Shows
Price Writer PodcastThomas Saliba on the Price Writer Podcast Ep 21Tom's Journey and the Future of Insurance Pricing Join us in this episode as Jeremy Keating interviews Thomas Saliba delving into his career journey and expertise in insurance pricing. Tom recounts his early fascination with maths, leading him to a successful career at Norwich Union and eventually becoming an independent contractor. He discusses his work with Lloyd's syndicates and MGAs, emphasizing the integration of data science in pricing. Explore debates on off-the-shelf vs. custom-built pricing software and the influence of AI on coding and pricing practices. Ideal for pricing professionals, this episode offers invaluable insights into the complexities, innovations...
2025-03-1818 min
The Dental Up PodcastAdventures with the Military and Beyond with Dr. Deanna ThomasOn this episode of the Dental Up Podcast we welcome back to the podcast Dr. Deanna Thomas! Deanna Thomas, DMD, graduated from Penn State University with her BS before going on to the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine for her dental degree. Dr. Thomas went on to serve in the U.S. Navy and Pennsylvania National Guard for 21 years before retiring from service in January 2016. Passionate about continuing education, Dr. Thomas attended the Kellogg Executive Management Program at Northwestern University in Chicago. During her service, Dr. Thomas began her dental practice in 2003 here in Hermitage. She also...
2022-06-1424 minThe Dental Up PodcastTalking Shop with Dr. Thomas Hirsch, Zyris Founder and Board MemberOn this episode of The Dental Up Podcast, we talk with Dr. Thomas Hirsch, the Founder of Zyris, formerly known as Isolite. Dr. Hirsch has been living and practicing dentistry in Malibu, California, for more than 30 years. His high-tech practice specializes in cosmetic, restorative and implant dentistry. Dr. Hirsch is very involved in the community. He provides dental care for the homeless, and has a great reputation for being very giving and caring. Dr. Hirsch has also received numerous awards and has been recognized for his pioneering invention of the ISOLITE dryfield illuminator. In this episode, you will h...
2022-02-0829 min
Provide Like Jesus- Inspiring Christians to Serve Their Families and Communities like Christ#67 Jenia Keating On Building Yourself Back UpJenia Keating is an accomplished project and program delivery leader with experience in managing complex software projects. I benefited from her skills and friendly demeanor when she helped train me as a project manager. Today she continues to inspire me with her commitment to growth even when that means being open to uncomfortable situations. She has discovered the power of vulnerability from her myriad of experiences ranging from overseeing business projects at a tech start-up to running a household. Enjoy this conversation and connect with Jenia on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenia-keating-757b1a221/.
2021-10-2537 min
FCPA Compliance ReportGreg Keating on the Current State of Whistleblower Regs and LawIn this Episode of the FCPA Compliance Report, I am joined by Greg Keating, well-known employment lawyer who focuses on whistleblower regulation and litigation. In this episode we take a look at the current state of whistleblower regulations, case law and recent SEC awards. Highlights include:
Greg recently changed firms, moving to Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. He tells us about your new firm?
Why was the whistleblower provision of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 so controversial?
What are you counseling clients on regarding whistleblower claims under the Biden Administration?
In addition to the AMLA of 2020, what other regulatory changes hav...
2021-06-0726 min
Daily Dose of Disney with Ray KeatingEpisode #40: What Did Thomas Kinkade and Walt Disney Have in Common?Bringing happiness to people is kind of the point of business and art.The “Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating” podcast serves up a Disney or Disney-related quote each day, with DisneyBizJournal’s Ray Keating offering brief, additional thoughts on how each dose ties in to life, career, business, entrepreneurship, creativity, storytelling, work, or just plain fun.Check out www.DisneyBizJournal.com.Keating has two new books out and another on the way. Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant N...
2021-05-1801 min
FCPA Compliance ReportMax Keating, Controls and ESG in eSportsIn this Episode of the FCPA Compliance Report, I am joined by Max Keating, CEO and co-founder of Kleos, a scheduling and payment platform for the eSports industry. We take a deep dive into eSports, the Kleos platform and how the industry is evolving from an internal controls, compliance and ESG perspective. If you do not know anything about eSports and you are in compliance, this is a podcast for you. Highlights of this podcast include:
The breadth and scope of the eSports industry?
What market gap or need did you see in the eSports industry?
What is the interest in...
2021-04-2614 min
Film SnuffFace/OffSomehow John Woo’s remake of “Freaky Friday” known as “Face/Off” starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage where they switch bodies was somehow beloved by audiences—and critics alike—in 1997. But this is nothing more than a shoot-‘em-up cheesy action flick that appears it was made by 8th graders who live in the suburbs who just read about mythology. This movie has 4,529 missed point-blank gunshots, sappy family drama for no reason, dead kids, white American terrorists (when that was allowed to be a thing), a futuristic Gitmo with magnetic boots, and so many doves. And weirdly we wouldn’t have Scorsese’s “Th...
2020-08-222h 11
Film SnuffForrest GumpThe Best Picture winner for 1994 "Forrest Gump" is itself like a box of chocolates: filled sickly sweets that seem like they’re good on the surface, but end up being too nutty, gooey and annoyingly filled with shrimp. It’s also a heaping slice of Americana pie topped with a scoop of Ok Boomer and served with a side of muddled message about destiny or something. Tom Hanks plays Forrest Gump, a lovable simpleton who somehow gets involved in almost every famous event during the Baby Boomer generation’s maturation period. Robin Wright plays Je...
2020-06-302h 14
Film SnuffVarsity BluesGet your potbelly pigs, concussions, and whipped cream bikinis ready, because we’re covering the 1999 after-school special "Varsity Blues," which tells the story of a jaded back-up quarterback at a small-town Texas high school who has to take over hero responsibilities when the star QB gets injured while also trying to take down their mean old coach. This film predates the "Friday Night Lights" movie and subsequent TV show, but doesn’t predate the book, so clearly they were capitalizing on its popularity. James Van Der Beek (Dawson Leery from "Dawson’s Creek") plays Jonathan Moxon...
2020-06-142h 07
Film SnuffRain ManUh oh! Definitely did "Rain Man," definitely did "Rain Man." Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman somehow star as brothers in this manipulative road trip/buddy comedy that topped both the box office and the Oscars in 1988. People love this movie, but it's nothing more than a con-job that somehow got credit for treating autism authentically, when it actually just uses it as a gimmick to divert your eye from the fact that this is nothing more than formulaic dreck. This movie is not about an autistic guy (which it dismisses brutally), but is really about a whiny...
2020-05-191h 44
Film SnuffRaiders of the Lost ArkIn 1981, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg whipped up a weird Bible film where a surly, pedophile grave robber tries to beat the Nazis to gain possession of a chest that holds the remains of the Ted Commandments in order to speak directly to God. And it’s a kid’s movie! The first in the "Indiana Jones" film franchise, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" kicked off sequels, prequels, dozens of ripoffs, pop culture staples, and is something we all loved as kids, but forgot to stop pretending is a masterpiece. We cover the rolling boulders, the s...
2020-05-061h 59
Film SnuffREPLAY: RockyWhile most of us are still on lockdown do to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, please enjoy this reposting of our episode on the original "Rocky" movie that aired in February 2018. Keating spends a few minutes up front updating you on how his quarantine has been going, and then at the very end, reveals what our newest episode will cover. Stay safe! ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES: In 1976, a former porn star made a low-budget movie called "Rocky" about an underdog boxer who randomly gets a shot at the heavyweight championship. The film went on to become the...
2020-04-281h 37
Film SnuffArmageddonThe highest-grossing film of 1998 that was nominated for four Oscars (yes), “Armageddon,” makes its also-awful counterpart “Deep Impact” look like “Citizen Kane.” This explosion-(in space?)-filled blockbuster is another in the painful pop culture cancer filmographies of director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer that likes to remind its audience 500 times that America can do no wrong. Bruce Willis plays Harry Stamper, “the best” deep sea oil driller to ever live, who is asked by NASA to dig 800 feet down into a bound-for-earth Texas-sized angry astroid, place a nuke in it, and blow it up without dying...
2020-04-212h 01
Film SnuffREPLAY: TitanicIn September of 2017, we released back-to-back episodes about James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster "Titanic." For this REPLAY episode, we have combined those into one long episode for your memory lane listening pleasure. Enjoy.
2020-04-143h 25
Film SnuffOutbreakThe all-the-sudden relevant movie from 1995,” Outbreak,” about a global pandemic and how to stop it, misses the chance to be interesting by squandering its all-star cast in exchange for mindless explosions, helicopter chases and a cheesy love story. Always-angry Dustin Hoffman plays a military doctor who looks like he’s wearing his daddy’s fatigues on Halloween. He seems more concerned about getting his ex-wife (Rene Russo) back than he is about saving the world. Silky-voiced Morgan Freeman and Donald Sutherland play friendly-evil and unfriendly-evil military higher-ups who are trying to conceal the outbreak because it was c...
2020-04-071h 55
Film SnuffREPLAY: Point BreakWe hope everyone is staying safe and trying to make the best of their quarantine. But assuming that you're not trying to necessarily make the best of it, you might as well listen to us then. So here’s a replay of one of our favorite episodes that maybe will cheer you up and help pass the time. *ORIGINAL AIR DATE: JANUARY 9, 2018* ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES: In 1991, cool brah James Cameron and tubular dudette Kathryn Bigelow pulled down their pants and mooned the world when they created the beloved action movie "Point Break," which sh...
2020-04-011h 28
Film SnuffPretty in PinkWith yet another view into the creepy mind of ‘80s John Hughes, we decided to tackle the 1986 film “Pretty in Pink.” It stars Molly Ringwald in a flip of her “richie” role in “The Breakfast Club,” where she is the one from the wrong side of the tracks. She has an alcoholic, loser dad (played by Harry Dean Stanton), and is being stalked by a duck-tailed clown named Duckie (played by Jon Cryer). She’s also being stalked by one of the school’s rich kids, Blane, but she’s cool with his stalking because he’s rich. So they...
2020-03-231h 50
Film Snuff2020 Oscars Wrap-UpFor the fourth year in a row, we fired up the mics immediately after watching the Oscars ceremony and give you our take on what we witnessed. We also figure out who got the most categories correct, discuss the ceremony, some of the speeches, and our most-hated moments from the broadcast. It might not have had a host, but Parasite thrived. Follow along by visiting filmsnuff.com/2020OscarNoms, where we have provided a list of the nominations in the order we read them. As always, follow the show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Visit...
2020-02-1033 min
Film SnuffOur 2020 Oscars predictionsWill it be "Parasite" or "1917" that takes home the big prize? Join us as we discuss the year that was 2019 in film as we break down our thoughts on all the Oscar-nominated movies, and then each pick what we think will win in all 24 categories. Keating pretentiously mocks Jim for making what he considers outrageously dumb picks. We differed on 15 of the 24 categories! And weirdly, we mention in this episode how we were amazed that 103-year-old Kirk Douglas was still alive, and then only minutes after we stopped recording, did the news of his death...
2020-02-061h 04
Film SnuffIn Theaters: Once Upon a Time... in HollywoodIn the latest installment of our recurring In Theaters segment, we saw Quentin Tarantino’s newest film "Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood" and then immediately fired up the mics to discuss it. Some people have hailed this movie as a masterpiece while others think it’s a misogynistic mess. Where did we fall on that spectrum? What did we think of the surprise ending? How did we feel about the portrayal of Bruce Lee? Find out now. **NOTE: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS** Quick Facts Release date: July 26, 2019 Runtime: 2 hours, 41 minutes ...
2019-08-2642 min
One Heart One MindEpisode 13: The Life and Legacy of Father Thomas KeatingFather Thomas Keating (1923–2018) was a uniquely gifted human being and great Soul. In this episode, Thomas McConkie reflects on Father Thomas’s legacy, as well as invites listeners into a direct experience of the Silence that in Keating’s words, is “God’s first language.”
2019-07-2423 min
Film SnuffCast AwayIn 2000, Robert Zemeckis made "Cast Away," the longest FedEx commercial in history that masquerades as a trapped-on-a-desert-island story. Granted, the middle section of the film where Tom Hanks is marooned isn't terrible, but the pair of audience-insulting bookending acts that surround it replace any good will that created with seething anger. Tom Hanks plays Chuck Noland, a man with no time because of his demanding job at FedEx, who is the lone survivor of a plane crash over the Pacific—and then washes ashore a small, uninhabited island in the middle of nowhere. His deteriorated me...
2019-05-281h 52
Film SnuffDances with WolvesThe Kevin Costner vanity project "Dances with Wolves" beat "GoodFellas" for Best Picture in 1990. That's right, this three-hour goofy slog that was heralded as the first movie not to have two-dimensional Native American characters, took home the gold statue. The problem? Even if its Lakota characters had actual names and dialogue, they're still depicted as Noble Savages who seem more like cavemen than fleshed-out individuals. Kevin Costner clownishly plays a Civil War Union soldier named Lt. John Dunbar who goes on a suicide mission rather than have his leg amputated and then is considered brave when he...
2019-05-091h 45
Film SnuffIn Theaters: UsAfter the enormous success of Jordan Peele's first feature film, "Get Out," he's back at the helm again with his followup, "Us" (which is currently in theaters). And, because of that, we went and saw it for our aptly-named In Theaters segment that we do on this show from time to time. But guess what? We disagreed on this one. Well, maybe our doppelgängers did. But find out which of *us* took a pair of scissors to the heart of this picture, and which has his heart tethered to it. **NOTE: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS S...
2019-04-2334 min
Film SnuffFerris Bueller's Day OffIf you actually do stop and look around at the 1986 John Hughes classic "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off," there's a lot of stuff you can't miss that doesn't make sense. Are Ferris and his sister twins? Do his parents think he has the mind of the 5-year-old boy? Is Ferris a figment of Cameron's imagination? We will discuss all those and much more as we tear this iconic '80s flick. Matthew Broderick plays Ferris Bueller, one of the most popular high school students without a social media presence in the history of the world. He acts li...
2019-04-021h 47
Film SnuffGreen BookThe controversial 2018 film "Green Book" that just won the Academy Award for Best Picture has it all: a white-savior narrative, cheesy New York Italian-American accents, and a series of cringeworthy tone-deaf scenes that aim to solve racism, but end up being more racist themselves in the end. Farrelly brother Peter directed this unfunny Oscar-bait that apparently either warmed the hearts of all the old white Academy members or was just the perfect anti-Netflix movie to pick so "Roma" wouldn't win. Often compared to "Driving Miss Daisy," it's actually more like "The Bodyguard," "The Odd Couple" and "Planes...
2019-03-081h 35
Film Snuff2019 Oscars Wrap-UpFor the third year in a row, we fired up the mics immediately after watching the Oscars ceremony and give you our take on what we witnessed. We also figure out who got the most categories correct (and settle our wager), discuss the ceremony, some of the speeches, and our favorite and most-hated moments from the broadcast. It might not have had a host, but there still were a lot of parasites. Follow along by visiting filmsnuff.com/2019OscarNoms, where we have provided a list of the nominations in the order we read them. ...
2019-02-2744 min
Film SnuffOur 2019 Oscars predictionsWe guide you through the Oscar nominations for movies released in 2018 leading up to this Sunday's ceremony (which will take place on Feb. 24). We discuss the snubs, the surprises, and give you our picks for all 24 categories. We also decide upon a bet for whoever loses, and talk about how bad "Bohemian Rhapsody" is and how it shouldn't have been nominated for anything. Follow along by visiting filmsnuff.com/2019oscarnoms, where we have provided a list of the nominations in the order we read them. Tell us what you think by chatting with...
2019-02-2046 min
Film Snuff(500) Days of SummerHappy Valentine's Day! This time we tore apart the 2009 movie "(500) Days of Summer," an overly-stylized hipster attempt at an anti-romantic comedy. You can't spell parenthetical without pathetic. This is one of the most pretentious movies in the last ten years. They bounce back and forth between timelines for no reason, make obvious literary, music, art, and film references to try and seem smart, and they even have films-within-the-film to seem clever. It also hits the annoying montage trifecta: a sadness montage, a redemption montage, and a post-coital-skipping-around-super-happy montage. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Tom Hansen, m...
2019-02-132h 03
Film SnuffAmerican History XWe decided to curb stomp the 1998 Edward Norton vehicle "American History X" that showed us all neo-Nazis have to do to overcome their vicious deep-seated racism is have one jokey conversation with a funny black guy in prison. This movie has it all: a "Psycho"-esque black-and-white bloody slow-motion shower scene, a hilariously unrealistic reverse slam dunk by Edward Norton, a giant swastika tattoos, a cheesy villains, a few funny wigs, and even a little kid dressed up as Adolf Hitler. Edward Norton stars as Derek Vinyard, a leader of a white supremacist gang called...
2019-01-241h 29
Film SnuffSplashThe 1984 box office smash "Splash" gave us a lot of things: Tom Hanks as a leading man, Ron Howard as a bankable director, and oddly the name Madison becoming popular. It’s just a shame that's all this pile of fish crap is worth. It's literally a fish out of water story, and also, frankly, the filmmakers have a lawsuit against the movie "The Shape of Water," which ripped this off almost to the letter. Tom Hanks plays Allen Bauer, a wholesale fruit and vegetable salesman who apparently is incapable of loving a woman because he...
2019-01-101h 59
Film SnuffREPLAY: When Harry Met Sally...Happy New Year! We'll be back next week with new episodes. It's 2019 now. The future. Makes the 2015 from "Back to the Future Part II" seem like a million years ago. But now we're in the year of "Blade Runner." And they really nailed that. No better way to describe Los Angeles 2019 than a bunch of sushi-eating robots. Jim's still on his paternity leave of sorts as we've been taking some time off for the holidays, but in the meantime, enjoy our repost of one of our favorite episodes, "When Harry Met Sally..." *******
2018-12-311h 49
Film SnuffREPLAY: Home Alone 2: Lost in New YorkHey, guys, we're still hoping to get a Christmas episode done, but this past week hit a little snag. A good little snag. Jim's wife just gave birth to their second child, so needless to say, he's been a little busy this week. And this time she didn't go into labor while we were recording, so that's good. See our "Jerry Maguire" episode for when that happened. And more good news: Keating is still childless. Anyway, in the meantime, we decided to repost our "Home Alone 2" episode on our feed, so go enjoy (or re-enjoy) th...
2018-12-181h 36
Film SnuffGone with the Wind (2/2)Continuing our discussion and dismantling of the epic classic film from 1939, "Gone with the Wind," we break down everything that happens in the nutty second half of this movie (after the intermission). Scarlett O'Hara gets married two more times to people she doesn't love, and Rhett Butler continues to play his mind games with her. Join us as we discuss the evil things Rhett does to Scarlett, we learn how Keating doesn't fully understand what breastfeeding is, and as we (for some reason) compare the characters in this movie to their "Family Matters" counterparts. Tell u...
2018-12-111h 33
Film SnuffGone with the Wind (1/2)In our 100th episode, we cover the first half of the epic classic 1939 film "Gone with the Wind" that tells a story of Southern belle Scarlett O'Hara who begins her life as a bratty rich girl on her idyllic plantation, and then loses everything when the Civil War strikes. Then she lies, cheats, murders and marries her way into being rich during Reconstruction, like some kind of airheaded Daniel Plainview. Marred by a tumultuous production due to its maniac producer David O. Selznick, this almost four-hour flick went on to win 8 Oscars, including Best Picture, and is...
2018-12-041h 38
Film SnuffThe InternNancy Meyers' most recently helmed vehicle, 2015's "The Intern" once again shows that she is out of touch with society and unable to make a movie that doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator. This cliche fish-out-of water story is just the same lame joke flopping around repeatedly wishing it could swim. And although this movie is set in modern-day Brooklyn, it pretends like the idea of an Internet company that sells clothes is something new, and it populates its cast of only white characters with people who have incredibly backward ideas about working women and men s...
2018-11-271h 56
Film SnuffRemember the TitansIn 2000, Disney released "Remember the Titans," a true story about a newly racially-integrated Virginia high school football team that in 1971 went 13-0, and in the process dissolved racial tensions in the community. Great story, but too bad it's not true. Denzel Washington plays the team's coach Herman Boone, who is brought in to be the new coach, replacing the popular and successful white coach. This movie also features some of the first roles of Ryan Gosling and Hayden Panettiere. Join us as we break down how exactly inaccurate this insanely cheesy "true story" actu...
2018-11-202h 04The Dental Up PodcastTranscending the limitations of existing Dental Technology with Dr. Thomas Hirsch DDSOn this week’s episode of the Dental Up Podcast, we have Dr. Thomas Hirsch DDS stop by and chat with us about Improving existing Dental Technology and procedures. We talk about what inspired him to create the ISOLITE® Dental Isolation System and the initial struggle of starting a company on the side while practicing Dentistry full-time. In this episode you will learn about: - What inspired Dr. Hirsch at 16 years old to pursue a Dental Career. -What launched ISOLITE® Brand. -His opinion on surgical guides. -His thoughts on out...
2018-11-1535 min
Film SnuffMailbag: Watching porn with dadToday we open our mailbag and answer questions on subjects like: what movies do we disagree on, what movies are we looking forward to doing on the show most, and whether or not our ads are real. We also recount a story about Keating fixing a beauty contest, discuss how he has a knack for making people flip out on him, and read a listener's anecdote about how Film Snuff helps her tolerate spending time with her dad. If you have a question, comment or fun story that you'd like to hear on a future Mailbag episode...
2018-11-0655 min
Film SnuffHalloween (1978)Happy Halloween! In 1978, John Carpenter made a film where a guy slowly strolls around a town killing babysitters for no reason, but apparently it is a deep social commentary—but if you really think about it, it isn't. It's just a movie about a guy slowly strolling around a town killing babysitters. For no reason. Activia spokesperson Jamie Lee Curtis stars as Laurie Strode, a smokin' hot high school nerd who boys don't like because she's "too smart," yet not smart enough to realize that a guy who is clearly stalking her is on a murderous rampage an...
2018-10-301h 29
Film SnuffIn Theaters: First ManIn this installment of our periodical "In Theaters" segment, we give you our immediate reaction to seeing a new movie on the big screen. This time, we discuss a movie where Disney dreamboat Ryan Gosling plays Neil Armstrong, "First Man." Will we think it's out of this world, or will we think it's as vacuous as space? Listen to find out. **NOTE: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS** Quick Facts Release date: October 12, 2018 Runtime: 2 hours, 21 minutes Starring: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Patrick Fugit, Christopher Abbot, Ci...
2018-10-2335 min
Film SnuffLegally BlondeA woman dumps her boyfriend because she's about to go to Harvard Law School and doesn't want his childish antics holding her back. Then this jilted lover devises an elaborate scheme to enroll in her school specifically to stalk her and systematically destroy her life. Sound like a horror story? Well, if you switch out the gender of the psycho stalker and add some fun music, then you've got yourself the movie, "Legally Blonde." Tell us what you think by chatting with us (@filmsnuff) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or by shooting us an email over...
2018-10-161h 55
Film SnuffLove, SimonDear Blue, I'm just like you. I'm a multimillionaire cool guy stud-muffin, with two still-married, supportive supermodel parents who are extremely liberal and accepting of gay people. I just don’t know how I’m ever going to come out. There are too many road blocks in front of me. Also, all my friends are totally fine with people being gay, but I still don’t think it's going to be okay. Also, Blue, I have thought you were approximately 10 different guys in my high school and I fell in love with each of them instan...
2018-10-021h 54
Film SnuffE.T. the Extra-TerrestrialSteven Spielberg's blockbuster "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" has been a part of the world's consciousness since it debuted in 1982, but when you take off those nostalgia goggles and look at it with fresh eyes, you'll realize it's nothing more than a story about a boy and his dog, a horror movie aimed at kids, and, strangely, a story with strong Jesus Christ parallels. This movie gave us many things: Reese's Pieces (one of the dozens of product placements in this), Drew Barrymore, the Amblin logo, and, of course, "Mac and Me." Henry Thomas plays the m...
2018-09-251h 30
Film SnuffREPLAY: Crocodile DundeeHey, guys. Jim is feeling a little under the weather, so we decided to wait on recording "E.T." for now and re-air a classic episode, one of our favorites. See you next week! ******* ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES: G'day, mates! The 1986 Aussie-American comedy "Crocodile Dundee" takes us deep into the Outback on a harrowin’ journey with poisonous snakes, gun-totin’ roos and giant rubber crocs. It also takes us to New York City where the hero of the story goes around Manhattan while casually assaulting newspaper editors, pimps, cross-dressers and small-knife-wielding, would-be muggers. Paul...
2018-09-181h 48
Film SnuffWhile You Were SleepingThe 1995 smash hit "While You Were Sleeping" is about a mentally deranged woman who infiltrates the family of a man who was violently attacked and falls into a coma by claiming that she is his fiancée. She deceives his family into welcoming her as one of their own and she even manages to manipulate the coma patient’s godfather into conspiring with her. Last but not least, she seduces the coma victim’s unsuccessful but kinda charming brother which could potentially destroy this happy family she so covets. Sandra Bullock plays Lucy Eleanor Moderatz, a sad Chicago...
2018-09-111h 34
Film SnuffIn Theaters: Crazy Rich AsiansIn this installment of our periodical "In Theaters" segment, we give you our immediate reaction to seeing a new movie on the big screen. This time, we discuss a movie that has been dominating the box office for the last three weeks and shows no signs of letting up, "Crazy Rich Asians." **NOTE: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS** Quick Facts Release date: August 15, 2018 Runtime: 2 hours Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina, Harry Shum Jr., Ken Jeong, Sonoya Mizuno, Chris Pang, Jimmy O. Yang, Ronny C...
2018-09-041h 17
Film SnuffOctober SkyIn 1999, famed director of "Jurassic Park III," Joe Johnston, outdid his previous attempts at making the perfect melodramatic cheesefest movie with "October Sky." The film is about teens with hardscrabble beginnings who launch a projectile as an attempt to escape their upbringings, but the insincerity of the performances made audiences want to projectile launch their lunches into jumbo-sized popcorn buckets. Prior to learning how to act, Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Homer Hickam, a boy who immediately becomes obsessed with rocketry after witnessing Sputnik orbiting the Earth and begins a personal correspondence with a famous Nazi scientist, Wernher...
2018-08-281h 52
Film SnuffKindergarten CopThe 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger action-comedy smash hit and cultural sensation "Kindergarten Cop" reminds us that this kid's movie mainly loved by teenagers shouldn't be revisited by adults. Its giant plot holes (larger than the holes Arnold's reckless cop character wouldn't mind leaving in any drug addict unwilling to get out of the way of his tricked-out shotgun) get force-filled with a huge helping of heart (as Arnold falls in love and misses his estranged son that we or he never see) and are about as big as Arnold's partner's hilariously large appetite (because she's small, get it?). The c...
2018-08-211h 45
Film SnuffFinding ForresterIn 2000, Gus Van Sant released his second film about a sad older man who mentors a promising young genius only to regain his zest for life along the way, "Finding Forrester." They tried to rekindle the magic from "Good Will Hunting," but they instead ended up making a painfully uncomfortable white savior movie strung together with every cornball trope known to man. Sean Connery plays William Forrester, a reclusive writer who authored a book that is now on the required reading list for every high schooler (aka a J.D. Salinger stand-in). Forrester has a habit of...
2018-08-071h 51
Film SnuffThe PatriotGerman filmmaker Roland Emmerich's second ultra-jingoistic movie about American independence, "The Patriot," plays a lot like an unofficial remake to Gibson's 1995 masterpiece "Braveheart," but without the whole being a good movie thing. Mel Gibson plays a hatchet-wielding maniac named Benjamin Martin who uses the death of his son and the Revolutionary War as excuses to savagely butcher his victims without facing consequences. He also enters into a sexual relationship with his recently deceased wife's sister (played by Joely Richardson) who is willing to look the other way at his evil behavior. Heath Ledger plays Mel...
2018-07-311h 50
Film SnuffIn Theaters: Mamma Mia! Here We Go AgainIn this installment of our periodical "In Theaters" segment, we give you our immediate reaction to seeing a new movie on the big screen. This time, we travel back to Island Kalokairi to see what happened to our favorite love quadrangle in, "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again." **NOTE: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS** Quick Facts Release date: July 20, 2018 Runtime: 1 hour, 54 minutes Starring: Lily James, Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Dominic Cooper, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård, Christine Baranski, Colin Firth, Cher, Julie Walters, Jeremy Irvine, Andy Garcia, Josh Dylan, Hugh Sk...
2018-07-241h 19
Film SnuffMamma Mia!Does Your Mother Know you're listening? Well, we're glad that you decided to Take a Chance on us this episode, you little Chiquititas. We don't Lay All Our Love on the 2008 smash hit "Mamma Mia!" Audiences lost and studios won as this movie made $615.7 million at the box office, but, as they say, The Winner Takes It All and the loser has to fall. A lot of people think this movie is Honey, Honey, but we think it's vinegar, vinegar. We thought this might be Our Last Summer after watching this drivel, but we were...
2018-07-171h 55
Film SnuffNotting HillSomehow the 1999 Julia Roberts-Hugh Grant flick "Notting Hill"—which is just the repeated gag of "Holy cow; she’s famous and talking to us!"—was extended into a 2-hour movie that made $364 million at the box office. This movie also has side bits about how eccentric British people are in this quaint, and down-to-earth super affluent section of London that seems like it's millions of miles away from Hollywood, even though it’s not. This movie was written by Richard Curtis, the man behind "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Love Actually," and it's difficult to diffe...
2018-07-101h 55
Film SnuffREPLAY: Independence DayHappy Independence Day 2018, everybody! We're taking the week off for the holiday, so we decided to re-air one of our favorite episodes that originally dropped July 4, 2017. We hope you have good time re-listening to it, and we'll be back in your ears next week with a brand-new episode. ******* ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES: If world events are making you feel less than celebratory, you can always take solace in the fact that there aren't currently any giant spaceships filled with genocidal aliens hovering over the world's major cities like in Roland Emmerich's 1996 megablockbuster, "Independence Day.”
2018-07-031h 43
Film SnuffThree Men and a BabyWeirdly, Mr. Spock himself Leonard Nimoy (not Dr. Spock) directed the highest-grossing film of 1987, "Three Men and a Baby." He might be famous for his ears, but he certainly doesn’t have an ear for comedy. On top of being a one-note joke movie where a trio of rapscallion bachelors don't know how to look after a baby, it also involves a bizarre subplot about heroin dealers chasing after them. Tom Selleck (of "Magnum, P.I." fame) and his mustache play architect Peter Mitchell, a man in a long-term open-relationship who weirdly lives with his two...
2018-06-261h 24
Film SnuffBlue JasmineAccording to The New Yorker, the acclaimed director and all-around stand-up guy Woody Allen's 2013 film "Blue Jasmine" is yet another masterpiece in a long line of them. According to us, it is boring masturbatory fantasy from an out of touch ghoul who, in an ideal world, would have been locked up in prison for the past several decades rather than pumping out an endless stream of bombastic nonsense. Cate Blanchett won Best Actress for playing Jasmine Francis, a mentally damaged widow who we find out through a series of unnecessary flashbacks was married to a wealthy Madoff-inspired...
2018-06-191h 58
Film SnuffBram Stoker's DraculaFrancis Ford Coppola's 1992 softcore porn adaptation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" seems like a bunch of 14-year-old boys got their hands on a camera for the first time, googled how to do cheap practical special effects, and then forced their friends to act in it doing laughable foreign accents. It’s weird that one of those immature boys made "The Godfather" and the other was Hannibal Lecter. But, it's true. And it's weird that this movie won three Oscars. It's not weird, however, that Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves were the friends asked to do foreign accents, though. Th...
2018-06-122h 08
Film SnuffIn Theaters: TullyIn this installment of our periodical "In Theaters" segment, we give you our immediate reaction to seeing a new movie on the big screen. This time, we tackled the newest Jason Reitman-Diablo Cody collaboration, "Tully." **NOTE: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS** Quick Facts Release date: May 4, 2018 Runtime: 1 hour, 35 minutes Starring: Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Ron Livingston, Mark Duplass, Gameela Wright, Elaine Tan, Asher Miles Fallica, Lia Frankland Directed by: Jason Reitman Tell us what you think by chatting with us (@filmsnuff) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or by...
2018-06-0542 min
Film SnuffChitty Chitty Bang BangThe 1968 musical based on an Ian Fleming novel, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," tells the story of a criminally negligent single dad who falsely impersonates a carnival worker in order to scam money to buy a jalopy old race car, and then tells a story about how the car is supernaturally alive in some way that presumably is related to the previous owners of the car dying horribly in a fiery crash whilst driving it. The story also weaves in a weird subplot about a pirate who turns out to be a Baron who is obsessed with trying to murder...
2018-05-291h 42
Film SnuffTedSeth MacFarlane's feature-length directorial debut "Ted" is just one long fart: funny in theory and for a second, but when the butt-trombone just continues for two hours, it stops being humorous and you realize you're just sitting in a room where everything smells. Because most people in the world are stupid, this messy flatulence of flat racist and homophobic jokes and '80s references made $549.4 million at the box office, spawned a successful sequel, and was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. MacFarlane plays the title character (both in voice and...
2018-05-222h 09
Film SnuffBigWhen you were 12, did you ever wish you were bigger? And did you also ever wish to make your mom think you got kidnapped and that a 30-something brash woman with smoker's breath would have sex with you while also pretending to be your new mommy? If so, then the 1988 Penny Marshall movie "Big" starring Tom Hanks is right up your alley. Sure, the sickly sweet score, oversized piano dancing, cushy job at a toy company, and silly-string fights make this film feel like a light-hearted age-swap romp, but when you actually look at what this movie...
2018-05-152h 16
Film SnuffFrozenDisney's Oscar-winning 2013 cultural sensation "Frozen," that created ear-worm songs for annoyed parents everywhere, is already considered a classic piece of Disney animation, rivaling the likes of "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King," and has critics and moviegoers spewing nonsense about how its message is progressive and fresh when it's actually regressive and spoiled. The flimsy, sloppy, incoherent plot is as follow: When their kingdom becomes trapped in perpetual winter, Princess Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell) joins forces with ice salesman Kristoff (voiced by Jonathan Groff) and his reindeer sidekick to find Anna's sister, Snow Queen...
2018-05-081h 38
Film SnuffPrivate Benjamin"Private Benjamin" pretends the make and model of this 1980 Goldie Hawn vehicle will bring you the new-car smell of female empowerment by having a put-upon housewife change gears via enlisting in the Army, but when you pop open the hood and look at the engine, you'll find the same old misogynist faux-feminist lemon Nancy Meyers always smarmily tries to get you to drive off the lot. This is the first film Nancy Meyers was ever involved with, and it gained her her only Oscar nomination (she wrote it with her then-husband and future long-time collaborator Charles Shyer).
2018-05-011h 53
Film SnuffMailbag: May I have your sperm?In our first of many Mailbag episodes, we talk about James Cameron's comments about Marvel movies, Molly Ringwald's article about John Hughes' creepy writing, tell a story about how we met each other, and answer some emails and social media questions like: which movies we think are underrated and whether or not we’d be willing to donate our sperm to a listener. Links we mentioned during the show: Our "Best Of" list James Cameron's comments about Marvel movies Molly Ringwald's piece in The New Yorker about John Hughes' writing
2018-04-241h 09
Film SnuffArgoArgo [BLEEP] this movie! The only thing funny about Ben Affleck's muddled film "Argo" about the Iran hostage crisis is that it's obviously a thinly disguised C.I.A. propaganda piece. Perhaps the Academy chose it as the 2012 Best Picture winner in the interests of national security. The story focuses on Tony Mendez, a C.I.A. "exfiltration expert," who's tasked with secretly and safely extracting six Americans who evaded capture during the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran. In what is now known as the "Canadian Caper," Mendez helped pull off a covert rescue...
2018-04-172h 06
Film SnuffIn Theaters: Ready Player OneIn this installment of our bonus segment "In Theaters," we give you our immediate reaction to seeing a new movie on the big screen. This time, we tackled the newest Stephen Spielberg film, "Ready Player One." We discuss what we thought of all of the constant '80s references, the incessant '80s references, and the grating '80s references. **NOTE: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS** Quick Facts Release date: Mar. 29, 2018 Runtime: 2 hours 19 minutes Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg...
2018-04-1046 min
Film SnuffReality BitesBen Stiller's 1994 directorial debut, "Reality Bites," focuses on the lives of four repugnant Gen Xers in their early 20s who are trying desperately to figure out who they are while also trying to find love. It's kinda like one long episode of "Friends," but it takes itself way too seriously, and nobody sticks their head inside a turkey. Winona Ryder plays Lelaina Pierce, an aspiring documentary filmmaker who thinks that her friend group's day-to-day activities make for the most interesting subject matter possible. Throughout the film, we are annoyingly reminded over and over again that she was...
2018-04-031h 58
Film SnuffDirty DancingIn this episode, we have the time of our lives as we discuss the 1987 smash hit "Dirty Dancing." It's a fun flick about a 17-year-old girl who raises money for a botched abortion, learns to dance and loses her virginity to a small-time male prostitute, but the gigolo has awesome hair and a six-pack, so it all works out well in the end. Jennifer Grey plays Frances "Baby" Houseman, a wannabe do-gooder whose main method of enacting change in the world appears to be begging her daddy for help while simultaneously treating him like garbage. ...
2018-03-271h 49
Film SnuffThe Shape of WaterThe 2018 Best Picture winner, "The Shape of Water" was labeled "a fairy tale for troubled times" by its director, Guillermo del Toro. Coincidentally, the unanimous acclaim that the movie received despite its total lack of substance is reminiscent of another fairy tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes." Del Toro is a poor man's Tim Burton who repeatedly employs the same trick of blending together macabre yet magical scenarios that take place in the past, wide-eyed ingénues and heavy-handed musical scores. They should have been honest and just titled this movie what it is, "Edward Webbed Fingers." Sally H...
2018-03-202h 05
Film SnuffDead Poets SocietyCarpe diem! It's time to sneak out of the dormitory at your elite all-boys prep school and go to the old Indian cave to read poetry into the wee hours of the morning. The 1989 film "Dead Poets Society" won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for showing its audience that life isn't worth living unless you are fiercely pursuing the things you are passionate about regardless of the consequences. Robin Williams plays John Keating (no relation to one of this show's hosts), an irreverent young English teacher who returns to the stodgy school that he once attended...
2018-03-131h 51
Film Snuff2018 Oscars Wrap-UpFor the second year in a row, we fired up the mics immediately after watching the Oscars ceremony and will give you our take on what we witnessed. We also figure out who got the most categories correct (and settle our wager), discuss Jimmy Kimmel’s hosting, some of the speeches, and our favorite and most-hated moments from the broadcast. Follow along by visiting filmsnuff.com/2018OscarNoms, where we have provided a list of the nominations in the order we read them. As always, follow the show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Visit our web...
2018-03-0530 min
Film SnuffBaby DriverThe 2017 film "Baby Driver" takes place in a world of vivid colors and nonstop music, but all of the feebly-depicted characters are black and white and the chords the film attempts to hit end up sounding dissonant. Its director, Edgar Wright, seems to have lost his knack for comedy and instead resorts to a bunch of stale criminal lingo that sounds like he learned it by watching old episodes of "Starsky & Hutch." Ansel Elgort plays Baby, a car thief with superhuman tinnitus powers who, as a teenager, inadvertently stole a vehicle loaded with thousands of dollars in...
2018-02-271h 27
Film SnuffRockyIn 1976, a former porn star made a low-budget movie called "Rocky" about an underdog boxer who randomly gets a shot at the heavyweight championship. The film went on to become the highest-grossing movie of the year, win three Oscars (including Best Picture) and, at last count, has spawned seven sequels. Sylvester Stallone plays Rocky Balboa, a punch-drunk 30-year-old who considers himself as a pro boxer because he takes the occasional fight at a local church athletic club. We're supposed to think that Rocky is this total sweetheart, but his main source of income is from roughing up...
2018-02-201h 36
Film SnuffMy Girl1991's tear-jerker "My Girl" ♪has got storm clouds on a sunny day It wasn't cold outside when they killed off Thomas J Well I guess you'd say What can make me feel this way? Dead kid (dead kid, dead kid) Talkin' 'bout dead kid (dead kid)♪ This nostalgic coming-of-age story could appropriately be titled "American Horror Story" with its ghoulish setting and the fact that it repeatedly bashes the audience over the head with disturbing events until they are left huddling in the corner, weeping. Anna Chlumsky of HBO's "Veep" plays Vada...
2018-02-131h 33
Film SnuffSneakersIn 1992, the director of "Field of Dreams," Phil Alden Robinson, made a film called "Sneakers" with a far-fetched plot about an unconstitutional secret NSA domestic surveillance system designed solely for the purpose of spying on unsuspecting American citizens. It’s a relief that nothing like that could ever happen in real life. Robert Redford plays a wisecracking cool guy with a secret past who leads a ragtag bunch of misfits who specialize in breaking into seemingly impenetrable buildings. Sidney Poitier plays a hot-tempered former CIA agent who is hellbent on scoring an all-expense paid vacation to Tahiti. Da...
2018-02-061h 52
Film Snuff2018 Oscar Nominations: Our reaction and predictionsOn this special episode of Film Snuff, we are guiding you through the recently announced Oscar nominations for movies released in 2017 while also giving you our take on them as well as our predictions. We discuss the snubs, surprises and how Kobe Bryant was nominated for an Academy Award. Follow along by visiting filmsnuff.com/2018oscarnoms, where we have provided a list of the nominations in the order we read them. Tell us what you think by chatting with us (@filmsnuff) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or by shooting us an email over at mai...
2018-01-3041 min
Film SnuffStar Trek (2009)Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. It's 2009 J.J. Abrams-led mission: to explore strange new ways to anger fans of the franchise, to seek out new life and new civilizations that will waste their money on total garbage, to boldly go where no man has gone before or ever wants to go again. Chris Pine plays James T. Kirk, a slimy tool bag whose life trajectory gets wildly altered when a time-traveling genocidal maniac appears out of nowhere and forces his dad into becoming a kamikaze. However, none of this ends...
2018-01-231h 50
Film SnuffShakespeare in LoveOne of the most overrated Best Picture winners ever, 1998's "Shakespeare in Love," about a cool-guy William Shakespeare going around plague-ridden 1593 London, tries to pretend this is about a character trying to find love, when any viewer can see he's merely a creepy con artist who's just trying to bang everything that moves. Joseph Fiennes plays William "Will" Shakespeare as the title character who says he's trying to find his muse, but he's just trying to get laid. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Shakespeare's "love" (but really just lust) interest who is about to be sold to...
2018-01-161h 36
Film SnuffPoint BreakIn 1991, cool brah James Cameron and tubular dudette Kathryn Bigelow pulled down their pants and mooned the world when they created the beloved action movie "Point Break," which showed us all that some bank robbers aren't just criminals, but can also be one-with-nature radical surfers who love to skydive. Patrick Swayze plays Bodhi, the philosophical leader of the gang of surfing bank robbers who call themselves The Ex-Presidents. He and his floppy sun-bleached hair don't want to allow society to dictate how they live their lives, so he prefers to rob banks to stick it to the ma...
2018-01-091h 29
Film SnuffGarden StateStrap on your helmets (and your garbage bags) for a review of Zach Braff's zany but somber-seeming directorial debut, "Garden State." It's got everything you could ever want in a movie: paraplegics drowning in bathtubs, humping dogs, diplomas on ceilings and Sheldon from "The Big Bang Theory." Zach Braff plays Andrew "Large" Largeman, a twenty-something struggling actor who has been rendered emotionless after a lifetime of taking psychiatric medications following an incident where he shoved his mother and inadvertently paralyzed her from the waist down (that old chestnut). Large must return home for the first time in...
2018-01-021h 24
Film SnuffHome Alone 2: Lost in New YorkMerry Christmas, you nosy little perverts! 'Tis the season to steal your parents' credit card, check into the Plaza Hotel and befriend a spooky Central Park pigeon lady with a secret lair inside Carnegie Hall. That's right—it's time to dissect everyone's favorite childhood sequel, "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York." Macaulay Culkin reprises his role as Kevin McCallister, a sociopathic sadist who justifies his brutal torture of two hapless petty criminals under the guise of preventing a Christmas Eve burglary of a toy store that plans to donate its proceeds to a children's hospital. Somebody needs to...
2017-12-191h 37
Film SnuffIn Theaters: Star Wars: The Last JediIn this installment of our bonus segment "In Theaters," we give you our immediate reaction to seeing a new movie on the big screen. This time, we tackled the newest "Star Wars" episode, "The Last Jedi." We discuss what we thought of Luke Skywalker's story, porgs, milked aliens, and which child actor we think Supreme Leader Snoke looks like. **NOTE: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS** Quick Facts Release date: Dec. 15, 2017 Runtime: 2 hour 32 minutes Starring: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, A...
2017-12-1833 min
Film SnuffStar Wars: The Force AwakensTwo years ago in a studio not far away.... J.J. "Jar-Jar" Abrams rebooted yet another franchise with "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." It's Disney's cynical ripoff of the original 1977 "Star Wars" plot, but it has a spherical R2-D2, an angsty, millennial Darth Vader with a slightly different lightsaber and a female Luke Skywalker. All of these decisions were unquestionably made in order to manipulate a whole new generation of children into begging their parents into purchasing a bunch of plastic toys made from earth-destroying chemicals (who needs the Death Star?). Daisy Ridley plays Rey, a...
2017-12-121h 56
Film SnuffIn Theaters: Lady BirdIn another installment of our bonus segment "In Theaters," we give you our immediate reaction to seeing a new movie on the big screen. This time, we tackled Greta Gurwig's solo directorial debut, "Lady Bird." The film, which follows a teenage girl as she navigates her last year of high school in Sacramento, California during the year 2002, currently sits at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and is surely on its way to Oscar glory. But does it deserve all the praise? Listen and we'll give you our opinion on whether this bird soared, or merely laid an e...
2017-12-1031 min
Film SnuffPitch PerfectThe 2012 hit film "Pitch Perfect," about dueling college a cappella groups is an "a-ca-terrible" combination of the movies "Dodgeball" and "Mean Girls," but instead of being funny, it is just a bunch of people lip-synching over-produced Auto-Tune vocals to songs we all rightly forgot about a while ago. This movie projectile vomits a slew of ignorant comments about rape victims, Asian-Americans, lesbians, Jews and deaf people. These are all played for laughs, but they forgot that laughs are usually the result of jokes, not just saying random inappropriate things. Anna Kendrick plays the literally too-cool-for-school...
2017-12-051h 53
Film SnuffWhen Harry Met Sally...We will not have what she's having! The 1989 Rob Reiner-directed and Nora Ephron-written vehicle "When Harry Met Sally...” ushered in Meg Ryan as a leading lady and has been a pox on all of our houses ever since. We know that this movie is fiction because it pretends 41-year-old Billy Crystal is a twenty-something Lothario who has slept with so many women that he may need to leave New York City. Billy Crystal plays Harry Burns, a supposed political consultant, and Meg Ryan plays Sally Albright, a supposed hard-hitting journalist, even though we never see either of th...
2017-11-281h 49
Film SnuffEdward ScissorhandsThe 1990 fairytale "Edward Scissorhands" about an artificial man named Edward—an unfinished creation who has scissor blades instead of hands—is in and of itself a movie that's an artificial and unfinished creation. Tim Burton lathers the film with his usual coating of visual flair, but adds no substance beneath it. The picture leans hard on Danny Elfman's fantastic original score to try to convince the audience that there's some meaning behind all the pastel houses and forced romance. There isn't. Johnny Depp plays the title character, a Frankenstein's monster who seems to have been crea...
2017-11-211h 49
Film SnuffScreamHappy Halloween! Back in the year 1996, famed horror director Wes Craven and the dude who made "Dawson’s Creek," Kevin Williamson, got together to produce an ultra-self-referential stabfest called "Scream." It led to three sequels as well as a TV series, and it launched the careers of some of the most annoying people the '90s had to offer. Neve Campbell plays Sidney Prescott, a virginal 23-year-old high school student who can inexplicably beat up accomplished murderers twice her size. 1-800-COLLECT spokesperson David Arquette plays the same weirdo character he played in every movie he...
2017-10-311h 49
Film SnuffHoney, I Shrunk the KidsThe 1989 megahit Disney flick, "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" is allegedly a fun comedic science fiction movie for children. In fact, it's actually a disturbing horror film. During their harrowing journey, the shrunken kids narrowly escape getting crushed to death by falling debris, drowning in a flood, getting attacked by giant insects, being chopped to bits by a lawnmower and being eaten alive. Despite the kids' ability to defy death, they still have to witness their beloved pet ant get murdered right before their eyes! Rick Moranis plays Wayne Szalinski, an absentminded scientist who invents a dangersome...
2017-08-291h 47
Film SnuffMy Big Fat Greek WeddingOpa! The 2002 Nia Vardalos one-woman-show-turned-movie, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” seems like it should have been a Lifetime channel original. However, it somehow became the highest grossing romantic comedy film of all time, and it still retains that distinction by a significant margin over 15 years later. Watching the film did feel like being at a wedding, but that’s only because it was super cheesy, it felt like you were forced to be there and it would have been a lot easier to get through if you were really drunk. Nia Vardalos plays Toula Portokalos, a 30-year-old virgi...
2017-07-251h 47
Film SnuffThe GooniesHey, you guys! We all loved Richard Donner’s 1985 adventure comedy, “The Goonies,” as kids, but do we really have to spend the rest of our lives pretending that it is a quality film? Sure, Jeff Cohen’s portrayal of Chunk is brilliant, but the rest of the movie smells like Phys Ed. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sean Astin plays Mikey, a greedy bracefaced dunce who leads his friends into enormous peril so that he can bail out his deadbeat parents who haven’t been making their mortgage payments. Oscar-nominated actor Josh Brolin plays Brand, Mikey's workout-obsessed bandana-wear...
2017-07-181h 47
Film SnuffBreakfast at Tiffany'sBlake Edwards' 1961 classic, "Breakfast at Tiffany's," is a madcap romantic romp about an extraordinarily well-dressed New York City courtesan and her dapper male prostitute neighbor. This movie has it all: call girls, gigolos, yellow face, cat abuse, statutory rape, the mafia, and even O.J. (Berman, not Simpson). Audrey Hepburn plays Holly Golightly, a quirky victim of child molestation who re-enacts her victimhood over and over again by prostituting herself to older men who provide her with resources. Holly also helps facilitate the continued activities of an incarcerated narcotics kingpin, Sally Tomato. George Peppard plays...
2017-07-111h 30
Film SnuffIndependence DayHappy Independence Day, everybody! If world events are making you feel less than celebratory, you can always take solace in the fact that there aren't currently any giant spaceships filled with genocidal aliens hovering over the world's major cities like in Roland Emmerich's 1996 megablockbuster, "Independence Day.” Be warned that although "Independence Day" contains a large ensemble cast of mostly A-List actors, the unoriginal script and horrid directing produced some of the worst performances of their careers. Jeff Goldblum plays David Levinson, a lowly, unambitious MIT-educated math genius, chess Grandmaster and cable television executive who can read...
2017-07-041h 46
Film SnuffSomething's Gotta GiveThe 2003 Nancy Meyers joint, "Something's Gotta Give," tells the story of a mother falling wildly in love with her daughter's boyfriend after spending a couple days with the guy while he's recovering from a heart attack. It's a tale as old as time, told by an idiot, full of phony crying and boner jokes, signifying nothing. Diane Keaton plays Erica Jane Barry, a turtleneck wearin' Broadway play writin' 50-something divorcée who somehow manages to lead a billionaire's lifestyle. At first, she pretends that she is leading a highly-fulfilling and independent life, but she quickly falls to piec...
2017-05-092h 03
Film SnuffBig FishTim Burton's 2003 fantasy drama, "Big Fish," took an interesting novel, shredded it into a bunch of disjointed pieces and removed all its compelling aspects. The story of a son working to overcome the deep-rooted distance between himself and his terminally ill father is drowned out completely by naked werewolves, guys dying while jerking off on the toilet and weird sex cult towns. Ewan McGregor plays young Edward Bloom, an ambitious Alabamian anecdotalist who goes on one adventure after another. The audience is supposed to think young Edward is such a good dude as he alienates his son, delivers...
2017-03-281h 20
Film SnuffTrainwreckThe 2015 Judd Apatow/Amy Schumer joint, "Trainwreck," has been heralded as some sort of groundbreaking feminist triumph, but it's about as feminist as your creepy drunken uncle Lou. It's really just a disjointed hodgepodge of Amy's standup bits and sketch ideas with a romantic comedy shoehorned in. Amy Schumer plays Amy (because, apparently, this is a '90s sitcom), a rough-talking tough New York girl who has given up on the idea of finding love and has instead settled for a series of one-night stands. Her hobbies include racism, picking on children and using her father's MS t...
2017-03-071h 36
Film SnuffLove ActuallyThis week we’re tearing apart the beloved romantic comedy from 2003 “Love Actually.” This star-studded cast of British regulars (and Laura Linney) intersect in a tangled web of love (I guess) in London that would make Robert Altman spin in his grave. Hugh Grant plays the lovesick Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Billy Bob Thornton plays the president of the United States. Others include Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Martin Freeman, Andrew Lincoln, Keira Knightley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and the late, great Alan Rickman. We wonder why people would ever consider this movie romantic, because all th...
2016-09-201h 26
Film SnuffAn IntroductionA sneak peak at FILM SNUFF, a new comedy podcast where hosts Keating Thomas & Jim offer a different bent on all those “bad movie podcasts” out there that usually take the worst movies ever made that everyone agrees are terrible—and most of us haven’t either seen or even heard of—and rip them apart. Film Snuff instead takes all those overrated turds that were beloved hits at the box office or inexplicable critics darlings—and gives THEM movies their deserved bullying. These movies range from Oscar-nominated garbage, huge box-office hits, beloved comedies that aren’t funny, sappy ro...
2016-09-0604 min