Snobs On Film

So let’s talk about it: Call Me by Your Name. A 2017 film that was nominated for 4 Oscars, including Best Picture and a Best Actor nod to Timothée Chalamet, the film took home the Best Adapted Screenplay award. Chalamet stars as Elio—a sensitive, brilliant, but emotionally naive 17 year-old who spends an Italian summer learning about love and its inevitable heartbreaks. On the other end of that heartbreak is the graduate student Oliver, played by Armie Hammer, who initially spurns Elio’s affection but comes to invite and encourage it. Call Me by Your Name is two hours of what could be described as “exquisite torture”—a film that delves into the very beautiful aspects of discovery, deeply rooted attraction, and full-blown adoration—but it also doesn’t shy away from real, raw moments of emotional pain. Elio and Oliver do in fact fall in love, and yeah, we take that spiritual and physical journey with them. And we also get to endure the impact of their not-so-secret summer affair—not only on themselves—but o

Let’s talk about The War of the Roses, an 80s movie that shows just how far two people will go when what starts out as the perfect marriage ends up in the ugliest of divorces. This is a film that reunites Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, who star as Oliver Rose and Barbara Rose respectively, with Danny DeVito, who also directed. The three had previously worked together in Romancing the Stone and its sequel—which are completely different films than what we’re talking about today. The War of the Roses traces the arc of Oliver and Barbara’s life together, from its sweet beginnings to its bitter, bitter end. As their love dissipates, we watch them gradually begin to despise each other and they eventually turn their family home into a final battleground. The War of the Roses flirts with comedic rage and cartoon-like violence, but at times the disgust between the two lead characters is palpable. It’s clear that the movie has something serious to say about the consequences of vengeance and vendettas. And as we

In the 1971 neo-noir thriller Klute, director Alan J. Pakula and stars Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland explore the refuge offered by an unexpected love, along with the fears and demons that continuously tear at it. Fonda’s Bree Daniels is being stalked by a deranged killer, while Sutherland’s John Klute tries to protect her without falling in love with her. But Bree—a prostitute caught between her desire for a new life and her tortured acceptance of the one she has—can’t help but gravitate toward the private detective Klute, whose genuine affection confuses and intoxicates her. In the shadows is the killer—serving as the perfect backdrop for a world where vulnerability is dangerous and control is addictive. Klute is a film that is often taut with suspense, but manages to linger long enough to examine the motivations of lust, while expressing the power and possibilities of a strange love.

Snobs On Film is a monthly movie podcast, exploring one theme per season. This season: love in its strangest forms, across classic and contemporary film. On this episode of Snobs On Film Power, Prophecy and Paranoia - ‘The Tragedy Of Macbeth’ In Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, a tale of paranoia begins with a prophecy, and the road from one to the other is littered with treachery, ambition, and the tragic results of a strange love. Denzel Washington is Macbeth — Shakespeare’s ‘man who would be king’ — and Frances McDormand is Lady Macbeth; the wife who sparks her husband’s lust for power, fanning it into a murderous flame. After Macbeth is told by three witches that he is fated to sit on the throne, Lady Macbeth helps fulfill his destiny by committing an act of betrayal so grim it threatens to drive them both insane. Amidst the ruins of Macbeth’s nobility and honor are the urgent words of his wife, steadily encouraging his doomed ascent; using her affection to sweeten her demands as the couple watches t

Join us for the season finale of Snobs On Film: Redemption by exploring classic 80s-style action with Ridley Scott’s underrated Michael Douglas thriller: Black Rain. When New York City cop Nick Conklin chases a Japanese mob figure to Tokyo, Conklin’s demons come along for the ride, quickly derail the investigation, and bury him beneath his own hubris. Soon, Conklin and his partner are outsiders in a world that has no way in, stalking a man who represents the fall of ancient beliefs and the rise of a kingdom without a code. When the unthinkable happens, Conklin must face his failures and make a defining choice between the satisfaction of revenge and the honor of redemption.

Snobs On Film: Redemption continues with a movie that epitomizes the category of “cult classic”. A night of prophetic somnambulism kicks off the wonderfully weird and bewitching story of Donnie Darko, a film that folds its redemptive qualities into the dreamlike existence of a teen watching his world dissolve into nightmare. Jake Gyllenhaal is Donnie, a kid whose school days and home life are complicated by mental illness. Add frequent interactions with a demonic (but sage) rabbit-man, a ticking clock that may be counting down to world destruction, and a strange twist on the usual banality of teen angst, and you get a movie that subverts everything in grand fashion. By the time a mysterious jet engine falls from the sky, the odd narrative of Donnie Darko has already become a story full of grim intrigue and edgy fantasy.

The sublime martial artistry of the 2000 classic, CrouchingTiger, Hidden Dragon, demonstrates only one form of the film’s great battles. The other style of conflict takes place on the war-torn fields of inner turmoil and forbidden love. Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi portray parallel characters whose internal struggle pits what they have outwardly accepted against what they inwardly long for. And when Chow Yun-fat’s Green Destiny sword is stolen, all three characters embark on a path that becomes a collision course of emotion and a final frontier for their redemption. Join Snobs on Film as we continue our #1Theme10Films season with this incredibly epic, yet intimate tale.

SOF’s #1Theme10Films continues with Pulp Fiction! Very few films have explored the serpentine road to redemption as uniquely as Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 seminal hit. While assassins offer their existential thoughts, gangsters go medieval, and a clean-up man expounds on the fine art of removing dead bodies—a boxer looks for vindication in the bowels of retro LA. As the film's plot toys with chronology and conventionalism, Pulp Fiction proves to be a tour de force filled with unforgettable characters, unsettling violence, and unexpected wit.

Snobs On Film: Redemption returns with a film so full of tension and intrigue that it could only have come from the legendary Master of Suspense. Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious features a conflicted Cary Grant, whose love for Ingrid Bergman sets him at odds with his duty as a spy. Bergman is the key to bringing down a network of Nazis in post-war Brazil, and her willingness to enter into a web of lies leads to a final, iconic scene that turns a moment of redemption into a choice between life and death. Join us as we continue our #1Theme10Films season with Notorious.

Demons, angels, warlocks, and cops: the perfect ingredients for a redemption story so twisted it could make the Devil smile. Snobs On Film: Redemption continues with 2005’s comic book occult film, Constantine. Keanu Reeves is Alan Moore’s demon-hunting detective whose life (and death) of sin has predetermined his fate. But can Constantine earn salvation when Rachel Weisz offers him a last shot at redemption? Come hang with SOF as we continue our #1Theme10Films season by discussing an antihero who searches for absolution while on the road between heaven and hell.

This week, Snobs On Film: Redemption discusses 2010’s Biutiful, a haunting film seemingly shot on location in the landscape between choice and consequence. Oscar winner Javier Bardem is Uxbal, a struggling father whose illness has placed a ticking clock on his life and therefore threatened the livelihood and future of his children. To redeem himself and offer his daughter and son a world better than his own, Uxbal will have to find hope in humanity and discover opportunity where there is none. Join us as we continue our #1Theme10Films season by exploring what is Biutiful.

There are redemption films, and there are REDEMPTION films. Elia Kazan's On The Waterfront is the latter. The #1Theme10Films Snobs On Film: Redemption season hits a new high with an episode that explores one of the greatest movies of all time. Acting icon Marlon Brando is a former boxer turned mob enforcer with a disappointing past and a heart full of remorse. But when Brando falls in love, he must find a way to salvage his humanity and save his soul—even if it means sacrificing everything else.

The new season of SOF continues! Next up in our “One Theme. Ten Films.” reviews: the 1992 Black cult classic, Boomerang! love is in the air – or is it redemption? Directed by Reginald Huddlin, Eddie Murphy stars as Marcus: a cocky-as-hell ad executive who also happens to be the definition of a suave, successful, and insatiable player. But the tables are turned when Marcus gets a taste of his own medicine after meeting and falling in lust with his new boss, Jacqueline, who may be even more sexually prolific than Marcus himself. Soon, Marcus finds out how it feels to be on the other side of seduction, and how little he knows about true love.

One theme. Ten films. Snobs On Film is back with a season that explores the theme of redemption as it plays out in ten very different movies! First up? Denzel Washington’s Flight, a story that begins with a literal descent and features a self-destructive pilot who seems determined to keep falling. Join us as we discuss Denzel’s performance, the impact of Robert Zemeckis's powerful film, and the nature of redemption when it’s not just a path to be taken, but also a choice that must be made.

For the first time ever, The Music Snobs meets Snobs On Film in one unforgettable episode to celebrate both podcasts’ season finales!!! Listen as the Snobs combine the two shows to go deep on the (im)perfect marriage of cinema and sound. The crew explores the natural relationship between music and movies while questioning which artform impacts the audience the most. The ensuing debate inevitably leads to a wild roundtable: What movie soundtrack do you absolutely love even though you have no desire to ever see the movie again?

It’s been 30 years since Da Mayor told Mookie to, “Always do the right thing,” in Spike Lee’s masterful third film. In this riveting episode of SOF the fellas take a look at ‘Do the Right Thing’ and ask: exactly what is the right thing? And after three decades, what’s our response to this movie’s character arcs and the layers of storytelling that combine to form one of cinema’s most iconic pressure-cookers? Before the episode ends the crew will also take time to debate the film’s climax and themes by wondering: What if Radio Raheem had not been killed?

From Pam Grier to The Rock, a pantheon of black action heroes can be found in Hollywood’s past and present. On this episode of Snobs On Film, the crew examines the impact that POC actors have had on the action genre and (of course) asks an uncomfortable question: why has the film industry and the public been so much more accepting of black actors as leads in action films than in dramas? Afterwards, the Snobs kickoff a memorable round table discussion by challenging each other to name an action flick and the POC sidekick within it who would have made a better lead than the film’s white star.

After a decade of blockbuster films and last year’s record-breaking Infinity War, it’s time for Snobs On Film to go deep on Avengers: Endgame and examine the unprecedented success—and question the impact—of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Can the studio maintain its dominance? Has the MCU been a boost for the film industry, or is it the bane of modern cinema? The crew explores these issues and more, wrapping things up with an intriguing roundtable: What comic book film would you recommend to someone who hates comic book films?

Snobs On Film takes a look at the rise of Jordan Peele, Barry Jenkins, and films like ‘Sorry to Bother You’, and wonders: are people of color being better represented by today’s unconventional storytelling than by the hyper-realism of classics like ‘Menace II Society’ and ‘Boyz N the Hood’? Afterwards, the crew gets inspired by Peele’s newest film during a roundtable that gives each Snob a multiple choice: name the one movie character who could actually be your doppelgänger. [Note: This episode was recorded prior to John Singleton’s untimely passing.]