10/31/2023 0 Comments Senior moment carWhile Hamas’s first militants operated in a cell structure, they became more organised in Gaza around 20 years ago, when Hamas first fought a series of chaotic battles with the Israel Defence Forces that saw it take heavy losses, prior to the evacuation of the Israeli settlements in Gaza in 2005. Meanwhile, the Qassam brigades grew stronger, particularly in Gaza – becoming the substantial, well-armed and well-trained paramilitary force of today. The armed wingįor most people Hamas is represented by its armed wing, responsible for the brutal massacre at the weekend.Īfter the 1993 Oslo peace accords, Hamas (along with Palestinian Islamic Jihad) deployed suicide bombings as its initial weapon of choice against the peace deal, a tactic that would be seen regularly during the second intifada. It is unavoidably part of the fabric of the life in Gaza. It runs the courts while, during the 2014 Gaza war, its forces abducted, tortured and murdered Palestinians accused of “collaborating” with Israel and others. It administers the education service while its police have broken the bones of children caught wearing scarfs signalling family affiliation with the rival Fatah movement. While it runs Gaza’s health service, it is also a sinister organisation committed to the mass murder of Israelis. That armed wing would come to be known as the Izz ad-Din al Qassam brigades who from their very beginning embraced the use of terror tactics against Israel, carrying out their first suicide bombing in 1993 in conjunction with Islamic Jihad.īut the movement attracts substantial popular support, and also incorporates teachers, surgeons, urban planners and police in its civil administration of Gaza. It saw armed violence as part of that struggle, modelling its early armed wing on the fedayeen, Palestinian armed groups that emerged in the 1950s after the establishment of the state of Israel. And the film, set and shot in Palm Springs, captures that weirdly lovely city beautifully.Under one of its key founders, the group’s spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, it held an uncompromising view.Īs the movement’s founding charter made clear, Hamas was dedicated from the start to extinguishing the existence of the state of Israel. Elsewhere, Senior Moment takes shots at aging that feel fair, precise, and genuinely amusing. The character of Pablo ( Carlos Miranda) ends up being less one-dimensional as the film progresses, but his first appearance is uncomfortably stereotypical. Their scenes together, later at a bar and a pool party, scan as gratuitous and creepy. But early on, there is a sidebar of sorts where Victor and his car are photographed with a comely young thing in a bikini who, briefly, has Victor smitten. The film features older actors playing older people who fall in love, an obvious plus in a pop culture universe seemingly inspired by Logan’s Run. Victor’s efforts to get to the bottom of the relationship make way for narrative-nudging pratfalls and diversions.įor everything Senior Moment gets right, there seems to be an equal and corresponding wrong which mars the film and the efforts of its clearly committed cast under the helm of action director Giorgio Serafini. Of course, there are obstacles to overcome, in this case Diego ( Esai Morales), the handsome, wealthy local painter who appears to be Caroline’s crush but is actually something else entirely. It’s not love at first sight exactly, but the groundwork for romance is laid. The film’s title, Senior Moment -a double entendre referring both to a momentary lapse in memory or logic attributed to age as well as to a senior, in this case Victor, having his moment -tells you everything you need to know about the plot. Victor is a retired Air Force pilot who loves tooling around Palm Springs in his vintage Porsche with the top down and with Sal (Lloyd) at his side. It will probably not come as a surprise that Shatner’s vivaciousness at 90 is a more compelling story than the one found in Senior Moment which is, despite its flaws, immensely likeable and propelled also by the considerable talents of Jean Smart (a mere 69) and Christopher Lloyd (82) as the love interest and best friend, respectively, of Shatner’s Victor Martin, who is sold, very credibly, as 72. Oh yes! Read Bonnie Laufer’s hilarious chat with William Shatner Also, he is at least nominally Canadian by virtue of birth despite having spent decades working and living Stateside. Kirk turned 90 last month yet remains sharp as a tack and funny to boot. The thrust of most coverage is the fact that the onetime Captain James T.
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