James Stewart | www.jaredmobarak.com

REVIEW: L’inconnu du lac [Stranger by the Lake] [2013]

2013/12/272013/12/27 Jared Mobarak

“I won’t get tired so fast” Lust is a powerful drug that makes us do stupid things. We mistake it for love, brainwashing ourselves into thinking truths about the object of our affection don’t matter because what you have together is special. Did he treat his ex badly? Is he a jerk unwilling to see his obvious faults yet too much of a fairy tale embodiment of absolute beauty for you to care? How far would you go to be with you’re infatuation once he smiles at you? How much…

REVIEW: Hitchcock [2012]

2012/11/152014/04/10 Jared Mobarak

“All men are potential murderers” Based on a book called Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello, it’s easy to assume Sacha Gervasi‘s Hitchcock will do just that and little else. And while fans of the horror classic clamoring for this exact insight will fill the seats opening weekend, more needs to happen to ensure broader success. So it’s no surprise that John J. McLaughlin‘s script delves deeper into the iconic auteur’s psyche at a time when the world believed him to be over-the-hill and ready for…

REVIEW: Rear Window [1954]

2007/12/012017/10/15 Jared Mobarak

“Call it female intuition” After seeing Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Rear Window for the second time, I am even more convinced that the broo-haha surrounding Disturbia and its ripping it off was uncalled for. Besides the premise of a person confined to their window and therefore seeing what they think is a murder, the two could not be more different. This film is one that will never age, whether it be story, acting, or sheer inventiveness in its execution. Only Hitchcock could build the suspense as high as he does for…

REVIEW: It’s a Wonderful Life [1946]

2006/12/152011/08/24 Jared Mobarak

“George lassos the moon” I don’t know how I went 23 years of Christmas without having It’s a Wonderful Life playing during the holiday season. Last year I saw the film for the first time on the big screen at the Screening Room in Amherst. Once again, as it seems to have become a yearly tradition there, I have found myself loving it just as much the second time this year. Frank Capra has put a masterpiece onto celluloid here, and that is quite a feat for a holiday niche…