Month: April 2012

REVIEW: Serbuan maut [The Raid] [2012]

Jared Mobarak

“And please, enjoy yourself” Like a musical’s plot finding itself mere rubber cement desperately trying to hold the song and dance numbers together—I know this is a broad generalization of a genre I do in fact enjoy—the story in Serbuan maut [The Raid] never attempts to overshadow the amazing stunt choreography let loose. I refuse to acknowledge the newly plastered on subtitle ‘Redemption’ since it is unnecessary superfluity and doesn’t even describe what occurs. Only one character can be redeemed—to say who would ruin its not-so-cleverly deceiving twist—and he refuses…

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BNFF12 REVIEW: Moon Point [2012]

Jared Mobarak

“My grandmother doesn’t let me out of the house without coupons” If quirky indie had a handbook, Moon Point would be a film ripped from its pages. Beginning with a handmade credit sequence of cardboard Valentine’s cards with names of the cast and crew a la Napoleon Dynamite‘s geek chic, you know what to expect very early on. And when the opening line deals with the crass recollection of childbirth as though the funniest subject on Earth, perverted ice cream truck drivers, homicidal karaoke contest winners, and the weirdest innkeeper…

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REVIEW: Just Friends [2005]

Jared Mobarak

“Does this hat make me look fat?” The memory of All-4-One lives on in a laugh-out-loud lip-synched rendition from Ryan Reynolds in the romantic comedy Just Friends. A film suggested to me by many, their descriptions always began with an, “it’s stupid, but really, really funny.” They were not wrong as any substantial plot involving the leading ex-BFFs ten years later is ignored in order to showcase a rising Reynolds and his self-deprecating ability to make a fool of himself. Between wearing a fat suit, myriad of pratfalls, and constant…

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BNFF12 REVIEW: Chercher le courant [Seeking the Current] [2011]

Jared Mobarak

“The nationalization of energy” The documentary Chercher le courant [Seeking the Current] is a very interesting project. Both a labor of love to document the gorgeous natural expanse of the 500-kilometer Romaine River in Quebec as well as a look into the alternative energy methods that could replace its forthcoming destruction, we are educated on a visceral and intellectual level in man’s ability to remorselessly carve through our environment. With Hydro-Québec positioned as an enemy to Mother Nature itself, the film plays as a liberal cry for justice against big…

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BNFF12 REVIEW: Ordinary Joe [2012]

Jared Mobarak

“For an easier path we give up life” Men like Joe Sciacca are a rare breed. A blue-collar roofer from Long Island, NY, Joe is a Vietnam War veteran who has returned each year for months at a time to facilitate charitable donations by his community and bring smiles to the impoverished and sick he visits. Ordinary Joe tells us he was in Vietnam during the war rather than in it because his experience with the country’s citizens was one of hospitality and friendship. The people he helped as a…

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BNFF12 REVIEW: 10Terrorists! [2012]

Jared Mobarak

“What’s the difference between a terrorist and a person?” It’s not a matter of if we’ll ever get to the point where reality television tackles a subject like terrorism for entertainment, but when. Preempting that unfortunate day, writer/director Dee McLachlan gives us the very funny and timely game show entitled “Who Wants to be a Terrorist” as the premise to her satiric look at salacious media and the warped minds it reaches, 10Terrorists! Mocking the likes of “American Idol”, “The Amazing Race”, “The Apprentice”, and “Iron Chef” amongst others, the…

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BNFF12 REVIEW: Brother Time [2012]

Jared Mobarak

“Better to sleep in the cold than be killed” Westerners look at a country like Kenya and see turmoil, violence, and poverty. Most could care less about what happens in Africa because it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of their lives. But watching a documentary like Wesley Shrum‘s Brother Time shows how universal humanity is along the large and varied spectrums of economics and sociology. Just because we see ourselves as civilized doesn’t make others not. Even amidst the horrific tribal wars that raged inside the Rift Valley after…

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REVIEW: American Reunion [2012]

Jared Mobarak

“I snagged a pelt or two” Considering the American Pie saga pretty much paved the way for films like Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, it’s a fitting turn of events to see Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg bring the East Great Falls kids back for their thirteenth reunion. Wait, thirteenth? What happened to the tenth? It sounds contrived, but it’s also exactly the kind of stupid idea MILF Guy #2 (John Cho) would pull to relive the days of old and show off his glorious new ‘stache. The…

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REVIEW: American Wedding [2003]

Jared Mobarak

“We should all be so happy” You don’t know how great it was seeing Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and Jim (Jason Biggs) shoot down Kevin’s (Thomas Ian Nicholas) latest attempt at the “taking the next step” speech in American Wedding. I love it when filmmakers—in this case stalwart Adam Herz steering the ship with his third director in as many installments—can mock themselves for the formulaic redundancies fans easily pick out. College is over and the East Great Falls boys have officially become citizens of adulthood. The only step left…

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