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FANTASIA16 REVIEW: The Alchemist Cookbook [2016]

2016/07/122016/07/21 Jared Mobarak

“This human form, which I was born, I now repent” I have no clue why Sean (Ty Hickson) messes with the titular book in Joel Potrykus‘ The Alchemist Cookbook. He doesn’t seem to care about money while living as a hermit inside a hidden trailer deep within the woods—bill collectors “no longer owning him”—so gold is out of the question. It might be for an elixir of immortality, his ritualistic incantations recalling satanic verse in search of dealing with a demonic presence that only pentagrams and dead animals hope to…

FANTASIA16 REVIEW: Crimson Dance [2016]

2016/07/112016/07/23 Jared Mobarak

“Welcome to the Bloody Burlesque Freak Show” Letting American burlesque dancer Tonya Kay perform an interpretive, sensual dance with blood isn’t necessarily the first thing that comes to my mind when thinking about ways to raise public consciousness about donating this crucial fluid, yet here we are. Writer/director Patricia Chica not only thought it, she filmed it as the 4-minute short Crimson Dance—a document of the performance as it is staged with the addition of a surreally aroused crowd bloodthirsty enough to probably lick the substance off Kay’s skin if…

HOTDOCS16 REVIEW: Hotel Dallas [2016]

2016/04/182016/05/03 Jared Mobarak

“What time spits back, history devours and fatten itself on what we lack” Despite the name Hotel Dallas and general premise surrounding a replica of Southfork Ranch (where both the old and new “Dallas” series were filmed) built in Romania by an aspiring capitalist, husband and wife directing duo Sherng-Lee Huang and Livia Ungur‘s film is really about a country crippled under its past that’s still unsure of its future. It’s about art and its ability to speak to people’s hearts and souls whether seeking to do so or not.…

NoHoIFF16 REVIEW: Admins [2016]

2016/04/042016/04/23 Jared Mobarak

“I think I deal with more idiots” The beautiful thing about office inhabitants’ inability to muster up the initiative to learn one iota of technological troubleshooting so as not to prove beholden to an IT department that loathes them is the sheer fact nothing will ever change. While each subsequent generation has a better grasp on what’s happening around them, they’ll remain behind the curve because they refuse to upgrade their knowledge with the latest electronic devices and sophisticated operating systems by choosing to stand still instead. Holdovers from bygone…

NoHoIFF16 REVIEW: Gazelle: The Love Issue [2014]

2016/04/022016/04/23 Jared Mobarak

“There is beauty in everything” New York is full of unique individuals. It’s a haven for them to be able to walk down the street with glances of intrigue rather than disgust. Gazelle is just one “Freak Chic” ambassador, but she is also possibly the most important. This isn’t because her style is best or because she is famous beyond the reach of the underground nightclub scene. No, it’s because she’s fearless in providing a voice for those much of the country would love to marginalize and forget. She leaves…

NoHoIFF16 REVIEW: Projections of America [2014]

2016/03/302016/04/23 Jared Mobarak

“To introduce America to millions of people throughout the world” It doesn’t take long for optimism to change to naiveté—a lesson learned from watching Peter Miller‘s informative documentary Projections of America. The film focuses on a series of twenty-six shorts produced during World War II by Robert Riskin and the European branch of America’s Office of War Information. This “propaganda of truth” was meant to instill a sense of hope and freedom in those liberated from the Nazi’s Fascist regime. They didn’t show America’s military strength, but instead our humanity.…

INTERVIEW: Stephen Frears, director of The Program

2016/03/132020/03/21 Jared Mobarak

It’s proving to be a couple of busy months for legendary director Stephen Frears, fresh off his delightful true-life story Philomena making an Oscar run in 2013. Not only does he have his Lance Armstrong biopic The Program opening US theaters this Friday (March 18th), but his newest Florence Foster Jenkins also hits UK screens May 6th. It appears the filmmaker has embraced telling the tales of real people whether of empathetic note or infamy. This hectic schedule made cementing an interview very difficult, regardless, we were still able to…

BERLINALE16 REVIEW: Ani ve snu! [In Your Dreams!] [2016]

2016/02/102016/02/15 Jared Mobarak

“I hate the ropes” The world of Parkour meets teenage coming-of-age angst in Petr Oukropec‘s Ani ve snu! [In Your Dreams!] and it’s a welcome mixture. Whereas most sports inherently breed competition to the point that American films must delineate good versus bad or favorite versus underdog because they underestimate their audience, the urban appropriation of French Special Forces training (Parcours du combattant) here deals in the communal spirit of freedom. There’s a kinship between participants—one highlighted by the Prague group that Egon Tobiás‘ script creates—wherein “pros” and “amateurs” alike…

Posterized Propaganda January 2016: The Top 10 Movie Posters of 2015

2015/12/302020/04/02 Jared Mobarak

“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 (with a special year-end retrospective today) 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 seats. Oftentimes they fail miserably. It hasn’t been a great year for domestic movie poster design. Yes there are always a handful to admire each month, but that’s not…

BIFF15 REVIEW: In the Dark [2015]

2015/10/182015/10/20 Jared Mobarak

“Atheist searching for a miracle” There’s nothing like a good cold open to set the mood and David Spaltro‘s In the Dark gets out of the gate running. It introduces us to Joan (Catherine Cobb Ryan) and Bethany Mills (Grace Folsom)—a seemingly wholesome mother and daughter duo connected by love and respect. The former has returned home from a long shift at work and the latter’s stuck in “the zone” painting her canvases into the wee hours of night. There’s relief in Joan’s face, but we don’t yet know why.…

BIFF15 REVIEW: They Look Like People [2015]

2015/10/172017/04/17 Jared Mobarak

“You must prepare for the war” **POTENTIAL SPOILERS** I do not consider They Look Like People‘s Wyatt (MacLeod Andrews) being revealed as schizophrenic to be a spoiler. He goes to see a psychiatrist pretty early on and is in a constant battle with himself to figure out what’s real and what isn’t. Rather than be a film about whether or not he’s sane, I read it as a mystery carefully hiding exactly what he’s imagining. There may truly be an invasion reaching a fever pitch around him wherein evil creatures…