#lior raz

[demifiendrsa]

First look images of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II

The film is slated to hit theaters on November 22, 2024.

[rickchung]

Tuner (dir. Daniel Roher) x TIFF 2025.

[It's] a film about the reward of doing everyday work competently with an added criminal element to dial up the excitement. [...] It's a crackling, engrossing heist movie that's well-acted, directed, and executed.

Screened at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival as part of the Special Presentations program.

[hobbitonreviews]

📽️ Gladiator II (2024)

This tells you how behind I am in writing reviews: I watched this in the theater. I was so hyped for this. I love Gladiator, and I’m a fan of Paul Mescal, so I had high hopes. I really liked it, but it’s definitely not as good as the original. One negative thing that stood out to me was the CGI animals. For a movie with this budget, those should’ve looked better. Bad CGI really bothers me and drops a movie down in my estimation. On the other hand, one of the highlights for me was the two emperors. I thought the actors did a great job, especially Fred Hechinger. The timeline was a bit confusing and seemed to be a tad contradictory to the first movie, but that’s not a huge deal to me since the story is still good. This definitely could’ve been better, (and I tend to find myself of the opinion that not every movie needs a sequel) but I still enjoyed it and will probably watch it again.

Language: 1/10 (very mild, nothing that would even be considered cursing, just some mild crude language)

Violence: 8/10 (yeah so they’re gladiators)

Sex/nudity: 3/10 (kissing, references to incest and venereal disease, nude male statues, brief shot of a female breast)

Overall rating: 6/10

[tinyreviews]

Tiny Review: Tuner 2025. Baby Driver lite.

The comparisons to one of my favorite movies, Baby Driver, are valid. Both have hearing-impaired musically-inclined protagonists involved in criminal hijinks. Albeit this is a much low-key, less stylized story.

Tuner is a 2025 crime thriller film directed by Daniel Roher and written by Roher and Robert Ramsey. The film stars Leo Woodall, Havana Rose Liu, Lior Raz, Tovah Feldshuh, Jean Reno and Dustin Hoffman.

[twenty-words-or-less]

Tuner

Summary: Piano tuner Niki White (Leo Woodall) uses his sensitivity to sound to help mentor Harry (Dustin Hoffman) with his medical debt. In order to do this, he turns to safe cracking.

Engrossing, dryly funny crime thriller which answers the question "what would happen if a Safdie film took ADHD meds?".

Rating: 4/5

Photo credit: Screen Dollars

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

14 things you didn't know about Fauda star Lior Raz  - ISRAEL21c

Lior Raz, Fauda, Gladiator II,

by Yulia Karra

If you have a Netflix account, you have most likely heard about the hit TV show “Fauda.”

What you may not know is that the show’s cocreator and lead star, Lior Raz, is not only a skilled actor and screenwriter. 

Raz is a man of many talents. He’s been through so many different experiences in his life, it’s enough to write an enthralling script about. 

Here is ISRAEL21c’s list of 14 things you probably didn’t know about Lior Raz.

1. Arab roots 

In “Fauda,” Raz’s character, Doron, often dialogues in Arabic as an undercover operative. 

Raz didn’t have to learn the language specifically for the role. In fact, he grew up speaking Arabic at home. Both his parents are Mizrachi (Eastern/African) Jews. His mother immigrated to Israel from Algeria, while his father made aliyah from Iraq. 

2. Tragic love 

In 1990, when Raz was 19, his girlfriend of three years, Iris Azulay, was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist in Jerusalem. The murderer was released in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas that saw soldier Gilat Shalit released from a five-year captivity in Gaza.

3. Military service

That personal tragedy may have played a part in Raz becoming a commando in the elite undercover counter-terrorism unit, Sayeret Duvdevan, during his IDF service. 

His experiences in the undercover unit would eventually inspire Raz to create “Fauda,” which tells the story of Mista’arvim forces, which encompass all elite undercover units, including Duvdevan. 

[tinas1469]

The Crowded Room - Clues You Missed

[watchingalotofmovies]

Gladiator II

Gladiator II    [trailer]

After his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to find strength to return the glory of Rome to its people.

The dumb, degenerate twin emperors were a bit much. And I don't think it was necessary to let the gladiators fight against weird looking CGI animals.

But overall it's an entertaining spectacle on a grand scale. It kind of makes the viewer a bit complicit by watching decadent games in an arena.

Side note, Ridley Scott turns 87 later this year. There are not a lot of people around in Hollywood who are capable of producing movies on such a scale on a regular basis.