It’s rare that a film adaptation completely lives up to your expectations, but that is just what happened with Wes Anderson’s recent Netflix adaptation of the Roald Dahl book “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.”

I remember reading this book as a boy and it appealed to me because it was short. Much the same way the book Henry finds in this story, you can sit and read Dahl’s story in just a half hour or less.
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The story is simple. Henry Sugar (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a wealthy man who, upon visiting the home of an acquaintance, stumbles on a book in the library. The book contains an account by an Indian doctor (Dev Patel) of a man who claimed to be able to see without using his eyes (Ben Kingsley). Henry takes the small volume and devotes his life to learning this skill so that he may win at blackjack. When he is successful, he decides to donate his winnings to charity and make it his life’s work to win big at casinos around the world and use his earnings to set up children’s hospitals and orphanages.

Top Notch Talent
While the entire production is top of the line, the cast is where this film really hits it out of the park. Cumberbatch is perfect as the titular Henry Sugar and Kingsley makes a fantastic man who can see without his eyes. All of the actors play multiple roles and Ralph Fiennes shines as Dahl himself, setting up the story from his writing chair and looking rather like the BFG or the pictures you’ll find of the real Dahl in the back of his books.

Simple and Elegant
The actors are trusted to deliver amazing performances on sets that are often in motion around them, giving the feel of a stage play. Long takes dominate the action and the fact that the entire account is told as a short story is hilarious, yet effective. The actors continuously break the fourth wall, staring directly at the camera and giving asides of “he said” after their own just spoken lines. In just about any other film it would feel out of place, but here it somehow works.
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There is no mistake that this is a Wes Anderson film from the slightly washed out colors to the inventive approach to everything on screen. I have yet to check out the other shorts recently added to Netflix (“The Swan”, “The Rat Catcher”, and “Poison”) but will be checking those out and delivering reviews as soon as I do.
10 out of 10

It's rare that I watch an animated film, especially a short film with a unique animation style, that doesn't land with me. Navozande is the rare exception.

Don't get me wrong, I love the animation style of this film, but just didn't connect with the story being told. I get that there is some long lost love trying to be recaptured, but it feels like the actual plot, or what little there is, takes too long to develop.

If not for the animation in this short film, I would rate it much lower. But the animation is beautiful in its simplicity. The images feel like they are a classic tapestry or parchment drawing come to life. That's what makes it even more frustrating for me. Because I loved the animation so much, I wanted more out of the film and was disappointed by the story connected with the images.

I was not surprised to see director Reza Riahi's name attached to a previous animated film about this part of the world, the Oscar nominated feature from 2017, The Breadwinner. I remember this film connecting with me a bit more, perhaps because of a more modern subject, but I hope that Riahi will continue to craft animated stories like this. He has promise and his art style is there, I just think he needs to refine his directorial approach a bit.

6 out of 10

It's not often I come across a film that makes me step back and consider a new way to experience the world around me. "Feeling Through" does just that and does so in many unexpected ways in its short 19-minute run time.

This is the story of a homeless teen named Tareek (Steven Prescod) trying to find a place to crash for the night. After leaving some friends, he notices a deaf and blind man named Artie (Robert Tarango) on a street corner holding a sign asking for help crossing the street. Tareek hesitantly helps the man get to the bus stop before deciding to wait for the bus with him and make sure the bus driver knows to alert him when they reach the correct stop.

​In some ways, this film is a classic combination of two misunderstood individuals that have little in common on the surface, but discover interesting bonds as they get to know one another. There is also a level of uncertainty throughout the film, and I could not help but question how difficult it is to trust someone that you can neither see nor hear, but can only sense by their touch. I know it would drive me crazy, but someone like Artie doesn't know any different. It is a true testament to the strength of humans that we can adapt to live in any way we need to.

What many would term a severe disability is not that, but truly an ability to experience the world in a way that few people ever can. Tarango, the actor who plays Artie, is also DeafBlind and makes history as the first such actor to play a leading role in a film. That alone is reason enough to see this film, but it does not disappoint and I highly encourage anyone to check out this film and imagine how your unique situation affects how you feel your way through the world.

9 out of 10​​​​

"Feeling Through"  is available to stream on the official film website, www.feelingthrough.com.

The most important part of this film is the conversation, but the concerto serves as a jumping off point for the conversation to take place at all.

The conversation between co-director Erik Bowers and his grandfather Horace Bowers Sr. comes in the run up to Erik being the featured composer at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. When he sits down with his grandfather, he uncovers a family history that goes back to the Jim Crow south, winds through the mid-20th century when Horace negotiated life as a black business owner, and eventually led to Erik's achievement and recognition as a black composer today.

The film is important and hopefully spurs many young people today to have deep conversations with their own grandparents and parents about what things were like when they were young. We take a lot for granted about where the world is today, often forgetting that things were much different just a generation or two ago. By having these conversations, we can hopefully learn from the lessons of the past, and apply them to continue improving our society moving forward.

While the film is only 13 minutes long, I would be happy to have a much longer conversation like this in a feature length film.

9 out of 10​​​​

"A Concerto is a Conversation" is available on YouTube.

There are times when you should just stop reading a review and go watch the film. This is one of those times.

No seriously, you probably already have a Netflix account, so go watch this film now before reading another word.










Once you've watched the film, please click here to read my review.

As the second nominated film from Pixar's "SparkShorts" program, "Burrow" is a cute and family friendly film, but it stops short of being groundbreaking.

If you've seen these films on Disney+, you know they are cute and slightly different than the typical Pixar animated shorts we've seen over the years. Like last year's nominee "Kitbull," "Burrow" is a more traditional 2D animated film instead of the 3D animation Pixar has become known for.

The film focuses on a young rabbit who has dreams of building her dream burrow, complete with a picture to help her as she digs. She begins to construct her home, but ends up running into all sort of other creatures who have already set up residence in the ground.

She tries to avoid these other creatures and soon ends up digging too deep, impacting the water table underground and threatening the entire burrow neighborhood. She must act quickly to try and avoid catastrophe for all the creatures she encountered in her dig.

While the story is cute, the resolution is a bit predictable. "Burrow" is not the strongest SparkShort to come out of Pixar in the past year and I was a bit disappointed that neither "Loop" nor "Out" received a nomination.

6 out of 10​​​​

"Burrow" is available to stream on Disney+.

If you don't at least get a tear in your eye watching this film, chances are you are not really human.

This is the second short documentary on the subject of end of life care released by Netflix to be nominated for an Oscar in the last three years. I remember watching "Extremis" two years ago, and appreciating its impact, but this one stuck with me a bit more.

​Perhaps it's the inclusion of a story about a woman nearing the end of her life and seeing her young son facing a future life without his mother. Maybe it was the variety of stories and types of end of life care displayed in this film. Whatever it was, I've been thinking on this film more than previous encounters with this subject.

Clocking in at just under the Academy's short film limit of 40 minutes, you can easily take in this film in an evening, but be warned, it is not for the faint of heart. You will be forced to deal with the subject of death when watching this film. But the important message here is that we are all faced with these decisions at some point, yet so few of us are prepared to deal with them. Take the time and discuss your wishes with your family today.

7 out of 10

Focusing on a little known rally of American Nazi's in the run up to the Second World War, this film uses archival footage set to music to showcase what some might consider the dark underbelly of American history.

Clocking in at just under 7 minutes, there is a lot of punch packed into this film. Curry puts the visual pomp and circumstance of the Nazi rally on display and asks the viewer to think and make their own decisions about what this means and how it informs the world we live in today.

Looking at the world around us, it's easy to say we are nothing like the society portrayed in this film. But at the same time, there are rallies that look very much like the one we see here, complete with people being escorted out by security forces while the assembled masses laugh at them.

​This film should be required viewing for anyone living in our country right now. It speaks directly to the lengths to which some people will go to silence those with beliefs different from their own.

9 out of 10