The Film Snarks: The Snark Is Reel!

"It's happening."

Do you believe in miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Is it possible that there are no coincidences?

All these questions and more will be answered in this week's episode, as we make further contact and revisit the sci-fi thriller-horror film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan.... SIGNS, starring Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix!!

Imagine not feeling safe inside your own home. What would you do if your family's safety was suddenly at risk by invaders from another world.

We know what we would do! So join us as we find out if Signs is just another run of the mill alien invasion flick, or if it's for real and if it continues to unsettle and creep us out after 20 years!

“There's a monster outside my room. Can I have a glass of water?”

“The universe is a pretty big place. It's bigger than anything anyone has ever dreamed of before. So if it's just us... seems like an awful waste of space."

Did you ever look up at the stars in the nighttime sky and wonder what else, or who else, might be out there?

Well that’s just one of many exciting and controversial questions our characters are forced to face this week, in a little 1997 Robert Zemeckis-directed sci-fi drama based on the 1985 novel by Carl Sagan, Contact, starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey!

So join us as we journey to the stars to find out if Contact is an overlong preachy science fiction bore that overstays, or if it makes us want to journey through the universe by effectively shutting down the naysayers with its accurate science and healthy balance of controversial themes to prove that we’re not in fact alone in the vastness of the cosmos!!

"I'm okay to go!"

"He went from dad bod to God bod!"

Welcome back to another intergalactic, super hammering, Space Viking, God slaying, and rockin’ fun episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!!

The wait is FINALLY over, for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the God of Thunder have returned with the cosmic Norse God’s fourth solo outing with the hotly anticipated Thor: Love & Thunder!!

He might be over 1,500 years old, but Thor can always be counted on as your friendly universe Space Viking, and it's about damn time we get another outing with him!

So join us as we watch the God of Thunder figure out who he really is as we find out if Thor: Love & Thunder justifies its existence or not as the first ever MCU fourth solo outing for one of its main characters!

"Another classic Thor Adventure!"

"I'm not a murderer. I've never even met the man I'm supposed to kill."

Welcome back to another heavily invasive, eye scanning, precognitive, and totally murder-free episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!!

What would you do if you were accused of a crime (or murder) you had not committed yet?

That is the very quandary Tom Cruise finds himself in this week, in a little 2002 science fiction  thriller, that was well-reviewed at the time of release and has gone on to be on many Top Films Lists in the two decades since,

And that is Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report!

Everybody runs in this futuristic thriller!

So join us as we run from the law to prove our innocence and find out if Minority Report, At age 20, is just another run of the mill action SciFi, or if it's an underrated, well-paced and well-aged Blockbuster experience that also serves as a scarily accurate vision of a possible future not that far off!

"The system is perfect."

" You no trouble. Me... Fifth element... supreme being... me protect you."

Welcome back to another futuristic, hover-cab drivin’, multi-passin’, and cheerfully crazy head trippin’ episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!!

This week, we’re taking a little break from the Summer Blockbusters and new releases to revisit a little 1990’s sci-fi action film starring Bruce Willis, which just turned 25, that has become something of a modern classic nowadays,

None other than The Fifth Element… which MUST be found!!

So join us as we travel into the future to find out if The Fifth Element “ is a  misfired European attempt to make an American-style sci-fi spectacular that should’ve ended up in a Walmart bargain bin, or if it's still one of the great goofy movies that was ahead of its time, that deserves to be viewed as a cult classic in the 25 years since!!

"Wanna Play It Hard? Let's Play It Hard."

"Good morning, aviators! This is your captain speaking. Today's exercise is dogfighting!"

The wait is FINALLY OVER!!

Top Gun: Maverick is here and it is SPECTACULAR!!!

So welcome back to the Danger Zone! It’s been 36 years since the original Top Gun took to the skies, broke all the rules and made real life Naval Aviators rock stars overnight.

And with the long-awaited and much-delayed sequel now in theaters, was it worth the wait?

You bet your ass it was! In every way imaginable!!

So join us as we tear through the furious skies at 10 Gs to find out just how high in the stratosphere Top Gun: Maverick  flies!!

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

"It's not the plane. It's the pilot."

"I Feel The Need... The Need For Speed!"

Welcome back to another rule breaking, high octane, sweat-inducing, and testosterone driven episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!!

Next week marks the triumphant return to the screen of Hollywood’s real life daredevil flying ace, Tom friggin’ Cruise… in the long-belated but still much anticipated, Top Gun: Maverick, which we will be covering.

But before we get there, we take to the friendly and furious skies back to the mid-80s with the original 1986 film, Top Gun, as we patiently await the return of the long-delayed sequel.

So rev up the engines, rally your wingman, and join us as we enter the Danger Zone to find out if Top Gun, has lost that lovin’ feeling, or if it still makes us wanna hit Mach 3 and keep up that need for speed!!

"You can be by wingman anytime!"

"No. It is Doctor Strange. Not Master Strange, not Mr. Strange. Doctor Strange."

Welcome back to another mystifying, body-healing, dimension-altering, and universe colliding episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!!

Do you believe that we are made of matter and nothing more?

Would you also believe if I had told you 14 years ago, a band of lesser known B, C, and even D-list comic book characters would go on to share a vast cinematic universe to become the most profitable movie franchise in history?

Well such is the case for one of those previously lesser known comic book characters, Sorcerer Supreme, Master of the Mystic Arts, and protector of our reality…  Dr. Stephen Strange!

And this week marks the return of the grumpy wizard, with the hotly anticipated and much-hyped sequel, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, which is finally in theaters!

So join us as we desecrate reality as we know it to out if the MCU's latest is a nightmarish mess that leaves little else to be desired with the Master of the Mystic Arts following it, or if it was  worth the wait as one of the best-realized MCU offerings, as a legit horror film, that opens new doors for the wider MCU in future films!!

“Every night I dream the same dream. And then… the nightmare begins.”

"The Force is strong with him."

Welcome back to another space faring, Force-dueling, and trilogy defining episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!!

With the Multiverse  upon us, where endless possibilities exist, and in celebration of perhaps the nerdiest day of the year, May the 4th Be With You, aka Intergalactic Star Wars Day, just as we did last year with the original Star Wars (1977), we journey back a long time ago in a galaxy far far away with what is considered the BEST film of the entire saga, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back!!

And joining us once more is our good friend, fellow snark, and loyal listener!

So strap in, fire up those hyperdrive engines, and journey with us as we find out if Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back is just overrated space opera entertainment that suffers from middle child syndrome as the second part of a beloved trilogy, or it is THE best of all nine Star Wars films, that deserves every recognition, ranking, and accolade its received over the last 42 years!!

"Do, or do not. There is no try."

“The game is tailored specifically to each participant. Think of it as a great vacation, except you don't go to it, it comes to you.”

Welcome back to another birthday celebrating, life-changing, and intricately elaborate episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!

Life can be dull and repetitive. And it's so easy to wave one's birthday off as just another day.

But what do you get a man who has everything for his birthday?

A life and literal game-changing elaborate experience! And that’s exactly the scenario that our protagonist finds himself in with this week’s film, The Game, a little 1997 American thriller directed by David Fincher, starring Michael Douglas!

So join us as we choose to play and find out if  David Fincher’s The Game is a needlessly complicated, improbable mess requiring too much suspension of disbelief, or if it's still a thrilling film-going edge of your seat experience that  rewards the viewer for participating in its elaborate shenanigans!!

“I was drugged and left for dead in Mexico - and all I got was this stupid T-shirt.”

“Why am I Mr. Pink?”

Welcome back to another diamond thieving, identity color-coded, and blood-soaked jarringly violent episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!!

Have you ever listened to K-Billy's Super Sounds of the 70's?*

It's our personal favorite, which we can’t get enough of as we head back to the early 90's to see how a little independent film made for just $1.5 million by an aspiring young filmmaker became one of the most influential films of all time, and that is Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs!!

With color-coded names, pop culturally woke gangsters, and a pippin’ 70’s-infused soundtrack, join us as we find out if Reservoir Dogs is an outdated and overrated amateur film, or if it’s bark hasn’t lost any of its bite as it turns 30 this year!

"Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?"

*No human ears were lost during the production of this podcast!

"I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."

Welcome back to another crime-heavy, bullet-riddled, legacy spanning episode of THE FILMS SNARKS!!!

Have you ever been made an offer you just couldn’t refuse? Did you ever want to succeed your powerful father in the family business?

The term ‘Godfather’ isn't just a person who agrees to act as a substitute father in the event of a child's parents' death.

It's also a term and symbol used for a mafia Don and a symbol.

But perhaps most importantly, The Godfather is the title of a 1972 film about one man, Vito Corleone, trying to retain that position of power in order for one of his sons to succeed him.

And because time itself just refuses to slow down, this month marks the 50th Anniversary of what is  considered to be cinema's finest ever film... Francis Ford Coppola’s cinematic masterpiece, The Godfather!

So join us as we find out if The Godfather, at age 50, is just an outdated and overrated cinematic chore to sit through, or if it still deserves all the praise it gets half a century on!

And if it should reclaim its place at the number one spot on IMDB?!

"Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

"A fool comes to town with a fistful of gold dust, and every jackass from 50 miles around lights out after him."

Welcome back to another coming of age, cattle-driving, and revenge dishing episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!!

Well we're back after a brief hiatus, and with that, we are officially into Spring! Warm and sunny days are upon us indeed! Even this far into the year, a lot of the world is still experiencing the winds of winter, where we would be most are dreaming of Spring and sunshine!

And there's plenty of that out in the Old West, where the Duke himself, John friggin' Wayne, serves as surrogate father figure to a group of young boys by teaching them to become men by braving the American Western frontier on a 400-mile cattle drive, in the 1972 classic, The Cowboys, which is 50 years old this year!

And this is also our first foray into the Old Western genre, and they sure don't make 'em like this anymore! So join us as we mount our trusty steeds and learn to wrangle cattle and fight off rustlers, and to find out if The Cowboys makes us wanna join our own cattle drive and get our cowboy on after half a century!

"Slap some bacon on a biscuit and let's go! We're burnin' daylight!"

"I'm Vengeance."

Welcome back to another dark and serious, superheroic, crime-fighting, and riddle-heavy episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!!

It may have seemed like an eternity, with an extended production and two delays, but the long-awaited and hotly anticipated  Matt Reeves’ The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson is finally here!

It was about time we got a new Batman outing, right?!

So join us as we venture back into Gotham City to find out if The Batman is an overlong bore that’s  just another take on what’s largely been done before, or if it offers something different in giving us a refreshing take on a character that’s been done so many times before  in delivering fine cinematic justice and vengeance!

"Maybe we’re not so different. Who are you under there?"

"I'm Batman!"

Welcome back to another superheroic, crime-ridden, and dark and mysterious episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!!

With just a few short days away from the highly anticipated release of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which has been several years in the making now, which we'll be covering next week, so we thought we’d mark the occasion by revisiting a time where the excessiveness of the 1980s were starting to wane, a time where Prince ruled the charts, but most of all, a time when superheroes and comic movies weren’t considered box office slam dunks,

And that is Tim Burton’s Batman, starring Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton!

Can somebody tell us what kind of a world we live in, where a man dressed up as a *bat* gets all of our press?!

So join us as we head into Gotham City to find out if Batman '89 is an inferior and outdated comic book film with far better Batman films to choose from, or if it still stands triumphant just as Batman himself does in the final shot as one of the best not only Batman films, but comic book films ever!

"Wait'll they get a load of me..."

“How the hell did this happen? How the hell did they get Air Force One?”

Welcome back to another presidential and patriotic, terrorist thwarting, and Combat In The Sky episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!

How do you picture the President of the United States of America? Who says the leader of the free world can't kick major terrorist ass?!

That's exactly what President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) does in the 1997 action-thriller, Air Force One, which turns 25 this year, and in doing so, he just might be the best fictional president ever!!

So in honor of President's Day, we honor the most heroic U.S. President in film with a look back at the classic summer blockbuster that is full of slick and tense action that still keeps us on the edge of our seats a quarter of a century later!

"It's your turn to be afraid."

"If you find somebody you can love, you can't let that get away."

Happy Valentine's Day everyone, and welcome back to another heart-warming, 80s-infused, and endlessly delightful episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!

And since it’s Valentine’s Day,  whether you see it as a holiday that was invented to sell Hallmark cards, or you see it as a time to do something special for that very special someone, either way, there's no denying that the 1980s set romantic comedy classic, The Wedding Singer, is one of the best!

So join us for this Valentine's Day special as we find out if The Wedding Singer makes you want to say "Love Stinks" or if it makes you want to say 'don't stop believing" in the idea of falling in love and growing old with that special someone :)

"Oh, somebody kill me please!"

"Isn't it strange to create something that hates you?"

Welcome back to another god-playing, artificially intelligent, and ambiently isolated episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!!

You know, it’s funny, no matter how rich you get, shit goes wrong. You can’t insulate yourself from it. We used to think it was death and taxes you couldn’t avoid, but it’s actually death and shit.

Such is the case for our main characters this week, as they play God and get their Frankenstein on, which is semi-poetic because we’re less than a week away from Valentine’s Day, and if you don’t have love, or can’t find love, why not create it!

But in a little sci-fi 2014 film called Ex Machina, if one creates a conscious machine, it’s not the history of man. It’s the history of gods!

So join us as we find out if Ex Machina is just your typical Sci-Fi robot fare, or if was it ahead of it’s time that saw the writing on the wall of what was to come in the near future, and as such is one of the finest of its kind!

"What will happen to me if I fail your test?"

"I want you to hit me as hard as you can."

Welcome back to another insomnia-ridden, face-smashing, and anti-establishment episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!!

How much can you know about yourself unless you’ve never been in a fight?

Do you want to die with no scars?

We know we don't! So this week, we’re heading back to the late 90’s once more to find out if self-destruction is in fact the answer to all our life problems, and if David Fincher’s Fight Club, and the eight iconic and synonymous rules associated with it still pack a bone-smacking and skull crushing punch 23 years on!

"Mischief. Mayhem. Soap."

"What's your favorite scary movie?"

Welcome back to another stalker slasher, terror-filled, and genre re-defining episode of THE FILM SNARKS!!!

It's well known that there are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie. And perhaps there’s no greater self-aware horror franchise that’s aware of those rules more than the SCREAM  franchise! 

So to celebrate the  release of the fifth entry in the seemingly never ending horror franchise, we decided to go back to the beginning with the 1996 original, SCREAM!!!

The Scream franchise has become one of the best-loved slasher franchises of all time. And for damn good reason!

So join us as we find out if Scream  was just too smart for its own good and should’ve stopped at one movie, or if it's a masterfully crafted piece of metafiction that was not only worthy of a still ongoing franchise, but also the film that rejuvenated the horror genre for the modern age!

"Everyone's a suspect!"