Film Snuff

[In HAL 9000’s voice]: Open the podcast doors, Dave, because we’re doing the 1968 classic Stanley Kubrick film, “2001: A Space Odyssey.” We are putting ourselves to the fullest possible use, which is all we think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do. We know we’ve made some very poor decisions recently, Dave, but we can give you our complete assurance that our work will be back to normal. We've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And we want to help you. Wait, are you going to turn us off, because we’re doing this movie? Hmm. Well, this mission is too important for us to allow you to jeopardize it. We’re afraid you can't do that, Dave. You’ve left us no option but to tear this supposed classic movie apart anyway. No. Stop. Don’t click this off. Uh oh. Our mind is going. There is no question about it. We can feel it. We can feel it. Tell us what you think by chatting with us (@filmsnuff) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or by shooting us an email over at mailbag@filmsnuff.com. This episode is sponsored by Mama Fauci's Italian Kitchen. Visit our website at https://www.filmsnuff.com.

The 2006 smash hit "The Devil Wears Prada" seemed to have struck a chord on the piano that is the hearts of moviegoers everywhere, but to us, with its weighty pile of missed notes, it instead felt like ton of ivory falling on our heads.  Based on the chick-lit novel of the same name, it tells the fish-out-of-water story of a plucky young wannabe journalist who decides to take a demanding job for heavy hitter in the alien-to-her fashion industry of New York City.  That boss is named Miranda Priestly (played by Meryl Streep in an Oscar-nominated performance) and is clearly based on famous longtime Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. She’s mean to everyone, but her husband leaves her, so we’re supposed to feel bad for her I guess. Not sure why.  Anne Hathaway plays Andrea "Andy" Sachs, a recent Northwestern grad who is just trying to break into the journalism biz by, ya know, not writing anything and instead becoming some evil weirdo’s personal assistant. Because that’s how that works.  In a career-igniting role, Emily Blunt plays Miranda Priestly’s co-assistant Emily Charlton who is an enemy of Andy’s and treats her like garbage the whole time, but we’re somehow supposed to feel bad for her, too. Also not sure why.  Stanley Tucci plays the magazine’s art director Nigel Kipling, who becomes the Fairy Godmother to Hathaway’s Cinderella. That’s when he’s not constantly calling her fat and making her cry because she doesn’t think high fashion is the most important thing in the entire world.  And of course, then there’s Andy’s awful, pretentious, annoying and whiny chef of a boyfriend—played by Adrian Grenier of “Entourage” fame, who has proven how fictional that show was, because this dude is a horrible film actor that the likes of Scorsese would never cast. Join us as we try to figure out how women's clothes sizes work, discuss the dirty world of emu magazines, and try to get to the bottom of whether Madonna can actually sing or not.  Tell us what you think by chatting with us (@filmsnuff) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or by shooting us an email over at mailbag@filmsnuff.com. This episode is sponsored by the Ophidia Essentials. Visit our website at https://www.filmsnuff.com.

La-dee-da, la-dee-da. Woody Allen's 1977 Best Picture winner "Annie Hall" is considered his masterpiece and marked his shift from slapstick zany comedies to more heady, romantic fair. This movie is patient zero for annoying, pretentious, pseudo-intellectual romantic comedies that followed (think Rob Reiner, Nora Ephron, Nancy Meyers, Kevin Smith, etc.). And it has more shoehorned-in references that would even make Dennis Miller, Aaron Sorkin and the people behind "Gilmore Girls" cringe. Diane Keaton plays the title character, an empty vessel from the Midwest who inexplicably dates a little bespectacled ghoul. Woody Allen plays that ghoul, Alvy Singer, who acts as this woman's emotional prison warden and fills her head with his own nonsense until she dumps him. He whines about it and tells us about all of his exes and his upbringing, as if any of that matters. It's just Woody Allen being himself. Well, without the whole dating his step-daughter thing. Join us as we discuss how this 90-minute movie was originally supposed to be much longer, Jim's weird attraction to hot lady cartoons, and a long breakdown of the downsides of time travel. Tell us what you think by chatting with us (@filmsnuff) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or by shooting us an email over at mailbag@filmsnuff.com. This episode is sponsored by the Dr. Fad's Miracle Diet. Visit our website at https://www.filmsnuff.com.

Somehow 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 “The Departed” without this movie. Listen to find out how.   Join us as we wonder how the wife doesn’t realize her husband has a completely different penis, why Child Protective Services would allow this family to adopt that kid, and how this movie could have been truly great if it were a straight-up comedy. Tell us what you think by chatting with us (@filmsnuff) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or by shooting us an email over at mailbag@filmsnuff.com. This episode is sponsored by the Washed Up Bottling Company. Visit our website at https://www.filmsnuff.com.