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REVIEW: Born to Be Blue [2016]

2016/04/202016/04/21 Jared Mobarak

“Hello fear. Hello death.” I’m not a jazz guy. I’ll listen, enjoy, and promptly forget it straight away. It all kind of sounds the same to me, but to each his own. If you can differentiate Miles Davis‘ sound from Chet Baker‘s you’re a better music fan than me. So to hear Robert Budreau‘s biopic of the latter wasn’t actually a biopic was to think it could be the greatest thing to happen to his story—not that Baker’s legendary life of West Coast Swing and heroin addiction didn’t provide ample…

REVIEW: Our Nixon [2013]

2016/04/032016/04/04 Jared Mobarak

“You felt as if you were in a brilliantly lighted, badly run television show” As someone who wasn’t born during Richard Nixon‘s administration, it is somewhat unfair to just conjure images of Deepthroat a la All the President’s Men or bank robbers like in Point Break. Tricky Dick has become the butt of jokes—the only president to ever resign his post and quite possibly the most infamous to have held office. He bugged himself, unwittingly had those personal tapes become his political demise, and walked into the fire under his…

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.…

REVIEW: Bizarre: A Circus Story [2016]

2016/03/28 Jared Mobarak

“You can’t do anything ‘half’ in the circus” It’s tough to remember that Cirque du Soleil isn’t “new” (1984?!) when you’re an American like me whose idea of the circus growing up was watching goofy clowns in ten-sizes-too-large costumes pile into a tiny car while animals roared and jumped through hoops. I think the main reason I enjoyed going was the fact I’d probably come home with something that glowed. Acrobatics were therefore a very tiny portion of my excitement and yet that’s pretty much the part requiring the most…

REVIEW: A Good American [2016]

2016/03/162016/03/17 Jared Mobarak

“I need you to know that I would never deliberately commit suicide” If any of you “Person of Interest” fans out there still wondered whether or not our government was capable of and/or currently practice many of the same programs its fictionalized establishment utilizes, William Binney would like to tell you the definitive answer: yes. If anyone were to know it’s him, a former technical director at the NSA recruited into the agency during the Vietnam War. He’s a master with algorithms and worked tirelessly alongside Kirk Wiebe, Edward Loomis,…

REVIEW: Almost Holy [Crocodile Gennadiy] [2016]

2016/02/242016/03/17 Jared Mobarak

“I don’t need permission to do good deeds” The most fascinating part of Steve Hoover‘s latest documentary Almost Holy [Crocodile Gennadiy] is how its subject Gennadiy Mokhnenko parallels the life of well-known Russian cartoon “Krokodil Gena”. The latter deals with a lonely crocodile zoo worker named Gena and his friend Cheburashka: a young, abandoned creature rejected by the establishment employing him. The two therefore construct a home for the lonely as a result so nobody will feel their pain again. This show is the only thing to come out of…

REVIEW: Abe Lincoln in Illinois [1940]

2016/02/14 Jared Mobarak

“And this too shall pass away” Talk about destiny. If the tale woven by Robert E. Sherwood is to be believed—and I can’t find anywhere online that doesn’t exclaim Abe Lincoln in Illinois to be as accurate a telling as any—this humble young man bounced between Kentucky and Indiana before a fateful journey to New Orleans exposed the quaint town of New Salem, Illinois and its beautiful Ann Rutledge never wanted to be a politician let alone President. Sure, he didn’t want to be a farmer working alongside his father…

REVIEW: The Better Angels [2014]

2016/02/132016/02/14 Jared Mobarak

“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother” It only takes one look at a tree canopy from below in gorgeous black and white photography to know writer/director A.J. Edwards is a student of Terrence Malick. He’s actually been the auteur’s editor since To the Wonder after holding positions as editorial intern and key artistic consultant on The New World and The Tree of Life respectively. It’s hardly surprising Edwards’ own style would therefore mimic Malick’s poetic visuals and penchant for voiceover subtly inferring…

REVIEW: Eddie the Eagle [2016]

2016/02/102016/02/21 Jared Mobarak

“Come on, man. Be a wing of a bird.” I was a freshman in high school when we traveled to Lake Placid as part of an Earth Science field trip. One of our main stops was the old 1980 Olympic compound, the most exciting bit of which was the ski jump towers to get a sense of the height involved. What I remember most about the tour guide’s history lesson was his mention of it being the site where Britain’s Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards practiced before his bid at the…

REVIEW: What Happened, Miss Simone? [2015]

2016/02/062016/02/07 Jared Mobarak

“I’ll tell you what freedom is to me: no fear” As someone who heard “Feeling Good” on a Muse album in the early 2000s thinking it was their song until the promotional advertisements for season four of “Six Feet Under” got me researching the female vocalist singing its “new” rendition, a documentary on Nina Simone is something my musical education was in desperate need of watching. But that doesn’t mean Liz Garbus‘ film won’t also resonate with the musician’s most ardent fans—it’s extensive look at her tumult and genius can…