Noah by Darren Aronofsky, 2014 (PG-13)

This adaptation of the story of Noah depicts the visions that led him to voice dire prophesies of apocalypse and to build an ark to survive. As he labors to save his family, Noah asks for help from a band of angels called the Watchers.

Because I enjoyed watching the movie as a pure fiction, it was an enjoyable journey, with great actors and performances. The special effects are great, the rhythm entertaining... Only I couldn't get myself to compare to the bible's writing, which I read afterwards, and have little to do with the movie. So to clarify, do not watch the movie as a message from the bible but as Aronofsky's personal view on Noah's joourney.

with Russell Crowe (Red Obsession, Man of Steel, Robin Hood, American Gangster, The Next Three Days, Broken City), Jennifer Connelly (Requiem for a Dream), Ray Winstone (Breaking and Entering, Snow White and the Huntsman), Emma Watson (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Happy Potter), Anthony Hopkins (Thor 2: The Dark World, RED 2, Hitchcock, Thor, 360), Logan Lerman (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), Douglas Booth
From the director of Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, Black Swan, The Wrestler

watch trailer:

The Secrets (Ha Sadot) by Avi Nesher, 2007 (R)

with Fanny Ardant, Ania Bukstein, Rivka Michaeli, Michal Shtamler, Adir Miller, Guri Alfi, Alma Zak, Tiki Dayan, Dana Ivgy, Talli Oren, Sefi Rivlin

At an all-female seminary in the Israeli holy city of Safed, brilliant Naomi (Ania Bukstein) befriends rebellious Michelle (Michal Shtamler), but their friendship is tested when they meet a sickly Frenchwoman named Anouk (Fanny Ardant) who needs their help. Risking expulsion, Naomi and Michelle embark on a journey of self-discovery as they secretly study kabbalistic texts, learning cleansing rituals that will aid the mysterious Anouk.

It has been a while that I found a movie that could tell me a story of courage. And cowardice. This movie is the Orthodox Jew version of Iranian movie "Circumstance". There are differences, such as the story, the context, the identity, the journey... but at the end of the day, it is for the same reason that they get together, love, and follow the same path in the relationship. It is touching, powerful, the two girls are beautiful, Ania Buckstein is astonishing in her performance. The only negative point, and that might be only in case you speak French, is Fanny Ardant's lines, they are like heavy quotes, no one speaks like that, it looks so overdone, overdramatic, really fake. And I love Fanny Ardant... This time was too much. Anyway, besides the failure of incorporating French language, the movie is absolutely touching.

Watch Trailer:

The Master by Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012 (R)

with Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams (Julie and Julia), Laura Dern (Dr. T. and The Women), Jesse Plemons, Rami Malek, Jillian Bell, Ambyr Childers, Lena Endre (The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo), Kevin J. O'Connor, Josh Close, Barlow Jacobs, Mimi Cozzens, Madisen Beaty

A heavy-drinking loaner named Freddie finds some semblance of a family when he stumbles onto the ship of Lancaster Dodd, the charismatic leader of a new "religion" -- some say cult -- he forms after World War II.

Today is a day where I do not have much to say about a movie. The Master is a movie that has great actors, great cinematography, an interesting and polemic topic, a realism that isn't questionable, dialogues shaped in intonations, silences, unsaid and strange meaningful words. The journey of the characters makes us know a lot, with their unpredictable behaviors, intentions... in almost a language that looked foreign to me, since I couldn't really understand them. It felt I was mislead, out of it, in a way because I was reading the first layer and it wouldn't tell me anything, and the second layer was telling me more without managing to get me involved, I felt as far from them as I could. I felt the same with "There Will Be Blood", so perhaps it is the style of the director I cannot connect to, perhaps it is just that I was tired, uncomfortable and the movie was long... I didn't feel anything, that is all... I would recommend to watch it, and write something back in the comment box that would illuminate me!

Watch Trailer:

Agora by Alejandro Amenábar, 2009 (R)

with Rachel Weisz (The Whisleblower, The Bourne Legacy, 360, Dream House, Constantine, The Deep Blue Sea), Max Minghella (The Social Network), Oscar Isaac (Drive, The Bourne Legacy), Ashraf Barhom, Michael Lonsdale (Of Gods and Men), Rupert Evans, Homayoun Ershadi, Sami Samir, Richard Durden, Omar Mostafa, Manuel Cauchi, Oshri Cohen, Charles Thake

As Christianity gains steam in Roman Egypt toward the end of the fourth century A.D., a young slave weighs his desire for freedom against his growing love for his mistress, an atheist and professor of philosophy.

A perfect role for Rachel Weisz, not that she can put on any role and wear it as herself, such as in "Envy" where she plays the kitschest wife ever, or an independent single mum in "About a Boy", a UN woman in a corrupted war in "The Whistleblower", the woman of many centuries in "The Fountain", a clumsy bookworm in "The Mummy" or finally a woman before her time in Agora. The movie is intelligent, although perhaps using the contemporary codes of fear in religious extremists having one face over time and the beautiful landscape of earth looking like exploring the application Google earth. The rest in really tragic, probably quite accurate, with the sad story of war of religions destroying knowledge, science, and everything that gives the tools for a person to think for himself. The truth is, watching this movie made me understand how far we went, to go backward for the many centuries following. And in a way, having the knowledge is reversible, being a free woman is reversible, and it is scary. May we this time remember history and not repeat it.

Watch Trailer: