E: The Plinkett shit was weird, but it tends to be used when Mike wants to get more rigorous on discussing things. Either nitpicking shit to death (like the Trek movie reviews) or doing a longform anal-sis, like with the Prequels or Titanic.
Feels more like a crutch than anything.
A lot of the arguments they make for Halloween Ends are the same justifications that others bring up regarding Star Trek, Star Wars or any other franchise that has a prequel/spin-off/reboot that challenges tropes, subverts expectations, etc. The fact that Corey gets a pass is interesting, because he'd be the perfect excuse to showcase the character as some chud or incel in any other slasher flick. I don't get how he's shown as an empathetic character. Funny how they brought in the Mr. Plinkett voice to go over the homages and themes. They pull a quote about the triangle symbolism from some new age spiritual blog:
I think the difference between the shit with Star Trek et al. is that the subversion doesn't serve any sort of purpose beyond being a gimmick. I liken it to a wrestling writer, Vince Russo, who would do nonsensical 'shocking' "swerves" that were essentially for the hope of garnering a big TV rating. Give people something to talk about, who gives a shit about narrative, established rules, etc.
With Star Trek/Star Wars you have to ask, what the fuck is the point of doing that? Rian Johnson's brilliant dismissal of the rules of storytelling didn't serve any purpose beyond the idea of giving something 'shocking' for people to talk about as they filed out of the theater. Even the shocking reveal in Empire served a purpose besides just being a twist: it explains why Vader didn't just murder Luke like he did with Obi-Wan in the first movie (although that decision did cause a bit of retconning.)
With Halloween Ends, they were critical about how the film was trying to be something different but how it ultimately failed to do so. Not every movie you enjoy has to be "perfect", as Mike would say, and I think the enjoyment they got out of it was seeing the potential that was there for something different, which is why I think we got a deep dive from Plinkett on the symbolism, recurring themes, etc.
And it's an interesting situation. Slasher/horror films have been more or less stuck in a rut for like 40ish years now. On the one hand, you can take the argument that Mike has taken with Trek and desire things to stay within its niche. On the other, you can look at it from the perspective of capeshit movies. The same story beats have been done to death, why not try something new?
Glad that people in this thread are coming to the realization that Mike and Jay (and Rich and the rest) are just dimwits with an undeserved sense of intelligence that look down on people who are no dumber than they are.
They sometimes make funny content when they're ragging on shit but they're ultimately what they accuse other people of being: pseudo-intellectuals and manchildren with simplistic tastes.
Hopefully at some point in the future two braincells in one of their heads can collide and they'll realize that Half in the Bag is only entertaining when they critize things and nobody cares about their retarded opinions on the garbage they enjoy.
I don't think they're geniuses or anything, but I always find what they say interesting because they clearly understand the craft of making a film and utilizing the medium a hell of a lot better than me. They've stumbled on some shit when it comes to broader storytelling things and/or are either unaware of details or misinterpret shit, but it's nice getting that kind of perspective on YouTube that isn't an autistic 8 hour analysis of Spider-Man: The Animated Series (or whatever.)
They're just film school dudes who like to get drunk and bullshit about movies and sometimes come up with really salient points or observations. Sounds like you're taking their shit way too seriously, dude.