Game Boys

Starring Brad Jones, Bianca Queen, Alex Shryock, and Jake Norvell

Written and Directed by Brad Jones

Released on THE CINEMA SNOB: September 9th, 2010

NOTE: THIS MOVIE IS UNRATED. IT CONTAINS EXCESSIVE LANGUAGE AND SEXUAL REFERENCES. 

Well, here we are again with another STONED GREMLINS Production. Instead of Jones usual genres of horror or exaggerated drama, we have a light-hearted romantic comedy.

I really like this movie, if for nothing else than the appreciation of nerds with particular tastes and interests. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a predilection for movies, cartoons, anime, and comic books. When I go to the latest X-Men or Spider-Man movie, I'm naming off obscure comic-books that pertain to the movie, or just go into great detail about other movies I was reminded of. Therefore, I really connected with Jones' story of old-school gamers with a panache for the obscure title and the embrace of Atari graphics rather than the latest title on XBOX 360.

As usual with his films, Jones employs his closest friends to play his cast of characters, such as his wife Jillian playing a minor character or Midnight Heat's Alex Shryock playing main character Ray. Like Jake Norvell in Midnight Heat (who plays Steve), Shryock makes Ray into an energetic and hilarious character, the overly aggressive gamer with a strange obsession with horrible Superman games. Sure, the game goes heavy into video-game references, some which may fly over the heads of many, but that's the language these guys speak and you either study up or get left behind.

Click here to watch GAME BOYS in its entirety on The Cinema Snob.

Rating: * * * * 1/2 of 5

Midnight Heat

Starring Jake Norvell, Bianca Queen, and Brad Jones

Written and Directed by Brad Jones

Released on The Cinema Snob: 2011

WARNING: The following review is for a film that was unrated, but contains adult language and drug use.

Brad Jones is a collaborator on THAT GUY WITH THE GLASSES, a website that offers such talents as The NOSTALGIA CRITIC, LINKARA, and TODD IN THE SHADOWS. Brad is usually known as "The Cinema Snob", an elitist film critic who ends up reviewing D-Grade Horror and Exploitation movies. Aside from that, he makes his own movies which brings us to Midnight Heat. 

As stated in the intro video, Brad made Midnight Heat as an homage to the 1980s action movies he grew up on. If that is the case, I must say that Brad does a great job capturing the feel of movies made during that decade. Midnight Heat is a gritty and intriguing film, one that draws you in with memorable characters and snappy dialogue. One of the film's best qualities is how well the characters are written, each having their own idiosyncrasies and quirks. I also have to applaud how well writer/director Jones balances his scenes with the non-diegetic music used for the soundtrack. The actors are very talented in their roles, particularly Jake Norvell and Jones. Norvell makes the hero of the story, Det. Rick Wilson, into a broken and flawed protagonist with a charisma and personality that makes him memorable. Jones, on the other hand, plays the mentally unstable Martin with such a manic energy that it makes one think back to a young Jack Nicholson. 

"Midnight Heat" can be seen in its entirety on THE CINEMA SNOB or That Guy with the Glasses. 

Rating: * * * * of 5