Day: October 17, 2015

BIFF15 REVIEW: They Look Like People [2015]

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…

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BIFF15 REVIEW: Strange Bird [2015]

Jared Mobarak

“Happy Birthday, Emma” After their screening premiere of Strange Bird at the Buffalo International Film Festival, co-writers Daniel Mecca (who also co-directs with Timothy Ringwood) and Conor O’Donnell explained how much of the short’s final cut was found in the editing room. This makes perfect sense as there’s no dialogue for almost the entire first half, replaced instead by quick vignettes delving into Detective Henry Harker’s (Justin Osterthaler) fragile state of mind. It’s a boldly relevant choice because we don’t need words to understand this man’s pain as he travels…

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BIFF15 REVIEW: Emelie [2015]

Jared Mobarak

“Everyone dies at some point” It begins with the abduction of a girl. The scene is quiet and innocuous until it isn’t—a car rolling up to a young girl to ask for directions as children play in the background. The driver says, “Are you Anna?” before a man grabs her and shoves her in the car the instant she says, “Yes.” We watch as though a voyeur behind the trees, helpless to do anything but wait to see what happens while a boy on his bike (Dante Hoagland‘s Howie) rides…

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BIFF15 REVIEW: Prescient [2015]

Jared Mobarak

“Things would have been very different if it weren’t for her” Theodore Meridian (Michael Piccirilli) sees the future—a very specific future. If the person he locks eyes with is destined to die within 24-hours, he’ll catch a glimpse of their demise. This power has haunted him since childhood and only his Aunt Kay (Bryna Weiss), who raised him after his parents died, knows the effect it’s had. We assume Theodore dealt with it by diverting his eyes in public and desperately trying to forget what he saw because he willfully…

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