Month: July 2013 | www.jaredmobarak.com

REVIEW: I Declare War [2013]

2013/07/192013/08/14 Jared Mobarak

“It’s too hot for rules” While containing the inherent inexperience that comes with an entire cast of twelve-year olds, Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson’s I Declare War proves potent from the simple fact these minors portray soldiers without censor. Hollywood is chock full of war movies these days focusing on the strategic wizardry of officers barking orders from HQ, spies sent to manipulate the enemy, and grunts made to willfully sacrifice themselves on the frontlines amidst a fire fight. But what is the measure of their impact on the young…

REVIEW: The Sandwich Nazi [2012]

2013/07/182013/07/19 Jared Mobarak

“I don’t believe in prayer. I believe in acts.” “Seinfeld’s” Soup Nazi has nothing on Vancouver, Canada’s Scandinavian deli La Charcuterie owner Salam Kahil. Actor Larry Thomas may have helped create an iconic television character in 1995—one he didn’t realize was based on a real New Yorker at the time—but the world doesn’t always want a villain. You can have specific rules in your shop, demand proper etiquette, swear like a sailor, and have no qualms for showing a bit of nudity alongside the sliced roast beef, but it’s all…

REVIEW: The Days God Slept [2013]

2013/07/182013/08/08 Jared Mobarak

“Things are both precisely and not at all as they appear” It’s often us—not the people we care about—who we hide our past secrets from in order to get through the day. Our actions—whether the result of youth, stupidity, or complete and utter desire—are what define us; they are what make us into unique individuals roaming this earth with identical quests for happiness to be fulfilled in ways exclusive to our own body and soul. To open oneself to another is to peel away years of isolating guilt and regret,…

REVIEW: RED 2 [2013]

2013/07/162013/07/17 Jared Mobarak

“I was very touched that you cried at my funeral” For DC Comics imprint Homage’s RED, screenwriters Jon and Erich Hoeber turned Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner’s original work into a surprise box office hit with an inspired cast of aged, former CIA operatives presently labeled “retired: extremely dangerous”. The goal with any successful comic book adaptation is then to greenlight a sequel in the hopes lightning will strike twice in a bigger and better way. Like many before them, however, the task of expanding on a winner is never…

REVIEW: Nickyho rodina [Nicky’s Family] [2011]

2013/07/122013/07/18 Jared Mobarak

“At least I ought to try and save the children” The title of Emmy Award winning team Matej Minac and Patrik Pass’ new documentary is probably its most telling attribute. Where many would have jumped at the chance to package this incredible tale as The Nicholas Winton Story, these two filmmakers made the very conscious decision to name it Nicky’s Family. While Nicholas Winton is the man who organized eight Kindertransports that saved a total of 669 Czech and Slovak children at the cusp of World War II, his actions…

REVIEW: The Way Way Back [2013]

2013/07/112013/07/15 Jared Mobarak

“You just surprised me” Fresh off their Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The Descendants, writing duo Jim Rash and Nat Faxon return with a wholly original work to serve as their directorial debut. Well, original in the sense they created it without any previous material to jump off from besides a century plus worth of cinematic coming-of-age tales. The honest truth: The Way, Way Back will seem very, very familiar. But this is a fact that helps audiences realize how good it is. Like what Greg Mottola‘s Adventureland did for…

REVIEW: Pacific Rim [2013]

2013/07/092013/07/13 Jared Mobarak

“She’s starting to chase the rabbit” After watching two spec scripts get sold and ultimately fall through, Clash of the Titans scribe Travis Beacham finally breaks into Hollywood with an original vision in Pacific Rim. A futuristic look at our world on the cusp of annihilation by the claws of an alien species entering our realm via a wormhole over an underwater rift in our Earth’s crust, his tale is as close to a live action anime as we’re likely to get—complete with kaiju and mecha warriors fighting to rule…

REVIEW: Mallas, MA [2013]

2013/07/092013/07/18 Jared Mobarak

“Believe me, it’s worth it” Created as part of the 48 Hour Film Project’s 2013 installment in Boston, Sean Meehan’s Mallas, MA had four stipulations: his team Fix It In Post had the genre of “Buddy Film” and were made to use a character named Brian or Bonnie Higgins, a net as a prop, and the line of dialogue above. From there the sky was the limit for Meehan and his cowriters Daniel Berube and Todd Mahoney, the idea of a superstitious town and the pair of con artists sifting…

REVIEW: Stories We Tell [2012]

2013/07/052013/07/12 Jared Mobarak

“Love is so short; forgetting is so long” I remember seeing posters for Sarah Polley‘s newest work Stories We Tell affixed to storefront windows while walking down the streets of Toronto at last September’s 2012 Film Festival. It struck me as weird since she had just completed Take This Waltz the year before, itself five years after her critically acclaimed drama Away From Her. Knowing little of its content, I began gleaning details: it was a documentary, a personal story, and something one woman I overheard say would never play…

NYAFF13 REVIEW: 大上海 [The Last Tycoon] [2012]

2013/07/022013/07/13 Jared Mobarak

“You have to kill him first” Director Jing Wong’s 大上海 [The Last Tycoon] is an intriguing entry to the period gangster genre that depicts the weight of triad influence in 1930s Shanghai at the cusp of war with an invading Japan. Co-written by Wong, Koon-nam Lui, and Manfred Wong, the plot’s loose inspiration comes from “Big-Eared” Du Yuesheng—a Chinese triad boss who figured into the Second Sino-Japanese War much like his fictional counterpart Cheng Daiqi (Chow Yun-Fat) here. It’s a story about power, honor, and love as we catch glimpses…

REVIEW: The Lone Ranger [2013]

2013/07/012013/07/13 Jared Mobarak

“A fairly sinister jar of pickles at the bar” To sum up Disney’s big budget reboot of Fran Striker and George W. Trendle’s radio show turned television hit The Lone Ranger in one word conjures “silly”. It’s silly to read how Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio’s original script involved werewolves—John Reid’s outlaw does use silver bullets after all. It’s silly—and offensive—that the producers cast a movie star like Johnny Depp in the role of Tonto when so many Native American actors could have performed the role effectively. (And yes, the…