REVIEW: The Natural [1984]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on October 21, 2017 · Leave a Comment
“The only homer I know has four bases in it” There’s a lot going on in Barry Levinson‘s The Natural and baseball is the least of it. The film had always been a blind spot for me as I’m not a fan of the sport and thus could never bring myself to watch—”classic” status or […]
REVIEW: The 9th Life of Louis Drax [2016]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on August 20, 2016 · Leave a Comment
“More than all the fish in the sea” Ten years after Anthony Minghella optioned Liz Jensen‘s The 9th Life of Louis Drax to develop cinematically, it was his son Max who saw it begin production. The younger Minghella’s first credited screenplay, probably brought to director Alexandre Aja on set of their previous collaboration Horns, it […]
REVIEW: Answers to Nothing [2011]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on December 3, 2011 · Leave a Comment
“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 […]
Category drama, film reviews · Tags Aja Volkman, Answers to Nothing, Back to the Future, Barbara Hershey, Crash, Dane Cook, Elizabeth Mitchell, Erik Palladino, Gillian Vigman, Greg Germann, Julie Benz, Kali Hawk, Mark Kelly, Matthew Leutwyler, Miranda Bailey, Nico Vega, Run Fatboy Run, The Air I Breathe, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, Vincent Ventresca, Zach Gilford
REVIEW: Insidious [2011]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on July 5, 2011 · Leave a Comment
“Last night I watched myself sleep … then I flew away” Ever since James Wan and Leigh Whannell collaborated on what became a franchised sensation in Saw, expectations for the two were high. I haven’t seen their second film, Dead Silence, but I do remember press being positive and the creepiness of dolls—a motif the […]
Category film reviews, horror · Tags Andrew Astor, Angus Sampson, Barbara Hershey, Dead Silence, Ghostbusters, Insidious, James Wan, Leigh Whannell, Lin Shaye, Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Saw, Ty Simpkins
Top Ten Films of 2010: Dark Fantasy Cinema
Posted by Jared Mobarak on February 9, 2011 · 3 Comments
This list is accurate as of post-date. So many films and not enough time to see them all—141 seen is this year’s number—the potential for future change is inevitable, but as of today here are the best … I remember thinking around April that there hadn’t been a truly great film released yet. After summer […]
Category essays, top 10 films · Tags 127 Hours, A Serbian Film, Aaron Eckhart, Aaron Sorkin, Alle Anderen, Andrew Garfield, Animal Kingdom, Another Year, Autism: Made in the U.S.A., Barbara Hershey, Birgit Minichmayr, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Carey Mulligan, Carlos, Catfish, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Contractor's Routine, Conviction, Danny Boyle, Darren Aronofsky, David Fincher, David Lindsay-Abaire, Derek Cianfrance, Despicable Me, Dianne Wiest, Dogtooth, Ed Harris, Édgar Ramírez, Edgar Wright, Everyone Else, Exit Through the Gift Shop, How to Train Your Dragon, I Am Love, Inception, Insomnia, Io sono l'amore, Jacki Weaver, Jacques Tati, James Franco, Javier Bardem, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, John Adams, John Cameron Mitchell, John Hawkes, Kazuo Ishiguro, Keira Knightley, Kynodontas, L'illusionniste, Lebanon, Lesley Manville, Luca Guadagnino, Mark Romanek, Melissa Leo, Michael Cera, Michelle Williams, Micmacs, Micmacs à tire-larigot, Mila Kunis, Natalie Portman, Never Let Me Go, Nick Frost, Nicole Kidman, Olivier Assayas, One Hour Photo, Penny & The Quarters, Rabbit Hole, Restrepo, Rocky, Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Ryan Gosling, Sam Rockwell, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Simon Pegg, Srpski film, Sylvain Chomet, The Fighter, The Illusionist, The Social Network, The Town, The Way Back, Tilda Swinton, Toy Story 3, Vincent Cassel, Waking Life, White Material, Winter’s Bone, Yorgos Lanthimos
Picking Winners at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards
Posted by Jared Mobarak on February 3, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Spree contributing writer William Altreuter, graphic designer Jared Mobarak, and I are going to share our thoughts on this week’s Oscar nominations. Let’s kick things off with a category whose victor—Colin “Mr. Darcy” Firth—seems to have already been agreed upon. — Christopher Schobert Best Actor: Javier Bardem: Biutiful Jeff Bridges: True Grit Jesse Eisenberg: The […]
Category essays, oscars · Tags 127 Hours, A Room With a View, A Single Man, Aaron Eckhart, Aaron Sorkin, Al Pacino, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alice in Wonderland, Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Amanda Peet, American Beauty, Amy Adams, Andrew Garfield, Animal Kingdom, Anna Paquin, Anne Rosellini, Annette Benning, Annie Hall, Another Year, Armie Hammer, Ashton Kutcher, Atonement, Avatar, Barbara Hershey, Beautiful Girls, Before Night Falls, Being Julia, Ben Affleck, Bill Murray, Birgit Minichmayr, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Brian Oliver, Brokeback Mountain, Carey Mulligan, Carlos, Casey Affleck, Cate Blanchett, Catherine Keener, Catwoman, Ceán Chaffin, Celine Rattray, Chariots of Fire, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chicago, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christian Bale, Christian Colson, Christopher Nolan, City of Your Final Destination, Coen Brothers, Colin Firth, Conviction, Crazy Heart, Dana Brunetti, Danny Boyle, Darla K. Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, David Cronenberg, David Fincher, David Hoberman, David O. Russell, Dead Ringers, Dianne Weist, Dieter Laser, District 9, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Ed Harris, Édgar Ramírez, Edgar Wright, Emile Sherman, Emma Thomas, Ethan Coen, Everyone Else, Fargo, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Forrest Gump, Frozen River, Gandhi, Gareth Unwin, Gary Gilbert, Geoffrey Rush, George Lucas, Get Low, Greenberg, Greta Gerwig, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Hailee Steinfeld, Halle Berry, Harvey Weinstein, Helena Bonham Carter, Hilary Swank, How to Train Your Dragon, Howard's End, I Am Love, I Love You Phillip Morris, I'm Still Here, Iain Canning, Inception, Jacki Weaver, James Franco, Jamie Foxx, Javier Bardem, Jeff Bridges, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Irons, Jeremy Renner, Jesse Eisenberg, Jim Broadbent, Jim Carrey, Jimmy Smits, Joaquin Phoenix, Joel Coen, John Hawkes, John Smithson, John Wayne, Julia, Julia Roberts, Julianne Moore, Justin Timberlake, Kick-Ass, Laura Linney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lesley Manville, Let Me In, Lois Smith, Lost in Translation, Macaulay Culkin, Mark Ruffalo, Mark Wahlberg, Melissa Leo, Meryl Streep, Michael Cera, Michael De Luca, Michael Shannon, Michelle Williams, Mickey Rourke, Mike Medavoy, Mike Nichols, Mila Kunis, Milos Forman, Minnie Driver, Missing, Mother and Child, Naomi Watts, Natalie Portman, Never Let Me Go, Nicole Kidman, No Country for Old Men, No Strings Attached, Noomi Rapace, Olivia Williams, Ordinary People, Philadelphia, Pierce Brosnan, Please Give, Preston Sturges, Rabbit Hole, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ray, Rebecca Hall, Reversal of Fortune, Robert Duvall, Rushmore, Ryan Gosling, Sam Rockwell, Saving Private Ryan, Scent of a Woman, Scott Franklin, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Scott Rudin, Sean Penn, Shakespeare in Love, Shutter Island, Star Wars: A New Hope, Steven Soderbergh, Steven Spielberg, Stieg Larrson, Sullivan’s Travels, Tatum O'Neal, The American President, The Crying Game, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The English Patient, The Fighter, The Ghost Writer, The Goodbye Girl, The Green Mile, The Grifters, The Human Centipede (First Sequence), The Kids Are All Right, The Killer Inside Me, The King's Speech, The Lord of the Rings, The Piano, The Return of the King, The Runaways, The Sixth Sense, The Social Network, The Town, The Turning Point, The Verdict, The Way Back, Thor, Tilda Swinton, Tim Burton, Timothy Hutton, Todd Lieberman, Tom Hanks, Tom Hooper, Tootsie, Toy Story 3, Traffic, True Grit, Unforgiven, Up, Wendy and Lucy, Wings of the Dove, Winter’s Bone, X-Men: First Class
REVIEW: Black Swan [2010]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on December 17, 2010 · Leave a Comment
“Get ready to give me more of that bite” The line from Darren Aronofsky’s debut feature Pi, ‘When I was a little kid, my mother told me not to stare into the sun. So when I was six, I did.’ wouldn’t get out of my head throughout his newest, Black Swan. After tackling a pretty […]
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