Tag: Graham Greene

FANTASIA19 REVIEW: Astronaut [2019]

Jared Mobarak

To see where we belong. It’s the beginning of the end for Angus Stewart (Richard Dreyfuss). His wife recently passed after a difficult and costly bout with dementia, his heart isn’t what it used to be, and his family is unsure about what to do to help him adjust. While his daughter Molly (Krista Bridges) and grandson Barney (Richie Lawrence) want him to move in, his son-in-law Jim (Lyriq Bent) can’t help wondering if enduring the strain of another aging parent on a daily basis isn’t good for his wife’s…

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REVIEW: Wind River [2017]

Jared Mobarak

“Don’t steer away from the pain” After watching his first two spec scripts find homes with established directors—Denis Villeneuve and David Mackenzie bringing those words to life beautifully in neo-westerns Sicario and Hell or High Water respectively—actor turned screenwriter Taylor Sheridan finally steps behind the camera with his latest Wind River. While not as complex as far as scope goes (locale and action), it definitely retains his penchant for subtle, twisty mysteries that reveal themselves only when absolutely necessary. Sheridan isn’t one to pull the wool over his audience’s eyes…

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REVIEW: Casino Jack [2010]

Jared Mobarak

“Washington is just Hollywood with ugly faces” Did you know Jack Abramoff works out everyday? Well, if director George Hickenlooper and writer Norman Snider’s Casino Jack is to be believed, everyone he dealt with knew. Here is a man (Kevin Spacey) who’s been in the lobbying game for so many years that his hot shot assistant, Michael Scanlon (Barry Pepper), is even getting on in years, yet both call each other ‘bro’ affectionately and their clients ‘dude’. The media coined Abramoff a ‘Superlobbyist’ and he lived up to the reputation,…

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Writing is a process of endless learning … Babel’s V.S. Naipaul

Jared Mobarak

The fourth season of Just Buffalo Literary Center’s Babel Series begun with a glaring omission—there was no Ed Cardoni at the podium on behalf of Hallwalls, replaced instead by the corporate spiel of ‘local global’ from HSBC’s Charlie Mendola, introduced by Just Buffalo’s Laurie Dean Torrell. I can’t blame the guy, though, since his company is footing a substantial portion of the funding now that the John R. Oshei Foundation‘s start-up capital has ended; the change just warranted mention, although it was good to see Cardoni still in attendance, collecting…

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