The Cinema Snob

The Cinema Snob
Genre Black comedy, insult comedy, satire, parody, review, deadpan
Created by Brad Jones
Written by Brad Jones
Starring Brad Jones
Lloyd (2010-present)
Jillian Zurawski (2009-present)
Jerrid Foiles
(2009-2013)
Opening theme "Believe It or Not" by Joey Scarbury (2009-2013)
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 7
No. of episodes 302
Production
Executive producer(s) Michael Michaud
Producer(s) Brad Jones
Editor(s) Brad Jones
Location(s) Springfield, Illinois[1]
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time Varies
Production company(s) Stoned Gremlin Productions
Channel Awesome
(2010-present)
Distributor YouTube (2007-2009, 2012-present)
Blip (2009-2015)[2]
Release
Original network YouTube (2007-2009, 2012-present)
Blip (2009-2015)
Original release June 16, 2007 (YouTube)
August 5, 2009 (thecinemasnob.com) – Present
Chronology
Related shows 80's Dan
External links
Website

The Cinema Snob is an American comedy webseries created, edited, written, and starring filmmaker Brad Jones (born December 20, 1981). It started in 2007 on YouTube before copyright claims caused Jones to move the series to its own personal site, TheCinemaSnob.com, in August 2009. The series later joined Channel Awesome in January 2010.

The series follows the Cinema Snob, a caricature of pretentious film critics, as he reviews obscure exploitation films and pornography from the late '60s through the early '90s. Since 2013, however, the Snob has started to review more widely-released films, such as the Friday the 13th series, Mommie Dearest, the Halloween series, Debbie Does Dallas, The Babe Ruth Story and Xanadu.

The series has obtained a large cult following, and has received positive reception. A movie adaptation, The Cinema Snob Movie, was made in 2012, directed by frequent Jones collaborator Ryan Mitchelle.

History

Brad Jones was inspired to create The Cinema Snob after watching Roger Ebert's review of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. "That review was very funny to me," Jones says, "and it made me think of how odd it is in general to see film snobs try to review horror or exploitation films. So that's how I came up with the character. I'm reviewing these movies the same way a pretentious cinema snob would and I'm trying to give some laughs at the expense of the movies to people like me who really do love exploitation films."[3] Jones based the Snob's appearance and voice on an audience member he saw at a Q&A panel for George A. Romero, who told Romero how he had interpreted Monkey Shines as a metaphor for evolution and the bond between animal and man.[4] The first episode, a review of Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror, aired on YouTube on June 16, 2007. He ran the show on his channel until he was confronted by a copyright claim from the distributors of Nail Gun Massacre. Then, Jones moved his videos to its own website, TheCinemaSnob.com, in 2009. For this new site, Jones also created several more series, such as Kung Tai Ted, The Big Box, The Bruno Mattei Show, and Brad & Jerrid, and uploaded two of his feature films (Freak Out and Cheap) to the site that same year. "So I built up a back log," Jones says, "so there would be a lot of content, to where I could apply to That Guy With the Glasses when my site had been up for a few months." Jones managed to rise in popularity when Noah Antwiler promoted his website.[5]

Rob Walker accepted Brad's request to join That Guy with the Glasses in January 2010, and premiered Season 2 on Channel Awesome with his review of E.T.: The Porno. Since joining TGWTG, Jones has done many collabortions with fellow members of the site as The Cinema Snob, such as Noah Antwiler (The Spoony One), Lewis Lovhaug (Linkara), Doug Walker (Nostalgia Critic), Lindsay Ellis (The Nostalgia Chick), Phelan Porteous (Phelous), Matthew Buck (Film Brain), Allison Pregler (Obscurus Lupa), Mat Williams (Welshy), Kyle Kallgren (Oancitizen/Brows Held High), Leo Thompson (That Sci-Fi Guy), Jerrica Benton (Diamanda Hagen), Julien Diaz (SadPanda), Bridget Brown (Dodger of Zion) among others. He has also participated in all three anniversary films (Kickassia, Suburban Knights, and To Boldly Flee) as The Cinema Snob.

Cast

Recurring

Guest stars

Episode format

The series focuses on a pretentious arthouse critic, the Cinema Snob. He is usually sitting in a "comfortable" chair, positioned in the middle of the screen so Snob can talk directly to the audience. In the early days, the setting was in Jones' basement, a couch surrounded by movie posters. Starting with Season 2, Snob moved to a living room with a standard blue chair. When Jones moved to a new home in 2013, the location changed again to the same chair in front of a tan wall, complete with a poster for Caligula (Jones' favorite film) and a poster that changes from time to time.

The Cinema Snob often reviews a film by stating how inferior or offensive the film is, and proceeds to complain about the film's production quality, content, and/or plot. He frequently makes pop culture references throughout the review, usually to Caligula, The Pod People, The Simpsons, American Psycho, A Clockwork Orange, horror films, his own films, and films Snob has already reviewed. Sometimes he'll review a film while satirizing the critical response the film had upon release, such as the case with Mommie Dearest or At Long Last Love, and frequently imply that the film did not, in his opinion, deserve the amount of panning it received.

Sometimes, the Cinema Snob will say a variation of his catchphrase, "I'll stick with real ______ films, like _______, thank you very much."

Reception

Over time, the series has received a cult following. Many people have praised the series for its humor and characters. Melissa Garza of Scared Stiff Reviews said, "Jones delivers with quick wit, charm, and humorous, cutting observations.[8]

Reception from review subjects

Copyright issues

The Cinema Snob Movie

In 2011, Jones announced that he was writing a movie adaptation of the series to be directed by Ryan Mitchelle, who Jones had previously worked with on the film, Paranoia.

The film is about Craig Golightly (Jones), a struggling exploitation writer who, along with director Neil Hall (Jake Norvell), are trying to get their movie Black Angus made but they need the correct permits from pretentious film snob Dan Phillips (Mitchelle). In order to get said permits, he takes on the guise of Vincent Dawn (The Cinema Snob) and infiltrates Phillips’ film snob group. While there he gets involved in a murder mystery as well as attracts the interest of Phillips’ wife Nancy (Zurawski).[15]

The film was released on DVD on September 27, 2012. It has met with mixed to positive reception from both critics, audiences, and the fandom. Stefan Ellison of The Scene Magazine gave the film a B, saying, "Joining the ranks of recent fare like Grindhouse and Corman’s World, this film is a fun toast to B-movies with the thesis being that while they won’t lift the human spirit, you have to admire the filmmakers’ chutzpah in putting all they have into them."[16] Luke Owen of Flickering Myth gave it two stars as a film and three stars as a movie. "While not a perfect film," Owen wrote, "The Cinema Snob Movie is an enjoyable no-budget affair made with a lot of heart and dedication. You can see the progression Jones has made as a writer and Mitchelle as a director. With some more time and a bigger budget, these two could really make a fantastic exploitation film that would rival a lot of the direct-to-DVD trash I’m used to picking up in the cheap section at ASDA."[15] Geno McGahee of Scared Stiff Reviews gave the film a 6.5 out of 10, praising the acting, message, and humor, but criticizing the two-hour length.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ ""The Cinema Snob" (2007-) Filming Locations". Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  2. ↑ Variety (2015-07-21). "Maker Studios Is Shutting Down Blip Next Month". Retrieved 2015-07-21.
  3. ↑ Torres, Pamela (September 2009). "Brad Jones".
  4. ↑ "Horror Hound: Interview with The Cinema Snob". February 8, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Brad Jones [interviewed by the Drudgeon]". November 4, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Coming Soon: LLOYD". February 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Brad Jones - Jillian and I have separated...". May 24, 2012.
  8. ↑ "The Best of the Cinema Snob Volume 1 (2013) – Horror Critic Reviews The Driller Killer and other Obscure Titles". July 5, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Video Violence". August 7, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Savage Vengeance". August 7, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Cinema Snob vs Sleepaway Camp". February 2, 2013.
  12. ↑ Rushton, Bruce (November 29, 2012). "The Cinema Snob: Bad movies are beautiful to Brad Jones". Illinois Times.
  13. ↑ "Grizzly II: The Predator". March 24, 2011.
  14. ↑ . July 21, 2012 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFjm80ZgMy8. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. 1 2 Owen, Luke (November 28, 2012). "Movie Review - The Cinema Snob Movie (2012)".
  16. ↑ Ellison, Stefan (June 3, 2013). "The Cinema Snob Movie - Movie Review".
  17. ↑ "The Cinema Snob Movie (2012)". July 3, 2013.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, May 07, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.