The Cinema Snob

The Cinema Snob is an American comedy webseries created, edited, written, and starring American actor and filmmaker Brad Jones. 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 became part of Channel Awesome in January 2010. Jones is one of three creators, the other two being Doug Walker and Larry Bundy Jr., to remain on the site as of April 2021.
The series has obtained a large cult following, and has met with a positive reception. A movie adaptation, "The Cinema Snob Movie", was made in 2012, directed by frequent Jones collaborator Ryan Mitchelle. A sequel, "Another Cinema Snob Movie", was released on July 26, 2019.
Summary.
The series follows the Cinema Snob, a caricature of pretentious film critics, as he reviews obscure exploitation films, religious films, and pornography from the late '60s through the early '90s. Since 2013, however, the Snob has started to review more recent and widely released films alongside older entries, such as the "Friday the 13th" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" series, "The Babe Ruth Story", "God's Not Dead", and "Sex and the City". Some of the films he reviewed are generally considered as the worst films ever made.
History.
Brad Jones was inspired to create "The Cinema Snob" after watching Roger Ebert's review of "". He said that the review "made me think of how odd it is in general to see film snobs try to review horror or exploitation films...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." 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.
The first episode, a review of "", 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.
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 the site, Jones has done many collaborations with fellow members of the site as The Cinema Snob.
Episode format.
The series focuses on a pretentious highbrow art critic, the Cinema Snob. He wears an all-black suit, large vintage glasses and no shoes, and sits 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" (one of Jones's favorite films) and a poster that changes depending on the reviewed film's subject matter or characters.
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 horror films, TV series, his own films, and films he has already reviewed. Sometimes he will review a film considered as being among the worst ever made while satirizing the critical response the film had upon release, such as the case with "Maniac", "Mommie Dearest", "At Long Last Love" or "Heaven's Gate" and frequently imply that the film did not, in his opinion, deserve the amount of criticism it received. On occasion, he will point out there was something good in a terrible film, such as Michael Chiklis's performance as John Belushi in "Wired".
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.
Reception from review subjects.
Several subjects of the films reviewed by the Cinema Snob have responded to their reviews. Gary Cohen, director of "Video Violence", appreciated Jones' review of the film. After the Snob's review of "Savage Vengeance", the film's director, Don Farmer, commented on the video. Jones says it was "basically a plea saying that I was wrong in stating that "Porno Holocaust" was the worst film ever made, because he made the worst film ever made: "Savage Vengeance"". Double Helix Films posted the Cinema Snob's reviews of the "Sleepaway Camp" films on their site, stating that "[Y]ou might find them hit or miss, but the Snob clearly put a lot of work into these reviews".
Copyright issues.
A few months after the Cinema Snob's review of "" in 2011, Jones received an angry letter from Suzanne E. Nagy, one of the film's producers. Jones, reasoning that the film was unfinished and therefore illegal to distribute without permission, took down his review. However, the "lost episode" has since been leaked onto YouTube (a decade later, the film eventually was finished and released to market).
"The Cinema Snob Movie" and sequel.
In 2011, Jones announced that he was writing a movie adaptation of the series to be directed by Ryan Mitchelle.
"The Cinema Snob Movie" is about Craig Golightly, a struggling exploitation writer who, along with director Neil Hall, are trying to get their movie "Black Angus" made, but they need the correct permits from pretentious film snob Dan Phillips. In order to get the permits, he takes on the guise of Vincent Dawn and infiltrates Phillips' film snob group. While there, he gets involved in a murder mystery and attracts the interest of Phillips' wife Nancy.
Reception.
"The Cinema Snob Movie" was released on DVD on September 27, 2012. It has met with mixed to positive reception from 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." 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." 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.
"Another Cinema Snob Movie".
In June 2018, Jones announced on his YouTube channel that a sequel, titled "Another Cinema Snob Movie", is in development with Jones and Mitchelle returning as writer and director, respectively. A crowdfunding page on Indiegogo was launched to help raise money for its budget, much like Jones' other film, "Jesus, Bro!". It exceeded the target of $50,000.
The sequel is about Craig, whose latest film bombs miserably, going on a road trip with Neil and two other people to see Craig's father, Stanley, played by Lloyd Kaufman. Along the way, they encounter clowns in a museum and cannibals.
"Another Cinema Snob Movie" was released on July 26, 2019.