Nine weeks is a long time to wallow in your own self-pity, worthlessness and sorrow following the loss of a job that, despite all of the issues I had, very much loved and was very passionate about. After putting up job application after application and not getting even a call back, with only two exceptions, after having to sell my Wii, my games for it and my 3DS cartridge games to make ends meet, and going two months without paying my bills, anyone would shy away from the itch to write.
In the meantime, I never got to finish my Opinion Writing class series on Internet reviewers, when I did have the inclination to discuss two more Internet reviewers as my main reasons for becoming a critic.
On the other hand, without the restrictions of the class parameters, I can go about writing anything I want to, and will. I can also do other things besides writing, like dabble again in podcasting, and maybe videos, down the line.
Having said that, I am going to finish my series on Internet reviewers this summer, between reviews and blog posts. Here is the schedule I am going to try keep for the rest of July and August (subject to change):
July 14: Scratched Disk Reviews #2
July 21: Reviewers Are Awesome Series
July 28: The Old Squared Circle Podcast #1
August 4: Scratched Disk Reviews #3
August 11: Reviewers Are Awesome Series
August 18: Scratched Disk Reviews #4
August 25: The Old Squared Circle Podcast #2
I'm keeping the subject matter my little secret, though I can say that SDR will continue to look at anime for the rest of the summer, so through September. TOSC will look at nostalgic pro wrestling from the 80s until the end of the Attitude Era in 2002. I might continue the Reviewers Are Awesome Series past August if I feel like it, but after August, it should just be the written reviews and the podcasts.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Scratched Disk Reviews #1: It's a DVD/Blu-Ray/Netflix/theater review thing
Introduction
Welcome boys and girls, ladies
and gentlemen, nerds and nerdettes, bronies and pegasisters or whatever you
identify yourself as. If you are reading this, you must be bored and have
nothing better to do, so while I have your attention, let me share wares and
maybe you’ll get a little insight and entertainment in the process.
This review series will look at
DVDs and Blu-Rays and all of their contents, so this is not just another film
review. To shake things up though, I’ll occasionally review Netflix releases
and movies in theaters. If I can afford it, I’ll pick up some newer material to
review, but for now, a lot of this material will involve product already owned
over the many years.
These reviews will break down our
subject matter in to five parts, and each of those parts will receive a grade
on a scale of zero through five – a five the equivalent to greatness and zero a
crime against humanity. What gets evaluated depends on the medium and genre so
only the general set-up remains the same.
Having gotten all of the
formalities out of the way, let’s get down to the actual review – an anime with
a name which means only what you think it means, just like the anime itself.
FLCL: defending humanity with robots, inter-dimensional
space pirates and guitars
Of all the material to start
with, you may be wondering why I chose to start with anime. Well, summer is
amongst other things, a great time for anime convention. It seemed appropriate
to start with a piece of animation that is the very essence of what Japanese
Anime really is.
For a little personal background,
the first anime I ever saw was “Speed Racer” in the 1980s, along with “Voltron”
and “Robotech” (which anime fans will kick the crap out of you and demand you
call it “Macross.”). At the end of the 1990s and into the next millennium,
Cartoon Network’s Toonami block introduced a whole slew of anime to me, like
“Dragon Ball Z” among others. Soon, Cartoon Network brought more adult anime to
its lineup by moving anime to its late night Adult Swim block, which is where I
was exposed to this gem, and it forever remains my favorite anime.
FLCL was released in 2000 in
Japan by Gainax, the same animation studio that produced the infamous anime
series Neon Genesis Evangelion (EVA to its fans) and Gurren Lagann, the former
being a cross of science-fiction and religion with a cast of characters so
contemptible you wish they would all die in the end and the latter a fun,
idiotic romp through post-apocalyptic giant robot and monster anime land less
thought provoking than an episode of Family Guy.
Between the two extremes in
thought, FLCL is the happy medium, provoking more thought than Gurren Lagann
ever could while knowing when to lighten up and have fun, unlike EVA, complete
with a cast of characters that are at least tolerable.
Now, just because FLCL
(pronounced “Fooly Cooly”) is my favorite anime and is considered to be one of
the greatest anime of this generation, garnering extremely high praise from
critics and consumers alike, it is not without its flaws, and I would not be a
critic otherwise if I did not look at it objectively.
Since I will be looking at
animation on DVD, I will be grading for story, characters, animation quality, voice
acting quality and DVD extras. I will be reviewing the three-DVD volume set
released by distributor Synch-Point from Sept. 2002 to July 2003. Without
further delay, let’s take a look at FLCL.
The Story (if you can call it that)
***SPOILER ALERT*** IF YOU WANT TO AVOID
SPOILERS, SKIP TO THE THIRD SECTION
FLCL centers around sixth-grader
Naota and the world around him. The one person in the world he had respect and
reverence for, his older brother Tasuku, has left home to play professional
baseball in America (considering this anime was made in 2000, that wasn’t as
commonplace as it is today), leaving him to help take care of the family bakery
with his man-child of a father and his senile grandfather. Compounding his
personal hell is his relationship his with his brother’s ex-girlfriend Mamimi,
having both a crush on her that she’ll never return, the unenviable task of
telling her Tasuku has an American girlfriend since his brother either doesn’t
have the testicular fortitude of doing himself or she isn’t reading his
correspondence and all while trying to make her take her take him seriously as
a man and not a child.
Enter one the most awesome, yet
bizarre characters in all of anime (and that’s quite a feat) – Haruhara Haruko
(because if I didn’t write that name Japanese style, with the surname first,
anime fanboys and fangirls would find me and kill me by force-feeding whole dry
ramen wafers). It is incredible how one character can derail a story and leave
it a confusing, befuddled mess taking a dramatic, slice-of-life story and
turning it into some bizarre menagerie of science-fiction, comedy, drama,
romance and action, leaving more questions in her wake than she answers, and
yet, if you aren’t wearing the critic goggles, like I am, you don’t care. If
that confuses you, gentle reader, allow me to explain while I bash your brains
in with a Rickenbacker 4001 bass guitar of logic.
The arrival of Haruko at around
the 3:30 mark in episode one as the other main character instantly transforms
the story the moment she enters the picture, barreling out of nowhere on her
Vespa scooter with some odd pronouncement, twirling her Rickenbacker 4001 like
a baton and then runs over Naota. From that point on, the story becomes, as
concept creator and director Kazuya Tsurumaki calls it a “boy-meets-girl” story
as Naoto gradually falls in love with the bizarre, but fun woman from space.
Soon enough, Naota starts
sprouting robots out of the inter-dimensional portal inside of his skull,
seemingly robbing him of his brain (how else would you explain Gurren Lagann’s
existence?). These include the robot Canti and all of the robot things Canti
fights in the six-episode mini-series. We soon discover that some (evil?)
organization called Medical Mechanica has set up operations on Earth (in the
form of factory in the shape of a giant iron) with intentions as we learn
later, to iron out all of the chaos (the wrinkles) in the universe.
Haruko is a…umm…that’s a tough
one. It is hinted that she is some sort of galaxy police officer sent to
investigate Medical Mechanica, but it seems that she has gone rogue searching
for some sort of inter-dimensional being of a space pirate called Atomsk who
has been imprisoned by Medical Mechanica. Apparently, of all the 6 billion
people on this rock, Naota is the only one who can channel Atomsk.
Talk about your rotten luck.
This leads to the conclusion that
Haruko isn’t quite the quirky housekeeper we believe her to be. She is willing
to risk the destruction of a civilization at the hands of Medical Mechanica
just to free the space pirate she has fallen in love with, and really, by love,
I mean the love of his power to manipulate galaxies with his very being alone.
Chicks love the powerful bad boys.
In the end, in order to save the
world, Naota channels Atomsk, defeats Medical Mechanica and does battle with
Haruko (who’s pissed that Naota took the power she wanted), only to let his
personality break him free of the power to tell Haruko he loves her before the
space pirate heads off to the second star to the right and straight on to the
final frontier. Haruko blames Naota for screwing her out of becoming one with
Atomsk, but she doesn’t hold it against him, leaving her Rickenbacker behind as
a memento while Naota moves on with his life.
And that is the best summary of
this convoluted story I can give.
The problems with the story
involve several stadium-sized gaps that are intentionally unexplained, chief
among them being the existence of Medical Mechanica. The closest thing the show
has to a villain is never really explained – its existence and motivations –
until the very end, and even then, what we’re given is still quite vague. Most
of the time, when the story is faced with making giant leaps to explain itself,
the animators deliver some cool animation or the writers interrupt with some
comedy like someone dangling car keys over a baby.
What story is there, namely the
story between Naota and Haruko isn’t even really a “boy-meets-girl” story as
much as it is a coming-of-age tale for Naota. Sure, Naota’s life changed
because of Haruko, but love is a key element in the “boy-meets-girl” tale and
while it does exist, it is in fact unrequited love as Naota’s love for Haruko
is never returned. Instead, this is more of a tale of a boy becoming a man, of
growing up and understanding life and love from an adult perspective, and if
you look at it that way and shove all subplots (and there are many) aside, what
you have is at least a coherent tale.
Too bad that’s not what the
original creator was aiming for, though; therefore, I give the story 3.5 OUT OF 5. The central story isn’t
bad; it just takes a backseat to all of the character-centric elements and
subplots within the story itself. It’s only until the last two episodes do we
get any clear answers about the main story, and even then, we’re left with more
questions than answers. Six episodes were not enough to fully lay out the
ambitious story in this anime, and I have a feeling Gainax did that on purpose.
The Characters
The previous section I delved
into our main characters somewhat already, namely because their characters
drive the story. Each of the first four episodes is driven on character.
Episode one introduces us to the main characters, episode two into Mamimi’s
backstory and psyche, episode three into the backstory of class president and
rich classmate Ninamori and her relationship with Naota (which is sadly
underdeveloped in the series), episode four examining Naota’s jealousy with his
father’s relationship with Haruko and finally learning to be his own man. The
last two episodes are actually more story driven and feel more like a movie
unto themselves while the first four episodes are more stand-alone character
studies with some continuity to keep them connected.
While all of the characters are
flawed, none are so flawed that you wish for their utter ruination (LIKE EVA),
and thus have some redeeming traits that endear you to them and make them
three-dimensional. Naota is a Shinji-esque whiny, bratty, selfish jerkstore and
of all the characters, you really want to smack the kid in the mouth; however,
given his situation, you actually feel sorry for him. Naota has to deal with
the chaos in his life and make sense of it all while growing up in the process.
When you see him open up towards the end, you soften up on him and find
yourself rooting for him during the last episode. Haruko is the opposite. When
you first meet her, she’s quirky, strange and quite fun, while adopting the
role of eccentric sage for Naota; however, by the end of the series, her
selfish actions and the revelation of her true motives wear out her welcome and
you’re glad she’s gone at the end. You enjoy the ride but glad you got off when
you did.
Mamimi is the tragic element in
the story. A victim of bullying, she allowed the game Firetsarter to become a
bit too real, believing that if she starts burning down buildings, that the
game’s god, Lord Conti, will give her his blessing. She burned down her high
school, which is how she met Naota’s brother. She loves to hang around Naota
because she’s not coping well with Tasuku’s leaving (calling Naota “Takkun,”
the nickname she gave to his brother, not to mention giving that nickname to a
cat and at the end, a technology-munching robot), enjoying the control she has
over him, playfully teasing him, getting touchy-feely and giving him hickeys.
Once Naota changes and asserts his own control does she pull away from him and
then sets out to get revenge on various people who wronged her through the city
with the tech-eating robot.
Probably the next big character
is Ninamori, but more for the effect she has on Naota than for herself alone.
We find out her backstory and motivations in just one episode. She’s from a
“nouveau riche” family with her father being the mayor and she the class
president. She takes a great interest in Naota and even goes out of her way to
rig an election to make sure she and Naota are the leads in their class
production of “Puss In Boots.” While characters like these are usually written
to be the characters we loathe, she’s actually sympathetic. Her father was
caught in a scandal and faces prosecution. She’s in the car with the very
secretary sleeping with her father and seems cool about the whole deal (though
she’s quite pleased when the affair is exposed), and the scandal is pushing her
parents to the brink of divorce. Though she never admits her feelings for
Naota, she does learn to be true to herself. Her conflict with Naota really
shows more of his softer side as he seems to genuinely want to help Ninamori
with what she’s going through, that is, until he gets understandably pissed
when he finds out she rigged the vote to put him in a lead role he never wanted.
Of all the characters though, I wish the writers would have explored her more –
possibly as a love interest to battle Haruko and keep him grounded, or maybe as
just a friend who becomes more of Naota’s conscience – the possibilities are
endless, and with only six episodes, they did the best they could to give her
what substance they did. It just feels like a wasted opportunity.
Naota’s father serves as both the
conflicting love interest fighting over Haruko and comic relief, but does show
some more redeeming traits during Ninamori’s episode, showing concern (and
possibly guilt) for her and how she’s coping considering he broke the scandal
that landed her father in hot water. Canti is quite expressive for a robot that
doesn’t talk and is enjoyable to watch. The entire cast does a good job of
providing comic relief and moving the story along.
Having said all of that, I rate
the characters a 4 OUT OF 5. The unanswered questions about Haruko
still leaves her character in some doubt and the underdevelopment of Ninamori
keep this from being a perfect score.
The Animation & Art
According to Tsurumaki, a major
difference between Japanese and American animation lies in who dictates the art
style. In America, the studio directs the art style. Disney animated films have
always had a similar, distinct look that merely evolved as animation evolved
over time. Warner Brothers is the same with Looney Tunes. Western animation
studios wield considerable style direction. In Japan, it’s the opposite –
animation studios may have several different art styles as art directors wield
heavy control over art style.
While there is a dominant art
style in FLCL, art director Hiroaki Ogura and animation director Hiroyuki
Imaishi use these six episodes as a canvas to let loose and experiment with
combining different art styles and animation techniques. The manga-style scenes
and the South Park-esque scene, in particular, are favorites among fans.
Having said that, not all of the
experiments are successful – there are some instances where CGI is used and
doesn’t fit and some of the art styles used look glaringly low quality compared
to the primary art style, but that’s personal preference. If there is less here
in this section, well, admittedly, I do not know much about art, but I know
what I like.
I give the animation and art 4.5 OUT OF 5. Any complaints I have
about the art and animation are just nitpicks.
The Voice Acting
Even if an animated series or
full-length film has beautiful art, a well-written story and fleshed-out
characters, it all means nothing if the actors giving the characters a voice
act more wooden than a redwood forest. In anime or any foreign film there’s the
double whammy of redubbing the dialogue into your native language. The
predominant school of thought in anime among hardcore American fans (or weeaboo
if you prefer the more derogative slang) is that dubbed is dumb and that
subtitles are supreme. This opinion isn’t without merit. What is often lost in
the dubbing process is the flavor of the dialogue – the way lines are expressed
become completely changed, the sound of the voices can become completely (and
sometimes irreparably) different, and context can be utterly changed and ruined
during translation. This is true for a lot of anime, but then, for every
example these fans can give me, excellent English dubs like FLCL’s come along
that, in my opinion, match if not surpass the original Japanese.
Particularly, Barbara Goodman’s
Naota and especially Kari Wahlgren’s Haruko steal the show amongst a very
talented voice cast. They add a passion to their roles that, while their
Japanese counterparts deliver a fine performance, add a distinctiveness of
their own yet try to stay as true to the original versions as possible. Haruko
is wacky, yes, and Wahlgren captures that wackiness, but at the same time adds
just enough extra energy to her delivery that really connects the level of
energy in the animation and pushes the character to its full potential.
The same goes for Goodman’s
Naota. It would have been so easy for her to overact her lines given how
expressive the animation makes Naota. The Japanese Naota is more subdued and
mature, and while that’s fine, Goodman’s version makes me believe that Naota is
still just a kid, one coming to grips with the adult world around him. She
makes him a bit whinier, a bit angrier while never going too far, and in so
doing she takes his character to the next level.
It’s the voice acting above all
else that seals FLCL’s legendary status among hardcore and casual anime fans
alike and thus deserves a score of 5 OUT
OF 5. Only a few English-dubbed anime ever achieve this level of greatness,
the kind that make you love every character from beginning to end.
The Extras
For these DVDs, the only
consistent extras are director’s commentaries, outtakes and art galleries. The
art galleries are nothing particularly special, featuring nothing but magazine
covers from 2000 when the show was scorching the anime scene in Japan – nice to
look at for a minute, but otherwise, nothing special. Going in, I thought the
outtakes would be more entertaining and interesting than the director’s
commentaries, and is it turns out, I was completely wrong.
The outtakes are fine, but
there’s very little to really laugh at. Ninety percent of the flubs are just
actors tripping over their lines and nothing more, while the director’s
commentary actually delves into the cultural and animation differences between
Japan and America as well as give us some interesting insight to certain voice
talent and shots. The downside to the commentaries is that they are all in
Japanese. That’s no slight to the language; I love it myself, having taken four
semesters of it, but only those who don’t mind subtitles or are native speakers
will bother sticking it out with the commentary.
The second DVD comes with
additional art which is nothing more than close-ups of certain art elements
from episodes three and four. The third DVD contains a music video for the
ending theme, “Ride on Shooting Star” from the Japanese alternative rock band,
The Pillows, who provide the entire soundtrack for the series, along with
credit-less ending sequences, which only exists so you can keep an eye on all
of the many images that fly by during the closing sequence, but you can’t
really tell just what they are because of all the text in the way, so…yay, I
guess.
The score for the extras is 3 OUT OF 5. For such an awesome
miniseries, you would think the American localization team would have added
more extras of their own, but did not, and this compounds what little extras
the Japanese localization team provided.
FINAL AVERAGE SCORE FOR FLCL 3-DVD SET BY
SYNCH-POINT IS 4 OUT 5.
Unfortunately for everyone, I
can’t recommend the exact DVD set I have, namely because it is out of print
since Synch-Point, the original U.S. distributor, shelved American operations
is 2008. However, FUNimation Entertainment picked up the series and rereleased
the series in America in 2011 on Blu-Ray, so I recommend picking that up for
sure. “FLCL: The Complete Series” on Blu-Ray is on sale at Amazon.com right now
for $11.99 – 56 percent off, so that makes it a great buy right now for the
summer, which is actually cheaper than just one of three DVDs in the original
Synch-Point DVDs.
Monday, April 29, 2013
A study in two different styles along similar paths
Hello and welcome back to The Texzilla and today, I'm tackling two more of the women of thatguywiththeglasses.com and Channel Awesome - Kaylyn "Marzgurl" Dickinson and "JesuOtaku" Hope Chapman.
Now I know promised to review more of the ladies of CA at the beginning of the month, and for those wanting to call me out on that, well, I just have one explanation:
Yeah, I don't have any explanation you haven't read before, so instead, let's forget about that and move on. Instead, we have two interesting personalities to look at today.
What's interesting about Internet Entertainment is that anyone can do it as long as they have the means, the will, and the expertise of subject, and, as inevitable in the vast world of the Internet, overlapping will occur. Very few ideas presented on the Internet are truly unique or original, and if they are unique, chances are, they won't be for very long.
This brings us to the subject animation critics, and particularly, Channel Awesome. The very first animation critic for the troupe was Will "(That Dude in the) Suede" Dufresne, who did anime reviews starting in July 2008. Before that Doug Walker did some animation reviews, but it was less about the art and more about the stories being told. After Dickinson was narrowly beaten out for Nostalgia Critic by Lindsay Ellis in the summer of 2008, she became the site's second animation reviewer, debuting her line of reviews in November.
I made the mistake before of calling her an anime reviewer when what she really is an animation reviewer. Yes, she does a show called Anime News Editorial, but those aren't reviews, but video editorials. Her actual reviews, the majority of the episodes focus rather on American animation. A lot of her early reviews did swing more towards anime, but by 2010, her work focused almost entirely on American animation and particularly on famed animator Don Bluth.
Her style is very straight-forward with very few jokes, even fewer than Ellis. Her reviews really are reviews, and she gives well-informed and constructive critiques to her subjects. Really, the only time you see her attempt humor is when she's either reviewing something truly awful or she's paired with another reviewer. This comes as a mixed bag - without forcing any humor, she comes off as quite respectful and makes it tough for the trolls to find something to latch on to, but on the other hand, she can come off as quite dry, so if you're expecting something in the vein of Walker's "Nostalgia Critic" or Ellis's "Nostalgia Chic," she's not going to be for you.
Our other subject for this discussion is Chapman's "JesuOtaku," who could considered Dickinson's spiritual successor as Channel Awesome's female anime reviewer. She got started in 2009 doing videos on YouTube, and then in February 2010, on the recommendation of former CA contributor Lee Davidge of "Still Gaming" fame, she joined Channel Awesome and put out anime reviews for the site, her first review debuting March 1.
Now I know promised to review more of the ladies of CA at the beginning of the month, and for those wanting to call me out on that, well, I just have one explanation:
Yeah, I don't have any explanation you haven't read before, so instead, let's forget about that and move on. Instead, we have two interesting personalities to look at today.
What's interesting about Internet Entertainment is that anyone can do it as long as they have the means, the will, and the expertise of subject, and, as inevitable in the vast world of the Internet, overlapping will occur. Very few ideas presented on the Internet are truly unique or original, and if they are unique, chances are, they won't be for very long.
This brings us to the subject animation critics, and particularly, Channel Awesome. The very first animation critic for the troupe was Will "(That Dude in the) Suede" Dufresne, who did anime reviews starting in July 2008. Before that Doug Walker did some animation reviews, but it was less about the art and more about the stories being told. After Dickinson was narrowly beaten out for Nostalgia Critic by Lindsay Ellis in the summer of 2008, she became the site's second animation reviewer, debuting her line of reviews in November.
Source: http://thatguywiththeglasses.wikia.com
I made the mistake before of calling her an anime reviewer when what she really is an animation reviewer. Yes, she does a show called Anime News Editorial, but those aren't reviews, but video editorials. Her actual reviews, the majority of the episodes focus rather on American animation. A lot of her early reviews did swing more towards anime, but by 2010, her work focused almost entirely on American animation and particularly on famed animator Don Bluth.
Her style is very straight-forward with very few jokes, even fewer than Ellis. Her reviews really are reviews, and she gives well-informed and constructive critiques to her subjects. Really, the only time you see her attempt humor is when she's either reviewing something truly awful or she's paired with another reviewer. This comes as a mixed bag - without forcing any humor, she comes off as quite respectful and makes it tough for the trolls to find something to latch on to, but on the other hand, she can come off as quite dry, so if you're expecting something in the vein of Walker's "Nostalgia Critic" or Ellis's "Nostalgia Chic," she's not going to be for you.
Our other subject for this discussion is Chapman's "JesuOtaku," who could considered Dickinson's spiritual successor as Channel Awesome's female anime reviewer. She got started in 2009 doing videos on YouTube, and then in February 2010, on the recommendation of former CA contributor Lee Davidge of "Still Gaming" fame, she joined Channel Awesome and put out anime reviews for the site, her first review debuting March 1.
Source: http://thatguywiththeglasses.wikia.com
Her reviews are a mix of both bad and good anime, a mix of straight-up analysis with a little humor dashed in. In that regard, she's a lot like Ellis in style, though perhaps not quite as dry in her wit, still, very entertaining to watch, certainly worth viewing, though much of her humor is usually found in opening and closing segments (or in textual jokes that flash on the screen now and again), or bounced off of other more comedic reviewers, so you come for a gag or two and stay for the review.
In style and tone, Chapman and Dickinson compare favorably - both straight-up reviewers who occasionally dabble in comedy. They have put out plenty of content for the site since JesuOtaku first released a video in March 2010, though MarzGurl still put out a lot more content (but fewer actual reviews). Both are animation reviewers. Both love anime and have done anime reviews, and both have put out videos singing along with anime. Yet there are some differences; for instance, JesuOtaku gives out ratings for her reviews, which not many reviewers on the site do, interestingly enough. The majority of MarzGurl's reviews are everything Don Bluth - from his movies, to TV, to straight-to-DVD releases, to his video games. Dickinson was on the scene at least a year before Chapman, though many fans have more of an affinity for Chapman since she's put out more content recently (visibility is the name of the game - very few people care about you if you stop working, I'm quickly finding out).
Still, there's no getting over the similarities, all the same, and I recommend both reviewers to you if you're looking for less laughs and more straight-up analysis. Having said that, here are my six recommended MarzGurl reviews and six recommended JesuOtaku reviews.
(A quick preface, some the videos may not be on YouTube, so some of these videos will merely have link to the source on thatguywiththeglasses.com, which is where I recommend you see all of the Channel Awesome reviewers I've reviewed.)
MarzGurl:
Released: May 2009
This is one of Dickinson's few anime reviews and it is one of her better ones. The movie itself is an Indonesian animated filmed with heavy anime influences butchered for an American audience by the infamous Joseph Lai. The level is such that she release has more energy in her delivery and has more snark than her usual reviews.
Released: May 2009
Of all of Dickinson's early work, this may be her best video, though admittedly, having Linkara helps a million. Aside from thoughtful analysis, and both give great analyses of this bizarre film, Linkara adds that humor that's not usually present to this degree in MarzGurl's reviews; however, she does a great job playing off of him and the two of them present a pretty good video. Yeah, it is cheating to add a crossover to this list since she isn't the sole focus of the video, but it's too cool to pass up.
Released: September 2010
First, when you click on the link, you're going straight to Part 1; if you like Part 1, check out the other three parts on the website. This miniseries is a break down of everything wrong with infamous anime licensing and dubbing company, 4Kids Entertainment (which filed for bankruptcy Oct. 5 and merged with a Delaware corporation, 4Licensing Corporation). It's a great deconstruction and critical dressing down of company trying to entertain kids and doing it wrong. If you don't mind the four parts, give them all a watch.
Released: June 2011
An interesting tidbit about MarzGurl's reviews as that nearly all of them can be broken in sub-series - first with the short-lived "What's My Anime?" (which Beauty and Warrior falls under), and then a string of reviews about other poor adaptations called "Translation/Adaptation Terrors." This is the last video in that sub-series and it's arguably her best review - period. Another Joseph Lai job, combine an anime that's so bad, you can't believe it exists until you see it, plus a great influx of snark, constructive criticism and sight gags, and you have an excellent review worth the watch.
Released: August 2011
Months before the "Ali Baba" Translation Terrors and a whole year after, MarzGurl set off to review just about all of animator Don Bluth's works and works inspired by, based off of or continued from his works. The Secret of NIMH is one of the best animated movies of all time, and Dickinson does a great job breaking down the movie and presenting an critical look into the film despite the bias the title shows (mostly).
Released: April 2012
I could have chosen any of the other Bluth movie reviews to list here, but this review was slightly better than the other more recent videos she's done, and by recent, I mean in the past 12 months. It's the last her Bluth movie reviews (though she would review two TV series based off Dragon's Lair and All Dogs Go To Heaven after this review) and she does a great job deconstructing the changes between this movie and the original, along with some good criticism.
JesuOtaku:
(Look! Videos I can find on YouTube!)
1. "Welcome to the NHK"
Released March 2010, this is JO's third review offering to TGWTG about a young shut-in who can't get in to college or succeed in life and believes it all to be a conspiracy headed an evil, secret organization - you know, the ultimate in excuses. The review itself has just a little bit of humor to spice up what is really a solid analysis of a title known to anime fans, but not so much to casual audiences. Definitely give it a shot, if for the subject material, alone.
2. Chobits
Released: February 2011
Fast forward 11 months and we have a review with a clever little opening segment parodying a magical girlfriend anime about a lowly bachelor who finds a realistic girl robot who brings color into his dull existence. Some good analysis, one that will not offend most of fans of the show, with a little jabbing here and there make for a delightful showing.
Released: March 2011
Let me get this out of the way - I HATE this anime. I hate it with the passion equivalent to the energy given off by a billion suns. As a writer, the sheer idiocy portrayed in this series drives me to my limits as a critic. Having said all of that, I thoroughly enjoyed this review, and not just because she says the same about the writing, but because she enjoys the show, and has fun at its expense during the review, while still providing great critical analysis. Lovers (and haters) of the show will enjoy this review.
Released: August 2011
As a guilty please, I dig fan service anime. Yeah, that may come of as misogynistic, but generally, many of these anime are either too goofy to take seriously or so bad, they're good (think The Room or Birdemic), hence my justification for liking "Tenchi Muyo!" despite the fact the story is crap and the main protagonist wouldn't know what manhood is if you showed him a picture of his own genitals. This JO review was the second installment in a three-part crossover saga with Bennett The Sage into some of the worst the fan service genre has to offer and all three movies are bad and all three movies are good. The two really work off each other well, and while JO adds her usual insightful analysis, her disdain for the show makes for some heavy-handed snark that is just pure deliciousness.
5. FLCL
Released: October 2011
I was a bit weary when I saw this anime on JesuOtaku's review list, for precisely the reason that FLCL (pronounced "fooly cooly" - I don't know why either) is my favorite anime of all time, and if you watch all of her other reviews, JO is more about substantive storytelling than just plain, out-there goofiness, not to mention her dislike of inconsistent art quality and style - both of which the production studio behind FLCL, Gainax, is most famous for. Having said that, she places her biases aside and see the show for what it is and delivers a good review that is both critical and praising.
Released: August 2012
The last of the "Bennett the Sage" mini-series of reviews comes a fan service zombie apocalypse anime that would be more of infamous Italian film maker Bruno Mattei's bag and his fans' than it would be fans of the "Living Dead" series or "Shawn of the Dead." Again, both White and Chapman have great chemistry together and humor to what is otherwise an awkward anime to talk about - it's not quite "so bad, it's good" and yet sincere enough in what it's trying to do that you can't bring yourself to loathe it either. The review is a great watch, and the anime is fun for zombie fans and fan service fans alike (seriously, I've never seen breasts jiggle in this manner - JELL-O DOESN'T JIGGLE THIS MUCH), though likely for only one sit.
To close this out, I want to apologize for all of the links, and lack of videos, but that's not my fault, but that's OK. The reviewer I'm reviewing next is one of the more famous and polarizing reviewers on the Internet.
Monday, April 1, 2013
She remembers it because the dudes won't
When she edged out Kaylyn Dickinson and Krissy Diggs, Lindsay Ellis did more than just become a female foil for Doug Walker's Nostalgia Critic - she became something of a role model.
In 2008, there were really no major female Internet reviewers. That's not to say there weren't any female reviewers at all - YouTube is littered with amateurs of both sexes trying to make the scene, but Ellis took that first step. Dickinson has had some modest success and is known somewhat in anime fan circles outside of the Channel Awesome fandom, while Diggs is barely remembered outside of hardcore CA fan circles. If Walker had gone with someone else to be the Nostalgia Chick, I'm not sure the character and concept would still be around or that female reviewers would be as visible as they are today, she is that important.
Here is some background that is readily available: Ellis grew up in Tennessee and after graduating high school she moved on to film school at New York University. After receiving a degree in cinema studies from NYU in 2003, she moved on to the University of Southern California to obtain her Masters degree in cinematic arts and now currently resides in Queens, NY. Needless to say that Ellis has quite the rich film background and probably makes her the most academically-qualified critic I've reviewed to date.
Her style: if Ellis was supposed to be Walker's female counterpart, he was way off the mark as the two nostalgic characters are nothing alike, well, mostly. Walker plays the Nostalgia Critic fast and loose, very much like a comedy sketch with some great introspection here and there about his subjects; while Ellis plays the Nostalgia Chick very dry - her humor is dry and witty and the episodes mostly come off as a legitimate form critical analysis with some humor here and there (some episodes more than others). Due to her dry style, she doesn't have Walker's mass appeal but she is still very enjoyable to watch all the same if you give her a few episodes to grow on you.
Analysis of her latest episode: "Disney Needs More Gay" (released Mar. 6, 2013)
http://blip.tv/nostalgia-chick/nostalgia-chick-rantasmo-disney-needs-more-gay-6545576
(Sadly, I can't embed the video in the blog for some reason, but the link should get you where you need to go.)
First, if you have strong opinions about Disney animated films and character theory, you are going to have strong feelings about this review; it is a very insightful look at Disney's role in the LGBTQ community and its positive and negative consequences. On the other hand, if you came to this review looking for straight (see what I did there?) funny, you're not getting much of that this time. With Ellis, her attempts at real humor outside of her own dry wit come off as forced and are hit and miss sometimes. This time, it's a miss what with running the same joke into the ground, through the ground, through the crust, mantle and core and out the other side in Asia somewhere.
The analysis itself is very insightful - the Disney Corporation is very friendly towards same-sex partnerships and has a strong LGBTQ fan base, while at the same pretending the LGBTQ community doesn't exist and has created several foppish, effeminate villains over the years while ending several movies with the straight romantic leads getting married or riding off into the sunset. It's an interesting paradox to consider ... if you can get past the forced attempts at humor.
And now, to close off this review, here are Six Recommended Nostalgia Chick videos:
1. The Smurfette Principle (released Jan. 2010)
Much like the episode I just reviewed, this one is another character analysis - this one on gender roles in animation and the role of female animated characters as foils for male characters. What separates this episode and the previous one is that the humor isn't forced and is very witty. Like the other episode, it does have a running joke, but unlike "Disney Needs More Gay," the running joke comes in about halfway in the episode and doesn't overstay its welcome. Definitely one of her best.
2. She-Ra - Princess of Power (released Oct. 2008)
One of Ellis' first videos with Channel Awesome, this was back when the Nostalgia Chick was supposed to strictly look at feminine nostalgia. Unlike her later work, many of her earlier videos are more fast-paced and the jokes tended to be more observational in nature. For the most part, her humor is spot on in this video and it's a fun look into some '80s feminine nostalgia.
3. Les Miserable: The Musical (released Jun. 2011)
A break from her usual look at nostalgic movies and TV, Ellis gives a bit of a summary review of the musical Les Mierable ('cause I can't type accents). She has a great bit of comic relief in Justin "Jewario" Carmical, though that's balanced out by the extremely fast-paced review (seriously, it gets a bit tough to listen to at times). While a nice look at the musical, the ending of the review itself is what you really come to see. I won't spoil anything for you - just watch it. Also, excuse the subtitles - it seems the only user linking the full video on YouTube decided to transcribe it another language. C'est la vie.
4. Anastasia (released Oct. 2008)
Another early Nostalgia Chick video about the Don Bluth-animated film, Anastasia - a "what-if" story about the fictitious life and times of the last surviving Romanov. Without going into great detail, the movie is a mess and Ellis does a good job picking it apart. The only real problem with this review is getting Walker to do his terrible Russian accent while pretending to be Vladimir Lenin, Rasputin and Yakov Smirnoff. If you can get past the marginal, somewhat annoying running joke, there's actually a bit of wit to be found in this video.
5. Mulan (released Oct. 2009)
Oh, look! An actual Disney movie review! Another from Ellis's early days when her humor was closer to Walker's. This review also involves part-time sidekick Antonella "Nella" Inserra in a bit about foot-binding, well, while it is funny and goes with the whole "Disney doesn't really understand other cultures" theme, it does stick out like a sore thumb. Still, complaining aside, this is another early gem worth checking out.
6. Will Smith Was a Rapper, Once (featuring The Rap Critic, released Jun. 2012)
Finishing up this short list is a great look at Will Smith's rap career, and a rather good cross-over with "The Rap Critic" Daren Jackson. This actually a pretty good introspection into Will Smith's music career - from kid-friendly early days to the "Big Willie" years. Ellis brings her usual wit and dry humor to episode, but Jackson's more comedic foil-ish performance steals the show for me.
A brief aside, if you want to check out Jackson's rap reviews, go thatguywiththeglasses.com and check him. Personally, I'm not a big fan of rap myself outside of Will Smith and Eminem (funny how that works out), so I won't be reviewing Jackson's material, but I like him in the cross-overs he's done, so if you're in to rap or just want a little laugh, give him a viewing.
Also, before I go, I am going to try to do all the female reviewers I promised to do for all of March this week ... the key word being "try."
(Source: http://thatguywiththeglasses.wikia.com/wiki/Lindsay_Ellis)
In 2008, there were really no major female Internet reviewers. That's not to say there weren't any female reviewers at all - YouTube is littered with amateurs of both sexes trying to make the scene, but Ellis took that first step. Dickinson has had some modest success and is known somewhat in anime fan circles outside of the Channel Awesome fandom, while Diggs is barely remembered outside of hardcore CA fan circles. If Walker had gone with someone else to be the Nostalgia Chick, I'm not sure the character and concept would still be around or that female reviewers would be as visible as they are today, she is that important.
Here is some background that is readily available: Ellis grew up in Tennessee and after graduating high school she moved on to film school at New York University. After receiving a degree in cinema studies from NYU in 2003, she moved on to the University of Southern California to obtain her Masters degree in cinematic arts and now currently resides in Queens, NY. Needless to say that Ellis has quite the rich film background and probably makes her the most academically-qualified critic I've reviewed to date.
Her style: if Ellis was supposed to be Walker's female counterpart, he was way off the mark as the two nostalgic characters are nothing alike, well, mostly. Walker plays the Nostalgia Critic fast and loose, very much like a comedy sketch with some great introspection here and there about his subjects; while Ellis plays the Nostalgia Chick very dry - her humor is dry and witty and the episodes mostly come off as a legitimate form critical analysis with some humor here and there (some episodes more than others). Due to her dry style, she doesn't have Walker's mass appeal but she is still very enjoyable to watch all the same if you give her a few episodes to grow on you.
Analysis of her latest episode: "Disney Needs More Gay" (released Mar. 6, 2013)
http://blip.tv/nostalgia-chick/nostalgia-chick-rantasmo-disney-needs-more-gay-6545576
(Sadly, I can't embed the video in the blog for some reason, but the link should get you where you need to go.)
First, if you have strong opinions about Disney animated films and character theory, you are going to have strong feelings about this review; it is a very insightful look at Disney's role in the LGBTQ community and its positive and negative consequences. On the other hand, if you came to this review looking for straight (see what I did there?) funny, you're not getting much of that this time. With Ellis, her attempts at real humor outside of her own dry wit come off as forced and are hit and miss sometimes. This time, it's a miss what with running the same joke into the ground, through the ground, through the crust, mantle and core and out the other side in Asia somewhere.
The analysis itself is very insightful - the Disney Corporation is very friendly towards same-sex partnerships and has a strong LGBTQ fan base, while at the same pretending the LGBTQ community doesn't exist and has created several foppish, effeminate villains over the years while ending several movies with the straight romantic leads getting married or riding off into the sunset. It's an interesting paradox to consider ... if you can get past the forced attempts at humor.
And now, to close off this review, here are Six Recommended Nostalgia Chick videos:
Much like the episode I just reviewed, this one is another character analysis - this one on gender roles in animation and the role of female animated characters as foils for male characters. What separates this episode and the previous one is that the humor isn't forced and is very witty. Like the other episode, it does have a running joke, but unlike "Disney Needs More Gay," the running joke comes in about halfway in the episode and doesn't overstay its welcome. Definitely one of her best.
One of Ellis' first videos with Channel Awesome, this was back when the Nostalgia Chick was supposed to strictly look at feminine nostalgia. Unlike her later work, many of her earlier videos are more fast-paced and the jokes tended to be more observational in nature. For the most part, her humor is spot on in this video and it's a fun look into some '80s feminine nostalgia.
A break from her usual look at nostalgic movies and TV, Ellis gives a bit of a summary review of the musical Les Mierable ('cause I can't type accents). She has a great bit of comic relief in Justin "Jewario" Carmical, though that's balanced out by the extremely fast-paced review (seriously, it gets a bit tough to listen to at times). While a nice look at the musical, the ending of the review itself is what you really come to see. I won't spoil anything for you - just watch it. Also, excuse the subtitles - it seems the only user linking the full video on YouTube decided to transcribe it another language. C'est la vie.
Another early Nostalgia Chick video about the Don Bluth-animated film, Anastasia - a "what-if" story about the fictitious life and times of the last surviving Romanov. Without going into great detail, the movie is a mess and Ellis does a good job picking it apart. The only real problem with this review is getting Walker to do his terrible Russian accent while pretending to be Vladimir Lenin, Rasputin and Yakov Smirnoff. If you can get past the marginal, somewhat annoying running joke, there's actually a bit of wit to be found in this video.
Oh, look! An actual Disney movie review! Another from Ellis's early days when her humor was closer to Walker's. This review also involves part-time sidekick Antonella "Nella" Inserra in a bit about foot-binding, well, while it is funny and goes with the whole "Disney doesn't really understand other cultures" theme, it does stick out like a sore thumb. Still, complaining aside, this is another early gem worth checking out.
Finishing up this short list is a great look at Will Smith's rap career, and a rather good cross-over with "The Rap Critic" Daren Jackson. This actually a pretty good introspection into Will Smith's music career - from kid-friendly early days to the "Big Willie" years. Ellis brings her usual wit and dry humor to episode, but Jackson's more comedic foil-ish performance steals the show for me.
A brief aside, if you want to check out Jackson's rap reviews, go thatguywiththeglasses.com and check him. Personally, I'm not a big fan of rap myself outside of Will Smith and Eminem (funny how that works out), so I won't be reviewing Jackson's material, but I like him in the cross-overs he's done, so if you're in to rap or just want a little laugh, give him a viewing.
Also, before I go, I am going to try to do all the female reviewers I promised to do for all of March this week ... the key word being "try."
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Women's History Month is Women Reviewer Month
Hello boys and girls! This I'm a little late...OK 19 days late, BUT, for the rest of the month and into April, I am going to cover some of the talented women reviewers out there.
Now, I have to say, women reviewers on the Internet (exclude mainstream, professional critics) are something of a rarity. That's not to say that you can't find them, you can, but it's pretty tough. For this sample size, I am sticking with the women of Channel Awesome, the company behind the Nostalgia Critic.
Punch the Way Back Machine to the summer of 2008. Doug Walker announces a contest searching for a female counterpart to review the female-centric nostalgia Walker felt he wasn't qualified to review.
Walker announced the results later that summer and it was a three-way tie between Lindsay Ellis, Kaylyn Dickinson and Krissy Diggs. The tie was broken when Ellis's "Pocahontas" review won the most votes, and thus became the official female counterpart to the Nostalgia Critic, originally known as The Dudette and later The Nostalgia Chick. Walker was still impressed with the two runners-up, and so Dickinson and Diggs were added to the site as well, making the trio the first additions to the Channel Awesome lineup and the first women reviewers as well. Dickinson took on the monicker MarzGurl and Diggs became That Chick With The Goggles; Diggs has the triple distinction of being Channel Awesome's first African-American reviewer as well. Dickinson would become CA's second anime reviewer, while Diggs would become more of a game reviewer.
Diggs would eventually leave Channel Awesome in 2011 and did not produce much content for the thatguywithglasses.com website, while Ellis and Dickinson have remained mainstays, now approaching their fifth year with CA.
The site would continue to add female reviewers over the years. In February 2010, CA added another anime reviewer, Hope Chapman, under the monicker JesuOtaku; in June, Allison Pregler took the monicker Obscurus Lupa and began reviewing z-grade cinema, and Jerrica Barton added her Joker-esque character Diamanda Hagan reviewing a wide range of films, as well as episodes of Doctor Who. In 2011, CA added Elisa Hanson as Maven of the Eventide doing vampire-related content as member of Team NChick (Ellis's own troupe of performers, now known as Chez Apocalypse).
For the next four weeks, I am going to highlight Ellis, Dickinson, Chapman, Pregler and Barton, starting tomorrow with a profile on Ellis and a review of her latest stand-alone episode (I won't review multi-part episodes in great detail) and then Thursday, I'll present 12 recommended Nostalgia Chick reviews.
Now, I have to say, women reviewers on the Internet (exclude mainstream, professional critics) are something of a rarity. That's not to say that you can't find them, you can, but it's pretty tough. For this sample size, I am sticking with the women of Channel Awesome, the company behind the Nostalgia Critic.
Punch the Way Back Machine to the summer of 2008. Doug Walker announces a contest searching for a female counterpart to review the female-centric nostalgia Walker felt he wasn't qualified to review.
Walker announced the results later that summer and it was a three-way tie between Lindsay Ellis, Kaylyn Dickinson and Krissy Diggs. The tie was broken when Ellis's "Pocahontas" review won the most votes, and thus became the official female counterpart to the Nostalgia Critic, originally known as The Dudette and later The Nostalgia Chick. Walker was still impressed with the two runners-up, and so Dickinson and Diggs were added to the site as well, making the trio the first additions to the Channel Awesome lineup and the first women reviewers as well. Dickinson took on the monicker MarzGurl and Diggs became That Chick With The Goggles; Diggs has the triple distinction of being Channel Awesome's first African-American reviewer as well. Dickinson would become CA's second anime reviewer, while Diggs would become more of a game reviewer.
Diggs would eventually leave Channel Awesome in 2011 and did not produce much content for the thatguywithglasses.com website, while Ellis and Dickinson have remained mainstays, now approaching their fifth year with CA.
The site would continue to add female reviewers over the years. In February 2010, CA added another anime reviewer, Hope Chapman, under the monicker JesuOtaku; in June, Allison Pregler took the monicker Obscurus Lupa and began reviewing z-grade cinema, and Jerrica Barton added her Joker-esque character Diamanda Hagan reviewing a wide range of films, as well as episodes of Doctor Who. In 2011, CA added Elisa Hanson as Maven of the Eventide doing vampire-related content as member of Team NChick (Ellis's own troupe of performers, now known as Chez Apocalypse).
For the next four weeks, I am going to highlight Ellis, Dickinson, Chapman, Pregler and Barton, starting tomorrow with a profile on Ellis and a review of her latest stand-alone episode (I won't review multi-part episodes in great detail) and then Thursday, I'll present 12 recommended Nostalgia Chick reviews.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Side Post #1 - College Hell
Here is a brief explanation for why I haven't updated recently - college sucks, and by that, I mean my schedule the last two weeks have sucked a million. Between the long, 12-plus-page research paper I did for Opinion Writing, studying for a mid-term exam for News & Social Media class....and then spending the week after just trying to get used to my normal schedule again, all while feeling rather burned out and burning commitments in the wake.
Yeah, you could make the case I could have posted last week, but the truth is, I didn't want to. I really was burned out from the previous week's workload and only wanted to focus on my essential commitments over everything else. Now we are in the middle of spring break - my batteries are recharging and I am trying to get myself together in time to finish the rest of the semester. That's all, you may go now...
*gets up, wearing a bathrobe and drinking Sprite out of a martini glass with a lime sour ball for an olive*
What? You're still here? Don't you get the obvious pop culture reference? Go on! Go! Shoo....
Yeah, you could make the case I could have posted last week, but the truth is, I didn't want to. I really was burned out from the previous week's workload and only wanted to focus on my essential commitments over everything else. Now we are in the middle of spring break - my batteries are recharging and I am trying to get myself together in time to finish the rest of the semester. That's all, you may go now...
*gets up, wearing a bathrobe and drinking Sprite out of a martini glass with a lime sour ball for an olive*
What? You're still here? Don't you get the obvious pop culture reference? Go on! Go! Shoo....
Aaaannnnnd we're back! (12 Recommended Foamy Rants)
It has been quite awhile since we've looked at the world of Internet entertainment and the reviewers & critics who lead the way. I'll explain more of why it took so long to update in a side post right after this one; however, in the meantime, let's check out those 12 recommended Foamy rants!
Last I did this, I felt I was being a bit too nice with the Nostalgia Critic episodes. While I do like those episodes, they do have their faults. Ergo, while these Foamy rants are some of Jonathan Ian Mathers's best work, they aren't without fault.
Before we get started, there are some ground rules to cover:
1) These rants are in no particular order.
2) What you are about to see contains harsh language, mild/partial nudity and sexually suggestive themes; therefore, these shorts are rated NSFW and viewer discretion is advised.
3) I am not an animation expert or an art student, so do not expect an expert analysis on the quality of the art; however, if I see something really cool or crappy, I'll let you know.
Without any further ado, let's begin:
12. "Smokin' Smokers" (2007)
A great short from six years ago about the issue of smoking and quitting smoking from the perspective of the non-smoker. It is very harsh and somewhat ignorant of what it's like to be addicted to something as powerful as tobacco, but then, Foamy really doesn't care. That's not what the short is about; it's about what non-smokers have to go through when dealing with family, friends and co-workers who make life hard on them because of their addiction struggles. A sample of the harsh reality check Foamy gives to his watchers.
11. "Fat Idols" (2009)
This one isn't quite as hate-filled, but also not nearly as focused. The object of the video was to talk about the disappearance of fat people in the media; what it becomes is a rant on people opting for tummy tucks and fat scrapes as a cop out to traditional dieting and exercise. There are two other Foamy rants that take on the Atkins diet which cover the same amount of ground as this rant and may be slightly funnier, but also more juvenile. A good rant all around, even if the initial topic was all but abandoned after the first 90 seconds.
10. "TV" (2007)
The years 2006 - 2009 were great years for Foamy rants, and this ranks up there with the best. A rant on some of the more annoying aspects of TV viewing, namely ads for all sorts of drugs & body enhancements, plus pop ads interrupting our favorite shows. While the drug commercials part of the rant is still timely, the pop ads are not as pervasive as they were six years ago, so the rant is a bit dated in that regard. Still, it works AND it might get a laugh or two out of you.
9. "Political Shifty" (2008)
Right in the heart of the McCain-Obama presidential campaign season comes this harsh, unfocused, but still watchable gem. What starts out as a rant about how politicians don't care about us (and they don't liberals and conservatives), turns into a rant about the quality of today's education and the public school system. It does come back around at the end, but what starts out as a harsh, reality-based rant turns into a pseudo-conspiracy theory with a little logical merit, but oversimplified. Still, Foamy is quite snarky, and good snark will always save the day.
8. "Restaurants" (2006)
Much more lighthearted than previous rants on this list, this one about the dining experience almost comes off as a George Carlin-esque comic set, especially the whole bit about violently lashing out at servers who come to your table singing "Happy Birthday." Also, the bit at the end about subtracting money amounts from your bill based off negative aspects of your dining experience may be painful for servers, but for the customer, I DEMAND THIS BECOME LAW! There is a sequel to this rant, aptly named "Restaurants II," but it's not as good or as charming as the original.
7. "The Star-Schmucks Mini-Series" (2003 - 2011)
Admittedly, this isn't a single rant and that these six or so episodes over the span of nine years aren't traditional rants in that Foamy is not speaking directly and exclusively to the audience. The ambiguously gay barista is to an extent a wall off which to bounce back and forth the various rant topics and jokes; otherwise known as a straight man, in comic terms (POP CULTURE REFERENCE AND IRONIC PUN COMBO). If you haven't guessed by the title and the visual cues just from the video next to this text, these are a series of rants about Starbucks and its conquering of the coffee house world. The first "Star-Schmucks" episode was a short entitled "Small, Medium, Large" in 2003, complaining about the renaming of the sizes to tall, grande & venti (not to mention the high prices and "sucky" under-taste). The last short in the series, the one shown here, entitled "Last Coffee House Stand" from 2011, is a rare example of Foamy ending his exhausting fight against Star-Schmucks with a few parting shots. A rare example in the "Neurotically Yours" series of a flowing narrative outside of the main storyline involving Foamy and Germain. A must see.
6. "Dating Advice" (2004)
This short is a bit of an acquired taste - not because of the subject material or the advice, but because of the delivery. In the early days of Neurotically Yours, Foamy the Squirrel talked a lot faster than he does these days. This was to give the impression that he was hyper, a touch insane, but at the same time, a speaker of truth and logic. If the high-pitch voice that sounds like Simon from "Alvin & The Chipmunks" got kicked in the acorns doesn't bother you, listening to it at a fast speed might turn you off. If you're still interested, this is another funny look at real life with some truth and real advice mixed in.
5. "Forum Bore 'Em" (2008)
While other Foamy rants have some form of comedy, harsh truth or unfocused delivery that tends to damage the message (sometimes intentionally), this short is spot on. Anyone who spends a lot of time on news websites and YouTube will know that every gripe and every point in this rant is spot on. Internet forums and message boards have become festering sewers of intolerance and hatred - proof that we can't have nice things. Preach on animated squirrel, preach on.
4. "Game Trade-Ins" (2009)
For every gamer ever, this is gospel. At some point in our lives, we've had to deal with the game store (by now, Gamestop, since all other alternatives are either owned or have been driven out of business by Gamestop) and their rip-off game-buying policies. Buy a game at full price, return it as soon as the next day, and all of a sudden you're only getting back a third (AT BEST) of what you originally paid. I'm not going to deviate in to the topic since Foamy already covered it all, but needless to say, the squirrel gets it right. A must see.
3. "Gay Marriage" (2012)
If there ever was a clear case to be made for same-sex marriage - this is it. There is a lot of good cases made here about same-sex marriage, and the harsh, almost combative way Foamy sets to task in this one gives the argument conviction. I'm not here to advocate for one point of view or another - if you're for same-sex marriage, you'll love this short; if you're for traditional marriage, you will hate it, BUT you will find some points that will be hard to argue, such as the percentage of people not getting marriage and the percentage getting divorced - if marriage is so sacred, how come it's becoming less popular with straight folks every generation? Just something to think about, and the animated angry squirrel gives you plenty to ponder in this rant.
2. "Achievements" (2008)
Yeah, while I have not now or have ever owned a PlayStation 3 or XBox 360, I am well-aware of the pointlessness that are achievements and achievement farming. Achievements are indeed the utter garbage of today's gaming - digital awards and accolades that don't really exist and are only there to make you feel special when you're anything but. The whole conspiracy theory at the end takes away the seriousness of the message, but that's fine since the topic wasn't anything serious to begin with. The added bit with the funny achievement pop-ups weaves the laughs through the monologue.
1. "Drugs In Your Head" (2005)
If I had a guess, I'd say that the majority of people who read my commentary and watch these shorts tend to skew liberal and may or may not be in favor of legalizing marijuana. I should qualify this short by calling it a bit dated, around eight years old, and given today's more open view of legalizing pot as opposed to a mere few years ago. Having said that, this short is more about people and their inability these days to deal with real life and their emotions without the use of a controlled substance, both the illegal and legal kind. The message comes off harsh, but the point is still driven home - if we expect children to be drug-free and deal with real life, then parents have to set the example.
Well, I hope you enjoyed these shorts and if you want to see more, just check out Mathers's YouTube channel, jimathers, or his website, illwillpress.com. Because of the backlog of posts, I will try to update every day between now and Saturday, but I make no promises. Check back soon for a little side post as to what's happened the past two weeks or so and where we go from here.
Last I did this, I felt I was being a bit too nice with the Nostalgia Critic episodes. While I do like those episodes, they do have their faults. Ergo, while these Foamy rants are some of Jonathan Ian Mathers's best work, they aren't without fault.
Before we get started, there are some ground rules to cover:
1) These rants are in no particular order.
2) What you are about to see contains harsh language, mild/partial nudity and sexually suggestive themes; therefore, these shorts are rated NSFW and viewer discretion is advised.
3) I am not an animation expert or an art student, so do not expect an expert analysis on the quality of the art; however, if I see something really cool or crappy, I'll let you know.
Without any further ado, let's begin:
A great short from six years ago about the issue of smoking and quitting smoking from the perspective of the non-smoker. It is very harsh and somewhat ignorant of what it's like to be addicted to something as powerful as tobacco, but then, Foamy really doesn't care. That's not what the short is about; it's about what non-smokers have to go through when dealing with family, friends and co-workers who make life hard on them because of their addiction struggles. A sample of the harsh reality check Foamy gives to his watchers.
This one isn't quite as hate-filled, but also not nearly as focused. The object of the video was to talk about the disappearance of fat people in the media; what it becomes is a rant on people opting for tummy tucks and fat scrapes as a cop out to traditional dieting and exercise. There are two other Foamy rants that take on the Atkins diet which cover the same amount of ground as this rant and may be slightly funnier, but also more juvenile. A good rant all around, even if the initial topic was all but abandoned after the first 90 seconds.
The years 2006 - 2009 were great years for Foamy rants, and this ranks up there with the best. A rant on some of the more annoying aspects of TV viewing, namely ads for all sorts of drugs & body enhancements, plus pop ads interrupting our favorite shows. While the drug commercials part of the rant is still timely, the pop ads are not as pervasive as they were six years ago, so the rant is a bit dated in that regard. Still, it works AND it might get a laugh or two out of you.
Right in the heart of the McCain-Obama presidential campaign season comes this harsh, unfocused, but still watchable gem. What starts out as a rant about how politicians don't care about us (and they don't liberals and conservatives), turns into a rant about the quality of today's education and the public school system. It does come back around at the end, but what starts out as a harsh, reality-based rant turns into a pseudo-conspiracy theory with a little logical merit, but oversimplified. Still, Foamy is quite snarky, and good snark will always save the day.
Much more lighthearted than previous rants on this list, this one about the dining experience almost comes off as a George Carlin-esque comic set, especially the whole bit about violently lashing out at servers who come to your table singing "Happy Birthday." Also, the bit at the end about subtracting money amounts from your bill based off negative aspects of your dining experience may be painful for servers, but for the customer, I DEMAND THIS BECOME LAW! There is a sequel to this rant, aptly named "Restaurants II," but it's not as good or as charming as the original.
Admittedly, this isn't a single rant and that these six or so episodes over the span of nine years aren't traditional rants in that Foamy is not speaking directly and exclusively to the audience. The ambiguously gay barista is to an extent a wall off which to bounce back and forth the various rant topics and jokes; otherwise known as a straight man, in comic terms (POP CULTURE REFERENCE AND IRONIC PUN COMBO). If you haven't guessed by the title and the visual cues just from the video next to this text, these are a series of rants about Starbucks and its conquering of the coffee house world. The first "Star-Schmucks" episode was a short entitled "Small, Medium, Large" in 2003, complaining about the renaming of the sizes to tall, grande & venti (not to mention the high prices and "sucky" under-taste). The last short in the series, the one shown here, entitled "Last Coffee House Stand" from 2011, is a rare example of Foamy ending his exhausting fight against Star-Schmucks with a few parting shots. A rare example in the "Neurotically Yours" series of a flowing narrative outside of the main storyline involving Foamy and Germain. A must see.
This short is a bit of an acquired taste - not because of the subject material or the advice, but because of the delivery. In the early days of Neurotically Yours, Foamy the Squirrel talked a lot faster than he does these days. This was to give the impression that he was hyper, a touch insane, but at the same time, a speaker of truth and logic. If the high-pitch voice that sounds like Simon from "Alvin & The Chipmunks" got kicked in the acorns doesn't bother you, listening to it at a fast speed might turn you off. If you're still interested, this is another funny look at real life with some truth and real advice mixed in.
While other Foamy rants have some form of comedy, harsh truth or unfocused delivery that tends to damage the message (sometimes intentionally), this short is spot on. Anyone who spends a lot of time on news websites and YouTube will know that every gripe and every point in this rant is spot on. Internet forums and message boards have become festering sewers of intolerance and hatred - proof that we can't have nice things. Preach on animated squirrel, preach on.
For every gamer ever, this is gospel. At some point in our lives, we've had to deal with the game store (by now, Gamestop, since all other alternatives are either owned or have been driven out of business by Gamestop) and their rip-off game-buying policies. Buy a game at full price, return it as soon as the next day, and all of a sudden you're only getting back a third (AT BEST) of what you originally paid. I'm not going to deviate in to the topic since Foamy already covered it all, but needless to say, the squirrel gets it right. A must see.
If there ever was a clear case to be made for same-sex marriage - this is it. There is a lot of good cases made here about same-sex marriage, and the harsh, almost combative way Foamy sets to task in this one gives the argument conviction. I'm not here to advocate for one point of view or another - if you're for same-sex marriage, you'll love this short; if you're for traditional marriage, you will hate it, BUT you will find some points that will be hard to argue, such as the percentage of people not getting marriage and the percentage getting divorced - if marriage is so sacred, how come it's becoming less popular with straight folks every generation? Just something to think about, and the animated angry squirrel gives you plenty to ponder in this rant.
Yeah, while I have not now or have ever owned a PlayStation 3 or XBox 360, I am well-aware of the pointlessness that are achievements and achievement farming. Achievements are indeed the utter garbage of today's gaming - digital awards and accolades that don't really exist and are only there to make you feel special when you're anything but. The whole conspiracy theory at the end takes away the seriousness of the message, but that's fine since the topic wasn't anything serious to begin with. The added bit with the funny achievement pop-ups weaves the laughs through the monologue.
If I had a guess, I'd say that the majority of people who read my commentary and watch these shorts tend to skew liberal and may or may not be in favor of legalizing marijuana. I should qualify this short by calling it a bit dated, around eight years old, and given today's more open view of legalizing pot as opposed to a mere few years ago. Having said that, this short is more about people and their inability these days to deal with real life and their emotions without the use of a controlled substance, both the illegal and legal kind. The message comes off harsh, but the point is still driven home - if we expect children to be drug-free and deal with real life, then parents have to set the example.
Well, I hope you enjoyed these shorts and if you want to see more, just check out Mathers's YouTube channel, jimathers, or his website, illwillpress.com. Because of the backlog of posts, I will try to update every day between now and Saturday, but I make no promises. Check back soon for a little side post as to what's happened the past two weeks or so and where we go from here.
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