"angry" gamers/critics

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You know, I was watching AVGN the other day (I saw the latest Mega Man episode he did finally) and to be perfectly honest with you guys I really do enjoy the work James puts in his videos. He's usually a one-man show (save for Mike Matei doing title cards and a few edits) and he takes great pride on filmmaking and using cheap special effects that somehow have a very creative edge towards his work. The R.O.B. Episode is one of my favorites because of how he got the systems to move around and tie him up so that R.O.B. could kick the shit out of him. If you stop to think about, James really was the pioneer of these video game/movie review styles of videos. Sure you had some people like the guy who dubbed that Super Mario Frustration video from 2005, but James was the first to really have the various tropes in any of these styles of videos: scat humor, intense swearing, editing game footage, (sometimes unnecessary) backstories within the critic, etc. Some people say that James has become dried up on his ideas but in my opinion he's the best reviewer of his kind even to his day.

If you look at some of his contemporaries like Doug Walker, Doug uses green screen in mostly all his videos and cheap costumes in order to reenact scenes from the movie he's reviewing if it's way too new. Compare that to AngryJoe who despite his annoying personality and his money-grubbing ways takes the time to sit down with his friends and just discuss the movie in general, with various trailer scenes played in the background. Joe at least analyses the film in depth from a laid back perspective whereas Doug just yells at the top of his lungs and points out the most stupidest things about a certain film (like how he went on a 5 minute tangent about The Matrix and Neo's name...like dude just get over it it's not even a bad name). James uses his own techniques to get things like his game systems to move or his animation skills to be in the videos and only on rare occasion does he use green screen. James also has a strangely likeable personality even as he's yelling in his videos, he can go from soft calm-collected reviewer to "FUCKFARTS" and not skip a beat. Doug is constantly going apeshit in his videos and has that high pitch whine that annoys the fuck out of me. And it's actually funny: if you look at his earlier videos like the Cartoon-All Stars one his voice is so deep and mellow, mostly engaged with the viewer. He's lacking the try-hard theatrics unlike in his later works.

Point is is I guess I admire James for starting off this whole genre of entertainment reviewing. People who just record themselves playing games (like Pewds or Markiplier) don't hold a candle to him. James clearly puts passion into the episodes he does, even if projects like his movie fail to capture an audience.
 
Asuka said:
And it's actually funny: if you look at his earlier videos like the Cartoon-All Stars one his voice is so deep and mellow, mostly engaged with the viewer. He's lacking the try-hard theatrics unlike in his later works.
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It helps that the Nostalgia Critic's earlier stuff actually critiqued nostalgia, recalling the feeling when something so impossibly hyped-up let its audience down.

A little obvious, if you're the cynical sort, but better than plot-synopsizing brand-spanking-new movies.
 
Henry Bemis said:
It helps that the Nostalgia Critic's earlier stuff actually critiqued nostalgia, recalling the feeling when something so impossibly hyped-up let its audience down.

A little obvious, if you're the cynical sort, but better than plot-synopsizing brand-spanking-new movies.
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Yeah I mean James has gone into "modern" territory before (like in his Christmas episode where he goes into the future and sees himself playing the Wii) but I think the most recent game he did an entire review on is Big Rigs which came out in 2004. He could have went the NC or AngryJoe route and just started to review common day disappointments like Duke Nukem Forever and No Man's Sky, but he stuck with his guns by reviewing the games he played in his childhood/teenhood. To me that's what sticks him out from the rest of the schmucks whose formulas are getting really stale by this point. Unfortunately though, that's where the views go: guys sitting on their computer recording and screaming without actually giving a decent review on the game itself. I can't believe James was considered at one time "mindless entertainment"; it's smarter than any other gaming related Youtube channel in this day and age.

And also unlike Doug, James actually has some really cool side projects that he puts so much effort into like Monster Madness and Board James. Did any of you see the final 5 episodes of Board James? I thought that was his most creative endeavor. The story might have been a little lame, but the use of his own filmmaking techniques and special effects is what sold me on that. Plus, Mike (as a person) and Bootsy are such likeable people. It helps to have a cast that aren't filled with assholes (like CinemaSnob).
 
Asuka said:
And also unlike Doug, James actually has some really cool side projects that he puts so much effort into like Monster Madness and Board James. Did any of you see the final 5 episodes of Board James? I thought that was his most creative endeavor. The story might have been a little lame, but the use of his own filmmaking techniques and special effects is what sold me on that. Plus, Mike (as a person) and Bootsy are such likeable people. It helps to have a cast that aren't filled with assholes (like CinemaSnob).
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Board James was great because it was a fresh break from the AVGN. Once Board James ended, I was glad to get back into some Nerd stuff. It's because James balances his projects and what he wants to do first. For AVGN, James has to think long and hard about the comments he's going to make because after 115+ episodes, he can't just swear and make shit jokes. I think as time goes on in this direction, AVGN will become smarter and smarter in its critique of games. Also you have to love James just being James. For example, their James and Mike Monday video on Link's Awakening was great. It was just James and Mike, as themselves, dissecting what they love and what they don't love abut LA.
 
Gazelle_Bro said:
Board James was great because it was a fresh break from the AVGN. Once Board James ended, I was glad to get back into some Nerd stuff. It's because James balances his projects and what he wants to do first. For AVGN, James has to think long and hard about the comments he's going to make because after 115+ episodes, he can't just swear and make shit jokes. I think as time goes on in this direction, AVGN will become smarter and smarter in its critique of games. Also you have to love James just being James. For example, their James and Mike Monday video on Link's Awakening was great. It was just James and Mike, as themselves, dissecting what they love and what they don't love abut LA.
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That's the one thing I like about James. He actually attempts to develop the character as much as he can to shake things up.

Which makes it even more of a shame that he's probably the only one to do so.

Also, because I don't feel like double posting, and since I have nowhere else to place it. But we've been namedropped guys (it's at 1 hr, 42 minutes in).
 
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I think, in the end, it comes down to the passion for what you do. James is incredibly passionate about what he does, making films. I would love to see more of something like his Jekyll and Hyde trailer, which is just something I found great. Another thing is that James' AVGN videos or Board James, for the most part, look so real when he does something. It's because he's filming from his basement or one of his back rooms. It's real. Even people like Jontron use sets now, and it all just looks so fake and produced. James builds sets when he needs them, for example the bar in Jekyll and Hyde trailer. The only unfortunate set is the one they use for James and Mike Mondays sometimes. Pretty sure that's thanks to Ryan and Screenwave Media though. I've seen that set before in Silvermania videos.

The set in Silvermania:

The set in James and Mike (feat. Ryan and AOS)

I'm just not a big fan because it looks so fucking fake. When they're in the Nerd Room playing game, you can tell it's all real because it's an actual fucking room James built for the most part. The corner room set just looks fake, and I don't know why you would use that over the Nerd Room ever.
 
So @LordKaT any confirmation that any of this is true?

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I watched Kickassia myself and I agree that in terms of acting, everybody is an amateur but I really didn't complain about Joe, Lindsey, Brad, or even Doug. TBH, everybody on TGWTG hasn't been in the motion picture industry yet. Of course they aren't going to be good because most of them started out as plain reviewers. It would be like if Roger Ebert starred in a movie where he was a Samurai, he'd probably just have a good time and not give a shit if he flubs or not. I think only Lindsey went to legit film school (although I heard Brad and MarzGurl did too, correct me if I'm wrong) which clearly shows because her acting seems more refined than anybody else. Did Doug even go to film school? I thought he just quit his menial job when he thought TGWTG.com would make him billions of dollars.

EDIT: To further elaborate, I thought Kickassia was lame altogether. I thought the story was an interesting concept (losers who can't do anything in life so they try to take over a country that's not really a recognized country), but Doug's scenes are so drawn-out. The scene when the reporter tries to make him go "OF COURSE!" didn't need to last 2 minutes, which is strange considering by that time Doug himself said he hated that joke so much that he dropped it from the series. I also didn't understand why FilmBrain was so obsessed with Doug, is that an inside joke only TGWTG fans get?

I will say that the scene with Lindsey and Doug (where she tries to poison him) was the highlight for me, following with Brad and Joe coming in to try and tell them about the dynamite. I don't know why, it might be snicker a bit. Not laugh, but snicker.

Watching Kickassia also made me realize how much of a loser Linkara is. His scene with MarzGurl was so cringy.

So yeah that picture is sort of accurate.
 
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Asuka said:
Did Doug even go to film school? I thought he just quit his menial job when he thought TGWTG.com would make him billions of dollars.
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No film school. If I recall correctly, he's got a degree from either community college or a 2-year art school though, but I may be wrong.

EDIT: According to Doug's IMDb (lol), he majored in communications at Northern Illinois University. I did some more digging and NIU's communications program offers a possible emphasis in media studies, so it's possible Doug studied film, even if he didn't "go to film school" so to speak.
 
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Asuka said:
I also didn't understand why FilmBrain was so obsessed with Doug, is that an inside joke only TGWTG fans get?
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I think (emphasis on the think part) that was supposed to play into how FilmBrain's really idealistic, naive and childlike. I think that stemmed from the fact he was the youngest member of the cast and also the only brit so he was a bit of an outsider. Also, I can believe Matthew Buck's like that IRL cos it's the general vibe I get from him.
 
I can also see why Rob was acting like a big shot. Doug tried to plaster so many of his characters into Kickassia (The Bum, ThatGuy, The Legion of Spiders guy, and the bartender) yet Rob can only do Santa Christ which is pretty much just him raising his voice. Was probably totally jealous, yet he shouldn't have been anyways since this wasn't such a successful project lol.
 
TheImportantFart said:
I think (emphasis on the think part) that was supposed to play into how FilmBrain's really idealistic, naive and childlike. I think that stemmed from the fact he was the youngest member of the cast and also the only brit so he was a bit of an outsider. Also, I can believe Matthew Buck's like that IRL cos it's the general vibe I get from him.
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I don't have a link but recall Mathew confirming for a fact somewhere that the logic behind his performance was "I want to act more like myself than I do in my show". Referring of course to the peppy energetic idealism and not the obsession with Critic.

On a separate note, it's a bit pitying to know that Mat's only 25 but balding quicker than his colleagues 8-10 years his senior ;-;
 
Kamen Rider Black RX said:
He look like he should be getting drunk while bitching about working at the mill. Then he goes home to a loveless marriage held together for the sake of the kids.

... Where did that come from?
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I think it's because he legitimately looks like a 40-something drunkard instead of a mid 20s man who shouldn't be looking like that, while similarly not acting like a manchild.
 
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