Posted by Jared Mobarak on August 15, 2017 · Leave a Comment
“You learn from living. Everything else is a damn lie.” It’s easy to dismiss films like Destin Daniel Cretton‘s The Glass Castle for losing their bite upon reaching a conclusion nobody can deny is melodramatically sentimental. You’ve watched Jeannette Walls’ (Brie Larson) decades-long journey of psychological pain and suffering wrought during her upbringing and ever-present […]
Category biography, drama, film reviews · Tags Andrew Lanham, Brie Larson, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Chandler Head, Destin Daniel Cretton, Ella Anderson, Jeannette Walls, Josh Caras, Naomi Watts, Robin Bartlett, Sarah Snook, The Glass Castle, Woody Harrelson
Posted by Jared Mobarak on June 20, 2017 · Leave a Comment
“I want to see the sky” There’s a lot of backlash against director Colin Trevorrow for reasons he didn’t necessarily earn. Most of the vitriol stems from his being scooped up by the Hollywood studio machine after helming just one indie film. That debut was the Sundance award-winning Safety Not Guaranteed, a small-scale sci-fi written […]
Category drama, film reviews, suspense/thriller · Tags Colin Trevorrow, Dean Norris, Gregg Hurwitz, Jacob Tremblay, Jaeden Lieberher, Lee Pace, Maddie Ziegler, Maxwell Simkins, Naomi Watts, Sarah Silverman, The Book of Henry
Posted by Jared Mobarak on May 25, 2017 · Leave a Comment
“That guy could take a punch” Who is Chuck Wepner? It’s a legitimate question. I didn’t know—not that I’ve ever followed pugilism in my life. So when his story received the cinematic treatment from director Philippe Falardeau with the title The Bleeder, I honestly assumed fiction. Here comes another boxing movie about what’s assumedly a […]
Category biography, drama, film reviews, sports · Tags Chuck, Elisabeth Moss, Jason Jones, Jeff Feuerzeig, Jerry Stahl, Jim Gaffigan, Liev Schreiber, Michael Cristofer, Michael Rapaport, Morgan Spector, Naomi Watts, Philippe Falardeau, Pooch Hall, Rocky, Ron Perlman, Sadie Sink, The Bleeder
Posted by Jared Mobarak on April 13, 2016 · 3 Comments
“She always said I didn’t pay attention” Sometimes we can’t realize we’ve taken the easy road until it’s too late. It’s crass to say, but Davis Mitchell (Jake Gyllenhaal) was lucky to have been abruptly slapped awake when he was. The unfortunate side effect of his rebirth from the doldrums of routine and convenience: the […]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on September 13, 2015 · Leave a Comment
“I’m proud of you” I hate to be the guy to judge a book by its cover, but I admittedly did just that with Gaby Dellal‘s About Ray. It depicts the “unconventional” family of three generations with Susan Sarandon‘s Dodo, Naomi Watts as her daughter Maggie, and Elle Fanning‘s transitioning grandson/son respectfully named Ray (formerly […]
Category drama, film features, film festival, film reviews, toronto international film festival · Tags About Ray, Elle Fanning, Gaby Dellal, Linda Emond, Naomi Watts, Nikole Beckwith, Susan Sarandon, Tate Donovan, TIFF, Toronto International Film Festival
Posted by Jared Mobarak on April 20, 2015 · Leave a Comment
“Your troubles will cease and fortune will smile upon you” **POTENTIAL SPOILERS** I remember my head spinning about Stay after leaving the theatre. Not because David Benioff‘s script or Marc Forster‘s direction proved nuanced enough to shield the “reality” of what’s going on for any authentic surprise, but due to its visceral impact. The Guess […]
Category drama, film reviews, suspense/thriller · Tags BD Wong, Bob Hoskins, David Benioff, Elizabeth Reaser, Ewan McGregor, Janeane Garofalo, Jessica Hecht, John Tormey, Kate Burton, Marc Forster, Mark Margolis, Monster's Ball, Naomi Watts, Ryan Gosling, Stay, The Guess Who, The Kite Runner
Posted by Jared Mobarak on April 16, 2015 · Leave a Comment
“She is a mess. And an ugly eater.” I hated While We’re Young—a fact that actually increases my already healthy dose of respect for writer/director Noah Baumbach. He’s a filmmaker with the type of style, tone, and air of not quite tongue-in-cheek pretension you could pick out from across the room as his and his […]
Category comedy, drama, film reviews · Tags Adam Driver, Adam Horovitz, Amanda Seyfried, Ben Stiller, Brady Corbet, Charles Grodin, Frances Ha, Greenberg, Margot at the Wedding, Maria Dizzia, Matthew Maher, Naomi Watts, Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale, While We're Young
Posted by Jared Mobarak on March 20, 2015 · 1 Comment
“You have to forgive yourself” I don’t know which of the three writers credited (Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman, and Mark Bomback) on Insurgent is responsible for the complete overhaul of Veronica Roth‘s source novel, but I applaud him. If not for the retention of its characters’ arcs, one could argue the majority of this cinematic […]
Category action/adventure, film reviews, science fiction, suspense/thriller · Tags Akiva Goldsman, Allegiant: Part 1, Ansel Elgort, Brian Duffield, Divergent, Insurgent, Jonny Weston, Kate Winslet, Mark Bomback, Miles Teller, Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Ray Stevenson, Robert Schwentke, Shailene Woodley, Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Theo James, Veronica Roth
Posted by Jared Mobarak on November 5, 2014 · Leave a Comment
“The truth is always interesting” It’s true what the film’s Times‘ theater critic (Lindsay Duncan) says: an artist should bleed for his craft. Physically, spiritually, metaphorically—blood must be spilt so the world knows he was here, selflessly (selfishly?) making us laugh, cry, and reflect on lives well lived and squandered. This is why those who […]
Category comedy, drama, film reviews, z.slideshow · Tags Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Alfonso Cuarón, Andrea Riseborough, Anna Karenina, Armando Bo, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Children of Men, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Joe Wright, Lindsay Duncan, Michael Keaton, Naomi Watts, Nicolás Giacobone, Raymond Carver, Zach Galifianakis
Posted by Jared Mobarak on October 13, 2014 · Leave a Comment
“It is what it is” The Toronto International Film Festival appears to be embracing the quasi-family friendly odd couple comedy with R-rated color after last year’s Bad Words and this year’s St. Vincent, written and directed by Theodore Melfi and currently receiving theatrical release a month after its debut. Whereas the former went all-in with […]
Category comedy, drama, film reviews · Tags Bad Santa, Bad Words, Bill Murray, Billy Bob Thornton, Chris O'Dowd, Dario Barosso, Donna Mitchell, Jaeden Lieberher, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, St. Vincent, Terrence Howard, The Bad News Bears, The Beneficiary, Theodore Melfi, Walter Matthau
Posted by Jared Mobarak on October 1, 2014 · 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 A Scanner Darkly, Addicted, Ali Gray, Annabelle, Ansel Elgort, Bad Words, Banksy, Batman Begins, Ben Affleck, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), BLT Communications LLC, Brad Pitt, Cardinal Communications USA, David Fincher, Dear White People, Dominic Cooper, Dracula Untold, Edward Norton, Fury, Gone Girl, Gravillis Inc., Housebound, Ignition, InSync + BemisBalkind, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jake Paltrow, James Marsden, Jason Reitman, Jason Segel, John Wick, Jorge R. Gutierrez, Kaitlyn Dever, Keanu Reeves, Kellerhouse Inc., Laggies, Last Hijack, Luke Evans, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Max Headroom, Men Women & Children, Michael Keaton, Michael Shannon, Michelle Monaghan, Miles Teller, Moneyball, Naomi Watts, Nicholas Sparks, Nicolas Cage, Nightcrawler, Nights in Rodanthe, Nikkolas Smith Design, Ouija, P+A, Revenge of the Green Dragons, Richard Amsel, Richard Linklater, Rosamund Pike, Rosemarie DeWitt, Roy Lichtenstein, Safe Haven, Sam Rockwell, Shia LaBeouf, Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, Ten30 Studios, The Best of Me, The Book of Life, The Conjuring, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Lucky One, The Notebook, The Refinery, The Social Network, Tommy Pallotta, Waking Life, Whiplash, WORKS ADV, Young Ones
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