REDEMPTION: Black Rain

September 28th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 1 min

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.

REDEMPTION: Donnie Darko

September 14th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  57 mins 15 secs

cult, gyllenhaal, multiverse

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.

REDEMPTION: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

September 2nd, 2021  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 26 mins

The sublime martial artistry of the 2000 classic, Crouching Tiger, 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

REDEMPTION: Pulp Fiction

August 17th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  51 mins 9 secs

crime, noir, redemption

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.

REDEMPTION: Notorious

August 3rd, 2021  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 10 mins

alfred hitchcock, carey grant, ingrid bergman, redemption, romance, spy, thriller

REDEMPTION: Constantine

July 20th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 12 mins

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.

REDEMPTION: Biutiful

July 6th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  42 mins 21 secs

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.

REDEMPTION: On The Waterfront

June 22nd, 2021  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 8 mins

elia kazan, karl malden, marlon brando, redemption, rod steiger

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.

REDEMPTION: Boomerang

June 8th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 9 mins

90s, comedy, eddie murphy, halle berry, martin lawrence, redemption, robin givens, romance, romcom

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.

REDEMPTION: Flight

May 25th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 12 mins

denzel, don cheadle, john goodman, redemption, zemeckis

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.

The Music Snobs on Film

September 7th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 17 mins

beyonce, disney, film, hitchcock, hollywood, music, prince, soundtrack

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?

Do the Right Thing

August 6th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  57 mins 49 secs

bill nunn, brooklyn, danny aiello, giancarlo esposito, new york, spike lee

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?

Black Action Heroes

July 3rd, 2019  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 2 mins

action, blaxploitation, comedy, drama

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?

The Beginning and Endgame of the MCU

May 29th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 5 mins

comics, disney, downey, marvel, mcu, thanos

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?

Is This ‘Us’?

May 1st, 2019  |  Season 1  |  53 mins 4 secs

cinema, critic, film, surreal

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.

#BondToo?

March 27th, 2019  |  Season 1  |  1 hr

bond, britian, craig, m, mi6, moneypenny, spy

As filming begins on the franchise’s 25th installment and we near the end of Daniel Craig’s epic run as James Bond, a certain question has come to mind concerning our favorite secret agent. In the era of #metoo, “diversity”, and Hollywood shake ups—does this mean #BondToo? Join us as SOF takes a look at the Craig films and discusses how a feminist present will impact the future of cinema’s most celebrated “misogynistic dinosaur”.