Author Archives: Wael Khairy

I don’t think there’s any film that captures the magic of going to the movies like Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Cinema Paradiso”. When people ask me why I still go to the movies as opposed to watching them online, or renting films, I find it hard to put into words. There’s a certain warmth and comfort I feelContinue reading “Great Scenes: “Cinema Paradiso””

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLZdnR7Nkus It is very hard to argue against “2001: A Space Odyssey” when you think of cinema’s greatest achievement. Personally, I think it is one of the greatest works of art regardless of the medium. What Stanley Kubrick achieved here is comparable with the work of DaVinci, Shakespeare, Mozart, and all the greatest artists toContinue reading “Great Scenes: “2001: A Space Odyssey””

After stealing $40,000, Marion attempts to leave town. She imagines how the conversation between her boss and the rich businessman would play after they discover her misdeed. I love how at first she seems worried, even scared, but then a creepy smirk curves her face. It’s almost like she intentionally throws a disgusting insult herContinue reading “Great Scenes: “Psycho””

Up to the film’s shocking climax, Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” plays like a documentary on everyday life in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. We get to know the inhabitants through their interactions on a single hot summer day. Lee uses carefully picked out music, dialogue, and artistic scenes full of energy toContinue reading “Great Scenes: “Do the Right Thing””

Sidney Lumet’s “Dog Day Afternoon” is based on an actual bank robbery that took place three years prior to the release of the film. Al Pacino played bank robber Sonny Wortzik who on August 22nd burst into a Brooklyn based bank for a run-of the-mill robbery only to end up surrounded by dozens of armedContinue reading “Great Scenes: “Dog Day Afternoon””

Francis Ford Coppola reinvented the gangster genre with his 1972 masterpiece “The Godfather”, a film chronicling the syndicate of a New York mafia family headed by Vito Corleone (Brando). The story unfolds as his beloved son Michael returns from war a hero with no interest to join the family business. However, after the don declinesContinue reading “Great Scenes: “The Godfather””

Spike Lee’s most significant New York film since his breakthrough, “Do the Right Thing”, revolves around the last day of freedom for Monty Brogan (Norton), a convicted drug dealer about to embark on a seven year stretch in prison. Lee sets the tone of a post-9/11 New York with an opening shot of two lightContinue reading “Great Scenes: “25th Hour””