Toaster's Guilty Pleasures: The Cinema Snob Movie

This is a special edition of Guilty Pleasures. When I met Brad Jones at Wizard World Chicago last August, I placed a pre-order for his movie detailing the secret origin of his character The Cinema Snob. I finally had time to watch it last night and given the nature of the film itself, I figured I might review it here. Some have analyzed this movie already and others will inevitably follow, but I hope that this review will be a bit more insightful as I think I am part of their target demographic (being a weirdo with a love for bad cinema) and as such feel like I know what the filmmakers were going for. So without further ado, I present my review of The Cinema Snob Movie.

 

So the story in a nutshell is that two guys, Craig and Neil, want to make a blaxsploitation flick called “Black Angus” but Dan Phillips, the snooty head of Springfield, Illinois film board, refuses to give them a film permit. So Craig decides to infiltrate the film society by creating a pretentious alter ego in the hopes of tricking Phillips into granting him the necessary permit.  However, Craig soon finds himself caught in the middle of a serial killer’s wrath amidst the ‘seedy underbelly’ of the city’s film aficionados.

Of course Roofies are a pizza topping. Now with this next tape, you're going to 

wonder how I filmed it with a belt around my neck and PVC tubing up my ass...

The Cinema Snob Movie is a black comedy that also acts as a love letter of sorts to the ‘exploitation’ film genre. If you are a fan of Brad Jones’ various internet projects such as The Cinema Snob or 80’s Dan, this movie has the same humor you’ve come to love (and why shouldn’t it? It was written by and stars Mr. Jones!). However, you don’t need to be familiar with anything he’s ever done to appreciate this movie. All you need is a basic love for B-movies and a sense of humor that borders on being twisted. The plot is surprisingly complex for a low-budget film that walks the line of cheese. There are two intertwining plot-lines involving getting the permit and solving the murders as well as multiple subplots; all the while blending comedy with elements of a ‘slasher’ flick. Personally, I think Brad Jones should be proud of what he has written here. This movie has a far better script than most of the schlock he reviews as the Cinema Snob!  

My God, I would LOVE to take a survey!

Most of the performances are pretty good. Brad Jones and Jake Norvell have great comedic timing between themselves and others. Jones is usually the straight man, utilizing his great “what the fuck?” reactions from his video reviews to help accentuate some of the more bizarre humor. Norvell’s Niel character is content to sit back and let everything happen around him as he obsesses with a newfound love of anchovies and eats cheese puffs with a spoon out of a cereal bowl. Internet comedian Noah “The Spoony One” Antwiler plays Gene, their eccentric producer who acts as the voice of reason, but is subtly revealed to be as idiotic as everyone else. As I had expected, Antwiler is one of the high points of this movie. He switches from straight man to comic relief and balances both roles quite well. Director Ryan Mitchelle portrays the antagonistic Dan Phillips using his best James Spader impersonation, an homage pointed out by the character during the film itself. Jillian Zurawski plays Nancy, the dissatisfied wife of Phillips and love interest to Craig. Zurawski, who usually plays more snarky roles in her Jones’ videos, plays a refreshingly less negative character this time around. A few of the smaller roles are played a little stiff while others felt forced, which can be expected when using friends as cast members; but I will point out that with the deliberate B-movie feel of this production, that can be forgiven.

I can't believe I'm actually on a date with Ryan Gosling right after he had total 

facial reconstructive surgery and gained 80 pounds for a role!

My only big complaint with the movie is that the audio is very uneven. Sometimes I can hear everything fine and then other scenes the dialogue is really quiet or buried by background noise. Now this could just be the consequences of small budget independent film-making or it could be deliberate. Many exploitation films have crappy audio tracks, not to mention bad cinematography. The cinematography is not a complaint of mine as director Ryan Mitchelle did a really good job. I did note some visual hiccups, but they seemed like a purposeful nod to the genre. Regardless if the uneven audio was done on purpose or not, it was annoying to me and actually took me out of the story a few times.  

We're currently building our second home entirely out of Gideon Bibles 

we've stolen from hotel rooms across the country.

I do want to note something. I hate to say this as I really did enjoy the movie, but when the plot of Black Angus was described as a guns-blazing bad-ass black dude waging vigilante justice in a 70’s roller disco setting, I instantly thought “Shit, I’d rather be watching that movie!”  Honestly I would love a spin-off sequel of Black Angus to be made!  Make it happen, Stoned Gremlin Productions! 

What the holy fuck do you mean Game of Thrones is over-rated?

Overall, I enjoyed The Cinema Snob Movie. With three commentary tracks included in the Special Features (one of which by "That Guy with the Glasses" founders Doug and Rob Walker), I felt it was well worth the cost. If you are a fan of cheesy exploitation movies, dark comedies and ‘slasher’ flicks, I would recommend jaunting over to http://thecinemasnob.com/ to pick up a copy. On a scale of 0 to 4 James Spaders I give The Cinema Snob Movie 3 & 1/4 James Spaders.