Peter Gallagher | www.jaredmobarak.com

REVIEW: The Player [1992]

2016/10/292016/10/30 Jared Mobarak

“… with a heart” When thinking about a satire on Hollywood, the idea to glorify its luck, ego, and excess rather than vilify probably wouldn’t be the direction your mind gravitates towards. To some extent this may ensure the exercise will prove pointless because the message shifts from showing everything wrong that needs fixing into everything wrong that you can also enjoy if the opportunity to join the hedonistic fun ever presented itself. You wouldn’t necessarily take the time to lambast if you weren’t angry at the status quo and…

REVIEW: Adam [2009]

2009/08/182011/08/24 Jared Mobarak

“You are a part of me” **Spoilers Included** Right from the get-go, I knew that Adam was going to be an enjoyable, smartly told tale of love despite humanity’s predilection for preconceptions. Just the fact that the film was about a young man with Asperger Syndrome who meets a young girl across the hall of his apartment complex tells you that this won’t be your run-of-the-mill rom-com. You have to believe that filmmaker Max Mayer will treat the material with compassion and intelligence; this is not a laugh-out-loud vehicle to…

REVIEW: sex, lies, and videotape [1989]

2006/12/112011/08/24 Jared Mobarak

“Never take advice from someone you don’t know intimately” Here we have the film that put frequent indie/mainstream crossover, powerhouse director Steven Soderbergh on the cinematic map. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect having never seen it and hearing all the hype surrounding it. For some reason I thought there was an NC-17 controversy swirling around its release before finally being given an R rating and was a bit intrigued what could possibly have caused it. To my surprise there was no nudity whatsoever and besides the frequent swearing…