Jared Mobarak

[Review] 300: Rise of an Empire

This is what a copy of a copy looks like. It pretends to be equal to the original—and in some aspects proves to be exactly the same—yet arrives seven years afte...

Posterized March 2014: ‘Noah’, ‘Nymphomaniac,’ ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel,’ ‘Enemy’ & More

Has summer started early? Big blockbusters like Divergent, Noah, 300: Rise of an Empire, and Need for Speed are releasing in March—I guess they must therefore be the studios’ lesser box office juggernauts. You know, the ones they aren’t quite sure will earn the bank they had hoped when forking over the cash for production. Tween action/romances did not fare well last year, no one knows who Noah is targeting besides Darren Aronofsky fans, Rise looks like a 300 rip-off, and Need for Speed is, well, exactly what you’d think from a racing video game property. At least some of their posters are pretty …...

[Review] Odd Thomas

It's August 14th in Pico Mundo, CA and the world is about to end. Well, not the world per se, but the community young Odd Thomas (Anton Yelchin) resides. Sort o...

[Review] Non-Stop

Deflection could have just as easily been another title for Non-Stop, because screenwriters John W. Richardson, Christopher Roach, and Ryan Engle (none of whom ...

[Review] Child’s Pose

What does it mean to be a parent? To take a blanketed, personal responsibility for the good and the bad of your child’s actions? This question is at the heart o...

[Review] Down and Dangerous

If you’re familiar with writer/director Zak Forsman’s work you’ll know that it was only a matter of time before he branched out from subtle character pieces to ...

[Review] Vic + Flo Saw a Bear

Writer/director Denis Côté's latest, Alfred Bauer Prize-winning (Berlin International Film Festival) Vic + Flo Saw a Bear is a mysteriously captivating creature...

[Review] Lust for Love

First-time writer/director Anton King's Lust for Love is primed for audience consumption two years and change after its Kickstarter campaign went live. A labor ...

Jared Mobarak

Jared Mobarak is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic for The Film Stage, Art Director for Buffalo, NY film series Cultivate Cinema Circle, and member of OFCS and GWNYFCA. You can follow his cinematic viewing habits at Letterboxd.