Author Archives: enassar

So hard to quantify why and how this is so good. It’s a one man show. A magic show. An emotional performance. A biography and story of sorts. A whole audience’s journey to find out what makes them (us) unique and who we are. Seems like a lot of mumbo jumbo but it really worksContinue reading “Derek DelGaudio’s In and Of Itself (Frank Oz – 2020) A”

I wonder how close Anderson sticks to the original Roald Dahl book? Does not matter to me. This is a wonderful beautifully made animated film. It’s a Fox (voiced by George Clooney) who promises his wife to live an honest life, raise their kid in the den at the roots of a large tree andContinue reading “Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson – 2009) A-“

Barbora is the painter and Karl is the thief (well, one of two) who stole two of her most precious paintings. From the first 5 minutes of this excellent documentary we know that the thieves are caught and who they are. Thing is Karl cannot remember what the hell he did with the painting. SheContinue reading “The Painter and The Thief (Benjamin Ree – 2020) A”

This is in the category of those movies that revolve around a family spending a day or weekend together, a few meals and things start coming up; family secrets, resentments and unsaid words. I can think of at least two other movies like that (Still Walking, A Christmas Tale) on this blog but I’m sureContinue reading “A Sunday in the Country ( Bertrand Tavernier – 1984) A-“

Set in the early 20th century and tells the story of a trio, Bill (Richard Gere), Abby (Brook Adams) and Linda (Linda Manz), who leave Chicago to make more money as farmhands during the wheat harvest in the Texas pan handle. Bill and Abby pretend to be brother and sister because that was considered saferContinue reading “Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick – 1978) A”

You would not think a human being can actually form a bond with a cephalopod. In this sweet and beautiful documentary, Craig Foster a film maker from South Africa, during a tough part of his life starts free diving (without an oxygen tank) and happens to find an octopus that grabs his interest. For aboutContinue reading “My Octopus Teacher (Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed – 2020) B+”

It’s quiet a coincidence that I had only seen Into the Wild less than a month ago. I could not help but draw some comparisons between the two films. In this one, Fern played by Francis McDormand is not driven to the nomad life -at least initially- by choice as McCandless did. She was livingContinue reading “Nomadland (Chloe Zhao – 2021) B+”

I enjoyed this film quiet a bit. `I sympathized and could relate a bit to Chris McCandless, the subject of this movie. It stayed with me even if his actions were very extreme in abandoning all that he has on life after graduating from Emory and setting off on a nomadic life of sort hitchhiking,Continue reading “Into the Wild (Sean Penn – 2007) A-“