Category: Movies

The weather is great and so the Cinemagic movie nights are back on. For this month they have everything from chilling thrillers to hot dramas, from warm romances to cool comedies, everything that will enrich your taste and love for movies.

Thursday, October 14th at 7:30PM
REVANCHE
Director: Gotz Spielmann
Country: Austria
Release: 2008
Genre: Thriller | Drama
Running time: 122 minutes
Language: German | Russian | English Subtitle
Awards: Winner BIFF 2008, Oscar Nominee Best Foreign film 2009
Rated: R

Saturday, October 16th at 7:30PM
ONCE
Director: John Carney
Country: Ireland
Release: 2006
Genre: Drama | Music | Romance
Running time: 88 minutes
Language: English | Czech Subtitle
Awards: 18 awards and 13 nominations
Rated: R

Thursday, October 21st at 7:30PM
THE WIZARD OF OZ
Director: Victor Fleming
Country: USA
Release: 1939
Genre: Adventure | Fantasy | Musical | Family
Running time: 101 minutes
Language: English | English Subtitle
Awards: 2 Oscars, 5 other wins and 8 nominations
Rated: PG

Saturday, October 23rd at 7:30PM
SURPRISE FILM
Director:
Country: Germany, France
Release: 2006
Genre: Drama | Thriller
Running time: 147 minutes
Language: English | English Subtitle
Awards: 12 wins and 12 nominations
Rated: 15+

Thursday, October 28th at 7:30PM
THE HOST
Director: Bong Joon-Ho
Country: South Korea
Release: 2006
Genre: Horror | Drama | Comedy
Running time: 120 minutes
Language: Korean | English Subtitle
Awards: 6 wins and 1 nomination
Rated: R

Saturday, October 30th at 7:30PM
CZECH DREAM
Director: Vit Klusak, Flip Remunda
Country: Czech Republic
Release: 2004
Genre: Documentary | Comedy
Running time: 88 minutes
Language: Czech | English Subtitle
Awards: 6 wins and 1 nomination
Rated: PG

Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the public’s interest in – and appreciation for – the art of film-making. Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG. There is a KD1 charge for the venue fees which includes refreshments, popcorn and much more. Here is a link to their facebook group [Link]

A scene from the most expensive telegu movie, Magadheera. [YouTube]

Thanks Alex!

Looks like a student film but it’s the first locally produced thriller I’ve seen. What we need is a Kuwaiti zombie movie since I don’t think I’ve ever seen a zombie wearing a dishdashe. [Video]

Thanks Salem

Enthiran according to Wikipedia is the costliest movie ever made in Asia costing around $40,615,760. It’s Terminator meets Bollywood. [YouTube]

Thanks Nand

Cinescape uploaded pictures of old movie theaters here in Kuwait to their Facebook group with the oldest theater dating back to 1954. I hope they upload pictures of Cinema Salmiya and the drive through cinema as well. [Link]

Thanks Mohammed

This “should” be a good movie since it’s starring Michael Keaton, Mark Wahlberg, Will Ferrell, Samuel L. Jackson (you need to watch Unthinkable), and The Rock. [YouTube]

A funny movie I recently watched is Hot Tub Time Machine which is about a bunch of guys who travel back to time to the 80’s. Check out the trailer for that below. [YouTube]

Deep within the Kuwait Ministry of Information’s sprawling, high-security complex, seven government films censors gather for a screening of “The Last Song,” a drama starring Miley Cyrus. Seated in plush velvet seats in front of a large, cinema-style screen, the censors graze on soft drinks and snacks while attendants circle the theater, refilling drinks and serving sandwiches.

It feels like a typical, lazy, weekday matinee — until Cyrus leaps into the arms of her co-star and leans in for a long and passionate kiss. Watching the screen, the censors drop their sandwiches and reach for the white buttons attached to their armrest, activating a bell and flashing light. The bell alerts John Prasard, working upstairs in the cinema’s projection room, to cut the scene. He stores the offending frames on a crowded cabinet shelf; stocked with illicit scenes, the cabinet is a trove of steamy embraces and blasphemous talk.

Good article about film censorship in Kuwait and what happens behind the scenes. [Article]

via Nibaq

If you think Kuwait is bad when it comes to censorship check out this list of movies and shows banned in Lebanon!

On the positive side at least they give reasons why. For example:

The West Wing (Season 1 & 2)
Reason: Offensive to Arabs

True Lies
Reason: Picturing Arabs as terrorists

The Nanny (TV Series)
Reason: Jew Content

The Great Escape
Reason: Produced by black listed company (MIRISH)

Jackass
Reason: Obscene contents

Monty Python fans will be disappointed with the list since a lot of their movies are banned. There are also some very strange reasons like “Jane Fonda” was counted as one reason why some movies were banned. I thought that was weird. Here is the link to the full list [PDF]

Thanks Alex

Here is the calendar for Cinemagic’s rooftop movie nights for June. This month they’ve got a wide array of thrilling, funny and chilling films. Check out the full list below:

Thursday, June 3rd at 07:00 PM
Paprika, Japan 2006
Director: Satoshi Kon
Genre: Animation | 90 min | English Subtitle
Rated: R

Saturday, June 5 at 07:00 PM
Eastern Promises, UK/Canada 2007
Director: David Cronenberg
Genre: Drama | 100 min | English Subtitle
Rated: 15

Thursday, June 10 at 07:00 PM
The Orphanage, Spain 2007
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Genre: Thriller | 105 min | English Subtitle
Rated: PG 13

Saturday, June 12 at 07:00 PM
Three Monkeys, Turkey 2008
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Genre: Drama | 109 min | English Subtitle
Rated: PG 15

Thursday, June 17 at 07:00 PM
Jar City, Iceland 2006
Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Genre: Thriller | 93 min | English Subtitle
Rated: PG 15

Saturday, June 19 at 07:00 PM
Festen, Denmark 1998
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Genre: Drama | 105 min | English Subtitle
Rated: 15

Thursday, June 24 at 07:00 PM
Tears of the Black Tiger, Thailand 2000
Director: Wisit Sasanatieng
Genre: Action | Comedy | 110 min | English Subtitle
Rated: 15

Saturday, June 26 at 07:00 PM
The Unknown Woman, Italy 2006
Director: Guiseppe Tornatore
Genre: Drama | 118 min | English Subtitle
Rated: 15

Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG. There is a KD1 charge for the venue fees which includes refreshments, popcorn and much more. Here is a link to their facebook group [Link]

[YouTube]

The locally produced movie Whispers of Sin is now playing at GUST university. Yesterday was the first showing but the movie will be playing tonight and tomorrow night as well. For reservation and more details call 67001250. The movie showtime is 6PM. Here is the Facebook [Link]

Thanks Ali

Not sure if this is a real movie or just a spoof but it was done locally. To me it looks like a spoof because of the way the music and sound effects are over exaggerated and because the English subtitles read funny with the music. [YouTube]

Thanks 3abood

A reader just made me aware of a section on the Cinescape website where they’ve listed some of the movies banned by the Ministry of Interior Information. The list is more like a “Need to watch” list except for the movie “Cop Out”. It’s probably a good thing that the ministry banned that movie… [Link]

Thanks Salah

I’ve been wanting to watch the locally produced movie Mustache ever since I saw the movie poster and now I’m going to be able to since they’re screening the movie at Cinemagic. The film will be screened on Saturday at 7:00 pm just before Cinemagic’s feature presentation The White Ribbon. Here is the link to the Facebook group for Mustache. [Link]

The Cinemagic screening will take place on the roof top on top of LG and Alghanim Electronics in old Salmiya. There is a KD1 venue fee but you have free drinks and snacks so it’s basically a free activity.

Here is a free activity for the people who were asking. This Thursday the movie The Age of Stupid will be screening at the British Council in Mansouriya from 6 to 8PM. Admission is free but you must book your seats in advance before tomorrow (Tuesday). If you’re interested send an email to [email protected] to book your seat.

Thanks Yara

This is a comedy I can’t wait to watch.

Four Lions tells the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point. As the wheels fly off, and their competing ideologies clash, what emerges is an emotionally engaging (and entirely plausible) farce. In a storm of razor-sharp verbal jousting and large-scale set pieces, Four Lions is a comic tour de force; it shows that-while terrorism is about ideology-it can also be about idiots.

[YouTube]