Netflix suggestion for MENA peeps

[allousa 1]

Bride and Prejudice was cute and cheesy.

Allousa-I see that you also watched Children of Heaven...weren't those kids the cutest? So charming.

What can I say about Water? Amazing and John Abraham...whoa mama!

I wrote down your suggestions as well. I LOVE foreign films...LOVE! Thanks for the great suggestions!

I don't know how your husband does with slower movies but he may like The Band's Visit simply because of the Palestinian actors and subject matter. It kinda reminded me of a foreign Napolean Dynamite only not as funny.

I wholeheartedly recommend Inch'Allah Dimanche. My husband didn't care for it, he thought the subject matter was kinda depressing. I liked it because it showed how the woman tried to adapt to a new country/culture plus the mother in law was so horrible that she was hilarious.

I LOVED Children of Heaven...the brother...I just wanted to hug him to pieces! Loved that movie!!!!

Me too, I ADORE foreign films. That's why I couldn't live without Netflix. I don't know anywhere else that you could get access to the number of foreign films that you can than from Netflix.

The ending of Water, I won't say too much because some people here haven't seen it, but you know the very end with the train? I don't think I have ever sobbed like I did watching the end, just because it was such a touching film...and the last words..."Save her!" OMG!!!! I keep saying I'm going to have to just buy that film. It's probably in my top five favs of all time. I wish that the director would get so much more attention. She is absolutely brilliant! You'll have to let me know what you think of Earth.

Oh and GIRL......John Abraham! I think my teeth fell out and my heart stopped beating the first time I saw him. OMG! I've never really been attracted to actors or men from India. When I found out that John A.'s father is Syrian...I was like...OH! That must be it!!!!

I do think Hicham will like The Band's Visit. Seems like I saw that in a preview on another Netflix movie but I must have forgotten to write it down. I thought then he would like it.

I'm looking forward to the others I haven't seen.

I'm curious...how many movies are in your queue? I haven't met anyone with as many in mine yet. I have so many that I've forgotten the early choices, so the movies we get are a surprise when we open them up because I don't ever look to see what is being shipped out.

anyone else seen The Visitor?

Hey girlie!

Hijacking the thread for a sec....

How ARE you???? How is the cutie pie of yours? Haven't talked to you in quite a while. Hope everyone is doing well!

[ya falaha! 0]

Oh I know the end of Water had me sobbing away.

I prolly have 15 in my queue. I'm constantly rearranging the order, lol. I watch a lot of the movies on my computer. I thought I'd hit the jackpot when I started with Netflix. My friends had it but I never bothered until I found how many foreign films and documentaries I could get.

I love this thread...keep the suggestions coming!

[MrsAmera 41]

OMG I Love the play it now feature! I watch movies on my computer all day at work!!!

[allousa 1]

Drum roll...please.....

Last count my queue was at 492, I think. Everytime I added a movie, those darn suggestions would come up and I would get sucked into adding more. But you know, I've ended up seeing so many great movies that way.

I really, really loved Mandela and de Klerk as well. Incredible movie about Nelson Mandela and come on...I think Sidney is one of our greatest acting treasures!

My all time favorite movie...of all time that I've seen a thousand times....Gladiator. I do believe some of that was filmed in Morocco.

My computer is so old..at work...I'm surprised it's not still running a green screen and DOS! Forget watching Netflix on it!

I have watched them at home on my PC, but I have to get all comfy when I watch movies. I usually have to pile up all the pillows on our bed and get under a blanket.

[me_4_musa 1]

Anyone seen the movie Promises?

http://www.offoffoff.com/film/2001/promises.php

Un-young heroes

The prematurely politicized Jerusalem-area kids of the documentary "Promises" have a chance to break through the barriers that perpetuate hatred between Jews and Palestinians.

By JOSHUA TANZER

Offoffoff.com

(Originally reviewed at the 2001 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, Lincoln Center.)

"Promises" is an inspired documentary that tries to find the last shred of innocence in the Middle East by interviewing kids on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian hostilities about their lives.

Who could be more innocent than a bunch of 10-year-old kids? Well, as you might guess, these youngsters living in and around Jerusalem have already seen plenty in their pre-teen lives and have easily adopted the groupthink of the adults around them.

A bookish Orthodox Jewish boy rides his bicycle to school in his settlement — a defiant Jewish enclave in the middle of an otherwise Palestinian area — and he tells you all you need to know about where he's coming from. "My name is Moishe. I live in Bet El," he says, "It's a settlement, a place where people who hate Arabs live."

The boy rides serenely past the military firing range near the village's outer fence and notes, "If the soldiers miss their aim it's okay because they might hit an Arab."

We hear equally reactionary comments from Palestinian youths — the same ones, we soon realize, who would have been throwing stones in the streets 10 years ago and would eagerly do so if there were an intifada today. But then the film enters a kind of second stage, in which we start to see the weight of history and personal experience that are combining to make these kids who they are.

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"My name is Moishe. I live in Bet El. It's a settlement, a place where people who hate Arabs live."

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Most of the Jewish kids can tell of a friend killed by terrorists and the daily threat of sudden death. Meanwhile, Palestinian kids live confined in their own territory, bullet holes in the walls reminding them of the deaths of siblings and neighbors. One of the most emotional moments of the film comes when a Palestinian grandmother brings her grandson to see the rubble of the family's house in a village destroyed by Israeli troops in 1949. As she shows him deed documents from the 1930s and '40s and hands him the key to the house his grandfather built, he vows that someday the village will be rebuilt and the family will live there again.

Finally, the movie enters a third stage as filmmaker B.Z. Goldberg — an Israeli-raised U.S. citizen who speaks both Hebrew and Arabic and gradually starts to move from behind the camera to in front of it — begins to think about bringing some of these young people together. Two secular Jewish brothers have started asking questions about the Palestinian kids Goldberg has also been interviewing, and it seems natural to breach the very real border between the two groups and let them meet.

The results are interesting, although the lessons of this experience and of the whole film are mixed. In a way, it's awfully simplistic to think that if people in such a ruptured society would just get together then they could learn to get along. And yet, if there's one big point to "Promises," it's that nothing can change while physical and psychological barriers keep the sides from speaking even one word to each other. Whether kids like these can change the world I don't know, but they're ready to find common ground even if the adult world isn't.

[Henna Rose 0]

My all time favorite movie...of all time that I've seen a thousand times....Gladiator. I do believe some of that was filmed in Morocco.

It was at Atlas Studios near the Sahara desert ! I was in Rabat last Ramadan when Dicaprio was filming Body of Lies. We did not see Leo, but saw the cameras and equipment set up. There is an annual film festival there and Marrakesh also!

This is a great thread ! I love foreign films, too Anyone see Tsotsi ? (2005)

[allousa 1]

Another film I had forgotten....Turtles Can Fly. It's rather tragic, but it really give a glimpse of war through children's eyes.

me - Promises is actually in my queue!!! Haven't seen it yet. Might have to bump it up.

Have you seen Paradise Now?

[allousa 1]

My all time favorite movie...of all time that I've seen a thousand times....Gladiator. I do believe some of that was filmed in Morocco.

It was at Atlas Studios near the Sahara desert ! I was in Rabat last Ramadan when Dicaprio was filming Body of Lies. We did not see Leo, but saw the cameras and equipment set up. There is an annual film festival there and Marrakesh also!

This is a great thread ! I love foreign films, too Anyone see Tsotsi ? (2005)

Hicham and I were actually in Marrakesh one year a few days before the film festival was to start. All of the banners were up. I really wanted to attend.

Hicham can usually tell when a film was done in Maroc...he swears he can pic the Moroccan extras out from a mile away!

[ya falaha! 0]

Allousa...holy ####### lady! That's a lot of movies!

Oh and I have to agree...Gladiator is one of my favorite films of all times. I had a MAD crush on Russell Crowe for a long time after that.

[Henna Rose 0]

Another film I had forgotten....Turtles Can Fly. It's rather tragic, but it really give a glimpse of war through children's eyes.

me - Promises is actually in my queue!!! Haven't seen it yet. Might have to bump it up.

Have you seen Paradise Now?

That was a real trip ! ABout the suicide bombers

[MrsAmera 41]

You know I've been to Marrakech 6 times now and never once have I caught it during the film festival arghhh!!!!!! Last time we were there in March they were filiming something (don't think it was Body of Lies - last March). I've never actually told anyone this but when I was there for the summer like 3 years ago, when Y and I were still dating we were walking around Djem al Fna and this guy came up to me and started talking in really akward Arabic/French - I must have given him a really funny look so Youssef stepped in and something back to him. The guy turns and says "You're American???" (I had a djallaba and hijab on) I said "yes I am" and he said "oh i'm so sorry, I'm a casting director for a film that we're doing and I wanted to know if you would be interested but since you're not really Moroccan I can't use you." Hmmmphh

[ya falaha! 0]

I've seen Promises just not on Netflix. I had forgotten about that one. There was also another documentary I saw on PBS years ago re: Palestinians/Israelis but I can't remember the name for the life of me. It was a good one too..damn.

[allousa 1]

Allousa...holy ####### lady! That's a lot of movies!

Oh and I have to agree...Gladiator is one of my favorite films of all times. I had a MAD crush on Russell Crowe for a long time after that.

I'm a liar. I checked just to see if I was right...it's actually 402.

I cry EVERY SINGLE time at the end. EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!!!!!

You know I've been to Marrakech 6 times now and never once have I caught it during the film festival arghhh!!!!!! Last time we were there in March they were filiming something (don't think it was Body of Lies - last March). I've never actually told anyone this but when I was there for the summer like 3 years ago, when Y and I were still dating we were walking around Djem al Fna and this guy came up to me and started talking in really akward Arabic/French - I must have given him a really funny look so Youssef stepped in and something back to him. The guy turns and says "You're American???" (I had a djallaba and hijab on) I said "yes I am" and he said "oh i'm so sorry, I'm a casting director for a film that we're doing and I wanted to know if you would be interested but since you're not really Moroccan I can't use you." Hmmmphh

I was there last March, in '08, right? I do believe that was Body of Lies they were filming because I remember seeing reports about Leo being in Maroc.

Hicham says that some of that was filmed in Rabat.

[MrsAmera 41]

Definetely parts were filmed in Rabat. We went to the theatre to see this with two of our friends (married) who are Moroccans. They cut into a scene showing a big boulevard and it says "Amman Jordan" at the bottom - we all looked at each other and said "RABAT!" Aside from the purely grotesque aspects of the movie (I did almost throw up quite literally at one point) it was good.

My favorite scene from any movie is from Babel, where they are taking the woman out in the helicopter and she's flying over Casablanca at night, past the Hassan II mosque. Everytime I watch it it really gets to me - it's so simple but for some reason means a lot to me!

[HLM 1]

Watched slumdog millionaire and hubby n I loved it.

he has read n seen the kite runner.. i havent yet but he always recommends it to me...

i know this is for foreign movies but Gran Torino is realllly good!! its not on netflix tho i think its in the movies or something but totally recommend it.