Day: April 12, 2011

BNFF11 REVIEW: Adventures of an Earthling [2010]

Jared Mobarak

“E.T. came home … to Pine Bush. You can too!” It’s tough to make a documentary about alien encounters because the subject has been done so many times before. With that said, Bill Hussung somehow finds a way. Co-directing with his wife Mishara Canino-Hussung, Adventures of an Earthling, which screened at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, finds its voice in the form of a mother’s belief in seeing a football field sized spacecraft when exploring the hotbed of extraterrestrial activity that is Pine Bush—the location of her family’s summer home.…

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BNFF11 REVIEW: Rideshare [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“I gave up Jesus for Lent” After watching a screening of the new film Rideshare at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, I had two thoughts. One: the camera on my Blackberry is HORRIBLE in comparison to the amazing clarity of the iPhone HD 4’s this film was shot in its entirety on, even blown up to theatrical screen size; Two: very funny, cute, and improvised comedies can be made on an ultra-low budget of $34,000 when the bloated fiscal behemoths Hollywood churns out have more of a chance at failure…

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BNFF11 REVIEW: Heart of Now [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“The bottom line—I don’t feel good about what happened” Very near the beginning of Heart of Now, a young girl, Monica (Mary Elise Hayden), makes the quasi-pithy, half-serious/half-joking statement that all women need a man who will give them ‘loads of intensity and massive support’. Couldn’t this observation expand further to blanket all of humanity, though? Don’t we all need that mix of feeling and security to go about our daily lives with meaning? Well, if we are to use Zak Forsman’s lead Amber (Marion Kerr) as an exemplification for…

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