Category: Film Reviews

REVIEW: The Adventures of Tintin [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“Only a true Haddock will discover the secret of the Unicorn” Considering I started conjuring images of an Indian sidekick named Hadji when first made aware of news Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson were directing a The Adventures of Tintin trilogy, my knowledge and therefore enthusiasm in the project was somewhat lacking. Once I put my head straight, removed any “Johnny Quest” infusions, and feasted on what looked like a gorgeous animated motion capture world, my interest piqued more. It wasn’t until watching the silhouetted credit sequence—recalling Spielberg’s Catch Me…

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REVIEW: Martha Marcy May Marlene [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“Death is pure love” Lost and alone, Martha never knew what love was. Her parents gone at a young age, her sister away in college, living with a chimney for an aunt who to this day she says hated her—loneliness always prevailed whether people were around or not. So it’s no surprise she would be lured in by the kindness, compassion, and gentle voices of a commune living off the beaten path. A community of strays reborn into a life with purpose, she would find her place and never feel…

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REVIEW: War Horse [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“There are big days and there are small days” Thirteen years since Saving Private Ryan and six since his last ‘serious’ work in Munich, Steven Spielberg pulls out all the stops for his newest WWI epic War Horse. Based on the 1982 children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo that was recently adapted into a Tony Award-winning stage play earlier this year, the title deceives as far as explaining the true subject of the work. While we follow Joey the horse from birth to the savage conditions of the Great War, he…

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REVIEW: Young Adult [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“Mad Love, Buddy” And the award for movie with the worst message for young adults is Young Adult. Bravo Diablo Cody for what appears to be a cathartic foray into justifying arrogance, shallowness, and alcoholism as signs of great artistic talent rather than portraying them as glaring issues needing work, help, and maturity. Kudos for hiding a dark cesspool of angry depressive horrors beneath the sheen of a light-hearted coming home to romance the now married ex-boyfriend comedy and for allowing horrible monsters to become more horrible. Thanks for at…

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REVIEW: Margin Call [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“It’s a long way down” When most people think about Wall Street movies they usually conjure images of the financial center’s eponymous Oliver Stone flick or something like Boiler Room showing the fast life and high rewards achieved by twenty-somethings pushing numbers around a computer screen. We think glamorous lifestyles and the stench of arrogance as money-hungry men in suits fleece the common man to make a percentage off their nest egg’s devastating losses. It’s high stakes poker on a grand scale relying on men with ulterior motives to give…

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REVIEW: Attack the Block [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“They’re four foot high, blind, n’ got kicked to def by a bunch a kids. We got nuthin’ to worry ’bout” After the extraordinary success Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg’s Shaun of the Dead’s comedy/horror mash-up found internationally, it’s no surprise their friend Joe Cornish’s feature directorial debut has achieved equally staggering results. Attack the Block is a mix of horror, comedy, and science fiction as it depicts a gang of adolescent hoodlums taking on an alien invasion in Brixton, South London. Right after the kids mug a young nurse…

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REVIEW: New Year’s Eve [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“Did he just snap me in a maternity ward?” So many questions I never knew I had were answered last night during a packed house screening of New Year’s Eve. A spiritual sequel to last year’s Valentine’s Day, director Garry Marshall, writer Katherine Fugate, and at least three actors playing different characters return. Besides learning the general masses savor broad-stroked comedy when it’s spoon-fed to them, I also discovered trite generic love to be their fantasy dream-come-true of choice. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised since this film received…

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REVIEW: Submarine [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“Cancer trumps potential infidelity” Only having seen one episode of “The IT Crowd” doesn’t make me a professional on the subject, but I do recall thinking it quirky, funny, and a bit awkward. It’s no surprise then that the directorial debut of one of its actors would be all those things—possibly even farther down the spectrum towards their extremes. Based on a novel by Joe Dunthorne, Richard Ayoade brings 1986 Swansea, Wales to life with a coming of age tale much more intelligent than the standard teen sex comedy. It’s…

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REVIEW: Rampart [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“You can’t cheat on something you never committed to” After making a splash with his directorial debut The Messenger, writer/director Oren Moverman continues to delve into the subject matter of conflicted heroes and misunderstood men with Rampart. His focus is a veteran soldier once again, but this time far removed from his stint in Vietnam. A rough and tumble cop in the LAPD Rampart Division, his notoriety for ‘possibly’ killing an accused serial rapist years earlier has allowed him certain freedoms during the infamous 1990s scandal embroiling his department that…

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REVIEW: The Decemberists: A Practical Handbook [2006] & Pendarvia [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“Whiskey, weed, and fine cocaine” It wasn’t until the end of 2006 or the beginning of 2007 that I finally discovered indie-folk act The Decemberists. Yes, I was very late to the game. Already with three albums under their belt, the newest—The Crane Wife—captivated me completely. It’s sprawling, ambitious progressive folk stylings were right up my alley and I’ve not looked back since. Snagging a solitary balcony ticket to the almost sold out show at the University at Buffalo that March, I watched one of the best live acts around.…

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REVIEW: Answers to Nothing [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“Why should I wait six months to be happy?” So much happens in Matthew Leutwyler’s Answers to Nothing, but how much is actually relevant? An adulterous husband with a rockstar mistress and lawyer wife, a police detective best friend and her key suspect in a child kidnapping case, a recently graduated police officer and his grade school teacher neighbor, a racist black television writer and the soundboard mixer she meets while walking their dogs, and a recovering alcoholic caring for her brain dead brother all cross paths in Los Angeles.…

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