Batman could go public like one of the Watchmen or even Iron Man. That does nothing for his situation though. Bats already has one hell of a burden being a superhero. For every person he saves, someone dies. Every week there's a new freak on the street because Batman's presence alone allows for villains. If a guy can get some black armor then surely a small Jewish man can buy a top hat and machine gun umbrella and slowly take over the underworld, all while enjoying Zoobooks! A guy can dye his hair green and put on war paint, but it's okay, because this is the weird part of town, a town called Gotham.

Will Nolan do another Batman? I think The Dark Knight will be tough to beat. But I think it can be done in several ways. I'm hopeful Nolan does another one because he's a great filmmaker. Even if he decided to take a break for 2 years, I'd still wait, happily.

The Joker Problem

Ledger's performance was unbeatable. I don't see too many actors rushing to the part because it is so tough to reimagine. What I wouldn't want to see is someone acting like Ledger as The Joker. Ledger really made it his own and in a way I think his version should be put to rest. However, I think a capable actor can reimagine the part. Daniel Day Lewis, Javier Bardem or maybe Ewan McGregor, but this wouldn't be the Phantom Menace, so maybe not.

The story line would have to change if The Joker was replaced. For instance, let's say Ledger's Joker was killed in some horrible way in Arkham Asylum. So, a new Joker hits the streets, he's different but still about anarchy, and still hates Batman because it's so much fun. Even if the writers were lazy and decided to use the version of Joker from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. In it, he's very calm, quiet and even goes on a TV show before hatching his plan to kill people. Javier Bardem comes to mind as this Joker as he could easily be quiet, plotting and a brutal savage in a fight.

As interesting as any other quality actor would be in the role, I'd rather see Joker locked up in Arkham in a darkened cell. There are other great villains in Gotham, and I could easily see Two Face leading the mob while stalking sewers and dishing out his own version of pure justice. Some villains just fit while others don't. Penguin could be cool, but he's basically Falcone but weirder looking. Riddler would be great if Nolan could darken him up a bit and wipe some of the remaining Schumaker shit off the character. The same could go for Mr. Freeze. No Man-Bat, no Killer Croc. No Bane. No Solomon Grundy.

Thoughts on the movie or your suggestions for villains? Who would make a good Joker? Should the series just end? Leave some comments if you feel so inclined...

“Exterminate!”

From: Dr Who

What's the Story?

One man can be blamed for unleashing the Daleks on the universe- Davros. They originated on the planet Skaro, a world ravaged by a millennia long war between two peoples, the Kaled and the Thal. Over the course of the long conflict, chemical, biological and nuclear weapons where used by both sides. The Kaled where starting to suffer from mutations, and Davros, their chief scientist decided to capitalize on this. He began analyzing their mutations, identifying the strongest and encouraging them, assuring the Kaled commanders that it was to predict what they might one day become. What he was really doing was preparing to create a new master race to enslave the planet is his own image.

He isolated all the characteristics he needed in his new perfect race- Ruthlessness, lack of emotion and a burning hatred for anything that was different from them. Once this was achieved, he designed the “Mk III travel machine” (Part life support system and part armored tank) to house them in- and the Daleks where born. They then promptly began to kill everything in their path, a genocidal campaign that was not confined to their own planet. They soon spread to the stars, and even killed Davros in the process (though through various time tampering he was saved). The rest of Dalek history is the subject of many episodes of Dr Who, so I won't say too much more for fear of spoilers.

What Makes Them Great Villains?

The Daleks are ruthless, uncompromising, and genocidal. They don't believe they are the supreme beings, they know it. Killing anything that isn't either: A) Dalek, or B) Useful, is as natural to them as breathing is to humans. Daleks are devoid of almost all emotion and conscience, the one exception being fear- and even that is only brought out in situations where defeat is almost certain (It stops the Dalek's hubris from destroying them by ensuring they are wary of superior foes).

Aside from being tenacious to the point where the entire race has rebuilt itself from one survivor, they also have the technology and skill to carry out their campaign of genocide very successfully. Daleks are one of the few races capable of time travel (Leading them into a great war against the time lords), their ships are powerful, their knowledge of biotechnology is supreme (At one point they bred a clone army), and the individual Dalek is easily a mach for a squad of human soldiers. Even when their chassis are destroyed, if the Dalek survives it will go to ground and fight on, using its toxic bite and small size to slowly pick away at the enemy. And each Dalek itself is a certifiable genius.

Do They Have a Weakness?

Daleks have two main weaknesses. The eye piece on the top of the Dalek can be destroyed, blinding the creature inside. Later Daleks used energy shields to protect themselves, but if enough bullets are concentrated, at least one should get through.

The other is the Movellan virus. The first crushing defeat the Daleks had was against the Movellans. The story goes that the Daleks and Movellans where in a stalemate. Their battle computers where perfectly matched, and neither could outthink the other. So the Movellans went and devised a new strategy independently of the computer. They created a virus that specifically targeted and killed the Daleks. A large number of the race was infected, and the kill rate was 100%. The effects where so devastating it caused the Dalek Empire to fracture, but again, spoilers.

With the destruction and rebirth of their race with a new genetic code however, it seems the Daleks are now immune to it.

They can be killed using the standard approach though. Guns. Lots and lots of guns. Make them big guns. Lots and lots of very big guns.

“The Daleks are the supreme being! We do not require assistance!”

Rating: Nine Out of Ten Death Rays

Cherubael

“Shut up so I can hear myself kill you.”

From: The Eisenhorn Trilogy (Warhammer 40,000)

What's the Story?

He's a Daemon prince from the 41st millennium, serving the powers of chaos. Cherubael has existed for a very, very long time. Known by many names, Cherubael has appeared throughout history, and throughout the imperium of man, subverting faith in the God emperor and turning the faithless to his will. He met his match on the world of Clanar II, where a radical imperial inquisitor found him and bound him into a body. Cherubael was

reduced from a Demi God, to become a daemon host, the weapon of a madman. But he had a plan, oh yes, he had a plan. For in the realm of the daemons (the warp) time has no concept. He knew in the future there would be a man who would defeat his master, and set him free from his prison of flesh. Slowly, piece of piece, Cherubael put a centauries long plan into motion. And it came so close to working too…

What Makes Him a Great Villain?

Cherubael is ludicrously powerful. Even when bound within a physical body, he's capable of feats of extraordinary destruction and chaos. In fact, even by daemon prince standards he's as hard as nails. At one point in the trilogy, he takes out a battle titian- a friggin' titan. Feel free to Google “Warhammer 40,000 battle titan”, and realize he basically killed a mile tall walking tank.

But in the entire trilogy, we rarely see him use this level of power. Like many great characters, Cherubael's true greatness lies in subtlety. Everyone's heard of the stories of deals with devils, and the sweet temptations of evil. Cherubael plays up to these stories magnificently, forming long complicated plans to get even the most devout and pious individuals to do exactly what he wants, and corrupting other, easier targets to his will. Although in the end it could be argued that he succumbs to his nemesis/chief pawn, Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn, Cherubael can at least claim a moral victory on account of the fact that he turned Eisenhorn from a devout puritan “All chaos is evil!” type of inquisitor, into a radical “We shall use chaos and control it!” type.

But perhaps what makes Cherubael such a great villain is the fact he rarely takes centre stage. He's a controller and manipulator, a puppeteer running everything from behind the scenes. In all the Eisenhorn books, he only features prominently in a few key scenes. In each book the "true" enemy is always someone else, but Cherubael is always there, always watching, always pulling the strings…

Does He Have a Weakness?

Like all Daemons, Cherubael is repelled by symbols of faith in the hands of the truly faithful. But not for long, as he can quite happily summon enough power to destroy them once he's got over the initial shock.

If the body he is bound into is injured, it means little to Cherubael. He can regenerate it quite happily. Even if it is destroyed, Cherubael remains bound to his master, waiting to serve in a new body.

Delivering a large psychic shock, or the appropriate rituals can release a daemon host from its bonds, but then you just have it wondering around obeying no orders, and with no limits put on its power.

Theoretically, there's one way to "kill" a Daemon. Deliver a MASSIVE psychic charge into it. The kind of power required to enslaves the minds of an entire city. That might, theoretically, annihilate it, rather than send it back to the warp. Maybe.

The only way to really ensure Cherubael isn't a problem is to bind him yourself, and then lock him up somewhere, never to be seen again. But having all that power at your disposal… sometimes there's no other way out of a situation other than to make a deal with the devil.

And then he's got his chance.

“Cut me free from these pentagramic bindings and we'll call it even…I'll go, and we'll never bother each other again… I promise…”

Rating: Eight Out of Ten Tormented Souls

The Jem'Hadar

“I am First Ikat'ika, and I am dead.
As of this moment, we are all dead.
We go into battle to reclaim our lives.
This we do gladly, for we are Jem'Hadar.
Remember: Victory is Life!”

From: Star Trek (Deep Space Nine)

What's the Story?

The Jem'Hadar serve the founders, a race of shape shifters who spend all their time in what they call "the great link" (half hive mind, half opium trip), to fight all their wars on their behalf.

The Jem'Hadar are all genetically engineered monsters who rapidly reach to maturity, at which point they are sent into battle to build the dominion; Empire of the founders. Their ranking system is simple with the "first" at the top, the "second" below him and so forth. Controlling the Jem'Hadar are another species of genetically engineered aliens, the Vorta. The Vorta are the officers and diplomats, keeping the Jem'Hadar in check and distributing the means by which the dominion control and feed them, the Ketracel white, or "White" for short.

What Makes Them Such Great Villains?

In many ways, the Jem'Hadar are similar to the Daleks. They are bred for battle and born for war. Every aspect of the Jem'Hadar physiology and psychology is geared to one simple thing. Serving the founders, and more often than not in the case of the Jem'Hadar, that means killing lots and lots of people.

Examples of Jem'Hadar physiological advantages include chameleon like colour shifting they can use as camouflage (Which they rarely do, they are shock troopers rather than commandoes), enhanced muscles, endurance, enhanced senses, tough scaly skin and a fearsome appearance to demoralize their enemies.

Jem'Hadar have a life expectancy of nil. Few live past fifteen years, twenty years is an amazing feat, and thirty years is unknown. You see, despite the fact they are so tough, the dominion use the Jem'Hadar as a steamroller. It only takes three days for one to grow to maturity, so for every one that falls, there are another dozen ready to take its place.

They don't eat. They don't sleep. They don't take time out. In this respect, they're a lot like professional chefs. They pretty much share the same temperament as well, grouchy, violent and aggressive, with a dash of psychosis.

The Jem'Hadar are very well equipped, their clothing meshes with their physiology so when they "shroud" (think active camouflage), their clothing shrouds with them. Their weapons have three settings; stun, kill, and vaporize. Oh and the kill setting causes any wounds it administers to bleed profusely, so if the beam doesn't kill you, the blood loss will.

Do They Have a Weakness?

Only one: the white. And even then, it's hard to use this weakness against them, except on a strategic scale. The Jem'Hadar are bred to lack the ability to produce certain enzymes essential to life. These are present in the white. The white itself is also the only nutrition the Jem'Hadar require. So, in theory, you can starve them to death by stopping the flow of white, right?

More or less correct. You see there's one little problem. They don't starve to death quietly. A Jem'Hadar deprived of white behaves a lot like a heroin addict going cold turkey at first. They twitch, they mutter, they loose hand eye coordination and the ability to do their chameleon trick. But then afterwards they fly into a berserk rage, killing anything they come across, friend or foe. Given the fact that the dominion can simply abandon the Jem'Hadar as easily as anyone else abandons a tool, the berserk monsters then become the problem of the enemy again, even if the dominion where forced to retreat from the theatre of war. Finally, after the berserk rage, the Jem'Hadar croak.

The only other thing you can do is keep shooting and praying, as while each individual is tough, they are far from invincible.

Rating: Eight Out of Ten Prisoners of War

“Obedience brings victory. Victory is life.”

The Terminators

From: The TwoTerminator Movies. No, there was no third movie. There was no third movie! Lalalala I can't hear you!

“I'll be back.”

What's the Story?

This one really is a classic, everyone, even people who don't normally like science fiction have seen the terminator. The story goes like this. A computerized defensive system called Skynet is built in America, in the near future. The only problem is Skynet becomes self aware, and when it does the controllers try to "pull the plug". Needless to say, Skynet does not appreciate an attempt on its "life" and strikes back, nuking all the major cities of the world. The survivors call is judgment day, but the horror doesn't end there. Skynet unleashes its foot troops, the metallic skeleton like robots called the terminators.

The humans fight back and are on the verge of defeating Skynet when it decides it's had enough. It starts to send terminators back in time to try and kill the leader of the human resistance, John Connor, and/or his mother Sarah. The idea being if the humans don't have a figurehead to gather around, then history will be different. Paradoxes aside, the rebels send one of their men back in time to protect Sarah, and a reprogrammed Terminator back to protect John.

The Terminators in the films come in two flavors, the T-800 which is the bad guy in the first film and John's body guard in the others (Not that there was more than one other film!). These guys are your basic metal terminator, but then overlaid with living tissue. It's almost impossible to tell them apart from a real human unless you cut them open. They where originally designed for infiltration, but Skynet's time portal could only transfer living things, so suddenly they took on a new purpose. As the terminator was housed INSIDE living tissue, the machine COULD send it back. And send it back they did…

The Next is the T-1000, which was sent after John Connor. This badass was made of living metal. Think of mercury which could think and pull itself into any shape it wanted. It could mimic different humans right down to the voice, and turn parts of its body into knives and other instruments of destruction. Blowing holes in it doesn't do much good either as it's like trying to stab water.

What Makes Them Such Great Villains?

They just don't stop. They are as inevitable as the tides and moon; they just don't stop once set on a task. Between them, T-800 and T-1000 have been shot, burned, beaten, frozen, melted, blown up, skinned, crushed and God knows what else. Only a couple of these things proved to be anything more than a mild irritation.

Terminators are very good at what they do, they have a knowledge of human anatomy so they know how to kill with maximum efficiency, they are proficient with any weapon they pick up, can drive any vehicle, they let no one stand in their way, and simply take whatever they need as they need it, all the while marching relentlessly towards their target.

You can run, you can hide, but in the end you are only human. Sooner or later you'll need to stop to catch your breath. Sooner or later you'll need to sleep. The terminator doesn't. The only way you will ever be safe if a terminator is set on you is to either re write history, or find a way to kill it. And with the latter, you'll probably get another one sent after you anyway.

Do They Have a Weakness?

Only Arnold Schwarzenegger's acting skills. No seriously, by conventional means, the T-800 is VERY tough to beat. In theory it's still only a robot, so you can put it down if you can get your hands on armor piercing weapons or explosives. You can however beat it if you get creative. For example, crushing it in a metal press.

The T-1000 is even more of a nightmare. Conventional weapons do little more than annoy him, blowing him up just causes him to recombine slowly and even hiding is next to impossible as it can look like anyone, and pour itself through tight gaps to get in anywhere. Extreme cold (Being frozen) seems to cause it to go a little haywire, only extreme heat (thousands of degrees c) seem to be able to actually kill it.

Rating: Nine Out of Ten Lever Action Shotguns

“I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle”

The Xenomorphs

From: The Alien films

“It's got a hell of a defense mechanism, you don't dare kill it.”

What's the Story?

There's not much of a story to tell with these guys. They're aliens but unlike many aliens in science fiction, these guys are not super intelligent, they have an animalistic mind, but can learn surprisingly complex tasks if trained properly. While not as smart as a human, the average alien drone can think its way around problems with basic animal logic, which can be scarily effective. The two aliens escaping from the cell in alien 4 anyone?

The alien life cycle begins as an egg laid by the queen. From the egg comes the face hugger. This little thing scurries around looking for a large animal, say… a human. When it finds one, it jumps on the target's face and forces a large amount of flesh down your gullet (Like porn but scary) -and then dies.

Now that you've been implanted, your death is almost certain. In the space of only a few hours, the fetus (for lack of a better word) grows into the aptly named "chest buster", a large grub/snake like creature that eats its way out of you, then scurries off looking for a hiding place.

The chest buster then eats, and molts. And eats and molts, and so on until it grows into the most common alien, the drone. The drone will then hunt and feed, and then start a colony.

Where the drone goes from here varies depending on the amount of aliens present. Some will continue to mutate and become praetorians, the guardians of the queen, some may even become queens themselves. Many will stay as drones.

They're animals though, they don't hunt because they want to destroy the world or enslave you, they're just hungry- and need you to breed. It's this strange thing that makes the Aliens at the very least an interesting concept in science fiction, a predator above humans in the food chain, not due to technology or flinksome super powers, but simply being more evolved and better suited to do what they need to do.

Plus their look was designed by HR Geiger! What more could you ask for?

What Makes Them Such Great Villains?

The alien drones are very fast, very agile, can climb walls, rip apart metal with their claws, have a highly corrosive acid for blood and swim like fish. In short, they are almost perfectly evolved as the top of the food chain.

It's hinted that they are slightly telepathic, and can sense each other's presence and state, creating a sort of hive mind within the colony, so if one sees you, they all know where you are. Ever poked a wasp's nest? Imagine what happens when the wasps are eight feet tall and have a second mouth on the end of their tongues.

Even one of these things is a problem. It's smart enough that it won't jump out in front of you when you're carrying the BFG, and stealthy enough to instead lurk on the ceiling and then drop down on you. Plus if there is a well established colony in the area, they will zerg rush you, swarming you with dozens of high speed, chitinous snarling horrors.

Do They Have a Weakness?

Yes, standard weapons do work on them. for all their speed, strength and agility, the individual alien drone is quite fragile. Being insectoid, they have a tough exoskeleton, but once this is breached their insides will leak out through the hole if it's large enough. The exoskeleton isn't exactly bullet proof either, and the standard weapons everyone seems to be toting round can quite happily put a hole in an alien.

The problem arises though because the aliens will rarely give you a chance to shoot, swing your wrench, or do anything in response to an attack. They ambush you when you are at your most vulnerable, or least expect it. Perhaps the best defense therefore, is a sharp set of eyes and ears.

The other weakness is the fact they need to use another species to procreate. If they don't have a being of large enough mass, they can't breed and the colony goes into a sort of hibernation. Problem with that is that any disturbance and you wake them up.

If you can kill the colony queen, then you deal the aliens a seriously blow as they can no longer get fresh eggs and it takes a lot of time and energy for a new queen to mutate.

Oh, and they REALLY don't like fire. A flamethrower will keep a wall between you and the alien, and is great for clearing out rooms willed with eggs. A word of warning though, an alien on fire goes berserk. Be somewhere else.

Rating: Nine Out of Ten Mangled Corpses

“If they're going to be anywhere it'll be… here. Where the meat is.”

So, don't forget to pack your ray gun next time you go out people! You have been warned!

Copyright information: Pictures and quotes are used under fair usage policy, or with the permission of the copyright owners.

They are not attempting to be entertained, so they fail to be; they simply look to classical film elements, and in the slapstick, you won't find many. And that's not to say that a few of them can actually be considered better pictures than others, surely most of Judd Apatow's recent stuff (Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) are all actually pretty decent movies, whereas Meet The Spartans or Epic Movie can just be considered pure trash because they are too stupid to have anything more than a few funny excerpts.

With this in mind, I have decided to rate a few slapstick comedies, (starting with the ones I have seen this summer, and then move on to some classics) from both a comic standpoint (measured mostly by laughter frequency and originality) and from an actually film critics point of view (based on traditional elements and structures that make films work).

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Directed by: Judd Apatow, Starring: Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, and Mila Kunis.

Comedy: 4.5/5 - I found Sarah Marshall to be a refreshingly original comedy. Although the same comical undertones exist in this film as in Knocked Up, the 40-Year-Old-Virgin and Superbad (obviously the friends have relatively similar senses of humor), Sarah Marshall isn't afraid to confront some serious issues about relationships, love and self-esteem. Only Knocked Up before it attempted to delve into these usually taboo concepts of slapstick comedy. Segel's script captured perfectly the emotions that a desperate ex-boyfriend goes through, and even mirrors the type of escapism usually experienced by a recent dumpee.

Film Rating: 3.5/5 - Sarah Marshall was, in all respects, a well put together movie. It's not going to win any awards, but there was a strong central character, a solid, believable storyline, some decent acting and a very strong pace. The biggest criticism I give the film from a critical standpoint is the accelerated relationship between Segel and Kunis. I felt that they connected eventually; however it didn't make sense to me that their original contact with one another led to the connection they formed after only 3 days or so.

Favorite scenes: When Segel's character is forced to sing "Dracula's Lament" on stage at the bar. The seven days in sweatpants montage. The scenes with Segel sleeping with random girls trying to get over Sarah.
Best character: Russell Brand's Aldous Snow was by far the funniest character in the movie.
Negative Criticism: I felt that the opening scene with Peter naked while getting dumped was good until it was overdone. The embarrassment of the situation from a humor standpoint evaporates very quickly, and I felt that they stayed with it too long. And the full frontal was completely unnecessary as it actually reduced the funny factor in the scene.

Don't Mess With the Zohan

Comedy 3/5 - I found Zohan charmingly funny at times and completely stupid at other times. Unfortunately they over killed a few of their jokes through repetition. Adam Sandler's character was funny in his own right, and John Tuturro's character also charmed with comedy throughout. The Jewish run businesses I found to be very satirically funny, as they conform to the stereotypes as well as bringing out the underhanded methodologies of the city-based Jewish run shops. Nick Swardson's character was under-utilized, as I find him one of the funniest comedy character actors around today, and he didn't have much material in this one. Dave Matthews' character was a bright spot, albeit in a very small role.

Overall rating 3/5 - One of the reasons that this film actually works as a bona fide Hollywood film is because of the Israeli/Palestinian crisis. It light heartedly touched upon the core of the actual political and religious issues and did it with charm. The movie didn't try to take itself too seriously and really bring politics into the storyline; however it did take soft jabs at real issues and did it in a way that could actually open some eyes to the absurd war that has been waging for 2000 years.

Favorite scenes: I found the Zohan mission where he faked his own death to work very well. I also enjoyed any of the scenes in which the New York Israelis and New York Palestinians interacted. And Rob Schneider's character thinking he was committing terrorist acts and becoming a big shot in the underground was great, culminating with the throwing of the Neosporin.

Best Character: I don't like doing this, but I would have to say the best character in the movie was "The Zohan". While he got tedious at times, the film obviously would not work at all without him being portrayed this way, and he is just another example of another good-natured Adam Sandler character.

Negative Criticism: Not since The Wedding Singer has Sandler really pulled off a good on screen relationship, although he certainly gets very hot women to be his female leads. I never believed Kate Beckinsale and Sandler's marriage in Click and I never felt anything for he and Marissa Tomei's relationship in Anger Management. The problem is that Sandler character's often steal the show and there is little room for a strong female lead, especially for one to equal screen presence with Sandler. The same problem exists with Zohan.

Emmanuelle Chriqui (Sloan from Entourage) is ungodly hot, perhaps the most attractive actress in Hollywood, however she isn't given much of a screen presence, and if fact the viewer doesn't even realize she is supposed to be a love interest until about 80% of the way through the movie. This, coupled with her at times awkward Middle-Eastern accent, made for yet another failed on screen romance.

 

It is the second week now and theaters are just full not only at peak hours but all day long.

And how couldn't they be? Omar Sharif has returned to Egyptian cinema after years of absence.

Not only he returned to perform in an Egyptian movie but another major Egyptian actor is co-starring in the same movie, Mr. Adel Emam.

Adel Emam is known for his black comedy movies that state dramatic realities in comedy molds.

The movie is written by Yusuf Meaty, a famous writer and journalist.

“Hassan & Morkos” states the reality of the Coptic - Muslim relationship in Egypt.

It shows the different points of view about that relationship according to different layers of the Egyptian community.

The movie genre is of course comedy. Most writers in Egypt tend to write their scripts to be a comedy because they believe that it is the most appealing genre for the majority of the Egyptian people.

I really wished that it weren't a comedy though. The issue discussed in that movie should have been more realistic and intense to describe the real deal not just stating a vague situation.

Actually I wasn't satisfied. I expected a lot more concerning the script and the making.

The thing that really made me like this movie overall is Omar Sharif's performance.

What an outstanding performance by the icon.

Honestly I didn't think he would perform in such a perfect way but even though I am in fact a huge fan, he did surprise me.

The movie plot is about two religious men, one is a Muslim sheikh “Omar Sharif” and the other is a Christian preacher “Adel Emam” and their families.

They were both threatened by the fanatics in both religions and in order to protect them, the government decided to give them fake identities of opposite religions and relocate them.

They accidently meet and a love relationship is formed between the two families as each one thought that the other has the same religion.

Another love story is formed between the Christian family son and the Muslim family daughter.

The whole movie is a pure comedy until every family knows the truth. The whole thing then turns into a drama and here comes the end which for sure wasn't the smartest thing to do.

Another scene that I didn't get is when the truth is discovered the sheikh's wife wore “nekab” which is the strictest form of Islamic outfits.

She wasn't wearing this outfit in the beginning of the movie. She was wearing a normal “hijab” which is the simplest form of the Islamic outfit.

So all of a sudden she decided to wear this when she discovered the truth about the other family!!!

In the end I'd like to say that the movie has tried to state a truth untold which is something all writers should be doing.

Enjoy the joyful performance.

It wasn't. It wasn't the worst either, of course. While I'm slow to judge films that were based on books I haven't read, I'll say that my problem wasn't at all with the story so much as the plot structure, the acting, and the dialog.

This film, simply, belongs on stage. At least the way it's structured currently. It's in two acts (a film should be in three), it takes too long to get into the meat of the story, and it wraps up quickly and awfully. I was waiting for a curtain call.

The acting is too dramatic, especially in Midler and Broderick- both are amazing stage performers, but need to stay in their element. Hunt, it seems, is still used to sitcom acting, and leaves something to be desired in her weak performance. Firth is really the only one to bring the cinematic into the film. He is the only one of the four who adds emotional dimension to his character.

The dialog is too fast for an Indie film. It brings the completely unrealistic “Gilmore Girls element” of too-quick banter to something that should be and could easily be more realistic. Again, this kind of dialog belongs on the stage, where quick witty words would bring down the house. I just had a hard time following it.

Where we should have been sympathizing, we were straining our ears, and where we should have been empathizing, we were rolling our eyes in skepticism.

All in all, it was not a waste of time, but it was time I'd rather have spent in a theatre watching the story live. The story could be adapted for stage with ease, and should have been adapted better for film.

The legendry Egyptian actor Omar Sharif is widely known for tons of great movies that affected millions of all nations worldwide.

Every Egyptian no matter what their status and backgrounds are, is proud of having such a wonderful person and actor that belongs to the same country of them.

Many of you who know Omar Sharif haven't seen his film history before he became an international actor.

Although he performed in many outstanding international movies, our favorite movies for us the Egyptians and Arab generally will be the Egyptian ones he performed in.

These movies are classic. They formed the shape of the history of film making in Egypt.

What adds up to the value of his Egyptian movies is the fact that he acted side by side with our major phenomenal actress Faten Hamama.

Faten Hamama was the most famous actress at that time and she performed with Omar Sharif for the first time in his life from the direction of Yousif Chahin the well-known international director in “Seraa fe El-wady” or “a struggle in the valley”.

The two icons fell in love later and crowned that love with marriage.

So with no further delay let's take a look at the 5 must see movies by Omar Sharif:

1. Ayamna El-Helwa (1955): aka “Our Happy Days”

Starring with Faten Hamama, Ahmed Ramzy and Abdel- Halim Hafez the legendry singer.

2. Sayedat El-Kasr (1959): aka “The Palace Lady”

Also starring with Faten Hamama who was his wife at that time.

3. Fe Baytena Ragol (1961): aka “A Man in Our House”

A patriotic movie describes the history of Egypt long with a beautiful love story between the patriot and the simple girl who helped him in his struggle.

Starring with Zebeda Tharwat, Hassan Youssef and Hussin Reyad.

4. Lawaet Elhob (1960): aka “The Agony of Love”

An agonized love story between a tortured wife and a young man who loves her.

Starring Shadia who is one of our amazing female singers and Ahmed Mazhar.

5. Nahr Elhob (1961): aka “The Love River”

This movie is the Arabic adaptation of “Anna Karenina” of Leo Tolstoy and by far the most beautiful sensational love story the Egyptian cinema has encountered.

It is definitely a must see!!!!

Drama with Faten Hamama and Zaky Rostom.

Enjoy : )

1. Across the Universe

   Julie Taymor's Across the Universe has to be one of the most idiosyncratic movies I have ever watched. The captivating start-off scene with Jim Sturgess singing a song already put this movie on a different edge from the rest of the musical movies. The whole movie encompasses songs from The Beatles and the many colorful and special effects in this movie are spectacular to watch. Trust me, it is like no movie you have ever watched before. If you are into the Beatles, or simply musical movies, try this one.

2. Artificial Intelligence

   This gem from Steven Spielberg is a spellbinder! Excellent performances from child actor Haley Joel Osment and Jude Law made this film highly watchable. The movie chronicles the life of a robot-boy David who yearns for motherly love and affection. By wanting this, David seeks the Blue Fairy and it all culminates to a touching and heart-wrenching ending. My favourite movie of all.

3. A Beautiful Mind

   This Oscar winner has more to brag than its beautiful title. John Forbes Nash(Russell Crowe), a renowned mathematician's life is portrayed in this beautiful movie, offering deep insights into the mind of a mathematician genius who suffered from schizophrenia. Noteworthy performances by Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly made this movie a must watch!

4. Into the Wild

   Sean Penn's latest directorial feature. The movie chronicles the life of Christopher McCandless, based on the book "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer. Sean Penn did a marvellous job in the cinematography of the movie and Emile Hirsch was the perfect candidate as Alex Supertramp in the movie. Also, look out for Hal Holbrook near the end of the movie. You would not want to miss this exciting yet heart-wrenching movie. Based on a true story.

5. Les Choristes (The Chorus)

   This is a French movie that tells the story of a supervisor's attempt to change the delinquents in a correctional school. This quaint and charming little movie would have you humming to the beautiful songs and choral singing. A wonderful and affectionate film that would bound to move you to tears while celebrating the joy of music.

6. My Blueberry Nights

   This Wong Kar Wai film is nothing short of amazing. Its cast includes Jude Law, Natalie Portman and not to mention Norah Jones in her acting debut. Look out for the wonderful cinematography of the director. Though not a highly commercialized movie, it packs some noteworthy acting performances from Rachel Weisz and David Strathairn. All in all, a sweet dessert treat for anyone who wants a deep movie with a blueberry icing.

7. Mystic River

   This Clint Eastwood movie is not to be taken lightly! Having bagged Oscars, this movie looks all too promising with its superb cast of actors like Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins. If you like crime thrillers with a wonderful twist, look no further. This movie has everything for a mystery buff, tagged with an emotional label. A deeply affecting movie that leaves you breathless towards the end. Sean Penn and Tim Robbins were fantastic in this movie. Watch it for yourself.

8. Rent

   Rent is a movie-musical based on the hit broadway musical by Jonathan Larson, now directed by Chris Columbus. Absolutely fantastic cast makes this movie both a feast to the eyes and to the ears. Expect songs like "Seasons of Love" to ring in your ears long after the movie has ended. If you have not watched the musical, this movie is a good alternative. Serious political issues were discussed in this movie. So if you like a movie that is both fun to watch and also provocative, this is the movie for you.

9. 2001: A Space Odyssey

   This 1968 epic directed by renowned director Stanley Kubrick is a science fiction film that was highly rated by film critics and hailed as "one of the greatest films ever to be made". You don't need much explanation to tell you why. Just watch how the movie progress, look at the visual effects for sure, and you would know why the movie achieved what it deserved.

So what can I say? Pull in a comfy couch and get the popcorns ready.

This neat device contains both a video recorder and a video camera. This is the main device people use to film their pastimes and vacations. Sony, JVC, and Kodak invented the very first camcorders.

Hypercam

The hypercam captures any actions in your computer's windows, such as online game play, etc. many people on Youtube uses the Hypercam to capture videos. Right now there are many version

Fraps

Now, here's an interesting one. Fraps generally stands for Frames per second. It works exactly like hypercam, except that it is used to film MMORPGs (massive multiplayer online role playing games).

Digicam

Otherwise known as “digital cameras.” It can take both photographs and videos!

Editing Videos

Many people on Youtube use iMovie (available on Mac computers) and Windows Movie Maker (available with Windows xp and up). Both of them are used to edit, combine, and add transitions onto your video. It makes their videos look professional enough to broadcast on websites.

In a horror industry now defined by lame torture movies such as Hostel and Saw, I had hoped that Darabont's film might possess some elements of good old fashioned fright films: creepy music, cacophonous sound effects that makes you want to cover your ears, exciting monsters, and edge-of-your-seat suspense. Yet it failed and now we find ourselves on the edge of our seats only when someone's eye is about to be gouged out or waiting for intestines to spill all over. Don't get me wrong-I admire special effects and make-up artists such as Howard Berger and Gregory Nicotero incredibly, but something is clearly wrong when all a horror movie has going for it is effects. It's not horror and it's not suspense; it's shock treatment for a jaded and numbed audience who has forgotten about the horror movies of old.

The kings of horror and suspense such as John Carpenter, Dario Argento, Wes Craven and David Cronenberg knew hot to please an audience yearning for fear without having to resort to tacky and overtly grotesque scenes. Films such as Suspiria, Opera, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Thing, The Frighteners, Carrie, and the original The Wicker Man stand out in horror history. The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre puts the remake to shame while Rob Zombie should be shunned for unmasking Michael Myers, perhaps the most infamous psychopath in horror movie history because of his mystical and mysterious nature. Even The Amityville Horror, though mediocre, is a landslide better than the remake. The 70s and 80s breathed life into horror movies and they thrived. The Exorcist, The Omen, Poltergeist, The Shining, Manhunter, Night of the Living Dead, and Rosemary's Baby are more films to add to the list of greats.

And now, what are we left with? If you scroll through a list of horror films produced over the past few years, you will come across The Ring, The Grudge, Dead Silence, The Fog, Ghost Ship, House of 100 Corpses, House on Haunted Hill, 30 Days of Night along with other disappointments. With the exception of a few quality scares such as The Descent, Feast, Behind the Mask, and Slither, the horror industry has taken a deep plunge into a pit and it may not return anytime soon. Attempts to spark the flame under horror lovers bottoms such as the “8 Films to Die For” and the Emmy nominated Series, “Masters of Horror” have succeeded to a degree, yet they don't get as much publicity as the weaker, higher budget horrors. I know that there are plenty of independent films worthy of recognition, but they will never be released in theaters and they will never be recognized so long as Hollywood keeps producing rubbish year after year. The problem is that directors and producers feel as if they have to show more in order to get more from the audience. What happened to keeping the audience in suspense by waiting until the finale to reveal the monster or the breathtaking big murder scene? These new horror flicks are producing a chain reaction. The more creatures and blood and guts that films show, the more the audience will want to see in the future.

I don't know what the solution to this problem is or how to go about finding one. Yet the quality of horror movies is plummeting. Hollywood is sacrificing substance for shock treatment. So my advice is to go rent one of the old classics, watch it, and think about everything it contains that contemporary horror movies don't. Learn to appreciate old school techniques of horror more than graphic and unnecessary disembowelments and hope that someone in Hollywood gets the picture.

If teenagers do not belong to a group, some may feel like misfits, such as Cady in "Mean Girls". When Cady first arrives she is very different to all the other students at the school. She wears unusual clothes, which are not seen as "cool", has a different attitude and does not know any of the rules, such as where to sit in class. In many ways for Cady this is a brand new way of life, things she did not have to do in Africa, such as to ask for a lavatory pass, are obvious things to do in America.

There are many reasons why teenagers may want to infiltrate a group, such as peer pressure, pressure to fit in with society or simply because they have shared interests and hobbies as other people in the group. In "Mean Girls" ,originally, her so-called friends push Cady into joining the "Plastics" as they tell her it will be "fun" to find out about what they talk about behind closed doors. Cady suffers from peer pressure from Damien and Janice, as at first she does not want to fit in with the plastics and is against the idea, but they pursuade her into thinking it is a good plan. However after the leader of the plastics steals the boy Cady had her eye on, Cady quickly decides to take revenge on her by wedging her way closer into the group. Cadys then realises after a while that she enjoys being in the plastics, everyone knows her name and everyone wants to copy her style.

To fit in with their chosen groups, many people have to change be it their appearance, personality or likes and dislikes. Teenagers may feel pressure to change what they look like to fit in with the others around them, as they think if they are different or unique they will not be acceptable. For example in "Mean Girls" when Cady first arrives she is a misfit and is forced to eat her lunch in a toilet cubicle, as she does not fit in with any of the groups.

When Cady begins to join the plastics she changes her whole image; her hair styles, her clothes, her make-up and her whole attitude to life. She almost becomes a clone of the other three plastics. To fit in with others many people find they have to sacrifice their individuality, they feel under pressure to look, talk and behave like the other members. If people are pressured to fit in with others around them, everyone ends up fitting into an exact category, and no one is individual and unique.

There are many messages incorporated into this film, one of the most important is that you should always stay true to yourself and shouldn't have to change for anyone. This is shown throughout the film in many ways, such as Cady being miserable in the plastics and at the end, when she is back to her normal self, she has more friends and is happy, as she feels comfortable as she is. It is once said in the film that " she knew it was better to be in the plastics hating life, than to not be in the plastics at all." This is a perfect example of the pressure teens feel to fit in, they will even be miserable just so they can be liked.

Some other messages in this film are; that infact it doesn't matter what you look like, people like you for the way you are; making fun of someone is pointless, it doesn't make you or them feel better; and that nobody is perfect no matter what clothes they wear or how many friends they have.

In conclusion, there are many ways, in which society forces teenagers to feel the need to fit in with others, but youths should feel confident in them selves and not have to turn into clone-like stereotypes. Everyone should have the right to feel confident in his or her individuality.