As much as they might love their childhood home in the French country side, Adrienne (Juliet Binoche), Frederic (Charles Berling) and Jeremie (Jeremie Renier) are grown up now. They have their own families and goals. One of them is based in China, the other is a journalist in New York. The third sibling is basedContinue reading “Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas – 2008) A-“
Author Archives: enassar
Da 5 Bloods (Spike Lee – 2020) A-
His last one was Blackkklansman and now this ambitious piece of work! Good to see Lee back. This might not be perfect and has it’s meandering flaws but is so good on so many levels. It is worth it if for Delroy Lindo’s performance alone.
Palm Springs (Max Barbakow – 2020) B+
It’s a smart take on a sort of classic movie sub-genre. I am not going to spoil what that is and really it is best if one sees this knowing very little or nothing about it. It also feels like a sort of meta take on the whole COVID house arrest we have been livingContinue reading “Palm Springs (Max Barbakow – 2020) B+”
Duck Fat Potato Cake
I am doing a lot of cooking these days as usual, it is just getting tougher to bring up the energy to post a lot. Still cooking and baking is one of the few mind relaxing activities in these times of home quarantine and COVID! This potato “cake” is a relaxing repetitive activity that makesContinue reading “Duck Fat Potato Cake”
Booksmart (Olivia Wild – 2019) A-
Two senior high school girls, last day of school and on their way to college. When they find out that pretty much everyone in their high school year is getting into a good school they feel like they missed out on all the “fun” the other kids had. So they decide to just make upContinue reading “Booksmart (Olivia Wild – 2019) A-“
I Am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck – 2016) B+
An unconventional documentary based on an unfinished novel by James Baldwin. It walks through the civil rights struggle through the lives and deaths of three of its leaders (Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers). It’s a poetic imagining -I think- of what the unfinished Baldwin book might’ve been. In any case it is aContinue reading “I Am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck – 2016) B+”
45 Years (Michael Haigh – 2015) B+
They have been married 45 years. Their anniversary is Saturday. the film opens the week before that. The couple, Kate and Geoff, is played perfectly by Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay. Geoff receives a letter that the body of his long ago girlfriend was found. He lost her on a hiking trip through the SwissContinue reading “45 Years (Michael Haigh – 2015) B+”
Carlos (Olivier Assayas – 2010) A
The IMDB description for this is “The story of Venezuelan revolutionary Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, who founded a worldwide terrorist organization and raided the 1975 OPEC meeting”….well it is one way to summarize a 6 hour or so epic. This is a long spanning tour de force by the lead (Edgar Ramirez) who does an exceptionalContinue reading “Carlos (Olivier Assayas – 2010) A”
