📽 AT THE MOVIES-

Fasel Men El Lahazat El Lazeeza was one of the highest-rated eid movies this year that follows the well-known formula of the family switch.

Saleh Abou Saada (Hesham Maged) is a father and husband of an impoverished family.Along with his loud and demanding wife Dorreya (Hannah Al Zahed) and troublemaker son Boudy (Jan Ramez), the family’s dynamic is chaotic and hectic. His son is always getting himself in trouble and his wife complaints about their deteriorating home get to Saleh, making him feel helpless and unappreciated.

When Dorreya takes her son to a wedding in Alexandria, Saleh discovers a strange vortex-like hole in his home’s storage room. He stumbles into it and teleports to another dimension. There he arrives at a better, cleaner version of his own home and, coincidentally, of himself, his family, and friends. This ‘other world’ is akin to the Good Place, everyone is nice to everybody and is leading an idealistic existence.

In this alternative universe, he is respected and appreciated and decides to pull a ‘Prince and the Pauper’ scheme to swap places with his well-groomed look alike (non-consensually, of course). Dorreya then discovers his secret and joins him, along with their son, to get on with the life they believe they deserve.

It is funny and relatable. That being said, the only hiccup would be that the movie is somewhat slow-paced when it comes to the narrative. It eventually speeds up and the end is rushed which undermines the true essence and moral of the story — which is that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side — in case you were wondering.

The great performances didn’t come as a surprise, especially with the talents like Hesham Maged — who starred in Ramadan’s Ashghal Shaqa — and Bayoumi Fouad, who needs no introduction. But Hannah El Zahed’s performance was disappointing: There were several moments where she went OTT and did not play off well with Maged, but it didn’t take away from the film.

WHERE TO WATCH- Catch the film at Cinema Galaxy at Maadi, Cima Arkan, VOX Cinema,Cinema Premier at Americana, and Point90. Watch the trailer here (watch trailer, runtime 2:36)

📚 FROM THE BOOKSTORE-

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham will take a toll on your sanity. Like it did for Isabella Drake, whose child is kidnapped in the middle of the night from home. The case quickly runs cold and she hasn’t slept a wink since — with only a nap or random blackout here and there. She then dedicates her life to finding him.

Her search takes her to a true-crime podcaster…then everything starts to unravel. Having exhausted all her options, she hopes the interview will shed new light on the case, but she’s unsure of his intentions. She starts to question everything she thought she knew about that night and even begins to question herself and her childhood.

A bit of a slow burn at first, but you won’t be bored. The tension starts to rise throughout the pages, especially with so many of the characters coming off as untrustworthy and you’ll find yourself flying through the text to find out if your hunches are right. The twists and turns will keep you hooked and the suspense will culminate into a powerful ending.

Chapters are kept short which is part of how the book draws you in. Although punchy, the writing also develops the characters extremely well. Isabella herself is quite complex and the way Willingham weaves in the trauma of her past with the woes of her present is impressive and seamless.

WHERE TO FIND IT- You can get a copy of the book from Diwan.

🍴 HOT AND FRESH OUT OF THE KITCHEN-

Crumbs isan American-style food diner truck at Fast Pass mall. They serve you loaded buns, wraps, and waffles with any topping you can think of: Fried chicken? Hot dogs? Mac and cheese? Eggs? You name it, they have it. But the highlight of our experience is the breakfast menu.

You’re eggs get served in three types of bread: Fluffy potato buns, fresh waffles, and thin tortilla wraps. We opted to pick the most unique sounding from the menu , which were the Cheesy scrambled, Bikini scrambled, and the Waffle Chicky.

Of the three we tried, we recommend you go for the Waffly Chiky, which was drenched in pancake syrup: Not just for flavor, but for the experience. Pull on some gloves and get messy as you dig into waffle stacked fried chicken, and fried eggs topped with honey mustard and pancake syrup. We were very excited for this all-american dish but we felt like it was too sweet and would have benefitted from the spicy sauce of the other two sandwiches — but regardless we think it’s a solid 7 out of 10.

Order the hash browns: If you’re a victim of constantly missing the Mcdonalds breakfast window and being deprived of their hash browns, don’t fret, Crumbs has got bigger and better hash browns, sans the oil.

They have other traditional American diner food options such as burgers, wraps, and wings. Their highly-rated dish, however, is the Waffle box: A whole waffle filled with cheesy mac and cheese, and chopped fried chicken covered in their signature spicy special sauce. Slurp.

💵 Per person: EGP 200-400

🪑 Outdoor seating: Yes

🍺 Alcohol: No

🦽 Accessibility friendly: Yes

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