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HOTDOCS16 REVIEW: Hotel Dallas [2016]

2016/04/182016/05/03 Jared Mobarak

“What time spits back, history devours and fatten itself on what we lack” Despite the name Hotel Dallas and general premise surrounding a replica of Southfork Ranch (where both the old and new “Dallas” series were filmed) built in Romania by an aspiring capitalist, husband and wife directing duo Sherng-Lee Huang and Livia Ungur‘s film is really about a country crippled under its past that’s still unsure of its future. It’s about art and its ability to speak to people’s hearts and souls whether seeking to do so or not.…

NoHoIFF16 REVIEW: Admins [2016]

2016/04/042016/04/23 Jared Mobarak

“I think I deal with more idiots” The beautiful thing about office inhabitants’ inability to muster up the initiative to learn one iota of technological troubleshooting so as not to prove beholden to an IT department that loathes them is the sheer fact nothing will ever change. While each subsequent generation has a better grasp on what’s happening around them, they’ll remain behind the curve because they refuse to upgrade their knowledge with the latest electronic devices and sophisticated operating systems by choosing to stand still instead. Holdovers from bygone…

NoHoIFF16 REVIEW: Gazelle: The Love Issue [2014]

2016/04/022016/04/23 Jared Mobarak

“There is beauty in everything” New York is full of unique individuals. It’s a haven for them to be able to walk down the street with glances of intrigue rather than disgust. Gazelle is just one “Freak Chic” ambassador, but she is also possibly the most important. This isn’t because her style is best or because she is famous beyond the reach of the underground nightclub scene. No, it’s because she’s fearless in providing a voice for those much of the country would love to marginalize and forget. She leaves…

NoHoIFF16 REVIEW: Projections of America [2014]

2016/03/302016/04/23 Jared Mobarak

“To introduce America to millions of people throughout the world” It doesn’t take long for optimism to change to naiveté—a lesson learned from watching Peter Miller‘s informative documentary Projections of America. The film focuses on a series of twenty-six shorts produced during World War II by Robert Riskin and the European branch of America’s Office of War Information. This “propaganda of truth” was meant to instill a sense of hope and freedom in those liberated from the Nazi’s Fascist regime. They didn’t show America’s military strength, but instead our humanity.…

BERLINALE16 REVIEW: Ani ve snu! [In Your Dreams!] [2016]

2016/02/102016/02/15 Jared Mobarak

“I hate the ropes” The world of Parkour meets teenage coming-of-age angst in Petr Oukropec‘s Ani ve snu! [In Your Dreams!] and it’s a welcome mixture. Whereas most sports inherently breed competition to the point that American films must delineate good versus bad or favorite versus underdog because they underestimate their audience, the urban appropriation of French Special Forces training (Parcours du combattant) here deals in the communal spirit of freedom. There’s a kinship between participants—one highlighted by the Prague group that Egon Tobiás‘ script creates—wherein “pros” and “amateurs” alike…

BIFF15 REVIEW: In the Dark [2015]

2015/10/182015/10/20 Jared Mobarak

“Atheist searching for a miracle” There’s nothing like a good cold open to set the mood and David Spaltro‘s In the Dark gets out of the gate running. It introduces us to Joan (Catherine Cobb Ryan) and Bethany Mills (Grace Folsom)—a seemingly wholesome mother and daughter duo connected by love and respect. The former has returned home from a long shift at work and the latter’s stuck in “the zone” painting her canvases into the wee hours of night. There’s relief in Joan’s face, but we don’t yet know why.…

BIFF15 REVIEW: They Look Like People [2015]

2015/10/172017/04/17 Jared Mobarak

“You must prepare for the war” **POTENTIAL SPOILERS** I do not consider They Look Like People‘s Wyatt (MacLeod Andrews) being revealed as schizophrenic to be a spoiler. He goes to see a psychiatrist pretty early on and is in a constant battle with himself to figure out what’s real and what isn’t. Rather than be a film about whether or not he’s sane, I read it as a mystery carefully hiding exactly what he’s imagining. There may truly be an invasion reaching a fever pitch around him wherein evil creatures…

BIFF15 REVIEW: Strange Bird [2015]

2015/10/172015/10/18 Jared Mobarak

“Happy Birthday, Emma” After their screening premiere of Strange Bird at the Buffalo International Film Festival, co-writers Daniel Mecca (who also co-directs with Timothy Ringwood) and Conor O’Donnell explained how much of the short’s final cut was found in the editing room. This makes perfect sense as there’s no dialogue for almost the entire first half, replaced instead by quick vignettes delving into Detective Henry Harker’s (Justin Osterthaler) fragile state of mind. It’s a boldly relevant choice because we don’t need words to understand this man’s pain as he travels…

BIFF15 REVIEW: Emelie [2015]

2015/10/172016/03/04 Jared Mobarak

“Everyone dies at some point” It begins with the abduction of a girl. The scene is quiet and innocuous until it isn’t—a car rolling up to a young girl to ask for directions as children play in the background. The driver says, “Are you Anna?” before a man grabs her and shoves her in the car the instant she says, “Yes.” We watch as though a voyeur behind the trees, helpless to do anything but wait to see what happens while a boy on his bike (Dante Hoagland‘s Howie) rides…

BIFF15 REVIEW: Prescient [2015]

2015/10/17 Jared Mobarak

“Things would have been very different if it weren’t for her” Theodore Meridian (Michael Piccirilli) sees the future—a very specific future. If the person he locks eyes with is destined to die within 24-hours, he’ll catch a glimpse of their demise. This power has haunted him since childhood and only his Aunt Kay (Bryna Weiss), who raised him after his parents died, knows the effect it’s had. We assume Theodore dealt with it by diverting his eyes in public and desperately trying to forget what he saw because he willfully…

TIFF15 REVIEW: Der Nachtmahr [2016]

2015/09/302015/11/09 Jared Mobarak

“What do you want from me?” In great Lost Highway-era David Lynch fashion, visual artist turned filmmaker Akiz‘s Der Nachtmahr switches from linear reality to seamlessly disorienting crosscuts between life and dream. It occurs when soon-to-be eighteen year old Tina (Carolyn Genzkow) passes out drunk while peeing in the woods outside a secret rave full of heavy electronica and piercing white strobe light (a disclaimer cautions epileptics while cajoling everyone else to increase the volume). We don’t realize she’s fainted—and honestly this dizzy spell might be the nightmare instead of…