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Posterized Propaganda January 2014: The Top 10 Movie Posters of 2013

2013/12/262016/01/04 Jared Mobarak

“Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover” is a proverb whose simple existence proves the fact impressionable souls will do so without fail. This monthly column focuses on the film industry’s willingness to capitalize on this truth, releasing one-sheets to serve as not representations of what audiences are to expect, but as propaganda to fill seats. Oftentimes they fail miserably. Despite being another year of blockbusters and animated fare begging for bland character sheets and Photoshop montages, 2013′s movie posters were surprisingly creative artistically. A bunch of the following images…

Top 100 Songs of 2013

2013/12/202013/12/20 Jared Mobarak

#100: Let Us Move On by Dido #99: City of Angels by Thirty Seconds to Mars #98: Exit Wounds by Placebo #97: Flashbacks, Memories, And Dreams by The Virgins #96: Ready to Go by Guards #95: If I Could Change Your Mind by HAIM #94: After the Fire by Andrew McMahon #93: Close Enough by I Can Make a Mess #92: Surrender the Night by My Chemical Romance #91: Come Here by Talib Kweli (ft. Miguel) #90: Mermaids by Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds #89: Bad Girls by M.I.A.…

Top Ten Films of 2012: Ensembles upon ensembles

2013/02/252020/03/31 Jared Mobarak

Many have been saying 2012 was a great year for movies. I’m not sure I fully agree. There were a ton of solid 7/10s and 8/10s, yes, but how does that compare with previous years when the amount of 10/10s were also drastically reduced? It took until September for me to give a film four stars and the two I did laud with such a distinction that month were the only ones. Rather than a showcase of masterpiece cinema, 2012 was instead a year of the performance. And I mean…

Posterized Propaganda January 2013: The Top 10 Movie Posters of 2012

2012/12/242016/01/04 Jared Mobarak

“Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover” is a proverb whose simple existence proves the fact impressionable souls will do so without fail. This monthly column focuses on the film industry’s willingness to capitalize on this truth, releasing one-sheets to serve as not representations of what audiences are to expect, but as propaganda to fill seats. Oftentimes they fail miserably. Another year is complete and the time has come to revisit the best one-sheets that did all they could to help their films achieve box office glory. Unsurprising to those…

Top 100 Albums of 2012

2012/12/212015/03/06 Jared Mobarak

Honorable Mention: #100: Heartbreaking Bravery by Moonface with Sinai #99: Oceania by The Smashing Pumpkins #98: Break It Yourself by Andrew Bird #97: Golden Years by Brothertiger #96: Tramp by Sharon Van Etten #95: Out Of Frequency by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour #94: Cynic’s New Year by Horse Feathers #93: Bear Creek by Brandi Carlile #92: Sjung by Laleh #91: Outlands by Deep Sea Arcade #90: Something by Chairlift #89: A Gentle Reminder by The Jealous Sound #88: Lex Hives by The Hives #87: Stars And Satellites by Trampled By…

Top 100 Songs of 2012

2012/12/142014/04/08 Jared Mobarak

#100: Always Rains by Janus — #99: Bliss by Blaqk Audio — #98: Cameo Lover by Kimbra — #97: Dour Percentage by Of Montreal — #96: oOoO by Oberhofer — #95: Alone by Trampled By Turtles — #94: Who’s Feeling Young Now? by Punch Brothers — #93: Good As New by Vacationer — #92: Wishes by Beach House — #91: Ode To Sad Disco by Mark Lanegan Band — #90: Touch the Clouds (Taste the Ground) by Good Old War — #89: Tell Me A Tale by Michael Kiwanuka —…

Top Ten Films of 2011: Melancholy with a slice of hope

2012/02/062020/03/31 Jared Mobarak

If anyone tells you 2011 was a bad year for cinema, stop in your tracks, turn around and walk away without ever looking back. They have no idea what they’re talking about. With a wealth of quality films from bonafide auteurs devoid of source material, the sheer amount of original work is astonishing. The trend for remakes will most likely never end, but it’s good to know artists in and out of the Hollywood system are fearlessly treading their own path to make movies exciting again. And by exciting I…

Posterized Propaganda January 2012: The Top 10 Movie Posters of 2011

2011/12/282016/01/04 Jared Mobarak

“Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover” is a proverb whose simple existence proves the fact impressionable souls will do so without fail. This monthly column focuses on the film industry’s willingness to capitalize on this truth, releasing one-sheets to serve as not representations of what audiences are to expect, but as propaganda to fill seats. Oftentimes they fail miserably. With January 2012 poster selection leaving a lot to be desired—dump month movies don’t appear to get the same marketing budget as critical darlings—we’ve decided to better spend our monthly…

Top 100 Songs of 2011

2011/12/162012/12/11 Jared Mobarak

(short and sweet and to the point; culled from listening to 501 releases—at time of publishing—from 2011. ask me tomorrow and the list will probably be drastically different, but you have to lock ’em in sometime.) #100: Dolly by Fruit Bats — #99: Take the World by She Wants Revenge — #98: Postcards by The Sorry Kisses listen here — #97: The Day by Moby — #96: Piledriver Waltz by Arctic Monkeys — #95: Kids by The Features — #94: Say No by The Feeling — #93: Ohio by HoneyHoney…

Top 100 Albums of 2011

2011/12/092012/12/13 Jared Mobarak

Top Ten Films of 2010: Dark Fantasy Cinema

2011/02/092020/03/31 Jared Mobarak

This list is accurate as of post-date. So many films and not enough time to see them all—141 seen is this year’s number—the potential for future change is inevitable, but as of today here are the best … I remember thinking around April that there hadn’t been a truly great film released yet. After summer came and went with little to cheer about, I feared 2010 would be a gigantic bust containing a ton of decent to good films, but only a handful of great ones. And then—like it seems…