Change Your Image
adampowell65
Reviews
The Nostalgia Critic (2007)
Sometimes interesting, but not really my thing
I really like Doug Walker as a person, his out-of-character vlogs where he just sits and discusses films (sometimes with his brother Rob) are legitimately interesting to me, but I just don't find the Nostalgia Critic series that entertaining.
I don't find the jokes funny, sometimes there's a neat idea for a joke but it's usually botched by Walker's delivery or the style of editing. Again, I like Doug Walker as a person, but I'm not a fan of his acting and I don't really like his line delivery.
There are a few episodes that I found interesting, but overall the show just doesn't do it for me. I prefer the short editorial episodes that are just trying to make a quick point rather than tell a big story, and Doug's out-of-character reviews are a lot more interesting to me.
Dick Figures: The Movie (2013)
Well, it's better than the Smosh movie, at least
Dick Figures was something I enjoyed watching at first. I found the earlier episodes simplistic and charming in their own way. While the show did go downhill for me around the third season, I did remain cautiously optimistic about the feature film, especially since the making-of videos did seem to imply that they were putting a lot of work into making it. Besides, I think Ed Skudder is a good artist and animator, so I was curious to see how it would turn out.
While I think it's far from Skudder's best, I thought it was okay. If you're a fan of Dick Figures, you'll definitely get a kick out of it. If, like me, you're not the biggest fan but you don't mind it, then it might be worth your time.
The story is fairly simple, just two guys going on a big road trip adventure and there's some jokes along the way. Simple stories are all fine and dandy, but not when they're as predictable as this. It's basically the same story as the Smosh movie, complete with the same tropes; they bicker, they argue, they have a big fight and separate before making up and saving the day, it's about as predictable as you can get.
As for the jokes, there's the occasional clever moment, but it's hardly laugh-out-loud hilarious. It's like Superbad or something along those lines; pretty childish, but sometimes it's charming. Except unlike Superbad, the charming moments are pretty rare. I'm just giving credit where it's due and saying that those moments are there.
For me, the big selling point was the animation. I wasn't expecting it to be amazing, since it was animated in Flash and the characters are stick figures, but I actually found it really nice to look at. The backgrounds, while simple, are nicely done, and the character animation is very smooth and expressive. I got the impression that the animators working on this film were conscious of the fact that the designs were incredibly simplistic, so they did their best to make up for it with some really expressive animation, and, like I said, it does look nice. Given how limited the show's animation is, this is an impressive upgrade.
Dick Figures: The Movie is a straightforward movie that, at times, is downright predictable, but it has enough charm in the animation and look to at least recommend a shot. As an animator, I got a kick out of the visuals, and as a film fan I got a kick out of the characters (sometimes) and Nick Keller's score, though I'm not sure if those good points were quite enough to make up for the predictable story and stupid jokes. Overall, it was okay.
Smosh: The Movie (2015)
Painful
This famous YouTube duo's first venture into feature filmmaking is, in short, a train wreck.
Smosh got their start releasing short comedy sketches on the Internet, and this movie actually attempts to place them in a coherent narrative. As such, the plot is as simple as it gets; one of our leads needs to ensure that an embarrassing video that shows him goofing around is destroyed before his high school crush sees it, so he can impress her at some kind of school reunion or whatever the hell it was. Honestly, who cares? The writers sure didn't, and I'd be surprised if anyone in the audience did. Personally, I was waiting for the obligatory scene where he finds out that the lady likes him anyway and we get a cringe-worthy and obvious ending, complete with the cheesy "be yourself" message that's been done to death, but whatever. It's presumably aimed at easily-amused 12-year-olds, so who cares about the storyline? The filmmakers certainly didn't seem to; at least, the lazy and predictable story didn't give that impression.
We get all the scenes we're expecting. You know they're going to learn that in the end, all that's important is believing in yourself. We know that they're going to have a falling out and be angry with each other for a bit, only to kiss and make up before the third act. I predicted every single thing that was going to happen. It's the most tired, most done-to-death story imaginable. It's as if no one making the film even cared.
But the film's selling point - apart from cameos by other famous YouTube celebrities like Markiplier and Jenna Marbles - seems to be the comedy, and as such, the story really isn't a huge focus. A good story is always nice, but in a comedy like this, it's not necessarily bad to have something basic. All you need is some simple excuse to have your two leads go on an adventure and goof around, and once the comedy itself works, it's fine. Unfortunately, that's not the case here. The comedy is about as predictable as the cliché- riddled story, and every bit as painful. If you're older than fifteen, prepare to roll your eyes more often than you smile.
The only parts I found amusing were, actually, seemingly unintentional; the film's effects were so cheap, I couldn't help but laugh at how downright ridiculous some of the scenes looked. As a fan of "so bad it's good" funny movies, this is the only reason I gave the film two stars as opposed to one, but I can assure you that I would have given it the lowest possible rating if not for those moments. Unfortunately, they're pretty rare, and given how painful the rest of the jokes are, I just don't think it's worth it. There's a fine line between something being bad to the point of being amusing enough to watch, and then just being plain awful. This seems to poke its head into the former category at times, only to come running back to the latter, where it belongs.
There are also these little moments that suck you out of the film. Smosh fans will notice that the video is an obvious nod to the Pokemon theme song, as the first Smosh video to ever exist was their parody of it. But the film's version of that video replaces the song with an obvious knock-off of Pokemon, clearly for copyright reasons. There are also things like terrible green-screen effects, and I seem to recall hearing a Wilhelm scream at one point. Moments like this only make the film more annoying than the horrible jokes and wooden performances do.
On that note, by the way, the acting is very bad. It also doesn't help that the characters themselves are unlikable and obnoxious. When they're not being stupid, they're being downright unpleasant to other characters. One of the leads has a crush on a girl whose YouTube channel hosts a video where she's having her butt massaged, so he labels her "Butt Massage Girl" and when he meets her and (of course) becomes her love interest, that's what he calls her, constantly telling her to shut up if she tries to reveal her actual name. The purpose of this is so that they can prolong the moment where it turns out that her name is Brad (a nod to a previous scene where the character was warned to make sure his future spouse is not actually a man) and he subsequently freaks out. Because comedy, I think.
Christ, what an awful movie.
The story is predictable and lazy. The jokes are painful. The acting is atrocious. The characters are unlikable and annoying. It's boring, it's stupid, it's annoying, it's not funny, it's just not good. Don't even bother seeing it. Don't give your money to these idiots.
Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie (2014)
D'mixed review
As someone who enjoyed the TV series for a while and then went off it later on (I felt like the most recent season went downhill, but that's just me), I had no idea what to expect with this, since I have very mixed feelings on the film's source material. I was very skeptical when the trailer came out, which looked terrible. Then again, all trailers are terrible, so I kept an open mind. So, the other night, my parents were going to see it and I tagged along, and overall I'm fairly happy I gave it a shot in the end.
The plot is simplistic as can be and the characters are also very simple. If you've seen the show, you know who they are, and they do act more or less how you would expect them to act. On the subject of the characters, I noticed that the ones who aren't in the show much, get lots of lines, while the ones who are in the show a good bit, are basically sidelined. For example, I noticed Grandad, who often goes entire episodes without saying a word, had plenty of screen-time in this, whereas Rory, who is a fairly big character in the show, doesn't really do much in the film aside from a few one-liners and one scene that you'll know if you've seen the trailer anyway. The main character, of course, is Mrs. Brown herself, and she does take up most of the time on screen. The rest of the time, surprisingly, goes to Dermot's friend Buster Brady, who actually gets his own sub-plot. As for Dermot, Cathy, Rory and the others, they're limited to a few one-liners. I was glad Winnie had lots of screen-time though; she is one of the funniest parts of the show for me.
As for the jokes, the trailer really made it out to be crude, predictable and just not funny. In the end, it was, to an extent, but I'd be lying if I said that I never laughed, although the cinema was completely packed and the audience laughed at everything, so it may have just been the atmosphere. Regardless, I'll be completely honest and admit that I did laugh. Not all of the jokes hit home, but a fair few of them did. So the comedy, while nothing remarkable, could have been a lot worse.
On the subject of the jokes, the show is known for fourth-wall breaks, usually accomplished by including the bloopers. In the film, there is a gag reel during the credits (which, by the way, probably made me laugh more than the movie did), but there are a few scenes in the movie itself where the bloopers were included. For example, there will be a scene where an actor walks into the room, forgets a line, everyone laughs, then the scene starts over and plays out as planned. I found myself really wanting to like it because I don't see it done often, but I actually found the bloopers more awkward than anything. I really feel like the majority of them could have been saved for the gag reel at the end, as they just made the whole thing seem amateurish and awkward. To be fair though, the "included blooper" segments are very rare, and usually short. I think the better fourth-wall jokes are in the throwaway lines, like one part where Agnes turns to the viewer and says "I love the movies", which you can see in the trailer. Yes, it is said in the film, and I surprisingly found it charming.
Pros: - A few decent jokes - Likable characters who are mostly played well - Overall had a very charming and pleasant tone
Cons: - For every good joke, there was a bad one - Predictable and boring in parts - Those fecking bloopers
Overall: D'movie, as a whole, is a charming, fairly innocent bit of fun that you'll enjoy if you're a fan of the show. If you're looking for Citizen Kane, or something with lots of layers and metaphors, I'm telling you now, save your money because this is not meant for you. As someone who had mixed feelings with the show, I had mixed feelings on the film, but I'd be lying if I said I regret seeing it. Take it for what it is, give it a shot if it's your kind of thing, but if it's not, then feck off and see something else.
Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny (1972)
Oh woe is me, oh woe is me
Allow me to summarize the movie.
Santa's sleigh ends up on a beach in Florida, buried in an inch of sand. Santa summons a bunch of kids and they basically just go along with it and get a bunch of animals (not all at once, hello?) to pull the sleigh free, including a horse, a cow, a sheep, and even a guy in a gorilla suit. Santa, meanwhile, fans himself and mumbles "oh it's hot ooh golly oh my gosh i have never been so hot in my life oh ho ho ho oh gosh oh my golly".
Santa takes a break from sweating to tell the kids the story of Thumbelina, and then they pretty much just play this older film called 'Thumbelina', made by the same guy who made this. It's meant to "inspire" the kids or whatever, but it never gets referenced after it's finished, the kids don't seem to take much from it, it's unbelievably bland and forgettable, it has nothing to do with Christmas or Santa or anything to ever happen in the history of mankind, AND (possibly the worst of all), it's actually LONGER than the segment with Santa Claus. It's literally a lazy way of padding the film out to over an hour.
It's like, if they made a new Harry Potter movie, and they didn't have enough for a whole film, so they had Harry experience a flashback, then they just play one of the previous films, then that ends, then we get ten minutes of nothing happening, then it ends. That is EXACTLY what this is.
Anyway, when the Thumbelina segment is over, the kids go back to running around looking for help, and Santa goes back to "oh my golly it is hot oh my gosh look at that sun glaring down oh ho ho ho i have never been so hot in my life ho ho ho". The kids return with the Ice Cream Bunny.
I'm dead f*cking serious.
The "Ice Cream Bunny" drives a fire truck (what, you were expecting a fire truck? You're an idiot!) and Santa climbs onto the back of the truck and they drive off into the woods and that's the last we ever see of them. Then the sleigh vanishes into thin air, leaving the audience wondering, say, why was this such an issue if the sleigh could vanish at will? Where does Santa go; is he supposed to deliver presents all around the world on the fire truck now, or what? Who the hell is the Ice Cream Bunny? Was he supposed to be the Easter Bunny? There's no mention of ice cream in the film, he's literally just a guy in a generic, creepy white rabbit costume that never speaks.
Also, the Thumbelina segment is incredibly weak. Terrible acting, slow and tedious dialog and pacing, and the costumes and visuals make me feel like I'm in a bad fever dream. Seriously, is it just me, or are those moles nightmare fuel? So, here's my overall summation: Go see it. I know. I know, I just bashed it and criticized it, but it's actually fascinating. I don't know why on earth it was made, I don't know what the people behind it were thinking, I don't know what the hell is going on here. But, I'll be honest, it's oddly hilarious that way.
I'm pretty sure the whole thing is on YouTube for free, which is probably the best way to look for it because I strongly doubt you can still get your hands on a VHS copy of this thing anymore.
Also, you should check out the RiffTrax commentary on it; it's even funnier than this.
This film is hypnotically terrible, with appalling acting, questionable writing, embarrassing effects, and an overall strange, unsettling, somewhat creepy vibe. You absolutely need to see it.
Merry Christmas.