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REVIEW: We Just Want to Play [2013]

2013/07/312013/08/06 Jared Mobarak

“You can never turn a profit in a market this saturated” To view a collegiate short film with a critical eye—this being the filmmakers’ Quinnipiac University senior capstone project—is a tough thing to do when outside of the educational setting and not necessarily privy to the time and effort put forth like a teacher in charge. It’s easy to simply dismiss amateurish performances and hamfisted scripting as lapses in quality without looking at the big picture of where everyone is coming from. We Just Want to Play isn’t going to…

Posterized Propaganda August 2013: ‘Elysium,’ ‘The World’s End,’ ‘Short Term 12′ & More

2013/07/312014/04/17 Jared Mobarak

“Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover” is a proverb whose simple existence proves the fact impressionable souls will do so without fail. This monthly column focuses on the film industry’s willingness to capitalize on this truth, releasing one-sheets to serve as not representations of what audiences are to expect, but as propaganda to fill seats. Oftentimes they fail miserably. Summer is coming to a close with a five-Friday August jam-packing all the leftover big budget actioners that have been biding their time to distance themselves from the likes of…

REVIEW: 2 Guns [2013]

2013/07/302013/08/01 Jared Mobarak

“I did wink at him because he’s my bitch now” What do you get when you throw forty-three million dollars at an unsuspecting bank-robbing duo comprised of a DEA agent and a Naval Intelligence Officer, both believing the other is a criminal they can use as a fall guy on their respective missions? A pretty fun time, that’s what. With a poster depicting Denzel Washington’s Bobby and Mark Wahlberg’s Stig back-to-back with guns drawn and money raining down, it’s easy to write the whole thing off as a lame duck…

David Simon speaks on the failure of the War on Drugs

2013/07/292020/03/26 Jared Mobarak

While the first time visiting the Chautauqua Institution—a non-for-profit, 750-acre educational center set up as an experimental, out-of-school educational spot for vacation learning—David Simon was very much aware of its existence and mission towards the “American spirit”. Bolstered by an anecdote to prove as much, the former Baltimore Sun beat reporter turned TV icon shared how his father once told him to promise never to use profanity if he was ever invited to speak at the venerated, historical site. It stemmed from him taking a red pen to his son’s…

REVIEW: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy [2005]

2013/07/272013/07/28 Jared Mobarak

“So long and thanks for all the fish” It took a quarter century for Douglas Adams‘ seminal work The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy to hit the big screen, but it was worth the wait. Well, I’m probably not the authoritative word on such a statement considering the book series has rested unread on my shelf for the better part of ten years. As someone with no frame of reference to either it or the original radio play, though, I can say it’s a ton of British satirical fun showcasing…

REVIEW: The Conjuring [2013]

2013/07/262013/07/27 Jared Mobarak

“There’s usually always some rational explanation” After watching the cinematic account of the Perron family’s plight in 1971 during James Wan‘s The Conjuring—alongside a brief view at Annabelle, the creepiest little possessed doll ever—it’s hard to believe paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren’s most infamous case of demonic insanity was Amityville. Described as the story that couldn’t be told until now via an opening text-based screen crawl reminiscent of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the events that occurred in Roger (Ron Livingston) and Carolyn’s (Lili Taylor) Rhode Island home are…

REVIEW: Breakup at a Wedding [2013]

2013/07/262013/07/31 Jared Mobarak

“You look like a famous young gymnast” Weddings are universally known as great fodder to run the gamut of human emotions and eccentricities. Between the idea of monogamy, the compiling of assets, and the Catholic standard of joining together as one before God, you can forgive the oft bride and groom for going a bit batty during their engagement and beyond. Movies are made on the subject every year whether they be comedy or drama, romantic or depressing, but only one film that I know of thought to use the…

REVIEW: The Wolverine [2013]

2013/07/252013/07/26 Jared Mobarak

“Everything has a meaning” To think, just a few short years ago The Wolverine held infinite promise. Fox brought in Christopher McQuarrie to rekindle his X-Men involvement after uncredited work on pal Bryan Singer’s franchise starter and independent auteur Darren Aronofsky was tapped to finally get a comic book flick after losing out on a Batman: Year One go. Star Hugh Jackman was giddy in interviews about the visual aesthetic a Japanese setting would give—the film culls its material from Chris Claremont and Frank Miller’s Wolverine arc—as well as the…

REVIEW: I Give It a Year [2013]

2013/07/252013/08/01 Jared Mobarak

“I’d ruin Bieber” Clumsy and cute—that’s my concise review of regular Sacha Baron Cohen collaborator Dan Mazer’s directorial debut I Give It a Year. It’s actually a perfect embodiment of the central marriage for which the bride’s sister indifferently declares the titular sentiment. They bore each other in equal measure while providing the one thing they each thought they desired. Josh (Rafe Spall) is the type of security Nat (Rose Byrne) covets at this time in her life and she is the perfect woman he’s been bred to want through…

REVIEW: The Time Being [2013]

2013/07/232013/07/25 Jared Mobarak

“Artists don’t have families” The life of an artist is often pigeonholed into some lofty, depression-laden existence built upon selfish ambitions and creative genius leaving no room for anything else. One could argue the great works possess such high emotive worth and resonant beauty because their creators poured every ounce of their heart and soul into them with nothing to spare on a life with which to love or be loved. Well-known masters were penniless and poor—starving artists who could have used the financial wealth bestowed upon their estates in…

REVIEW: Blackfish [2013]

2013/07/192013/07/20 Jared Mobarak

“This was not a singular event” After hearing about the death of top Orca trainer Dawn Brancheau on February 24, 2010, writer/director Gabriela Cowperthwaite became intrigued by the SeaWorld party line explaining to the media the incident was completely human error. They said it was Branchaeu’s ponytail that did her in—an unnecessarily added appendage for the whale to grab hold of and drag her down. But even if this were truth, could the highly lucrative marine mammal park chain really justify placing no blame on the animal that ultimately took…