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Trances, a review by Danae Cassandra

Trances
Year of Release: 1981
Directed By: Ahmed El Maanouni
Starring: Nass El Ghiwane
Genre: Documentary, Music

Overview:My Thoughts:
Music is the voice and soul of the people. Part concert film, part interview, part documentary, Trances is an interesting look at Moroccan culture and music. It's worth seeing for Nass El Ghiwane's music alone, which is really wonderful. If you like folk music, or world music, you need to watch this film (or at least listen to it).

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 3.5/5

(From March Around the World 2016 on March 11th, 2016)

Un été ŕ La Goulette, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are: Tunisia
wikipedia



Overview:
The year is 1967 in La Goulette - a small harbor town in the suburbs of Tunis where various cultures have lived together for ages in effortless harmony. Youssef, Jojo and Giuseppe are as inseparable as their three 16-year-old-daughters, Meriem, Gigi and Tina. In a fit of teenage provocation, the three girls swear that they will lose their virginity by the day of the procession of the Madonna. To make matters worse, each of them has her eyes on a boy of a different religion, thus challenging an inviolable taboo. This leads the three families to cut off all ties with one another. But the bonds tying the three fathers are too strong. They end up making up, more like brothers than ever, just before the Six Day War breaks out in the Middle East, tearing apart Jews and Arabs the world over.

My Thoughts:
This is the image of an idyllic, peaceful place, a "paradise on Earth" as one of the mothers describes it, a place where Jews, Christians and Muslims live side-by-side happily.  It has a nostalgic view of a simpler time, when it seemed like there might still be a hope for peace in the Middle East.  It's a fun film, part coming-of-age, part slice-of-life, part comedy.  None of the performances stand out, but all of them were decent and the girls were all very lovely, especially the girl who plays Meriem.  It's also a film where summer is fleeting, a time to enjoy romance and live without worries before the coming storms.  Recommended for just about anyone, unless you don't like subtitles. 

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 3.5/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on April 2nd, 2013)

Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews, a review by Tom

Star Trek
3.23 All Our Yesterdays
Writer: Jean Lisette Aroeste (Writer), Gene Roddenberry (Original Characters By)
Director: Marvin Chomsky
Cast: William Shatner (Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), Mariette Hartley (Zarabeth), Ian Wolfe (Mr. Atoz), Kermit Murdock (The Prosecutor), Ed Bakey (The First Fop), James Doohan (Scott), Anna Karen (Woman), Al Cavens (Second Fop), Stan Barrett (The Jailor), Johnny Haymer (The Constable)

This episode has a promising start. Kirk & co are on a planet whose sun is going supernova. But they find that everybody on this planet already left. To the past. This could have turned out to a very good episode, but then it gets rather boring.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews on October 29th, 2011)