Suspense/Thriller | www.jaredmobarak.com

REVIEW: Killer Joe [2012]

2013/01/062013/08/08 Jared Mobarak

“You hit her didn’t you?” I’ve been meaning to check out William Friedkin‘s Bug for a while now. Despite my enjoyment for The Exorcist and The French Connection, it’s not necessarily because of the director. I just don’t know enough of his filmography to faithfully keep tabs with high interest. No, the reason I’m fascinated by it besides the involvement of actor Michael Shannon is the dark aesthetic its imagery instills. I bring this up now because it seems that tonal quality may in fact be a product of screenwriter…

REVIEW: Allegiance [Recalled] [2012]

2012/12/142014/04/08 Jared Mobarak

“Which diagnosis do you believe?” Not all short films should be given the feature length treatment. What works on a small, concise scale often finds itself expanded beyond its capabilities, not necessarily failing because the additions don’t fit the central conceit but because they ruin the original impact through superfluity. I haven’t seen Michael Connors‘ award-winning short Recalled—although I’d very much like to now—so I can only infer it succeeded where his new variation on the story, Allegiance, falters. The universal themes brought to the table in the context of…

REVIEW: Jack Reacher [2012]

2012/12/132014/04/08 Jared Mobarak

“Weird to meet you” It appears it was only a matter of time before author Lee Child—or Jim Grant to his parents—saw the sole protagonist of his life’s work on the big screen. Jack Reacher is the type of character audiences adore; one easily catered towards the sequel model paved by Tom Clancy‘s Jack Ryan if and when Tom Cruise finally gives up action flicks. An ex-Army Military Police Major who spent his childhood abroad before a stint at West Point led to thirteen years in the service, he now…

REVIEW: Sound of My Voice [2012]

2012/12/032015/05/29 Jared Mobarak

“Why do I like being lame?” There is a new, legitimate voice in science fiction and her name is Brit Marling. A steadily rising actress seen in a collection of intellectually stimulating independent films the past two years, her writing talents have surprisingly proven to be an even greater asset. In fact, it’s fascinating to learn her breakthrough movies—as co-writer and star—debuted together at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Another Earth turned public heads first only a few months later, but I believe it’s her work on Sound of My…

REVIEW: Killing Them Softly [2012]

2012/11/302014/04/08 Jared Mobarak

“America’s not a country. It’s just a business.” Now I know why writer/director Andrew Dominik changed his film’s name to Killing Me Softly. It’s not because star Brad Pitt uses the phrase to describe his preferred method of murder; that just supplied the words. I’d like to believe he did so because he knew how different a beast it was from the novel by George V. Higgins on which it’s based, Cogan’s Trade. Written in 1974, the book obviously couldn’t have had our recent global recession in mind let alone…

REVIEW: Sinister [2012]

2012/11/202014/04/10 Jared Mobarak

“Even I’m not old enough to know what happened” I like me a good horror film generally because their filmmakers find a freedom from the genre to create imaginative aesthetics. Rarely does one end up disturbing me to the point where I inch up to the edge of my seat and literally beg for more, though. Even knowing what’s going to happen—I guessed Sinister‘s ending as soon as the first breadcrumb dropped to foreshadow the method to the madness—my interest sometimes refuses to wane simply because I need the gruesome…

REVIEW: Skyfall [2012]

2012/11/052015/11/03 Jared Mobarak

“He’s keen to get home” With Paul Haggis relinquishing co-writing duties opposite duo Neal Purvis and Robert Wade to John Logan, the newest iteration of James Bond finds itself an autonomous entity. More attuned to the legacy that came before Daniel Craig donned the suit, we no longer need to worry about Mr. White or the loss of Vesper Lynd because their tale has run its course. Instead, Skyfall deals with a new chapter in the aging hero’s life as his and his employer’s loyalty is questioned against the changing…

REVIEW: 도둑들 [The Thieves] [2012]

2012/10/082014/04/10 Jared Mobarak

“Of course. We specialize in miracles.” Saying Dodookdeul [The Thieves] is the Korean Ocean’s 11—like I had been after reading the synopsis—ended up not being as hyperbolic as I originally thought. Coming from one of the country’s most successful writer/directors and starring a bunch of familiar faces in Asian cinema, it’s an easy comparison to make with or without the main heist involving a casino (it does). What Dong-Hoon Choi and co-writer Lee Gi-Cheol have done above that premise, however, is add in some stunning wire-work action sequences, more twists…

REVIEW: Simple Mind [2012]

2012/09/242014/04/10 Jared Mobarak

“I would tell them that they better look behind them” In the vein of other psychological horror thrillers delving into the dark recesses of the mind, Phil Newsom‘s short Simple Mind captivates above its ultra-low budget. Shot over the course of two days with cinematographer Paul Nameck—his only other crewmember—the film succeeds or fails depending on whether or not you believe the two central characters engaged in therapy session dialogue. If you can look beyond the camera’s poor audio capture and meticulously abstract framing that hides things too well, there…

TIFF12 REVIEW: Argo [2012]

2012/09/152014/04/10 Jared Mobarak

“The United States government has just sanctioned your science fiction movie” In 1979, tensions between Iran and the United States reached a boil after Ayatollah Khomeini called for a return of his predecessor—Shah Pahlavi—in order to try him in what would be a kangaroo court whether or not deserved. Allowed passage into the US to attend the Mayo clinic and combat his cancer, the fact we were housing him infuriated a group of Islamist students and militant followers of the Imam’s Line to the point of storming the American embassy…

TIFF12 REVIEW: Ahí va el diablo [Here Comes the Devil] [2013]

2012/09/132014/04/10 Jared Mobarak

“Frightened eyes never lie” If ever a horror film begged for multiple viewings, Ahí va el diablo [Here Comes the Devil] makes a good case. In fact, until a little over halfway through I was completely checked out. I saw what writer/director Adrián García Bogliano was doing, but the on-the-nose sexual juxtapositions of womanhood, devil rape, and a lust for violence lost me. Highly carnal, full of allusions to demonic possession, and presented so matter-of-fact that it becomes discomforting, a streak of cruelty without justified reason introduces how evil exists…