Broken Kode

Caramel · Speak Up!

That’s two in two movies I’ve watched this year, both of which have been absolutely supreme. So much so I can claim that this one is also in my top ten of the year (the other being Persopolis). Caramel is basically the Lebanese Amelie. Believe me I don’t say such things unless I actually mean them, but everything about this movie was a joy to watch.

The movie is set in Beirut, and considering the times that Lebanon is going through right now, it was extra special for me and heartbreaking at the same time to watch this movie as I got to see more elements of the country and the people celebrated rather than destroyed. What’s even more special to me about this movie is that it portrays the city as something vibrant rather than how it is traditionally shown broken, battered and bombed. It gives it a certain filter and lets it shine slightly. Sure there are times when I felt that it would have been nice to show the city at night, but that’s a minor point and the director Nadine really gives us a Beirut to wonder about.

The story centres around 5 women living and working in Lebanon and how their romantic lives evolve along with the expectations of the world they inhabit and their families and upbringings. The great thing about this movie is that none of the characters are perfect, in fact all of the women are far from perfect, they’re all real and that adds the most amazing layer to the whole story. They each have their own problems and obstacles to overcome which slowly unfold throughout the movie.

My only fear is that people in the Western world may not appreciate some of the situations and customs that inhabit the story. While they’re not crucial to the enjoyment and understanding of the story, it adds a whole other dimension to the story that they are portraying, in a certain way you have to be Lebanese to appreciate that this is actually true and it’s the reality. Specifically the police scene and the hotel scenes. Trust me when I say this, that’s all true, no dramatisation for the movie.

The director Nadine Labaki (who also wrote this) does a masterful job of injecting so much humour and warmth into this movie, which is where the direct comparison to Amelie comes from. It’s been a while since I was given a set of characters that were all likeable and beautiful in their own right. In my view this is probably one of the hardest things to do in a movie and Nadine hit all the correct notes on this front.

One thing I want to comment on is the beauty of the lead actress and fundamentally the sex appeal that she oozes and that is lacking in a lot of American shows that I watch. It struck me as odd that this woman who isn’t stick thin as is required by the 10pounds-added-by-the-camera world that we live in. Sex appeal cannot be brought or added on, it’s just there, in a Marilyn Monroe kind of way.

Finally I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the excellent soundtrack that was chosen and composed by Khaled Mouzanar (whom the director I believe is engaged to, good name btw son) which fits the movie feel to a glove and adds yet another exceptional layer to the movie.

I honestly don’t want to give much more about this movie other than it’s something that people who enjoyed Amelie would find the same kind of magic in this movie.

Persepolis Review · Speak Up!

Went and saw Persepolis on saturday and was completely blown away by the experience, so much so that I definitely put this in the top 10 new movies I’ve seen this year (not that I’ve seen 10 movies this year, but I will by year’s end). The movie expertly depicts the dichotomy of someone from one place trying to find their place in the world. Unfortunately the story is one that people from the Middle East can relate to instantly. I say unfortunately because the situation of people leaving their countries for the haven of somewhere safe is all to much a reality for people in the Middle East. For many of us this is the world. War, civil or otherwise, narrow-mindedness and general stupidity are all part of every day life.

The film is directed by the graphic novelist, Marjane Satrapi and is effectively her story that she wrote and drew about in two books of the same title, Persepolis. The story deals with her life during the Iranian revolution, how it effected her family and the war that came afterwards with Iraq before it starts dealing with life for a woman in Iran.

Visually the movie is one that grabs you. It works so grandly as an animated movie because it doesn’t shoehorn any one actor or actress to the role. It also can do things in a humorous way without making it look slapstick. I suppose that is one of the most perfectly executed elements of the story. It allows humour within a terribly serious topic. Inbetween messages of hardship the story still allows elements of joy to come through.

After the end of the movie, I told Yiota that my mum would love to watch this movie. I think it’s definitely something that all feminists should watch mainly because the women shown in this movie, Marjane Satrapi her mother and grandmother are true representation of modern clever Arab/Persian women. Women that actually struggle and fight within the boundaries that have been set around them.

In story doesn’t show the lead character always in a complete shining light as it does take her through her journey and I’m sure showing things that she’s definitely not proud of but had to show the differences in culture, the difference in why she would go back to Iran, knowing the life that would await her.

I really want to see this movie again because of how it was structured, and it’s been a while since I’ve said that about a movie. For my money this movie gets my recommendation as something you owe it to yourself to watch.

Escape Velocity · 1 starburst

Continuing my mini reviews for the last Battlestar Galactica season, I’ll be reviewing each episode the fourth being ‘Escape Velocity’ (you can read my thoughts on the previous episode as well if you haven’t done so). So if you’ve not seen the episode yet, I suggest you stop reading and come back once you’ve done so. I guess you can consider this your SPOILER WARNING (that’s for the entire post in case you were wondering). Continue reading this entry »

Design Slow Burn · 1 starburst

There is definitely something to be said about a slow burning design. At least from where I’m sitting. I started redesigning the ‘Kode last week but the deal I made with myself was that I would limit myself to doing one small thing every day. One element of the design. Be it the typography, or some colour changes or implementing how the asides look. Nothing drastic, just small increments.

The honest reason for this approach is that my life doesn’t allow me the luxury to come in every single night and just hack away and try and sort the code out test it make sure it’s all pucker both locally and online before I unleash it in one big fell swoop. I’ll average 3 nights a week (usually less) when I’m actually at home at a reasonable time and I guess in part I was also suffering from a bit of design fatigue.

Trying to get to that final result seemed pretty daunting at first. Soo many pages that I want to sort out, so many elements that need to be designed for and implemented that when I’ve tried in the past year to deal with them, I just get overwhelmed and often they just live in an electronic graveyard on my computer.

So my tip for all you hobbiest blog designers that do have a bit of redesign fatigue, I would definitely recommend this approach of breaking the pie into smaller slices. Don’t get too upset if things are not there. Start on a solid foundation (I started from my favourite coding base from a previous design) and add to the design in a slow but controlled and consistent fashion. It might not get there as fast, but you’ll definitely enjoy the process more, at least I can claim that I am enjoying this tweaking a lot more than I’ve ever enjoyed sorting out my site.

Maybe it’s because you’ll have moved the design forward, maybe it’s because there’s something fresh to look at every day, maybe it’s both.