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REVIEW: Tangled [2010]

2011/02/082014/07/24 Jared Mobarak

“Goldie, look at all the blood in his mustache” How long does it take to grow your hair so that you can use it with a pulley system to lift a person up a good hundred feet? Well, if Disney’s Tangled is to be believed, eighteen years. I don’t think it hurts having the golden locks also be magical; the whole ability to heal living creatures does lead you to believe it will constantly heal itself and not get dry, brittle, or manifest loose ends. But then that’s what happens…

REVIEW: L’illusionniste [The Illusionist] [2010]

2011/02/062014/07/24 Jared Mobarak

“Magicians don’t exist” There are three names in animation today: Pixar, Miyazaki, and Sylvain Chomet. The first is a major branch of Disney and the second is a Japanese staple, always making its way stateside with help from the Mouse House too. The Frenchman, Chomet, could be the most intriguing and quite possibly the best of the group. With only two feature length films to his name—and a live action segment in Paris, je t’aime, disappointing only because it wasn’t animated—too much praise may be premature, but if you saw…

REVIEW: Yogi Bear [2010]

2010/12/132013/07/10 Jared Mobarak

“The microphone is on” I’m pretty sure I watched the old “Yogi Bear Show” cartoon from Hanna Barbera growing up, but I can’t recollect anything besides the titular character’s goofy voice and the park ranger constantly screaming his name in defeated angst. What I want to remember, however, is that it was good. Granted, I was young and not much was probably needed to keep me entertained and interested, but if the new live action/animated hybrid from visual effects superstar Eric Brevig gives any indication through ‘precise mirroring’ of its…

REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 [2010]

2010/11/162018/11/14 Jared Mobarak

“To a perfect pureblood society” The time has arrived for J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter saga to come to a close. After an admirable job condensing each increasingly thicker novel to sub-three-hour durations on film, the decision was made to have frequent screenwriter Steve Kloves split the last chapter in two to ensure every single detail is retained so the tale itself can be given the justice it deserves. The book was definitely my favorite of the series and as the end cap contains a surplus of exposition, mystery, and character…

REVIEW: Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang [Nanny McPhee Returns] [2010]

2010/08/172011/08/24 Jared Mobarak

“Yes poo man, we’ve come from far, far away in the land of soap” I must say I’m disappointed in Emma Thompson. I could understand her desire to write and star in an adaptation of Nurse Matilda—perhaps a childhood favorite of hers or her children—but her new incarnation of the wart-faced, bucktoothed taskmaster, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, seems a complete cash grab. I looked past the juvenile humor of the first film, realizing the work was aimed at children, but the amount of poo jokes here is astonishing,…

REVIEW: Flipped [2010]

2010/08/162011/08/24 Jared Mobarak

“Something in those dazzling eyes” Not until a few hours before checking out a screening of Rob Reiner’s new film Flipped did I know it was based on an award-winning young adult novel by celebrated author Wendelin Van Draanen. The title has double meaning with both the idea of ‘flipping’ over someone the way young lovers tend to do and the structural format of alternating between the complicated duo at its center, Juli Baker and Bryce Loski. Reiner, never subtle, transitions each segment with a top to bottom flip of…

REVIEW: Nanny McPhee [2005]

2010/08/122011/08/24 Jared Mobarak

“I did knock” Based on the children’s stories of Nurse Matilda by Christianna Brand, the British film Nanny McPhee tries its best to grab hold of the magic ever-present in Disney’s Mary Poppins. Liberties are taken—the number of children is changed and the mother, alive in the novels, has passed on in the film—by Oscar-winning screenwriter Emma Thompson in order to make matters as dire as possible, the need for Nanny McPhee immeasurable. So, after a seventeenth nanny is sent screaming from the Brown mansion, “They ate the baby!!”, Colin…

REVIEW: Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore [2010]

2010/07/262011/08/24 Jared Mobarak

“I’m 65% sure, I can go to 67% … Oh, look! A potato bug” Remember those days of spoof films like Scary Movie, Superhero Movie, Date Movie, and ‘Insert Generic Genre Title’ Movie? Oh, that’s right, we haven’t left that abysmal period of cinematic history behind quite yet. But instead of inundating Middle Schoolers with fart jokes and actors who laugh at themselves, Hollywood has gone to the children. I’ve never seen Cats & Dogs, so I don’t know if that was a real film or not, however, its sequel,…

REVIEW: Coyote Falls [2010]

2010/07/262011/08/24 Jared Mobarak

“Beep, Beep!” The Looney Tunes are back in action—no pun intended Brendan Fraser—with a new series of short films to debut before theatrical children’s releases. It may be a ploy to put those zany characters back into the collective consciousness and expose the new generation in hopes a new television show will become feasible or perhaps it’s just time to revisit some old friends. Either way, the company knows what its audience likes and gives it to them with the first installment Coyote Falls, aptly name for that dastardly Wile…

REVIEW: Toy Story 3 [2010]

2010/06/182019/06/20 Jared Mobarak

“Let’s go see how much we’re going for on eBay” After ten cherished films filled with heart, soul, and comedy, Pixar finally made their first cash grab. That fact is not necessarily a bad thing since anything they touch, no matter how forced a project it may be, is still pure gold, if not certified platinum. But, when I left the theatre after viewing Toy Story 3, I couldn’t shake the feeling that even though I laughed hard, the resonating warmth of humanity and spirit was lacking. The film’s end…

REVIEW: Day & Night [2010]

2010/06/182015/07/12 Jared Mobarak

“Embracing differences” You have to enjoy the fact that Pixar continues to usher in new creatives from inside, grooming them to one-day helm their own feature film. The newest member of that club is Teddy Newton, a guy from Brad Bird’s crew on The Iron Giant, who has worked on a few films as an artist and voice actor, cutting his teeth on a short film with adult themes called Boys Night Out. With his latest, Day & Night, Newton has brought to life what could be my favorite of…