July- Playlist (Movie Suggestions from July releases)

By: Hamza Shafique

July is the easiest month for movie selection. My selection criteria mostly confine with in Desi Mindset and is usually as follows; From Hollywood releases my criteria is how grand would be cinematic experience, for Bollywood releases I look for Star power and from Lollywood releases (If there is any) I try to assess the drama/production quality. And July is the month where UAE has releases from all the three cinema industries, also with in the expectation zone.

Transformers: The Last Knight - Movie Review

By: Hamza Shafique

I have a confession to make, “I don’t like Transformers franchise”. It’s too CGI heavy for my taste, even the design of these giant machine is messy and has lot going on for me to register. Conversations between humans and transformers don’t help bring the right seriousness to the screen.  Plot is also very confusing and sometimes doesn’t make sense. But first one I saw in Pakistan during my university time and I still remember the cinema hall clapped when the movie finished, second one I saw in USA in my mid-twenties and audience again clapped when the movie finished, now I am 32 and still Transformers5 got applause from the Audience in UAE. So now after watching people in three different countries having the same reaction to the franchise, I have started to believe that there is something wrong with me. So, for this one I will try not to review it from my perspective.

Happy Father's Day - Personal Diary

By: Hamza Shafique

Today is Father’s Day in UAE (I know rest of the world celebrated it on Sunday, but in UAE we always do things differently) and I want to share something personal.

Split- Etisalat E Life- Video On Demand

By: Hamza Shafique

Blogging and reviewing is not my job and is still a hobby that doesn’t pay at all. So, I still need to keep my regular 8 to 6 job. For this reason, I cannot see all the films that are released and it gets even harder if the movie is rated 18+, as I usually plan family trips to cinemas. Split was one such movie that when it was released I couldn’t watch it in cinema and was upset about it. So when I saw Split available on Etisalat E-life, I immediately rented it.

All Things Good That Bollywood Has To Offer @ Bollywood Park Dubai

Written & Photographed By: Hamza Shafique

 

Bollywood park is one of its kind attraction in Dubai. Part of Dubai Parks and Resorts, this facility caters to desi families just like mine. Dubai Parks and Resorts is an area developed on the outskirts of Dubai and contains multiple parks and resorts, you can find more details about other attractions on their official website. I have only visited their Bollywood Park and for now I will try to pen down my fun experience there.

The Mummy - Movie Review

By: Hamza Shafique

Tom Cruise's ‘The Mummy’ is a reboot of The Mummy franchise and it’s also the first installment in the dark universe series. I think what Universal Picture is trying to do here is to leverage on the success of the most recent Brandon Frasor starrer The Mummy Trilogy to start the Dark Universe series which they have failed to do so earlier with movies like Dracula Untold. Because of this, Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy is everything but a Mummy film and I am saying this considering Brandon Frasor’s Mummy movies, which are the benchmark for me here (as I haven’t seen the monster movies of early 40s and 50s). 

June- Playlist (Movie Suggestions from June releases)

By: Hamza Shafique

This year is overall great for movie goers; June is no exception with some pretty hyped summer movies. So again, it was hard for me to put five movies for five weekends of June. My issue is, when there are big Summer/Eid releases I cannot add smaller drama related releases in my playlist. But I believe its ok as Summer/Eid releases are there to entertain. So here are my top five picks.