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Weekend Watching: Hollywood in Arabia

WR07312015

By experts and staff

Published
  • Steven A. CookCFR Expert
    Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies

This weekend we are taking a break from reading to watch the best in Orientalist cinema that Western film has to offer. Here are Team Cook’s top ten favorite movies of the genre:

1.  Aladdin (for added fun, watch it dubbed in Arabic)

2.  Argo

3.  Homeland

4.  Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

5.  The Kingdom

6.  Kingdom of Heaven

7.  The Mummy

8.  OSS 117—Cairo: Nest of Spies

9.  Syriana

And, of course, no such list is complete without David Lean’s 1962 masterpiece:

10. Lawrence of Arabia

An honorable mention goes to the Tusken Raiders from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Feel free to add your favorites in the comments section below.