Musical/Concert | www.jaredmobarak.com

REVIEW: Inside Llewyn Davis [2013]

2014/01/162014/01/17 Jared Mobarak

“Llewyn is the cat” Can I chalk my ambivalence to the Coen Brothers‘ newest film Inside Llewyn Davis up to knowing nothing about the Greenwich Village folk music scene of 1961? It is after all loosely inspired by the life of Dave Van Ronk, containing aspects of his autobiography The Mayor of MacDougal Street for authenticity. But how much should knowing the setting of a story impact the enjoyment of what’s unfolding in its space? Shouldn’t the success of what the Coens have accomplished live or die by my interest…

REVIEW: Artifact [2013]

2013/11/302013/12/02 Jared Mobarak

“We put everything on black. And we rolled the dice.” Full disclosure on my feelings about Thirty Seconds to Mars: I’m a huge fan. When “Capricorn (A Brand New Name)” hit the radio waves, I was sold—not yet aware Jared Leto was the frontman or that the music wasn’t just another lame attempt by an actor to delve into another industry he/she knew nothing about. I torrented the disc, played it heavily on my iPod, and eventually purchased it as my way of saying they earned my support. I attended…

REVIEW: The Punk Singer [2013]

2013/11/242013/11/27 Jared Mobarak

“It’s all about screaming what’s unspoken” When Kathleen Hanna is shown sitting at her home discussing her exit from fronting Le Tigre, she says, “I felt I had said everything I wanted to say”. It’s the kind of sentiment that makes you truly respect an artist, knowing they weren’t in it for the money or the fame. They used their art as a platform to share their ideals and try to change an injustice in the world. And while we quickly discover this reason was in fact a lie—The Punk…

REVIEW: Broadway Idiot [2013]

2013/10/162013/10/17 Jared Mobarak

“I can’t act. I can’t dance. Compared to a lot of these people I can’t even sing” I remember picking up Green Day’s American Idiot with trepidation in 2004. Dookie is without a doubt a classic while Insomniac proved to be a worthy follow-up to its greatness. Nimrod came with a few good tracks, but Warning possessed all the mainstream earmarks to earn the dreaded “sell-out” chant by fans of a once prominent punk rock band turning soft. (Hell, if you ask true blue punks from the 70s, they never…

REVIEW: BUMRUSH! Boulder, Colorado [2013]

2013/10/112013/10/11 Jared Mobarak

“We’re in Boulder, baby. This is how it goes.” While I’ve never been to Boulder, I have visited the Denver, CO area and experienced its college town atmosphere for the 30-40 sect looking to escape corporate suburbia for a bit of fun after the work day. I also talked to people who seemed genuinely discouraged by the fact tourists keep visiting and deciding to put down roots—much like they did considering 80% of those I met migrated to the city themselves—because their secret society of measured chaos was becoming exposed.…

TIFF13 REVIEW: Begin Again [Can a Song Save Your Life?] [2014]

2013/09/082014/05/15 Jared Mobarak

“Yeah. I just phased out my cassettes.” To answer the title’s question—Can a Song Save Your Life?—writer/director John Carney says, “Yes.” A song can save someone from jumping off a subway platform and someone else from the searing emotional pain of being scorned in love. Music in general is an art form that can move us to tears with one simple chord or touchingly real lyric. It alters us in a way that can’t be explained; the same song telling a person there is purpose while the guy standing a…

REVIEW: Fame High [2013]

2013/06/142013/07/14 Jared Mobarak

“Engage us” A real life version of Fame on the west coast, Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s coming-of-age documentary Fame High shows us the pressures of pursuing an arts education and career at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Shot over a period of sixteen months, the film follows four students as they battle expectations, desires, talent, hard work, and all the other teenage stuff us normal kids went through too. LACHSA has a 95% rate for college enrollment and prepares its students for the fierce competition inherent to…

REVIEW: The History of Future Folk [2013]

2013/05/282013/07/14 Jared Mobarak

“You still make a crappy assassin, though” Hipster culture appears here to stay. Big-bearded, plaid flannel-wearing, folk music playing bohemians increase their numbers every day as bands like Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, and Iron & Wine expand into the mainstream rock scene. The appeal probably comes from our American love of wanting to be unique by adopting trends that have become anything but. Yearning to be a part of something without wanting to admit it, we fight against uniformity until the counter-culture morphs into the newest style to loathe. Somehow…

HOTDOCS13 REVIEW: ALIAS [2013]

2013/04/182013/07/18 Jared Mobarak

“Every kid has dreams. But then you get reality.” Holding onto hope for a better life to strengthen each subsequent generation so one day his ancestors won’t be forced to hustle on the street, Alkatraz strives to achieve a future through his music. Raising his daughter on one hand and doing what he “has to do” on the other, this father is dreaming of a way out. No longer rapping about gunplay or petty beefs with friends turned foes around the east side of Toronto, Alkatraz realizes it’s time to…

REVIEW: How Do You Write a Joe Schermann Song [2013]

2013/03/192013/07/18 Jared Mobarak

“It’s not like I’m going to shove you down the stairs or anything” Artistic integrity—is it a dying concept or has the definition simply changed? As a freshman in college I began admitting to anyone who asked my major that pursuing a career in graphic design meant I sold out. Yes, before I had even begun. In hindsight, looking at today’s generation learn about the greats who succumbed to mental illness, poverty, and/or both as they struggled to put their voice/heart/essence/soul onto whatever canvas it was they deemed worthy to…

REVIEW: Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey [2013]

2013/02/092013/08/07 Jared Mobarak

“I’m living a fairy tale right now” It was Journey‘s album Trial by Fire from 1996 that opened my eyes to their insane library of hits upon entering high school. Here was their first new music since the year after my birth in 1983—”When You Love a Woman” was constantly on the radio, my father had the CD playing at home, and I began delving into the back catalog surprised to realize how many tunes I loved growing up were in fact the creation of Steve Perry and his group…