#28: #NotMyMummy: Fraser Rules, Cruise Drools

The title just about says it all on this one. Hashtag "Not My Mummy" (#NotMyMummy) began in the wake of the trailer for the new The Mummy, starring one Thomas "Tom" Cruise of Scientology, couch-jumping fame. Needless to say, some fans were not too pleased. But in truth, their anger had much less to do with any personal qualms with Mr. Cruise, and far more to do with the tragic fact that the great Brendan Fraser will not be returning in this upcoming film. 

Imhotep is mad that Fraser won't be returning

Had any of us truly recognized what impact Fraser had had on our lives? Or was it not until the moment that we saw the guy from Vanilla Sky in the trailer for a Mummy film that we realized just how impactful Fraser has been? Say all you want about his Golden Globes clap (video below) - the guy can kick some major butt. Rick O'Connell will be greatly missed in this new film, and quite likely, your hosts at General Snobbery, amidst their laughter at this inevitably terrible new Mummy, will quite likely feel surges of nostalgia at the distant memory of Fraser taking on a dozen reanimated corpses with a sword. 

We greatly miss Fraser, and we hope that #NotMyMummy will help bring him back. Regardless, we dedicate this episode to him, where, by laughing time and time again at the hilarious scream made by Cruise in the new trailer (video below), we are truly yearning for the simpler times when we could watch Fraser shoot guns at Imhotep's huge mouth. As franchise after franchise sucks Hollywood dry of its once-great energy, dumbing film after film down to silly tropes and rushed release dates, we can at least tip our top hats to a man of the greatest order, who once radiated charisma of a special blend, charisma time has proven to be of the eternal kind. Brendan Fraser, this snob's for you. 

Fraser's legendary Golden Globes clap

The Cruise Scream begins at 1:13

#4: The Martian Part Two: Beyond the Damon

As Stanley Kubrick's science fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey ends with a segment entitled "Beyond the Infinite," so General Snobbery, in its conversation about The Martian (2015), travels "Beyond the Damon." After another fifteen minutes of Martian-related conversation--conversation spanning from David Bowie's horribly-placed "Starman", the film's use of Abba, Wall-E and Iron Man's strange influence on the climax, and the characters' roles not as characters but as deliverers-of-exposition--the conversation meanders into realms neither your hosts nor Matt Damon could have foreseen. What woe hath becommeth this flatlining Hollywood system? How does an illusory notion of "quality" continue to veil the populace's perception? Does commenting on a genre necessarily yield transcendence of that genre, a la Deadpool? How shall we respond in a filmic system that recycles material to repackage as propaganda-infused advertisements for a failing federal agency called NASA? Woe may be the way for many, but for others, the only logical response to the madness may be found through the lost art of snobbery. 

Our deepest gratitude to McMannus Pottery Co. for sponsoring today's episode. May our snobs be with you, always, eternally, dear listener. 

#2: Jurassic World: Allegory? Nostalgia-inducing Hollywood machine? Or just a really bad movie?

In the first full-length episode of the new podcast "General Snobbery", your snobbish hosts engage in electric conversation meandering about diverse topics related to the 2015 Colin Trevorrow* film, Jurassic World. Topics considered include Chris Pratt's one-dimensional role, Bryce Dallas Howard's one-dimensional role, the cast of archetypal side characters, Newman's death from Jurassic Park, Samuel L. Jackson's death from Jurassic Park, why Jurassic Park is so much better than Jurassic World, Hollywood's money-making machine--all in an effort to answer the question: What is Jurassic World trying to do? 

The world may never know. 

Many thanks to Aevart Van Jook for our theme song. May our snobs be with you, dear listener (if you exist).

*Who, in direct contradiction to your snobbish hosts' misinformation, is not actually bald.