Baghdad Central review – more than just a Middle East Morse

Waleed Zuaiter stars as an out-of-favour cop forced into a risky pact, in a thrilling drama that puts Iraqi lives front and centre

After seven seasons of Homeland, it’s nice to see an Iraq war-set thriller that centres on Iraqi lives for a change. Nice because it’s the right thing for a socially conscious broadcaster to commission, but also just nice because it makes for some refreshingly original entertainment.

In Baghdad Central (Channel 4), Waleed Zuaiter stars as Inspector Muhsin al-Khafaji – an experienced but out-of-favour Baghdad cop who is forced into a risky collaboration with the occupying forces when his eldest daughter (Leem Lubany) goes missing, and his younger daughter (July Namir) requires kidney dialysis. You may recognise Zuaiter from Sex and the City 2, where he was the souk-trader stereotype who tried to cajole poor, innocent Charlotte into buying knockoff designer gear. Or perhaps you know him better as the terrorist from various post-9/11 action-dramas including London Has Fallen and Homeland. Either way, it is likely you won’t have seen him in a role that does justice to his star quality and soulful eyes the way this one does.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3bb8ga2

Comments

REPORT: Furious Spike Lee Paces Aisle, Turns Back To Stage...

REPORT: Furious Spike Lee Paces Aisle, Turns Back To Stage... (Top headline, 5th story, link ) Related stories: REVIEW: Hostless Show Starts With Rock & Rolls Off Rails... Actor knocks borders, walls during speech in Spanish... Stage designed to look like Trump hair? 'GREEN BOOK' OVERCOMES BACKLASH, NABS BEST PICTURE... Top Critics Fume... LIST: WINNERS... Advertise here from Drudge Report Feed https://ift.tt/2SUpIKy

Tiny Love Stories: ‘Who Was I to Deprive Him of Joy?’

By Unknown Author from NYT Style https://ift.tt/2UV7YAG

The Ugly History of Dual-Loyalty Charges

When Representative Ilhan Omar recently complained about “the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” many noted accurately that she had deployed a trope—dual loyalty—that had been used against Jews for years. But this accusation has a broader history in the United States, having been used against several religious minorities—including Muslims like Omar. Indeed, many battles over religious freedom have revolved around dual-loyalty claims. [ Read: Ilhan Omar just made it harder to have a nuanced debate about Israel ] In the 19th century, many attacks on Catholics stressed that these immigrants were pawns of a foreign power. In the 1830s, Samuel Morse—then a prominent painter and later the inventor of the telegraph—urged Americans to build “walls” and “gates” to keep out Catholic immigrants, who would always be loyal to Rome. Because these Catholic immigrants were decrepit —“halt, and blind, and naked”—they were easy to co...

KnightViral

Search This Blog