The Filmsnobs: Dark Knights of Online Film Criticism

The Filmsnobs' Mission: Impossible? Making This Year's Summer Movies Seem Interesting

The Elitist Commentary

Get Ready for The Dark Knight by reading my article on the legacy of Heath Ledger for Flak Magazine. Then check Out the May, June , July, and August Editions of the Filmsnobs Summer Movie Preview!

Updated 7/22/08 by shimes

Yes, Virginia, I have see The Dark Knight, and yes, it is awesome. Review forthcoming, but for now, the pitch is:

2½ The Departed + 2 A Clockwork Orange = 4½ The Dark Knight

New reviews of Wanted and Hellboy 2: The Golden Army are up at the right. Neither of which should persuade you to step out of the Batman line. Wait it out. It's worth it.

On video over the last three weeks that I've seen:

2 Coming Home + 2 In the Valley of Elah = 4 Stop-Loss. It's probably more flawed than I let on, but it's very good. Kimberly Peirce's first movie since Boys Don't Cry.

2 Love, Actually + 1 Gennifer Flowers = 3 Definitely, Maybe. I probably overrated this one a bit because I was grading on a scale relative to other romantic comedies.

2 The Bridge to Terebithia + 1 Lord Voldemort = 3 The Spiderwick Chronicles

Updated 7/3/08 by shimes

Snobs, sorry it's been another long month. I've gotten a new job, working on building a new part-time job, and been too busy to see The Love Guru. New review of Get Smart is up. July looks to be pretty spectacular, though. That, and right now in the theaters is a movie that I'm considering giving the coveted Filmsnobs Fifth Star too. There's only been a handful of movies in the seven years of this site to get the Fifth Star or the vaunted Four and a Half Stars, most of them of the Serious Spielberg Film variety. This may be the first Five Star Film in Filmsnobs in several years: Wall-E. That's right, that adorable Little Tramp of a robot gets the following pitch:

1 Finding Nemo + 1 City Lights + 1 A.I.: Artificial Intelligence + 1 Idiocracy + 1 R2-D2 = 5 Wall-E

The pitch is that complicated because the movie is that complicated. It's cute yet dark, cynical yet Chaplinesque, it's a summer blockbuster from the predominant entertainment corporation on Earth, yet the movie feels like an experimental art film. Review coming soon.

On video, I caught Be Kind Rewind, which I enjoyed quite a bit. It's a complicated, if not entirely successful, personal piece from Michel Gondry (The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one of those five-star films). It speaks to both the power of the urban core to create community through myth, and yet speaks to the power of youtube and user-generated content as a voice for community as well. Check it out: 1½ The Purple Rose of Cairo + 1½ Barry from High Fidelity = 3 Be Kind Rewind. Everything else I either haven't seen, or can't even work up the energy to see. I mean, do you care about Vantage Point?

Updated 6/5/08 by shimes

Snobs, there will be a lot more updates as we go headlong into the cokes and popcorn of Summer Movie Season! New stuff for you. Iron Man is awesome, and Indiana Jones is...well, the review is at Flak Magazine. It's one of my best reviews in a while, so please enjoy and remember to tip your waitresses. Also, click on the June Summer Movie Preview link to see what's in theaters this weekend. As for what's on video, it's been extremely slow over the last month. The only new release I've reviewed is this masterpiece:

1 Blades of Glory + 1 Dan Issel = 2 Semi-Pro

Plus, I've got legal analysis. That's right, Supreme Court dissin'! I know you wanted to know what I thought the down-low was on Crawford v. Marion County Election Board. It's right here, bitches! Right here!

Updated 5/11/08 by shimes

First things first. No, I haven't been able to see Iron Man yet. 'Tis the season of weddings and all that, but it's on the list. Second, new review of Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay to your right. Third, the June Edition of the Summer Movie Preview is up. Finally, last week on video: 1 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould + 1 Don't Look Back = 2 I'm Not There

Updated 4/30/08 by shimes

Snobs fans! It's time! It's the first weekend of May...what do we want? Take it away, Hulk!

Summer freakin' Movies, y'all! Cold Sodas! Hot popcorn! No monsters in the projection booth! Here's your Rockin' Summer Movie Preview, May Edition. June, July, and August will be rolled out over the next few weeks.

We've got other business too. First and foremost, JimmyO has officially turned in his resignation here at Filmsnobs. This has been a long time coming, of course, and it's a completely amicable split. James has moved on to bigger and better things, with a real live actual paying gig at KY-3 in Springfield, doing his weekly Front Row at Five tv segments and writing reviews for the Front Row at Five Blog. I'll keep his links fresh here every week, and if you've been a longtime reader of the site, please check out his letter.

Second, I've got a review of Forgetting Sarah Marshall over at Flak Magazine. I had a great time at the movie, but the soft sexism of Judd Apatow continues. On video, my #3 movie of last year, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

Updated 4/24/08 by shimes

Hey, y'all! I've got a Forgetting Sarah Marshall review in the pipeline over at Flak Magazine, which should be out sometime next week. And I'm working on the kick-ass Summer Movie Preview too. For now, let's just get to the weekend's new releases.

Baby Mama: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have assembled some awesome bit players. I'm still not sure what to think: It seems like a stupid spring movie, but with that Tina Fey...magic? Her first feature length screenplay was Mean Girls, so I'm still a little skeptical that she can carry a whole movie on this premise. Then again, that's John Hodgman (otherwise known as PC) as a gynocologist.

Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay: I have extremely high hopes for this one. The first one was, in my semi-professional opinion, a brilliant satire of the American dream. Seriously, read the review. It looks like we're in for more of the same.

On video:

2 Governor Jack Stanton + 1½ Sam Seaborn = 3½ Charlie Wilson's War

1½ You Can Count on Me + 1½ Noah Baumbach = 3 The Savages

Updated 4/16/08 by shimes

Snobs, sorry I haven't been around for the last month. Contrary to the blogger credo , I'm looking for a job and NOT spending all my time on the internet. Hopefully somebody here in the Kansas City area has use for an unemployed taxidermist (Anybody longtime Filmsnobs readers still buying that one? I'd hate to have to admit that I have a law degree and can't find a job.) But I did get some new content up. Three reviews, more to come, and the Rockin' Summer Movie Preview is in process. Let's look at what's in theaters this weekend.

88 Minutes : This is the quintessential spring throwaway crap movie. A gimmick plot, a former It Girl, the Psychologist Who's Really the Crazy One, ridiculously unnecessary Stuff Blowin' Up, Evil Genius Serial Killers, and Al Pacino. Next spring, I hope they come up with a movie that teams Pacino and DeNiro in their 88 Minutes and 15 Minutes roles, call it 103 Minutes , and have them get chased through Los Angeles by psychotic Russian mobster serial killing college students for an hour and forty minutes.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall : Team Apatow puts Drillbit Taylor in the rearview, generating huge buzz with this one. Jason Segel, one of the fat guys rooming with fellow fat guy Seth Rogen in Knocked Up , is dumped by Veronica Mars, goes on vacation, where he happens onto the same resort as she and her new rock star boyfriend. Apparently, the male nudity of Walk Hard is back in copious amounts, Kristen Bell sports a bikini, and there's more character development than you might expect. On the downside, we have an unproven director and it seems like another one of those condescending Fat Guy, Hot Chick deals.

The Forbidden Kingdom : Jackie Chan and Jet Li kung fu fighting together again for the very first time! This might have been a really big deal during, say, the first Bush Administration. But now…it just kinda feels like they're trying to sell us Holyfield v. Bowe IV. Wait, wasn't Li supposed to have retired from martial arts roles? Isn't that like Rob Schneider saying he's not going to do anymore “You Can Do-eeet!” cameos in Sandler movies. Plus, you've got some white kid in the middle of some sort of Last Samurai plot, directed by the guy who made Stuart Little . Can't wait for summer movies now, huh?

On the New Release shelf, here's what I've seen, by order of recommendation:

2 When We Were Kings + 2 Q-Bert = 4 The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

2 A Civil Action + 2 Shook, Hardy & Bacon + 4 Michael Clayton

2 Knocked Up + 2 John Hughes = 4 Juno

2 Dog Day Afternoon + 2 Reservoir Dogs = 4 Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

2 Flags of our Fathers + 2 Pvt. Charles Graner, Jr. = 4 In the Valley of Elah

2 Scarface + 2 “Stop Snitchin'” Campaign = 4 American Gangster

2 Mystic River + 1½ Amber Hagerman = 3½ Gone Baby Gone

2 Grizzly Man + 1½ Easy Rider = 3½ Into the Wild

2 Fargo + 1½ The Burials of Melquiades Estrada = 3½ No Country For Old Men

1½ The Family Stone + 1½ Steve Martin = 3 Dan in Real Life

1½ In & Out + 1½ Alastair Sim = 3 Death at a Funeral