Thoughts on Fics and a Rant
So I'm on a bit of a Repo! kick lately. No idea why, but I'm fairly certain that it started with MovieBob over at The Escapist being a douche.
This Repo! phase return has resulted in two things.
One: I've started drabbling a Repo!/Supernatural fusion thing (to go along with that Firefly/Supernatural one, I guess), where Dean is a graverobber (because... yeah), Sam is a lawyer lobbying for repossession to be made illegal, Cas and the archangels are the children of a genetic company that's rising to break GeneCo's monopoly after Rotti dies and Amber takes control with that "new face".
It's... weird. Fun, but weird. Mostly just playing in that post-apocalyptic world. Frankly, I'm just enjoying a post-apocalyptic world that isn't sterile-- the Repo! future actually looks like it could have grown out of our world, which is just so damn appealing.
But yeah, Dean as a graverobber, Sam as a lawyer and recovering zydrate addict, Cas as Sam's friend and in need of zydrate after a major surgery...
Fun. Though if anyone is interested in reading the damn fusion thing, I'd appreciate hearing it. I might just post a bit and see how it's received. The Firefly fusion is a bit more... evolved?
The Firefly one came about after watching the SPN "Abandon All Hope" episode and saw Firefly's Badger playing a deal-making demon. So, yeah, Badger's a crossroad demon, and spooky critters followed humans into space-- therefore, hunters are needed in space, and Reavers are ghouls.
The Repo! fusion is more tossing the characters into the other world to see how they fare. It works, and it's still amusing to write.
It's far too fun to expand on worlds that don't belong to me. Like looking around that last corner to see what's left undiscovered.
I may get carried away with these sorts of things.
And then,
Two: Despite still liking the Escapist, I've pretty much given MovieBob the last benefit of the doubt I'm going to. See, he's a dick, I get that. But he's supposed to be a movie-reviewer, and he's stopped doing that. And if the guy can't figure out how to not insult his demographic while stumbling over his own shark in the attempt to jump it, then he's really not worth following anymore.
See, in his Alice in Wonderland review, he started to falter. Fine, everyone has a bad day here and there (it's not the differing opinion, either. He actually didn't review so much as whinge).
Then in the Repo Men review, he ignored the fans of Repo! and went on about how good the blatant rip-off was without commenting on anything. But, whatever. He reviewed and did his thing, despite not doing it well.
Finally, the Hot Tub Time Machine review was utter crap. A minute of insulting Repo! fans, followed by a claim that comedies are "review proof".
It's that last part that pissed me off. Nothing is "review proof".
Let me demonstrate;
I dislike comedies. But I enjoyed Tropic Thunder because the acting was superb, the story was simple, and the comedy in it varied from outrageous to clever. It based its humour on a wide variety of situations, character quirks, and turns of phrase without alienating the base demographic. It included the outrageous comedy popular with current trends in films like There's Something About Mary, but in small enough spurts to not be one of those films that make you groan at the too-cheesy puns and situations.
The writing in Tropic Thunder was top-notch and they had the best actors for the job, making full use of the cast's talents. There are twists and quirks, and some of the most amusing elements comes from how meta-aware the film is as it addresses the use of blackface on Robert Downey Jr.'s character to the commercialism in the film industry through a running gag about TiVo and the opening "advertisements."
It is the sort of "really, really funny" comedy that you can watch once in a while with friends and just relax. It works on several levels and is excellent for people who like both the new comedies, and those who like the classics like A Fish Called Wanda. I wouldn't recommend buying it, but definitely rent it when you want to have a bunch of people over for a good night of just laughing. When I saw this in theatres, it was the only comedy that has ever made me laugh out loud in a crowd. And, I wasn't the only one.
-----
There, see? Reviewing a comedy and I don't even like comedies. MovieBob stuttered for three minutes about his pick being "really, really, really funny" but couldn't "give away the jokes." Well, bull-fucking-shit, Bob. If you can't do your job, then maybe you should give it up to someone else. Because that review was the latest in a long, long line of mock-reviews that really do nothing. It's not even critiquing.
It's disappointing, because I enjoyed a handful of his reviews when he was actually still reviewing. I liked his analysis of New Moon because he touched on why the Twilight series is such a fucking bad thing for our society. I liked the review of Bad Lieutenant because he went into the roles and actors and the benefits of remakes. His review for 2012, A Christmas Carol, and Boondock Saints 2 were all well thought out, well delivered, and went into depth about the benefit of cinema and how a good director, story, and acting can make anything good.
So what the fuck happened? Is "reviewing" too much work now? Hell, he didn't even fall back on critiquing.
Even "Zero Punctuation" sticks to the premise of "critique the game." Sure, Yahtzee is a guy who falls back on swearing, misogyny, and has very set boundaries on what he likes and dislikes (so you know what you're getting when he reviews a game in a genre he dislikes). But he still reviews-- even in games he hates, he tells you why. In games he likes (specifically his Psychonauts review early on) he still harps on camera angles, story telling techniques, controls, and characters.
There's a very fine line between being a competent jerk, and an overpaid douchebag. MovieBob fell into the latter category sometime around his review of Legion.
Tl;dr Two: if you're paid to review things, then do your fucking job. Saying a genre is "review proof" is a cheap cop-out that points to someone overpaid and undereducated.
This Repo! phase return has resulted in two things.
One: I've started drabbling a Repo!/Supernatural fusion thing (to go along with that Firefly/Supernatural one, I guess), where Dean is a graverobber (because... yeah), Sam is a lawyer lobbying for repossession to be made illegal, Cas and the archangels are the children of a genetic company that's rising to break GeneCo's monopoly after Rotti dies and Amber takes control with that "new face".
It's... weird. Fun, but weird. Mostly just playing in that post-apocalyptic world. Frankly, I'm just enjoying a post-apocalyptic world that isn't sterile-- the Repo! future actually looks like it could have grown out of our world, which is just so damn appealing.
But yeah, Dean as a graverobber, Sam as a lawyer and recovering zydrate addict, Cas as Sam's friend and in need of zydrate after a major surgery...
Fun. Though if anyone is interested in reading the damn fusion thing, I'd appreciate hearing it. I might just post a bit and see how it's received. The Firefly fusion is a bit more... evolved?
The Firefly one came about after watching the SPN "Abandon All Hope" episode and saw Firefly's Badger playing a deal-making demon. So, yeah, Badger's a crossroad demon, and spooky critters followed humans into space-- therefore, hunters are needed in space, and Reavers are ghouls.
The Repo! fusion is more tossing the characters into the other world to see how they fare. It works, and it's still amusing to write.
It's far too fun to expand on worlds that don't belong to me. Like looking around that last corner to see what's left undiscovered.
I may get carried away with these sorts of things.
And then,
Two: Despite still liking the Escapist, I've pretty much given MovieBob the last benefit of the doubt I'm going to. See, he's a dick, I get that. But he's supposed to be a movie-reviewer, and he's stopped doing that. And if the guy can't figure out how to not insult his demographic while stumbling over his own shark in the attempt to jump it, then he's really not worth following anymore.
See, in his Alice in Wonderland review, he started to falter. Fine, everyone has a bad day here and there (it's not the differing opinion, either. He actually didn't review so much as whinge).
Then in the Repo Men review, he ignored the fans of Repo! and went on about how good the blatant rip-off was without commenting on anything. But, whatever. He reviewed and did his thing, despite not doing it well.
Finally, the Hot Tub Time Machine review was utter crap. A minute of insulting Repo! fans, followed by a claim that comedies are "review proof".
It's that last part that pissed me off. Nothing is "review proof".
Let me demonstrate;
I dislike comedies. But I enjoyed Tropic Thunder because the acting was superb, the story was simple, and the comedy in it varied from outrageous to clever. It based its humour on a wide variety of situations, character quirks, and turns of phrase without alienating the base demographic. It included the outrageous comedy popular with current trends in films like There's Something About Mary, but in small enough spurts to not be one of those films that make you groan at the too-cheesy puns and situations.
The writing in Tropic Thunder was top-notch and they had the best actors for the job, making full use of the cast's talents. There are twists and quirks, and some of the most amusing elements comes from how meta-aware the film is as it addresses the use of blackface on Robert Downey Jr.'s character to the commercialism in the film industry through a running gag about TiVo and the opening "advertisements."
It is the sort of "really, really funny" comedy that you can watch once in a while with friends and just relax. It works on several levels and is excellent for people who like both the new comedies, and those who like the classics like A Fish Called Wanda. I wouldn't recommend buying it, but definitely rent it when you want to have a bunch of people over for a good night of just laughing. When I saw this in theatres, it was the only comedy that has ever made me laugh out loud in a crowd. And, I wasn't the only one.
-----
There, see? Reviewing a comedy and I don't even like comedies. MovieBob stuttered for three minutes about his pick being "really, really, really funny" but couldn't "give away the jokes." Well, bull-fucking-shit, Bob. If you can't do your job, then maybe you should give it up to someone else. Because that review was the latest in a long, long line of mock-reviews that really do nothing. It's not even critiquing.
It's disappointing, because I enjoyed a handful of his reviews when he was actually still reviewing. I liked his analysis of New Moon because he touched on why the Twilight series is such a fucking bad thing for our society. I liked the review of Bad Lieutenant because he went into the roles and actors and the benefits of remakes. His review for 2012, A Christmas Carol, and Boondock Saints 2 were all well thought out, well delivered, and went into depth about the benefit of cinema and how a good director, story, and acting can make anything good.
So what the fuck happened? Is "reviewing" too much work now? Hell, he didn't even fall back on critiquing.
Even "Zero Punctuation" sticks to the premise of "critique the game." Sure, Yahtzee is a guy who falls back on swearing, misogyny, and has very set boundaries on what he likes and dislikes (so you know what you're getting when he reviews a game in a genre he dislikes). But he still reviews-- even in games he hates, he tells you why. In games he likes (specifically his Psychonauts review early on) he still harps on camera angles, story telling techniques, controls, and characters.
There's a very fine line between being a competent jerk, and an overpaid douchebag. MovieBob fell into the latter category sometime around his review of Legion.
Tl;dr Two: if you're paid to review things, then do your fucking job. Saying a genre is "review proof" is a cheap cop-out that points to someone overpaid and undereducated.