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REVIEW: Blue Caprice [2013]

2013/12/042014/04/10 Jared Mobarak

“There are some evil people in this world” While it may take liberties with facts, Alexandre Moors‘ Blue Caprice still finds a way to get at the heart of what transpired to put John Muhammad (Isaiah Washington) and Lee Malvo (Tequan Richmond) onto their path towards Washington DC and the infamous Beltway Murders of 2002. Written by R.F.I. Porto, the film follows Lee from being left alone by his mother in Antigua to a new life in Tacoma, WA with the more than charitable John taking him under his wing.…

REVIEW: Some Velvet Morning [2013]

2013/12/032013/12/12 Jared Mobarak

“When has love ever been fair?” It’s official: Neil LaBute is back. I know that’s a horrible thing to say considering he’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever talked to in the industry and never actually went anywhere creatively where the theater scene’s concerned, but a decade of watching him direct other people’s scripts (two of which were remakes) can take its toll on a fan. It’s therefore with immense pleasure that I confidently announce Some Velvet Morning is everything I’ve missed and hoped I’d experience again. Whether the…

REVIEW: Diamond on Vinyl [2013]

2013/12/022014/02/07 Jared Mobarak

“I know you love me so maybe that’s enough” In much the same way J.R. Hughto’s characters interact with one another in made-up dialogue with fictitious personas used to record “rehearsal” conversations or stock situations, the film they inhabit—Diamond on Vinyl—appears to have been built in much the same way itself. Hughto populates his story with a trio of captivating creatures, each stuck inside him/herself with desperation to grow. It’s as though he’s drawn them three-dimensionally before placing them inside of his story, allowing them to act in a more…

REVIEW: Crave [2013]

2013/11/292013/12/06 Jared Mobarak

“Forgive me for the things I’ve done and the things I’ve yet to do” When you take a look at Charles de Lauzirika‘s filmography to see the myriad behind the scenes featurettes and home video productions he’s accomplished for the likes of Ridley Scott, David Lynch, and Mark Romanek, it’s no surprise that his directoral debut Crave would prove as dark as it does. Co-written by Robert Lawton, the story follows an increasingly deranged, freelance crime scene photographer as the rage-fueled fantasies in his head begin to crawl out into…

REVIEW: Shesh peamim [S#x Acts] [2013]

2013/11/292013/12/06 Jared Mobarak

“I think I’ve heard of you already” Director Jonathan Gurfinkel‘s debut feature Shesh peamim [S#x Acts] deals with the important topic of teenage sexual abuse in a way that better make you uncomfortable by its end. Told in six acts with escalating encounters between transfer student Gili (Sivan Levy) and the popular group of boys she hopes to infiltrate in order to not be labeled “the weird girl” at yet another school, we watch as infatuation evolves into sexual favors until the moral gray area at play can no longer…

REVIEW: Swerve [2012]

2013/11/272013/12/02 Jared Mobarak

“I guess honesty is one of my weak points” After a long journey dating back to 2010, director Craig Lahiff finally has his Australian crime thriller Swerve arriving in American theaters. It took a year to complete before debuting at the Melbourne International Film Festival, another until hitting multiplexes in its native country, and one more to piggyback on third lead Jason Clarke’s rising star here. Similar to many of its ilk you’ve probably seen before, the work itself isn’t too bad if you allow yourself to enjoy the ride…

REVIEW: The Citizen [2013]

2013/11/262013/11/26 Jared Mobarak

“To reach your dreams, plant your good deeds” I’ll say one thing about The Citizen: writer/director Sam Kadi had his heart in the right place. He along with co-writers Samir Younis and Jazmen Darnell Brown set out to tell a story about what it was like to live in America as a person with brown skin after 9/11 and they used true events to accomplish the task. The problem, however, is that they used too many because life for Ibrahim Jarrah (Khaled Nabawy) abides by the “if it rains, it…

REVIEW: Philomena [2013]

2013/11/192014/04/10 Jared Mobarak

“No one’s interested in Russian bloody history” The dreaded ‘human interest story’—a tale about naively ignorant folk read by naively ignorant folk. I paraphrase what wrongly disgraced journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) dryly quips when first told about the aging woman’s plight he would soon use to rejuvenate his career (at least where the film’s concerned considering he published The Lost Child of Philomena Lee eight years after his being ‘resigned’ from the BBC), but you get the point. Why would anyone who covered political scandals and wars want to…

REVIEW: The Poor and Hungry [2000]

2013/11/162013/11/20 Jared Mobarak

“People got parts. You just gotta get inside.” A guy like John Singleton doesn’t just finance independent films like Hustle & Flow without first understanding the talent it’s writer/director possesses to ensure the level of artistic success it may achieve. In the case of Craig Brewer, that calling card was a micro-budgeted work shot on Hi8 and D8 video in Memphis, TN entitled The Poor and Hungry. It’s a piece that foreshadows everything he has done since whether it be Hustle‘s sympathetically misunderstood lead, an ability to find the perfect…

REVIEW: Cold Turkey [2013]

2013/11/142014/05/19 Jared Mobarak

“It’s like a Jewish girl’s version of subtle” The lesson to be learned from Will Slocombe’s Cold Turkey is that you should never confide family secrets with the uncontrollable loose cannon of the bunch. Because no matter how many stupid things you’ve done, or how many times Dad saved your bacon by bailing out your incapacity to take responsibility for your actions, it’s the crazy psycho messenger who should get the blame. And while I initially meant that statement as sarcasm, I know now that at least the third part…

REVIEW: All Is Lost [2013]

2013/11/132013/11/14 Jared Mobarak

“I’m sorry” If writer/director J.C. Chandor‘s goal was to ensure he didn’t get pigeonholed into one type of cinematic style and/or genre, his sophomore effort All Is Lost surely does the job. Hot off a breakout Sundance debut with the expertly written ensemble piece Margin Call—earning an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay—the rising star found himself face-to-face with festival founder Robert Redford to inquire about hiring the legend for his follow-up. It was to be an almost two-hour piece set entirely in the Indian Ocean as a solitary sailor battles…