Posted by Jared Mobarak on June 30, 2014 · Leave a Comment
“You wanna go ride a cow?” I like Melissa McCarthy and her trademarked hard-edged, scumbag persona in films. She’s often the best part of things that don’t work—Identity Thief—and those that do—Bridesmaids. So I’d love to blame someone else for how tired and frankly unfunny her latest Tammy is despite knowing I can’t. She co-wrote […]
Category comedy, film reviews · Tags Adam McKay, Allison Janney, Ben Falcone, Bridesmaids, Gary Cole, Identity Thief, Kathy Bates, Mark Duplass, Melissa McCarthy, Nat Faxon, Sandra Oh, Susan Sarandon, Tammy, Toni Collette, Will Ferrell
Posted by Jared Mobarak on June 30, 2014 · Leave a Comment
Buffalo is full of hidden gems that the layperson may not know exist. A cultural hotbed for the arts, it’s almost excusable that you could let some slip through the cracks when you’re engaged with partaking in what all the rest have to offer. One of these lesser-known entities that deserve your attention is the […]
Category arts, essays · Tags Alma Carrillo López, Buffalo Arts Studio, Canalside Plein Air Easels, Cori Wolff, echo Art Fair, Founding Fathers Pub, Joanna Angie, Larry Griffis, Michael Driscoll, Sara Zak, Tri-Main Center
Posted by Jared Mobarak on June 27, 2014 · Leave a Comment
“I watch the wind and, dreamlike, vanish” Described in equal measure as a slasher horror and psychological meditation on the soul—whether from demonic possession, reincarnation, or both—Taiwan’s entry for the 86th Academy Awards ultimately proves difficult to categorize at all. Mong-Hong Chung‘s 失魂[Shi hun] [Soul] may in fact be better labeled as a drama about […]
Category drama, fantasy, film features, film festival, film reviews, foreign, horror, new york asian film festival · Tags Chung-hua Tou, He-chun Liang, Hsiao-chuan Chang, Leon Dai, Mandarin, Mong-Hong Chung, New York Asian Film Festival, NYAFF, Shi hun, Shiang-chyi Chen, Shih-Chieh Chin, Soul, Yu Wang, Yu-hsun Chen
Posted by Jared Mobarak on June 24, 2014 · Leave a Comment
“Sometimes you have to defend yourself” I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that the words “Inspired by true events” only appear onscreen at the end of Tore tanzt [Nothing Bad Can Happen]. The move might be specific to its American release since events as atrocious as those depicted are hardly the type to remain unknown […]
Category drama, film reviews, foreign · Tags Annika Kuhl, Daniel Michel, German, Gro Swantje Kohlhof, Julius Feldmeier, Katrin Gebbe, Nothing Bad Can Happen, Sascha Alexander Gersak, Til-Niklas Theinert, Tore tanzt
Posted by Jared Mobarak on June 24, 2014 · Leave a Comment
Michael Gelen is a Buffalo-based artist whose work you have probably seen in and around the city. Been to ICTC? He draws the covers. Enjoy the beer selection of New Buffalo Brewing? He’s the one designing the labels. The mind behind Inkwell Studios, Gelen’s expertise runs the gamut from logos to posters to children’s books […]
Category essays, interviews · Tags Aristide Bruant, Brodo, Buitoni, Federico Seneca, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Inkwell Studios, Irish Classical Theatre Company, Michael Gelen, Miller's Crossing, Richard Kegler, The Beggarstaff Brothers, The Hunger Games, The Wine Thief, Tom Whalen, William Nicholson
Posted by Jared Mobarak on June 23, 2014 · Leave a Comment
“Let’s do it on Valentine’s Day” It seems like a slight on the film since it’s a comedy, but I sincerely applaud Obvious Child for taking the subject of abortion seriously. Or maybe I should say naturally because while I never felt preached at from either side of the issue, I did laugh hard and […]
Category comedy, film reviews, romance · Tags Anna Bean, Elisabeth Holm, Gabe Liedman, Gaby Hoffmann, Gillian Robespierre, Jake Lacy, Jenny Slate, Juno, Karen Maine, Obvious Child, Polly Draper, The Visitor
Posted by Jared Mobarak on June 20, 2014 · Leave a Comment
“Pain demands to be felt” We all die. Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, Oblivion: they’re all destinations that connote life has ceased to be. This is the constant; what you do during the interim is not. So whether you’re healthy, sick, sad, or happy, you have the power to make the best of any situation. You do. […]
Category drama, film reviews, romance · Tags (500) Days of Summer, Ansel Elgort, John Green, Josh Boone, Laura Dern, Michael H. Weber, Nat Wolff, Sam Trammell, Scott Neustadter, Shailene Woodley, The Fault in Our Stars, The Spectacular Now, Willem Dafoe
Posted by Jared Mobarak on June 19, 2014 · Leave a Comment
“You didn’t want to stay and see what your special prize would be?” Writer/director Naomi Foner wants to tell us about the messiness of life through two eighteen-year old girls during their final summer before college. You’d assume they’d be the ideal candidates to do so too once they simultaneously make a pact to lose […]
Category drama, film reviews · Tags Boyd Holbrook, Clark Gregg, Dakota Fanning, Demi Moore, Elizabeth Olsen, Ellen Barkin, Naomi Foner, Peter Sarsgaard, Richard Dreyfus, Very Good Girls
Posted by Jared Mobarak on June 17, 2014 · Leave a Comment
“Aren’t you supposed to be home by eleven?” The end credits of Clint Eastwood‘s Jersey Boys steal the show. A bombastic number lasting a couple minutes has the entire cast singing “December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)” with genuine excitement through a staged New Jersey street and it gives us exactly what the previous two […]
Category biography, drama, film reviews, musical/concert · Tags Behind the Music, Clint Eastwood, Erich Bergen, Jersey Boys, John Lloyd Young, Marshall Brickman, Michael Lomenda, Ray, Rick Elice, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Four Seasons, Vincent Piazza, Walk the Line
Posted by Jared Mobarak on June 16, 2014 · Leave a Comment
“Is it time?” When talk surrounding the US release of Kar Wai Wong‘s The Grandmaster erupted in controversy about a truncated cut from the Weinsteins, cinephiles across the nation couldn’t help but let depression set in. Even so, no one could have been surprised by the decision because Harvey Scissorhands likes to streamline story for […]
Category action/adventure, drama, film reviews, science fiction · Tags Ah-sung Ko, Alison Pill, Beata Brendtnerovà, Benjamin Legrand, Chan-wook Park, Chris Evans, Ed Harris, Emma Levie, Jacques Lob, Jamie Bell, Jean-Marc Rochette, John Hurt, Joon-ho Bong, Kang-ho Song, Kar Wai Wong, Kelly Masterson, Le Transperceneige, Oldboy, Snowpiercer, Stefan Kovacik, The Grandmaster, The Hunger Games, The Matrix, The Raid, Tilda Swinton
Posted by Jared Mobarak on June 14, 2014 · Leave a Comment
“What you’re searching for is in here” With ten children’s books already published—and two more planned—Cressida Cowell has given Dreamworks animation a ton of material to adapt whether adhered to religiously or not. Their success on How to Train Your Dragon caught many off guard while earning a place in the hearts of children and […]
Category action/adventure, animation, family, fantasy, film reviews · Tags America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Cressida Cowell, Dean DeBlois, Djimon Hounsou, Gerard Butler, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Kit Harington, Kristen Wiig, T.J. Miller
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