Arash Shabany

Innovator, Aspiring Lawyer, Filmmaker, and Writer

Arash Shabany

Latest Article

January 20, 2026

The Art of Practical Effects

An exploration of why practical effects in film continue to resonate with audiences in the age of CGI.

Read more →

Recently Watched & Read

Latest Film

Hard Boiled poster

Hard Boiled (1992)

John Woo

★★★★★ (5/5)

"This was amazing to see. What a great 4k restoration, and what beautiful non-stop action. As John Woo himself said in the interview after, it was like choreographed dance."

Watched: January 25, 2026

Theatre: Cinemark Century Mountain View 16

See all film reviews →

Latest Book

Mark Twain cover

Mark Twain

by Ron Chernow

★★★★ (4/5)

"What an interesting person Twain was. From his beginnings in Virginia City to his life after his wife died, he was so dramatically radical. He was ultra-moralistic while also quite inable to be self-aware of his own faults until too late. This was the biography I enjoyed the most from Chernow. It is interesting to consider Twain as the first American celebrity, forming the basis for its place in our current society."

Finished: January 2026

See all book reviews →