In the House of Love

This month, the romantic drama to watch out for is Fi Shaqqet Masr El-Gedida (In a Heliopolis Flat). Once again bringing together screenwriter Wessam Soliman (Banat West El-Balad, Downtown Girls) with acclaimed filmmaker and real-life husband Mohamed Khan, the film tells the story of a twentysomething music teacher Nagwa (Ghada Adel), who works at a conservative school run by nuns in the Upper Egyptian city of Minya.

Despite the restricted environment in which she lives, Nagwa is extremely romantic and believes she will one day find the love of her life.

When she arrives in Cairo accompanying her students on a school trip, she seizes the opportunity to look for her own former teacher Miss Tahany, a motherly figure with whom she has lost contact. In flashbacks, we see that Miss Tahany was the one who shaped Nagwa’s conceptions of love and romance, using the lyrics and music of songs performed by the immortal voice of Leila Murad. “Ana Alby Dalily” (My Heart is My Lead), which is featured in the soundtrack with the voice of Riham Abdel-Hakim, has become Nagwa’s motto.

Nagwa’s quest leads her to Tahany’s old flat in Heliopolis, where she encounters Yehia (Khaled Abul Naga), the new resident. Unlike her, Yehia doesn’t believe in love, and prefers to focus on his flourishing career with a successful financial company. His love life is limited to a casual on-off relationship with a recent divorcée named Dalia (Marwa Hussein). Seeking more independence, he leaves his parents’ house and finds an apartment of his own. The opposites quickly attract.

The film premiered last month with the attendance of its stars and producer, Mamdouh El-Leithy. Adel, who is currently shooting a new film called Khalij Na’ama (Na’ama Bay), arrived alongside her husband, filmmaker Magdy El-Hawary. El-Hawary said that he adored the movie’s take on love in the Cairo of the twenty-first century.

The Reaping

Khan, one of the Arab world’s most acclaimed filmmakers, is also Egypt Today’s back-page columnist. His Fi Shaqqet Masr El-Gedida has earned him rave reviews in the national press.

As for the film’s star Abul Naga, this is his third playing film alongside Kashf Hesab (Pay Off) and Mafeish Gheir Keddah (None But That).

Fi Shaqqet Masr El-Gedida is now playing nationwide, and with English subtitles at the Family Cinema in Maadi. (For a behind-the-scenes look at the film’s production, see our November 2006 story “Downtown to Heliopolis” or visit egypttoday.com.)

From Dark Castle, the Joel Silver-Robert Zemeckis joint venture that brought us genre films like Gothika (2003) and House of Wax (2005), comes this horror flick with religious overtones.

Hilary Swank plays Katherine, a former Christian missionary who, after the tragic death of her family, travels to a small Louisiana town that is suffering from what appear to be Biblical plagues: Swarms of locusts fill the skies and the rivers turn to blood. Katherine is called in as an expert in disproving spiritual phenomena, but seems to have no scientific ground to stand on when it comes to this middle-of-nowhere town. And before she can save the town she must regain her faith to combat the dark forces that science cannot explain.

In this 2001: A Space Odyssey meets Armageddon sci-fi mix, a crew of eight astronauts from across the globe travel with a device that can breathe life into the dying sun. But deep into the voyage and out of radio contact with Earth, things start going fatally wrong.

Primeval

This sequel to last year’s gruesome hit follows a US National Guard unit that strumbles across a distress signal in a distant mountain range, only to be trapped by mutant cannibals living in the hills.

Superstar Jet Li heads up this action-packed film, which has been publicized as his finest martial arts epic yet. Fearless re-teams Li with action director and choreographer Yuen Wo Ping (Unleashed, The Matrix trilogy) to retell the story of real-life martial arts legend Huo Yuanjia, who became the most famous fighter in all of China at the turn of the twentieth century.

Aremake of the 1986 cult hit with Sean Bean filling the shoes of Rutger Hauer in the title role of hitchhiker John Ryder, who stalks drivers on dark highways. A young couple hits the road en route for a spring break, but their trip soon turns into a nightmare when they are chased down by a serial killer who draws them into his horrific murders.

In this psychological thriller, investigative reporter Rowena (Halle Berry) suspects that her friend’s murder might be connected to a powerful businessman called Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis).

Looking for evidence, she goes undercover as a call girl to seduce him and to seek the truth. How far will they both go to keep their secrets?

In this fairy tale that mixes live-action and CG animation, 10-year-old Arthur (Freddie Highmore) tries to save his grandmother’s house from being torn down. Because he believes that his grandpa has hidden a treasure in the land of the Minimoys, small invisible creatures, he embarks on a fantastic journey to save the day.

The film is based on director Luc Besson’s own children’s books and premiered last October at the first Rome Film Festival. Egyptian theaters will run the English-dubbed version featuring American and British talents.

The sequel to the 2005 family comedy Are We There Yet? reunites the cast in new hilarious adventures. Now married to Suzanne (Nia Long), Nick (Ice Cube) has bought a quiet suburban house to provide more space for his new wife and kids. But their idea of a dream home is turned upside-down by a contractor (John C. McGinley) and his bizarre approach to business.

In this horror flick, an American news crew travels to South Africa to shoot a documentary about a savage killer crocodile rumored to have claimed over 300 lives, only to become targets of a powerful local warlord.

Fans of the horror series featuring Leatherface have anxiously awaited this prequel tracing his origins. Soon after their road trip begins, two young couples are kidnapped by the Hewitt family of killers, led by the notorious Thomas, who is about to emerge as the chainsaw-wielding psychopath.

Filmed in the village of Matera, Italy, which has remained virtually untouched by modern progress and which also served as the backdrop for Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, The Nativity Story chronicles the two years leading up to Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes) and Joseph’s (Oscar Isaac) leaving Nazareth and journeying 100 miles to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus. et