Home Centre, goes for another touching parental riddle.

Is this a trilogy? About "unconventional parental roles"?

Well, part one is here, part two here and now... "The creature" from Home Centre.

The idea is simple. A child keep seeing this "creature" everywhere. Is is a make believe? A part of his imagination? A scary thing one he sees a la sixth sense? I love the scene with the red retro Peugeot station wagon by the way... Bit by bit, he and the creature in question start getting acquainted and... the ice is broken little by little. We still have no clue what that creature is. It covers him at night, soothes him when ill, and so on... I am trying not to reveal the denouement of the ad mind you. 

Tahaab Rais is on the director's seat again bringing his usual sensitive touch, he co-authored the breathtaking music that accompanies the ad, the cast is believable and makes sense. Just to be clear - I loved the ad. But somehow, like in any other artist's repertoire, there are hits that are closer to your heart than others. In this case I felt this is a little "coloring by numbers" as it ticks all the correct boxes, but somehow just.... fails to match the greatest hits. 

Again, nothing wrong with the ad. It is I repeat it is sensational, just for some reason other products from the same team resonated more within me.

Please watch the full film here.

Home Centre and Tahaab Rais go for the win - again!

Tahaab Rais and Home Centre go for the win. Again. You can see their first foray here and other works by Tahaab on these links (here, here, here, and here as examples)

All right a film about "falling in love" - two characters, a man and a woman  Expecting a baby.

A fetal ultrasound, histrionics, psychology books, arguments, making up, sharing food, cravings, deadlines, ambiguity, expectations, "3 months to go", assembling a crib, tension mountings, papers being signed - at this point you'd expect she'd be delivering.

OK I shall not ruin the film which - brilliantly - includes no talk. You understand, or think you do. You are bathed in an ambiance, you delve with the characters, you sympathize with them - all right and you also take sides. You can - in retrospect - understand why her father (or was it his?) going full blast. And you go with the flow expecting the delivery.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, how wrong we were.

Yep, I admit I thought it was just a tearjerker about first-time parents. But no, it was much more.

Please see the credits here. And especially, see the film here.

As the Elvis song goes "only fools rush in but I can't help" - falling in love with this tender film.

It's Epica Awards season again...

And it is Epica Awards season again!!! Despite the power cuts and the slow internet and the sometimes having to wait minutes for films to load to be able to judge them. Still I went harakiri on all categories and finished the judging as I do every year... It is that season again, that thrill to discover new ads, be enthralled by them or please-let-this-ad-not-be-entered-into-another-category. Well this year our region MENA really showed a good display, don't know how far they will make it but FP7 McCan Dubai has shown a strong presence (For Mastercard and their astronomical sale, for Home Center and "A Dad's Job" and for Science Park Dubai with Tahaab Rais own offspring "Stuck"). This year my favorites are The Danish Road Safety Council "It's Always Been A Good Idea To Wear A Helmet" (by &Co) and SAS incredibly lovable ode to travel "What's Truly Scandinavian?". I don't always guess the correct Grand Prix (though I did vote for Kenzo in 2016 and I immediately knew it was going to be Mercedes-Benz "Bertha Benz" story in 2019! but was sooooo off the track with last year's Burger King "moldy whopper"). But that's what Epica is, a blend of tens and tens of journalists from all over the world each with his/her own taste and likes.