Tag: Natalie Morales

REVIEW: Language Lessons [2021]

Jared Mobarak

I’ve lost my words. For Cariño (Natalie Morales), teaching Spanish via Skype to students anywhere in the world pays the bills. The assumption is that most clients are either children being made to learn by their parents or adults in need of a crash course before heading on vacation. If the money clears, who cares? She gives them their hour and they can take as much or as little from it as they want. The one common thread, however, should be that everyone is aware of what it is they’re…

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REVIEW: Plan B [2021]

Jared Mobarak

There are no ‘smart‘ mistakes. It was about halfway through Natalie Morales‘ Plan B (her directorial debut if you go by theatrical release date considering her festival title Language Lessons from earlier this year has yet to secure one) that Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg‘s producer credits came into focus because it was there that the parallels to Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle became undeniable. If actor-turned-director Olivia Wilde‘s Booksmart was created in the Superbad vein, Joshua Levy and Prathiksha Srinivasan‘s script was certainly drawn from that of…

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REVIEW: Happily [2021]

Jared Mobarak

I could have made that omelet. I can’t tell you how many times a friend has come up to me with a story that positions their significant other as the proverbial albatross around their neck with a look that screams, “Amirite?” only to have me shrug, smile, and reply, “I don’t know. I actually like my partner.” I only partially say this in jest because I do hope they’ll hear those words and rethink their situation—their refusal to acknowledge their own part in their problems, the possibility that their relationship…

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REVIEW: Battle of the Sexes [2017]

Jared Mobarak

“Libbers not lobbers” Between the title and trailer, I assumed Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris‘ Battle of the Sexes would focus strictly on the circus surrounding the event itself. It’s not like there isn’t enough content to make that happen between the political, social, and athletic motivations behind the media frenzy. But screenwriter Simon Beaufoy knew he had to go further back to truly understand the climate that led to former champion and current senior tour member Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) calling up Billie Jean King (Emma Stone)—arguably the best…

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