The Cinema Snob Movie (2012)

Lack of good storyline.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

I first saw this movie back in December of 2012. My main reason for getting this film is because I am a huge Cinema Snob fan. I'm not going to give the movie a 10 out of 10 just because of that. The movie was great, but not a masterpiece. After viewing it numerous times, I noticed some editing and continuity goofs such as placement of characters and reaction shots, but they are few and far between. Also, some of the actors are definitely stronger in substance than others to the point where I just don't enjoy seeing them on screen, but they are small roles and they aren't that bad. This can also come from me just wanted to see the characters I enjoy more (Craig, Neal, Dan, Gene and Nancy). They just feel more natural and real to me. Some could have used more takes as they delivered their lines, but that's why I'm bring my rating to a 7 making it a good movie.Speaking of the good, the story and style was very much like I would expect from Mr. Jones himself. A story of murder, sex scandals and film taboos is something that can really stick out. The film has its fair share of funny moments with its quick cuts, responses from the characters, such as Neal offering Craig and Nancy a cookie after some grim news. I absolutely love Craig's deadpan reactions to certain actions that take place as if he just dropped his mug of coffee. These parts just had me laugh out loud. Another favorite of mine has to be the presence of Noah Antwiller from The Spoony Experiment. He has such a natural look when on camera and I enjoyed every moment he made an appearance as the eccentric rich man of Springfield.Before I continue to gush, I just want to get to the point, which is I appreciate this film. I'm not going to put it on a pedestal or anything. It's simply an enjoyable, solid movie. The plot was simple but fun. I feel comfortable sharing this with friends who do not know of Brad Jones because we can all appreciate the low-budget films filling in two hours of enjoyment. It does a good job overall leaving my final rating at 7.

I finally received my copy in the mail, it was a sort of Christmas present to myself I guess.Based off the character of the same name from the internet show, Brad Jones delivers a solid film that his fans would appreciate. Though it is a problem if you are not familiar with the type of movies he reviews or the humour you might find yourself a little lost. Having some knowledge of exploitation movies really is a must when it comes to anything the Cinema Snob related, not like other "ThatGuyWithTheGlasses" critics who review more mainstream bad movies.What I like about The Cinema Snob show is that I learn about movies I would have never known existed and could see that when a film was mocked there was some level of passion for the film even when it was being riffed (Though not all movies, ones of the Nukie variety). The movie is set up as an origin story for the Snob who is really an exploitation filmmaker posing as a pretentious critic in order to secure permits to film "Black Angus", an exploitation flick set in the 70's. I could relate to dealing with the struggles of making an independent film and having to deal with a lot of red tape.I did find the performances funny, they worked for a film of this size. Without giving too much away there is a murder plot that happens almost an hour in that is darkly funny and works well with the film's subject matter, it begins to turn into an exploitation movie (One character gets stabbed with a cellphone but the killer gets a little carried away and doesn't stop there). Brad's friends make appearances of course including Noah Antwiler better known as Spoony, Jake Norvell plays Neil the director, this movie's answer to Brad Pitt from True Romance but with an arc. Also there is Mr.Jones' wife and an actor from the the movie Parenthood which I was convinced wasn't true because it was listed on IMDb but you'll have to see for yourself.If you are expecting it to be like his other movies that were more run and shoot like Midnight Heat or Hooker With a Heart of Gold you might be disappointed (You do get things like good lighting and cinematography though). It's too bad Black Angus isn't a real film because when I go see Django Unchained and it ends up sucking I can't say, "Well, it was no Black Angus"

As a fan of Brad's work across the board, I can say that I enjoyed the film for its meta humor but still found it lacking from a mainstream perspective. Without knowledge of the personalities behind the characters (such as Noah Antwiler's contributions as "Spoony" or Ed Glaser's work on TGWTG.com), the movie will fall flat for those unfamiliar with their body of work.POSITIVES The Cinema Snob is an entertaining character and is the engine which drives Brad's other work. For every experimental project, there needs to be a mainstream draw to interest the viewer. One would not be interested in Star Wars fan fiction, for example, if one had no knowledge of the Star Wars franchise to begin with. "The Cinema Snob Movie" is a major boost to the weekly (or bi-weekly) reviews Brad does as his cantankerous, barefoot reviewer on thatguywiththeglasses.com. It provides depth to the universe in which he lives and opens new avenues for characters to appear in the future.The cinematography is miles ahead of anything Mr. Jones has done in the past, shown in superior framing of scenes and more compelling camera angles that seem very appropriate to the mood. Jillian's addition to the cast always feels organic (marriage helps that along, I guess), so the romantic scenes aren't as awkward as they could be. The story itself is also an interesting narrative, as we're taken from "story A" (the producer's quest) to "story b" (the murder mystery) in a seamless transition. The "who done it" aspect is played very well and the resolution is quite entertaining and comical.NEGATIVES One of the casting choices acts as a minus here. Jake feels like an odd choice as the "buddy" of the Snob, especially since Jerrid is the built-up character in the site's main series. His acting isn't terrible, but at times he seems to be a bit too boisterous and overzealous in his effort to sell the scene. It ends up bogging down the entire first half of the film and making the viewer wish Jerrid was waking up with the pizza stuck to his cheek.The biggest drawback in the film is also its strong point. Without the meta humor attached to the main Cinema Snob review series, the film will fall flat for those unfamiliar with Jones' other work. Although the jokes stand on their own, the casting choices lack any "big names" to prop the film up, relying on the viewer's knowledge of TGWTG's cast of characters to draw interest in the movie. The performances of the actors are by no means awful, but they are average enough to warrant a big name that could have acted as a cheap draw for potential fans.

So this movie is the movie that finally usurps the shawshank redemption in the IMDb top 250 ratings? Interesting to say the least. After watching paranoia and all of Brad's other "quality" films i can say without a doubt that this movie Isn't THAT good. At least this movie has commentary tracks from 3 different sources which is more than most homemade films offer. Also it's good to see that it was handled by a more professional team than most of the other Brad Jones films. But still this fanboy-ism (not a word but should be) needs to stop. We all seen this when the dark knight rises came out as well which was only really an OK flick. I'm not even sure if all the people in that excited category are real people on this page. Like when you look at independent films and all the comments and threads on release day are obviously people who worked on the film itself. Not saying Brad would do something like that to draw attention to his film cause i'm sure that type of stuff irritates him as well but at least two of them are probably people making multiple accounts. Still as a whole the lighting was good and scenes really work when they work, except for some over saturation in the park scenes this was excellently shot. But come on now? A perfect 10? Be serious now people cause that stuff just ain't right. Didn't hate it but also felt amateurish but like I said it is still miles above "hooker with a heart of gold" or "paranoia" which is the only one i should be comparing it to since it was the only one that was actually sold on DVD as well. This is miles above all Brads other movies and deserves to be watched if you are a fan. Well done script that could have been executed better but did not disappoint with technical prowess far above and beyond anything seen in paranoia. I like that it tries to be not just for fans and tries to be it's own self contained movie. I can see what everyone who worked on it was going for but yeah if you aren't already a fan then you aren't gonna enjoy this.