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: True Grit [2010]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on December 23, 2010 · Leave a Comment
“A saucy line will not get you very far with me” The Coen Brothers have been on such a roll the past four years. While they’ve gone serious for the most part, the trademark wit has not disappeared from the dramatic entries to their oeuvre. Still able to hit the funny bone full bore—see Burn […]
REVIEW: Blood Simple. [1984]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on October 7, 2010 · Leave a Comment
“I ain’t done nothin’ funny” It took Fargo—thirteen years later—for the Coen Brothers to finally get recognition at the Oscars with three nominations culminating in a win for Best Screenplay. Then it was another eleven before their first Best Picture win. And if you look at that victory with No Country for Old Men alongside […]
Category drama, film reviews, suspense/thriller · Tags A Serious Man, Barry Sonnenfeld, Barton Fink, Blood Simple., Burn After Reading, Coen Brothers, Dan Hedaya, Deborah Neumann, Fargo, Frances McDormand, John Getz, M. Emmet Walsh, Miller’s Crossing, No Country for Old Men, Raising Arizona, Samm-Art Williams
REVIEW: A Serious Man [2009]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on December 1, 2009 · 1 Comment
“Did he tell you about the Goy’s teeth?” Despite the prevalent use of Hebrew without translation and, I’m sure, many instances of Jewish culture that I am unfamiliar with, I really enjoyed the new Coen Brothers film A Serious Man. The film, while a bit odd and seemingly schizophrenic in tone, is vintage Coen, harkening […]
REVIEW: All the Pretty Horses [2000]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on September 26, 2009 · Leave a Comment
“I have no honor but my promise” I shied away from Billy Bob Thornton’s All the Pretty Horses because the Weinsteins had billed it as a romance and all I had read said it was terrible. Now, almost a decade since its release, and the addition of two stellar films based on Cormac McCarthy novels, […]
REVIEW: Burn After Reading [2008]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on September 20, 2008 · Leave a Comment
“His optometrist has a sense of humor” Last year’s No Country for Old Men showed the world that the Coen Brothers could make a great film. After a pair of not-so-good flicks, no one really cared about them, two creative geniuses that crafted some of cinema’s best black comedies of the 80s and 90s. Then […]
Top 25 Films of 2007
Posted by Jared Mobarak on January 25, 2008 · 2 Comments
(short and sweet and to the point; culled from watching 114 releases. constantly updated as i catch up to those i missed. click poster for review if applicable) #25: Away From Her directed by Sarah Polley. #24: Cassandra’s Dream directed by Woody Allen. #23: The Cake Eaters directed byMary Stuart Masterson #22: Grindhouse directed byQuentin […]
Category top 10 films by year, top 10 lists · Tags 300, Andrew Dominik, Anton Corbijn, Atonement, Away From Her, Ben Affleck, Black Snake Moan, Brad Bird, Cashback, Cassandra’s Dream, Control, Craig Brewer, Danny Boyle, David Cronenberg, Eastern Promises, Edgar Wright, El Orfanato, Ethan Coen, First Snow, Gone Baby Gone, Grindhouse, Hot Fuzz, Into the Wild, Jason Reitman, Joe Wright, Joel Coen, John Carney, Juan Antonio Bayona, Julian Schnabel, Juno, Le scaphandre et le papillon, Mark Fergus, Mary Stuart Masterson, Matthew Vaughn, Mike Binder, Mira Nair, No Country for Old Men, Once, Quentin Tarantino, Ratatouille, Reign Over Me, Robert Rodriguez, Sarah Polley, Sean Ellis, Sean Penn, Stardust, Sunshine, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Cake Eaters, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The Namesake, The Orphanage, Woody Allen, Zack Snyder
Top Ten Films of 2007: The Year of the Adaptation
Posted by Jared Mobarak on January 4, 2008 · Leave a Comment
It was a year of many genres. We had some musicals, a few dramas, comedies galore, a little sci-fi, and a couple bio-pics sprinkled in to satiate the kiddies and Oscar voters. If anything, I guess one trend seemed to rise above, that being the adaptation, whether from plays (Sweeney Todd), novels (Zodiac), or comics […]
Category essays, top 10 films · Tags 2001: A Space Odyssey, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, 300, 4 Months, 4 Months 3 Weeks 2 Days, A History of Violence, After the Wedding, Atonement, Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Cashback, Cloverfield, Control, David Cronenberg, Eastern Promises, Eddie Veddar, Edgar Wright, El Orfanato, Emile Hirsch, First Snow, Gone Baby Gone, Grace is Gone, Hot Fuzz, Into the Wild, Irrfan Khan, Joe Wright, Juno, La Vie en rose, My Blueberry Nights, No Country for Old Men, Once, Reservation Road, Sam Riley, Simon Pegg, Slipstream, Son of Rambow, Sophie’s Choice, Southland Tales, Stardust, Sunshine, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The Happening, The Namesake, There Will Be Blood, Vantage Point, WALL•E, Wristcutters: A Love Story, Zodiac
REVIEW: No Country for Old Men [2007]
Posted by Jared Mobarak on November 21, 2007 · 1 Comment
“Got some hard bark on that one” The Coen Brothers are most definitely back in form. While No Country for Old Men is not a perfect film, it is masterfully crafted and orchestrated to brilliant effect. Miller’s Crossing remains the one and only masterpiece from them, in my opinion, but this new one ranks right […]
Category drama, film reviews, suspense/thriller · Tags Barton Fink, Coen Brothers, Cormac McCarthy, Fargo, Garret Dillahunt, Grindhouse, Intolerable Cruelty, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Kelly MacDonald, Miller’s Crossing, No Country for Old Men, Robert Rodriguez, Stephen Root, The Ladykillers, Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson
Recent Comments