Posted by Jared Mobarak on April 9, 2019 · Leave a Comment
“I wish there were a demon inside me” I’m a non-practicing Catholic who hasn’t paid attention in Church since earning my First Communion, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the adjective my mind encounters upon hearing the name Mary Magdalene is “prostitute.” It’s the word the church purposefully utilized to erase her from Jesus […]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on January 2, 2019 · Leave a Comment
Below is my December 27th ballot for the 22nd annual Online Film Critics Society Awards honoring movies released domestically in the United States during the 2018 calendar year. Group winners are highlighted in red. (No option to abstain was supplied this year.) Best Picture #1If Beale StreetCould Talk #2You Were NeverReally Here #3Hereditary #4Eighth Grade […]
Category essays, top 10 films, z.slideshow · Tags A Star Is Born, Adam Driver, Adam Gough, Alfonso Cuarón, Anne Rosellini, Annihilation, Ari Aster, Barry Jenkins, BlacKkKlansman, Bo Burnham, Boots Riley, Bradley Cooper, Burning, Carlos López Estrada, Charlie Wachtel, Christian Bale, Cold War, David Rabinowitz, Deborah Davis, Debra Granik, Eddie Hamilton, Eighth Grade, Elizabeth Debicki, Emma Stone, Ethan Hawke, First Reformed, Free Solo, Gillian Flynn, Hereditary, If Beale Street Could Talk, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, James Laxton, Jeff Whitty, Joaquin Phoenix, Joe Walker, John David Washington, Justin Hurwitz, Kevin Willmott, Lady Gaga, Linus Sandgren, Ludwig Göransson, Lukasz Zal, Lynne Ramsay, Mahershala Ali, Michael B. Jordan, Minding the Gap, Mirai, Nicholas Britell, Nicole Holofcener, Olivia Colman, Paul Schrader, Rachel Weisz, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Regina Hall, Regina King, Richard E. Grant, Robbie Ryan, Roma, Shirkers, Shoplifters, Sorry to Bother You, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Spike Lee, Steve McQueen, Steven Yeun, Suspiria, The Favourite, Thom Yorke, Thomasin McKenzie, Three Identical Strangers, Tom Cross, Toni Collette, Tony McNamara, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Yalitza Aparicio, Yorgos Lanthimos, Yorgos Mavropsaridis, You Were Never Really Here, Zama
Posted by Jared Mobarak on October 22, 2018 · Leave a Comment
“Are you going to watch?” Many assumptions can be made during the opening scene of Jacques Audiard‘s The Sisters Brothers. It’s here where we meet the titular siblings (John C. Reilly‘s Eli and Joaquin Phoenix‘s Charlie Sisters) approaching a ranch with a clear warning of only wanting the man they’ve come to kill. A firefight […]
Category action/adventure, comedy, film reviews · Tags Jacques Audiard, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly, Patrick DeWitt, Rebecca Root, Riz Ahmed, Rutger Hauer, The Sisters Brothers, Thomas Bidegain
Posted by Jared Mobarak on April 24, 2018 · Leave a Comment
“I must do better, sir” An unparalleled exercise in economy, Lynne Ramsay‘s You Were Never Really Here cements her status as a cinematic master. This brutal thriller runs a deliberate yet swift 89-minutes, its central character a man of few words with violence bubbling just beneath a too large heart for the hostile world that’s […]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on September 22, 2015 · Leave a Comment
“Swerve” It’s no secret that M. Night Shyamalan needed a winner after a string of box office and commercial failures. Firmly in the minority saying The Village and Lady in the Water are his two best—the former is one of my all-time favorites—my idea of his failings doesn’t necessarily coincide with the movie-going public, but […]
Category comedy, film reviews, horror · Tags Deanna Dunagan, Ed Oxenbould, Joaquin Phoenix, Kathryn Hahn, Lady in the Water, M. Night Shyamalan, Olivia DeJonge, Peter McRobbie, Signs, The Village, The Visit
Posted by Jared Mobarak on December 11, 2014 · Leave a Comment
“Something Spanish” While no stranger to comedy, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson had yet to go full screwball as he does with Thomas Pynchon‘s Inherent Vice. I shouldn’t say “full” considering the laughs are desert dry and delivered with the utmost severity, but laugh-out-loud wouldn’t be an out of question turn of phrase to utilize if […]
Category comedy, drama, film reviews · Tags Chinatown, Eric Roberts, Hong Chau, Inherent Vice, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Katherine Waterston, Keith Jardine, Martin Short, Owen Wilson, Paul Thomas Anderson, Reese Witherspoon, Sasha Pieterse, Thomas Pynchon, William S. Burroughs
Posted by Jared Mobarak on June 12, 2014 · Leave a Comment
“The things you do to survive” While we may not possess that ideal “good” so many want to believe is intrinsic to humanity, sometimes even the worst of us can at the very least find a shred of remorse. “Sorry” will never be enough, though. It never can. But that lapse of amorality unearthing contrition […]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on March 1, 2014 · Leave a Comment
2013 has been a banner year for cinema with a slew of quality pictures that makes you wonder how only nine got enough first place votes to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Most of my favorites could have filled that elusive tenth spot for some added acclaim—whether having a chance to win or […]
Category essays, top 10 films, z.slideshow · Tags 12 Years a Slave, 20 Feet From Stardom, A Band Called Death, A Separation, A Touch of Sin, Adèle Exarchopoulos, After Tiller, Ain't Them Bodies Saints, Al-Midan, Alfonso Cuarón, American Hustle, Amy Adams, Asghar Farhadi, Barkhad Abdi, Bastards, Before Midnight, Before Sunset, Blackfish, Blood Brother, Blue Is the Warmest Color, Blue Jasmine, Brie Larson, Call Me Kuchu, Captain Phillips, Casey Affleck, Cate Blanchett, Charlie Kaufman, Child's Pose, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cutie and the Boxer, Dallas Buyers Club, David Lowery, David O. Russell, Dead Man Down, Despicable Me 2, Destin Daniel Cretton, Downloaded, Emma Thompson, Epic, Ethan Hawke, Europa Report, Frozen, Fruitvale Station, Gravity, Greta Gerwig, Harmony Korine, Her, I'm So Excited!, iNumber Number, Jagten, James Franco, Jared Leto, Jehane Noujaim, Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Phoenix, John Dies at the End, Jonah Hill, Julie Delpy, June Squibb, Kaze Tachinu, L'image manquante, La grande bellezza, La Vénus à la fourrure, La vie d'Adèle, Le passé, Léa Seydoux, Lee Daniel's The Butler, Leonardo DiCaprio, Les salauds, Leviathan, Like Father Like Son, Lupita Nyong’o, Mads Mikkelsen, Margot Robbie, Martin Scorsese, Matthew McConaughey, Melonie Diaz, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Fassbender, Monsters University, Mud, Museum Hours, Narco Cultura, Nebraska, Noah Baumbach, Octavia Spencer, Oldboy, Omar, One Night, Only Lovers Left Alive, Oprah Winfrey, Poziţia copilului, Primer, Quartet, Richard Linklater, Rooney Mara, Ryan Coogler, Sally Hawkins, Saving Mr. Banks, Scarlet Johansson, Shane Carruth, Short Term 12, Simon Killer, Skrillex, Spike Jonze, Spring Breakers, Steve McQueen, The Croods, The East, The Great Beauty, The Hunt, The Lords of Salem, The Missing Picture, The Past, The Square, The Wind Rises, The Wolf of Wall Street, Una noche, Upstream Color, Venus in Fur
Posted by Jared Mobarak on February 27, 2014 · 1 Comment
The Oscars are generally quite boring, since we often know well in advance what is going to win Best Picture, Director, etc. But this year? Not so much. Sure, there are heavy favorites — see below. But it is entirely possible there will be some real surprises. Of course, I could be completely wrong. But […]
Category essays, oscars · Tags 12 Years a Slave, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Albert Berger, Alexander Payne, Alfonso Cuarón, American Hustle, Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway, Anthony Katagas, August: Osage County, Avatar, Barkhad Abdi, Before Midnight, Ben Affleck, Billy Ray, Blue Jasmine, Bob Nelson, Brad Pitt, Bradley Cooper, Brie Larson, Bruce Dern, Captain Phillips, Cate Blanchett, Charles Roven, Charlie Kaufman, Children of Men, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christian Bale, Craig Borten, Dallas Buyers Club, Dana Brunetti, David Heyman, David O. Russell, Dazed and Confused, Dede Gardner, Dirty Pretty Things, Doubt, Emma Thompson, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Eric Warren Singer, Ethan Hawke, Fruitvale Station, Gabrielle Tana, George Clooney, Gladiator, Gravity, Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, Jack Nicholson, James Franco, Jared Leto, Jeff Pope, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Kleiner, Joaquin Phoenix, Joey McFarland, John Goodman, John Ridley, Jonah Hill, Jonathan Gordon, Judi Dench, Julia Roberts, Julie Delpy, June Squibb, Kim Krizan, Lee Daniel's The Butler, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lupita Nyong’o, Magic Mike, Martin Scorsese, Matthew McConaughey, Megan Ellison, Melisa Wallack, Meryl Streep, Mia Farrow, Michael B. Jordan, Michael De Luca, Michael Fassbender, Nebraska, Octavia Spencer, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Oprah Winfrey, Philomena, Rachel Winter, Richard Farnsworth, Richard Linklater, Richard Suckle, Robbie Brenner, Ron Yerxa, Rosemary's Baby, Sally Hawkins, Sandra Bullock, Scott Rudin, Shame, Silver Linings Playbook, Spike Jonze, Spring Breakers, Steve Coogan, Steve McQueen, Steven Soderbergh, Susan Lucci, Terence Winter, The Fighter, The Hunger Games, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Master, The Paperboy, The Wolf of Wall Street, Tracey Seaward, Traffic, Tropic Thunder, True Detective, Vincent Landay, Winter’s Bone, Woody Allen
Posted by Jared Mobarak on January 13, 2014 · Leave a Comment
“Hey, do you want to have a Sunday adventure with me?” The first thing I wondered upon hearing Spike Jonze‘s new film concerned a man who falls in love with his computer’s intuitive operating system was how he’d thematically comment on the lack of physical connectivity inherent to such a pairing. What didn’t cross my […]
Category comedy, drama, film reviews, romance, science fiction, z.slideshow · Tags Amy Adams, Being John Malkovich, Chris Pratt, Her, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Romanek, Matt Letscher, Never Let Me Go, Rooney Mara, Samantha Morton, Scarlett Johansson, Spike Jonze
Posted by Jared Mobarak on December 2, 2013 · Leave a Comment
“Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover” is a proverb whose simple existence proves the fact impressionable souls will do so without fail. This monthly column focuses on the film industry’s willingness to capitalize on this truth, releasing one-sheets to serve as not representations of what audiences are to expect, but as propaganda to fill […]
Category film features, posterized propaganda · Tags 28 Days Later, 47 Ronin, Adam McKay, Alice Eve, American Hustle, Amy Adams, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, ARSONAL, Art Machine A Trailer Park Company, aSquared Design Group, August: Osage County, AV Squad, Ben Stiller, Blood & Chocolate, BLT Communications LLC, BOND, Boogie Nights, BULLDOG, Cold Open, David Koechner, Grudge Match, Her, Ignition Print, Inside Llewyn Davis, Jennifer Lawrence, Joaquin Phoenix, Jon Bernthal, Jordan Belfort, Josh Brolin, Kanye West, Kate Winslet, Kevin Hart, Killer Joe, Labor Day, Last Days on Mars, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Freeman, Martin Scorsese, Midnight Oil Creative, Mission to Mars, Oscar Isaac, Outer Arc, Peter Jackson, Red Planet, Robert De Niro, Some Velvet Morning, Spike Jonze, SportsCenter, Stanley Tucci, Statement Advertising, Sylvester Stallone, Terry Gilliam, The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Wolf of Wall Street, Tracy Letts, Walking with Dinosaurs, Will Ferrell
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