drugs and lots of other mischievous behavior. Kate has always bailed Claire out of her problems, but this one gets very out of hand. There is a life-threatening accident involving drugs, betrayal and debt which puts Claire in trouble and Kate along with her.  Kate does not have to involve herself, but she chooses to protect her daughter.

The writing and continuity of lies creates an unsettling atmosphere. Claire’s error is one that boils the screen with the anxiety it provokes. This is because one dangerous man comes around to settle for Claire’s mistakes. His name is Jackson, played by Domhnall Gleeson. He is a manipulator and not a good person—a dealer that lies and tries to turn the table by putting Claire’s mess onto Kate to clean up. Despite it all being Claire’s bad choices, Kate chooses to take much of it into her own hands. Motherly dedication is one that is brutally portrayed and captivating. Moore digs deep here to play a mother that will not be messed with.

Echo Valley carries uniqueness that displays how a trail of lies can also have its gains for good and bad intentions. Kate uses it for “good” and Jackie uses it for “bad.” However, it all comes down to the choices of Kate as well. The farm setting poses the threat of their livelihood being at risk and the chance of Claire falling into despair. The screenplay is written with depth that keeps mingling the anxiety to the core of Echo Valley. I keptdesperately wanting Kate to be the good mother and Claire to find a way to get her act together. The directing of Pearce creates these two sides to make its audience feel the hardship of their relationship carried to immersive heights in Echo Valley.

Moore and Sweeney bring the mother and daughter duo of love and sacrifice to an artistic level of achievement. The film has its moments of trying too hard to become dramatic with an abusive context. I will say some of it kept its pacing, but at the same time, the light can come sooner in many incidents.  I told myself in these moments that it always gets worse before it gets better. Regardless, there is light, but there is also patience and repetition to be cultivated before “light” can shine brighter for resolution in Echo Valley. Three out of four stars.

 

 

Film reviews

How to Train Your Dragon Review

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This is one of the most inspiring and breathtaking remakes I have seen. I felt like I was flying with the CGI dragons in How to Train Your Dragon. This film is a fairytale adventure that really soars. Written and directed by Dean DeBlois whose style is magnificent and exhilarating as the story explores a portrait of wonders. Since I worked in cinemas during the first releases of many animated films, this remake made me feel like the storyline had evolved with a true sense of understanding. The story connects to audiences of all ages with messages beyond the love portrayed in the human/dragon relationship. DeBlois keeps the hope and positive vibes alive in How to Train Your Dragon.

The film is set on the Isle of Berk, a place for Vikings where their enemies and primary threat are dragons. The Chief is Stoick (Gerard Butler). His son is Hiccup (Mason Themes). Stoick depends on his people to kill dragons because they often find themselves in battles with them over research and lands. Hiccup, however, does not want to kill dragons, but insteadwants to learn how to fly and train them. With his father against this idea, the opportunity for new connections begins. Hiccup takes up mentorship from Gobber (Nick Frost). Gobber tries to get Hiccup in the mindset of a dragon killer. Instead, Hiccup learns his own techniques. Soon, he forms a friendship with a dragon he names Toothless. Moving forward, he trains Toothless and realizes that dragons can do good deeds. Hiccup ends up having a gift in his ability to tame dragons. Once he figures this out, he soars with Toothless on many adventures, one of which involves falling in love with Astrid (Nico Parker). The other adventure is trying to convince his father that he can train dragons and that they should not always be labeled the enemy. While featuring many obstacles Hiccup faces, How to Train Your Dragon is a two-sided adventure that keeps buildingmomentum as it encounters enchanting light.

The war between Vikings and dragons is the point of conflict that boils in the film and keeps igniting new beginnings. The story told in this version is still quite amazing. Although I love the animated versions, this remake blew me out of the water, especially in the scene where Hiccup flies with Toothless. The bonding moments in unexpected territory makes for a magical connection. The sense of continuity is uniquely brilliant. This film is a dazzling work-of-art which demonstrates that fairytales have realistic value. Will Hiccup and Toothless prove their point to Hiccup’s father? Will Hiccup get his wish? Are there more dangerous dragons? The possibilities and wonders will open the doors to exciting answers. Three-and-a-half out of four stars for How to Train Your Dragon.