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8/10
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Priscilla
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
I think Coppola does well balancing that duality, never shying from the violence or the romance. If anything, she employs that convergence to deliver a compelling biopic that seeks to dismantle the illusion by recreating its inescapable allure.
Posted Nov 22, 2023
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6/10
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Leo
(2023)
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Jared Mobarak
|
Think CHARLOTTE'S WEB (referenced as a bookend) if Wilbur was a classroom of insecure tweens desperate for anyone to listen to their problems without judgment. Add some endearing if forgettable songs and you get a well-meaning if forgettable film.
Posted Nov 22, 2023
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9/10
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A Thousand and One
(2023)
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Jared Mobarak
|
It helps that Rockwell found actors who were able to give the material the authenticity it demands by portraying imperfect souls struggling to be better even as they find themselves failing again and again.
Posted Nov 22, 2023
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8/10
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The Killer
(2023)
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Jared Mobarak
|
Think of this film as a corporate JOHN WICK. It's about revenge and it exists solely in the headspace and environments of the lead character's ilk. Civilians become window-dressing as Fassbender narrates the monotony and mantras that keep him alive.
Posted Nov 22, 2023
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6/10
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The Burial
(2023)
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Jared Mobarak
|
That's kind of THE BURIAL's modus operandi outside of Willie's personal trajectory of empathetic growth. Everything is a means to an end and then forgotten. It leads to an entertaining yet messy affair.
Posted Nov 22, 2023
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7/10
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Maestro
(2023)
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Jared Mobarak
|
Mulligan and Cooper are too good for it not to be [enthralling]. Maybe it is all style and little substance, but its dual portrait (albeit shallow) is no less invigorating as a result.
Posted Nov 22, 2023
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Fancy Dance
(2023)
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Jared Mobarak
|
It may use the horrors of an American murder epidemic on reservations as its backbone, but it’s really about hope for the future and a desire to right past wrongs and be who your loved ones need you to be.
Posted Nov 17, 2023
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Poundcake
(2023)
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Jared Mobarak
|
Many of its themes inevitably get confused before the end too—an issue exacerbated by how overt Tukel is at bludgeoning us over the head with them before slipping up. But it is funny.
Posted Nov 17, 2023
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Only The Good Survive
(2023)
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Jared Mobarak
|
It’s a quirky, witty script that moves at breakneck speed whenever anyone but Brea is talking so that each character gets their moment of cool, casual badassery to sell the idea that they are heroic regardless of intent or fate.
Posted Nov 17, 2023
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Under the Influencer
(2023)
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Jared Mobarak
|
The third act is a super earnest fantasy that ensures the movie’s messaging is blatantly expressed for those who weren’t paying attention, but it’s also quite charming and hopeful in its homage of BEFORE SUNSET sentimentality.
Posted Nov 17, 2023
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7/10
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Rose
(2022)
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Jared Mobarak
|
ROSE does a wonderful job ensuring [Inger's humanity] stays in the spotlight whether through drama or comedy. Because, despite the pitfalls of the subject matter, this is a very funny movie.
Posted Nov 17, 2023
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7/10
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May December
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
The result is a complex character study that demands we not lose sight of the layers involved. You don't have to vilify or champion anyone to do so either. Stop short and consider where happiness meets contentment and acceptance meets defeat
Posted Nov 17, 2023
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8/10
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Fallen Leaves
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
Aki Kaurismäki has created the year's driest romantic comedy with FALLEN LEAVES: a slow-building love affair [with] an acerbic wit that has the slyest of grins coming across as belly laughs
Posted Nov 17, 2023
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8/10
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They Cloned Tyrone
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
Just because it proves more of an entertaining romp than political satire, though, doesn't mean the latter won't resonate. Think a grounded SORRY TO BOTHER.
Posted Nov 10, 2023
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8/10
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Anatomy of a Fall
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
The result is an impeccably crafted courtroom drama with some heavy moments meant to jumpstart our imagination.
Posted Nov 10, 2023
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8/10
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Fair Play
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
Domont creates a story to not only expose how deep-seated patriarchal norms are in corporate culture, but to also honestly portray how its victims will often attempt to believe those hurting them most are still worth saving.
Posted Nov 10, 2023
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5/10
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It's a Wonderful Knife
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
The film is trying so hard to be so many things that it ends up becoming something akin to the musicals we used to put on in middle school: those off-brand, cheaply licensed IP-knockoffs that proved as cute as they were forgettable.
Posted Nov 10, 2023
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7/10
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Waikiki
(2020)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
Some of what results can be confusing, but all of it is dramatically potent. And it's mostly due to a wonderful performance from Zalopany.
Posted Nov 03, 2023
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6/10
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Fingernails
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
There are too many interesting questions to call the whole a failure and too many holes and distractions to deem it a success. Regardless, I do think it's worthwhile.
Posted Nov 03, 2023
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6/10
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The Persian Version
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
The result is entertaining and not without its dramatic reveals. [But,] while a good time was had, I can't shake the sense that there was potential for so much more.
Posted Nov 03, 2023
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7/10
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Remy & Arletta
(2023)
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Jared Mobarak
|
Wittman and De Larroche refuse to fall prey to heavy-handed sensibilities. They instead focus on the potential for hope with a smile that promises Remy won't keep contributing to the chaos only to end up defeating herself.
Posted Oct 27, 2023
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7/10
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Suitable Flesh
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
It's still sillier than not, but that's intentional. Lynch made a throwback that begs for hoots and hollers. "Elevated horror" fans can stay home.
Posted Oct 27, 2023
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6/10
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Butcher's Crossing
(2022)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
Gabe Polsky's BUTCHER'S CROSSING is a familiarly harsh depiction of men going against nature with nothing but greed, vengeance, and hubris in their hearts.
Posted Oct 20, 2023
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9/10
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Killers of the Flower Moon
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
Scorsese understands he can't truly tell [the Osage's] story as a white man in a way that gives them the voice they deserve. So, he tells the tale of their oppressors instead. And he does so with zero sympathy for even their most sympathetic members.
Posted Oct 20, 2023
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6/10
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Founders Day
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
What's fun about the film is that it proves to be [about justice and jealousies] at once. And rather than be a cop-out as a result, this reality enhances the whole.
Posted Oct 20, 2023
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7/10
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Peter & the Wolf
(2023)
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Jared Mobarak
|
While the whole feels familiar in many regards, the real intrigue lies in the superimposition of Bono's zigzag-toothed wolf upon the figure itself as a sort of mask manifested by Peter's fear.
Posted Oct 13, 2023
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7/10
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Divinity
(2023)
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Jared Mobarak
|
DIVINITY will not be something you can soon forget. It's not action-packed, but it's never boring. Not if you open yourself to its themes of awakening.
Posted Oct 13, 2023
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6/10
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Dark Harvest
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
All in all: I had fun. Slade is going super dark, but also super corny with the period flair. Think a horror riff on GREASE with Partridge's Bram Stoker Award-winning plot as its scaffolding.
Posted Oct 13, 2023
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6/10
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Cat Person
(2023)
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Jared Mobarak
|
As an eighty-minute transformation across artistic mediums, it's actually quite effective. Here’s the issue: CAT PERSON isn't an eighty-minute film. It's two hours long [with a new, tacked-on conclusion].
Posted Oct 13, 2023
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7/10
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The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
All in all, it remains a compelling piece with solid performances and relevant themes. And as a swan song for Friedkin himself, that middle finger of a finale couldn't be more appropriate.
Posted Oct 06, 2023
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7/10
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Omoiyari: A Song Film by Kishi Bashi
(2022)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
Maybe the whole proves a bit niche in the end, but its surprisingly robust education on EO 9066 and its aftereffects really ensures that its look at Bashi's life resonates as an example of what it means to be a minority in the US.
Posted Oct 06, 2023
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7/10
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Mister Organ
(2022)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
It's the kind of story that might need a trigger warning for viewers who have fallen victim to manipulators like Organ. And it's a journey that can't help but draw you into its web of deceit—coercive and fatigued alike.
Posted Oct 06, 2023
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8/10
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Spontaneous
(2020)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
That's how good Langford and Plummer are. Their snarky, sarcastic rapport makes light of everything so that they can smile through the horror.
Posted Sep 29, 2023
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7/10
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Flora and Son
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
FLORA AND SON might not be as great as ONCE or SING STREET, but it is charmingly sweet and funny en route to a rousing bow-tied ending performance that should have you leaving with a smile on your face.
Posted Sep 29, 2023
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8/10
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Story Ave
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
It's a riveting narrative with authentically drawn mirrors to show Kadir that he's not alone. Whereas that truth can supply him a window towards a brighter future, it can also reveal a perpetual struggle.
Posted Sep 29, 2023
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7/10
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The Origin of Evil
(2022)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
It leads to an inevitable conclusion that grows darker and murkier than expected via the blur between reality and psychosis, but its familiar and obvious choices always seem fresh.
Posted Sep 22, 2023
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7/10
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Mother, May I?
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
Because the scariest part of what's happening isn't that they might lose themselves to that dread. It's that they will recognize who it is they are becoming is who they actually need to be.
Posted Sep 22, 2023
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6/10
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Quicksand
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
The rest is noise regardless of how serious or dangerous it proves. This is a world where trauma doesn't exist, so there's no use sweating the small stuff like murder, car theft, or bodily injury.
Posted Sep 22, 2023
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7/10
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Summer Qamp
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
It's the sort of experience that can deliver the much-needed empowerment boost to figure out who it is you truly are. And you know it works from the fact that this film exists.
Posted Sep 18, 2023
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7/10
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Songs of Earth
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
In the end, regardless of its message for the future or its personal ode to Olin's heritage, you cannot deny the breathtaking imagery, effective score, and soulful delivery. If nothing else, its aesthetics will astound.
Posted Sep 18, 2023
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7/10
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Smugglers
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
Besides those two extended sequences, SMUGGLERS is otherwise dialogue-driven with a healthy dose of secrets and betrayals as Jin-sook and Choon-ja position themselves to control their own fate.
Posted Sep 18, 2023
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7/10
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Rebel
(2022)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
With long-takes and stunningly choreographed music video-esque interludes, the filmmakers are using every cinematic trick in the book to overwhelm us [emotionally] into investing in the Wasakis' plight.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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7/10
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Flipside
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
Rather than choose one record from each of his would-be subjects’ crates, however, Wilcha combines them all into one and lets the stories they tell become about him and, by extension, us.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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7/10
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In the Rearview
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
IN THE REARVIEW is a crucial document of what has resulted from Putin's unprovoked war. It's a means to have the carnage and emotional duress put on-the-record for those who still choose to turn a blind eye.
Posted Sep 14, 2023
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8/10
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His Three Daughters
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
It's the care and attention to letting emotions speak for themselves (literally and figuratively respectively) that makes HIS THREE DAUGHTERS so potent. Being present doesn't always have to be so loud.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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7/10
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Backspot
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
BACKSPOT isn't necessarily treading new ground in revealing these truths, but it presents them in an effective, entertaining, and thoughtful way. The characters are very specifically depicted as kids, not young adults. That makes a huge difference.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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6/10
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Rotting in the Sun
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
When ROTTING IN THE SUN is funny, though, it's very funny. Its pieces might overshadow the whole, but some of them are so good that sitting through the rest becomes a necessity.
Posted Sep 09, 2023
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7/10
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Bottoms
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
You do need to get on its wavelength to enjoy it to the fullest. It probably skews too crazy for my own liking, but I had a smile on my face throughout and laughed out loud enough to become a legitimate fan.
Posted Sep 09, 2023
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5/10
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The Good Mother
(2023)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
The film is an empty calorie page-turner. A primetime movie of the week that forgets its compelling true-life tragedies are worth more than being rendered as color for generic twists and turns.
Posted Sep 01, 2023
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7/10
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Piaffe
(2022)
|
Jared Mobarak
|
It can be very slow and is always weird in the absurdness of the sensorial fetishes that result, but you cannot deny its singular passion to provoke, arouse, and entertain.
Posted Aug 25, 2023
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