Tag: The Shield

TIFF13 REVIEW: Jimi: All Is by My Side [All Is by My Side] [2014]

Jared Mobarak

“The rest is just painted with a little science fiction” On paper a biopic of Jimi Hendrix without the rights to his music seems like a complete waste of time. Even with John Ridley‘s All Is by My Side detailing the guitarist’s two years prior to the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, the thought of not using an iconic track for the credits is a daunting one to overcome. Thankfully, with a bit of ingenious sound design and multiple sensory collages of images and music, we’re able to experience the…

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REVIEW: Miracle at St. Anna [2008]

Jared Mobarak

“I know who the sleeping man is” Spike Lee has left me confused after viewing his new WWII epic Miracle at St. Anna. This film is a jumbled mess of great sequences, surreal moments, and short bridge scenes thrown in to advanced a contrived plot and then left on the floor to possibly come back to at the end. I give the marketing people credit for keeping a veil of intrigue over the movie, never really delving into what the plot truly is. At the heart of the story is…

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REVIEW: Semi-Pro [2008]

Jared Mobarak

“Softest hands in the world” Will Ferrell has done it again. He got my butt in the seat based off a funny trailer and funnier spoof premise despite the fact I knew I would end up hating the film. Yes, I did not like it much at all. Probably more entertaining than its predecessors, I found myself laughing big at more scenes, rather than just laughs in one or two sequences. I credit this fact to it not trying to be a movie, but instead relying on its strung together…

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REVIEW: Disturbia [2007]

Jared Mobarak

“Coffee and donuts” I understand that the new movie Disturbia is about a person who is unable to leave his room and must look out the window for entertainment. During his peeping sessions, he finds that his neighbor might be a killer and by doing so, tries to get everyone around him to help find out the truth. That premise, and that premise alone, is the ONLY thing that likens this movie to Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece of tension and technical genius, Rear Window. Director D.J. Caruso has taken this script,…

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REVIEW: The Last King of Scotland [2006]

Jared Mobarak

“Do you have monkeys in Scotland?” What happens when a precocious young doctor gets a feeling of claustrophobia at home and decides to travel the world to bring help while having fun in the process? Kevin Macdonald’s The Last King of Scotland tries to show us the answers in the midst of Idi Amin’s rise to power in Uganda. While not a biopic, the film is also not a narrative fiction of any real weight. Instead this is a tale of a monster through the eyes of someone whose innocence…

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