It's Lloyd Approved, What More Can I Say?

Oh boy. This... this review is going to be tricky.

For anyone who has seen my tribute for the fourth year anniversary of Channel Awesome/That Guy With The Glasses, they'll know I'm a fan of the site, and the personalities within (the ones I'm aware of, anyway. And I will get around to watching more in the new year).

Among these personalities is Brad Jones, better known to the fandom as The Cinema Snob, among other characters. On The Cinema Snob (which you can find at the TGWTG site, http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/, and his own, http://thecinemasnob.com/ ), Brad Jones reviews movies of an exploitive nature, mostly gory horror or pornographical material. He started off doing reviews on YouTube, until his review of Nail Gun Massacre caught the attention of the DVD distributors, and that led to him being kicked off of YouTube, and starting his own site, which I have listed above.

The man's got many projects under his belt, most of them being series still occurring to this day, like The Big Box (a look at movies on VHS and the covers they come in) and 80's Dan (a sitcom about a hard partying 80's guy who somehow time traveled to the present day), as well as other films (which I have yet to see, and I should make that a priority in the new year) and he and his dedicated friends (affectionately named Team Snob) have created some of the best videos you'll see on the web today (like the aforementioned 80's Dan series).

Someday, I should do something more in depth about Brad's site, but until then, let's look at the feature film about his best known character, The Cinema Snob Movie.

Craig Golightly (Brad) is a screenwriter who's eager to get his exploitation film, Black Angus, off the ground, but the head of the local film club, Dan (Ryan Mitchelle, also the director of the film) refuses permits to Craig. Craig opts to go undercover into the film club, under the guise of a pretentious film snob, and winds up in a murder mystery situation.

In my opening line, I mentioned that this was going to be a tricky one to review. That's for three reasons:

1. Being a fan of something, it can come across as bias, even if you were to review something in a negative light. For example, being a huge Batman fan, and a lover of Christopher Nolan's films, my reviews of his Batman trilogy may come across as “fanboyish”, due to the two intertwining. And I admit, on some level, my love for the Batman mythology shines through in those reviews a lot.
   At the same time, that doesn't mean every Batman film is pure gold. Batman And Robin sure as Hell isn't. I don't hate it with a fiery passion, but it is easily the black sheep of the family. And The Batman Vs. Dracula gets a very resounding “meh” from me.
   What I'm getting at is due to the fact that Brad and the gang know their stuff, their ability to make better films is already without question. That doesn't mean I won't find a flaw or something like that, but I'm going in knowing what to expect, and it's going to be hard to be disappointed. Despite the fact that it follows a different format to the show, the roots of the movie are clearly trenched in the exploitation genre, a subject Brad could write a book on (Hell, with the amount of projects he's done, I wouldn't be surprised if he is writing a book right now).
   Now, being a fan of something big like a comic book character is different to being the fan of something comparatively smaller. Brad may not have millions of fans who have grown up with him as the years have passed, but what the fanbase lacks in numbers, they make up for it with fierce loyalty and support. So, on that end of it, should I trash the film, I'll get attacked for “not getting the movie” or something like that. But if I praise it too much, I'll be seen as a suck-up who can't find even the tiniest of flaws in the work of someone I respect. Sometimes, you just can't win.
2. It's hard to recommend this. Not because of quality, Lord no! But it's a bit under the radar, and you can't exactly buy it in stores either.
   If we look at things from a “mainstream” approach, it's not going to appeal to a wide audience because of lack of familiarity with the character, the actors or even the style. It might be a little too meta or self-referential for some, but I think it works. Really, there's no other style Brad and Ryan could go with.
3. I actually don't have a lot to say about it, outside of praise for the acting (especially for Brad, Jake Norvell and Jillian Zurawski), the dialogue and the shifting of the genres working so well.
   It starts off as a Kevin Smith-styled comedy (which already appeals to me, because I love that man's work. Well, a lot of it.), and slides into a murder mystery as I mentioned above. A murder mystery with creative kills. Comedy and murder, never a bad combination in my books. Also, the music at the start and end remind me of Woody Allen films, again, not a bad thing.

The long and short of it is I really liked this movie a lot. Filled to the brim with pop culture references, ranging from obscure to popular, and a lot of lampshade hanging (like at the end, with the whole “bad guy reveals their whole backstory/motivation to the protagonist for seemingly no reason” trope), realistic reactions (well, Jake's are a little mood-whiplashy but that's WHY the character works, because he makes you laugh without taking you out of the moment), and much like Brad's character in the series, the film could be seen as a commentary on film culture today, with the exploitation genre not in good health these days, and the idea of the snobby critic who tries to find the art in everything.

I'm not going to try and analyze it because I think I'd suck at it (OK, I suck at analysis in general, but that's beside the point) but all I have left to say is if you're a fan of the Cinema Snob series, the movie should be right up your alley. If you've never seen an episode in your life, watch some of it, to get a feel for the character and the actor. It's a hard beast to review, but very much well worth your time.

Well, actually, I do have two things left to say:

If I do have a flaw with the movie, it's about something that baffles me. Maybe it's in one of the commentaries, maybe I just need to watch it again, but this movie is supposed to serve as a prequel of sorts to the show. Fine, no problem with that. But aside from the continuity errors that creates (so he goes from having a beard to being clean shaven in his first episode? And the change in location?), it doesn't really explain why he becomes the Cinema Snob. OK, we know why Brad does the role, but the way the movie ends, it's not like he's made some declaration to start picking apart bad exploitation films to reclaim the genre from the hacks or something. It's not that big a deal, but maybe it would have worked better if it was a side-story or something, like the anniversary specials on TGWTG. Or maybe I missed something and I'm just an idiot (I'd put all my money on that option).

Also, a movie mentioned within that Craig wants to make, about people trapped by floods in a casino with sharks (the title is Card Shark), I will throw money at that to somehow make it happen. Hell, the title is hilarious, how bad could the rest of it be?

An easy 4/5 from me. I'm sorry the review wasn't more informative (if I ever get a copy of the Angry Video Game Nerd Movie next year, I'll probably have the same troubles), but it's the kind of thing you need to see to really understand.

Here Goes Nothing

As promised last blog (after all my apologies and thank you's), here is the tribute I have created in honour of the fourth year anniversary.

I have made up the lyrics to go along with Billy Joel's song We Didn't Start The Fire. Now, if you're not a Billy Joel fan, I'm sorry for that (and here I go again). If you actually full on hate him, please note I chose this song because the format worked better for a list, like what I've done.

Now, some other things to note:

• I've included names of personalities, producers, fans and such but if your name isn't here, it was cut due to time and such, and is not vindictive on my part (like I said last blog, there is only one person I will not support that was, key term WAS, involved with this site, and leave it at that) so please don't take it personally.
• Some names you will notice aren't actually members of the site in any way (most notably, the guys at Cinemassacre get name checked), but because they've been involved with several videos, it only feels right to include them. Now, someone like Yahtzee, for example, hasn't had anything to do with the site (to my knowledge) so he's not here.
• I swap between real names and character names because some are easier to rhyme. Remember, the main aim of this, besides celebrating the good folks at Channel Awesome, was to rhyme cohesively and I'd like to think I didn't entirely suck at it.
• As to why I didn't record this myself, instead of writing it in a blog like I have, please consider the following: my tech's not that great, I'm not much of a tech head anyway and even if I could record it, I don't have the confidence to sing on camera anyway.

Now, the song doesn't quite match these lyrics perfectly. In fact, after the first verse, I considered giving up. However, I found that, with the exception of the chorus and possibly the last verse, there is one part in particular that gets close enough. So, for the purposes of this song, pretend Billy Joel's keeping time with this part the whole way bar the end and chorus:

“Beggin, Reagan, Palestine,

Terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran,

Russians in Afghanistan”

Alright, I think I've covered everything. If you want to YouTube the song and try and match it up, go right ahead. If you know the song and don't want to, I'll be including the time marks for when there's silence.

OK, here we go. *Crosses fingers that this goes down well*

*Wait 32 seconds*

Nella is a fan of Kirk

Todd thinks Chris Brown is a jerk

Tom and Mickey make quite a team

Sage just wants to hear us scream

JewWario's games come from Japan

And Linkara is a man

SYMBOLISM! Is Mat's catch phrase

CR hosts There Will Be Cake

Wait 8 seconds

Mike J with his cup of tea

Welshy is defending Pirates 3

Please get out of Spoony's Way

Critic, I did like your Let's Play

Suede is back for all to see

For Phantom fans, we have Lindsay

Iron Liz, please roll that die

While we watch the latest Coldguy

This is for Channel Awesome

A celebration across every nation

This is for Channel Awesome

And for all the fans, spread throughout the lands

Maven's a creature of the night

Angry Joe will lead the fight

Nash is screaming obscenities

Time for Film Conscience with Luke Mochrie

Sad Panda, Forget About That

But we will never forgot Lord Kat

Gamer and Goggles may have left

Under fair use, this isn't theft

Shout out to Kyle, Mike and James

Pushing Up Roses and her games

Let's go gaming with Benzaie

Before catching up with That Sci-Fi Guy

Obscurus Lupa hates Gooby

Cinema Snob covers trashy movies

Last Angry Geek has issues, too

Who hates Sucker Punch? JesuOtaku!

This is for Channel Awesome

A celebration across every nation

This is for Channel Awesome

And for all the fans, spread throughout the lands

We have a critic who covers rap

Phelous trudges through horror crap

MarzGurl covering Don Bluth

No Australians? I say strewth!

Still Gaming, the host is Lee

Diamanda tortures minions with glee

Skitch makes music for the site

Team FourStar, abridged done right

Wait 3 seconds

But Little Kuriboh is great too

Vangelus has toys for you

Read Right To Left with your host, Nik

Roo shows you how consoles tick

ChaosD1 reviews MMO's

The Gaming Den is Dena's show

Onacitizen of Brows Held High

Epic Fail with that Sean Fausz guy

This is for Channel Awesome

A celebration across every nation

This is for Channel Awesome

And for all the fans, spread throughout the lands

Invasion of Molassia

Detailed in Kickassia

Then we have Suburban Knights

Ending in an epic fight

Don't forget about the first year Brawl

Good times that were had by all

Now we're going into space

Possibly even a great big chase

Who knows what's in the years to come?

All I know is they are not done

I'll keep coming back for more

And DVD's I hope to score!

This is for Channel Awesome

A celebration across every nation

This is for Channel Awesome

And for all the fans, spread throughout the lands

Holly and Bridget keep things going strong

Bhargav, Mike, Rob, you're in this song!

Jillian, I did not forget you

And Oreo, she is so cute!

How could I forget the fans

They are such a merry band

Justin, Fran, Jesh and Chris

Jeff and Christy, you're in this!

Jada, Leo, Brian, Morgans as well

Ned, Tash, Nic and Matt are swell

Alex, Devin, Nigel and Isaac

Boy it's so hard keeping track

I'm sure that there are many more

But it's too hard to keep a score

Sorry for all forgotten (including Paw)

But the song is finished, I CAN'T NAME THEM ANYMORE!

This is for Channel Awesome

A celebration across every nation

This is for Channel Awesome

And for all the fans, spread throughout the lands

And repeat until finish

Well, that's my meager offering for Channel Awesome. If anyone from the company or fandom does end up seeing this, I hope you like it, it's my gift to you (and no, you can't return it for a melon baller). If you were offended in any way, I offer the biggest apology I can, as I do not mean to offend. If you want to comment, feel free to do so!

P.S Paw, if your followers, fellow contributors or yourself end up reading this, I didn't actually forget you, I just had that rhyme picked out early on and I liked it. Sorry, dude XD.

P.P.S For anyone who wants to point out that I have an 's' next to Morgan, that is intentional, for both the Morgans I know in the fandom.

P.P.P.S For anyone who wonders why Oreo got a name check, I offer this explanation... PUPPEH! =D And that's all I need to say.

I'm Sorry, I'm So Sorry

You know, I have all these things I want to say, all these things I could say about today's topic, but a thousand monkeys mentally linked to me, typing out everything I think about the subject is still unable to do it justice.

Today, I'm posting the first part in a two part tribute to the production company Channel Awesome, to celebrate the upcoming fourth year anniversary video with most of the personalities of their flagship website, www.thatguywiththeglasses.com.

I admit that for this blog, I am primarily making it for said personalities, but also the staff and fans, so this will be less likely to be new person-friendly. To that end, I'll give a brief history and recommendations.

Channel Awesome itself was created by three guys: Mike Michaud, Mike Ellis and Bhargav Dronamaju. While working at a Circuit City in 2007, the three of them came up with the idea for Channel Awesome, but put off on doing anything about it until they were laid off. And for probably one of the few times in history, that's an example of a dismissal leading to bigger and better things.

They began with the website That Guy With The Glasses, launching in April 2008, using the characters created by Doug Walker. Before the site's set-up, Doug was hosting these characters and concepts through YouTube, but they were repeatedly removed every time suspected copyright infringement reared its ugly head.

As time went on, more and more contributors joined the site, and it grew into the entertainment powerhouse it is today.

I think we'll stop there for a history lesson, because this blog is already going to be long enough. If you've never heard of the site, or only have a passing familiarity, I suggest you click on it and check it out. Pick a talent that has something relating to an interest of yours, whether it be video games (check out the Blistered Thumbs subdivision with contributors like Dena Natali, hostess of The Game Den or Leon Thomas, host of Heart Of Gaming), comics, manga (covered by the Inked Reality division, which also covers anime, home to talent like Y Ruler Of Time, host of Read Right To Left or Team Four Star, the group behind Dragon Ball Z Abridged), movies (Diamanda Hagan, Blockbuster Buster), TV shows (primarily the Nostalgia Critic and Nostalgia Chick), music (Todd In The Shadows, Paw Dugan), even books (the podcast Spine Breakers)

In a nutshell, it's a haven for nerds, geeks and outcasts. I'd classify myself as all three, except I'm not smart enough to be a nerd. Or smart at all. The site itself is a wonderful gateway, to many wonderful people and so many things to discover or rediscover. And again, I could be here all day listing anyone and everyone who's involved with the site, presenting or otherwise. But that's not what I'm blogging about.

No, I'm blogging to make amends. Amends for things that have been done, amends for things that will be done (mostly the next blog post, details provided later on).

Firstly, I apologize for anyone I haven't mentioned up above or for anyone who won't be in the next blog. I'm working on something that will be listing a lot of names of people involved with the site, and if I've left your name out, it's not on purpose. I know I have a lot of room to list every individual who has ever been involved with Channel Awesome but nobody wants to spend all day reading one random fan's ramblings. There is only one person in the history of the site that I do not support in any way, but that's a former contributor and we will not talk about that. And if that is a sore spot with you, I apologize for that too. However, that is my opinion and I will not change it. Even the closest things to perfection have flaws and Channel Awesome is no exception. I do not blame them, and it does not tarnish them, it's all on this person.

Also, I apologize if I've rubbed anyone up the wrong way in the Facebook fandom groups. While I've been watching the videos of some contributors for years, it's only recently that I started interacting with other fans, so it's been exciting for me to talk with others who know the same jokes I do, who have interests similar to mine, who are passionate about TGWTG too. To that end, I fear I may have come across as a little over-eager, or annoying. If I have in any way annoyed or offended any of you, please accept my apology and know it was not my intent. I kind of lack social skills, not that I'm trying to make excuses, but maybe that does factor into it.

But lastly, I want to apologize to the contributors. For most, I'm sorry that I haven't seen your videos yet. It's not because I don't want to but rather it's due to other things, like stacks of DVD's to work through and what not, and I want to give every show a chance, even the shows that aren't about things I'm heavily into. Hell, the shows might even get me into some of the things I've overlooked.

Actually, there is one more apology I need to make. I don't know if he'll ever read this, but it needs to be said. So, to Lewis Lovhaug (also known as Linkara, host of Atop The Fourth Wall), I am sorry for annoying you with my constant comments and questions. I know it seems bias to say so and I'm sorry for that too (you could make a drinking game out of how many times I use “sorry” or variations thereof, but you'd probably die of alcohol poisoning), but as my favourite contributor, it's his work I follow most and the one I've seen the most times. I post under his blog as The Blue And The Gold (well, that much was obvious, since that's the name that appears in this blog) and I also feel I should point out that the name isn't meant to curry his favour, even though it refers to Booster Gold and Blue Beetle (mostly Ted Kord if I'm right and if I'm not, throw another sorry in there), it refers to my best friend, Dave Herndon, and how alike we are (as to who is Gold and who is Blue, whichever of the two characters you like better, it's always him).

Even the post title could be seen as sucking up, since it's a catchphrase of the Tenth Doctor's. I must say that if sucking up was what I intended to do, I'd use a quote of the Seventh Doctor's, since that's his favourite, but the only Seventh Doctor stories I know are the movie (which, as of writing, I am getting close to the end to, and I might blog about it in the near future) and The Greatest Show In The Galaxy (which, incidentally, was the very first Doctor Who story I have ever seen).

And I'm pretty sure I've gotten off track. The point is, Lewis, I am sorry if I've ever irritated or frustrated you with anything I've said or done, in your blog or your Twitter. I'm just fascinated by your work and I appreciate your shows, since they were a big part in helping me when I was in a state of depression (at this point, I'd like to say something different to an apology and thank Lewis, Lindsay and Doug for making me feel SOMETHING besides depression during those few months in 2010).

Well, that's all my grovelling, rambling and so on. But as for the tribute itself, I will post that next blog, once I've worked out everything to the final detail. But since it involves a lot of name-dropping (all good, of course), many Channel Awesome members are unlikely to make the final cut.

So, Stuart Ashen, Fraser Agar, Larry Bundy Jr, Wesley Lock, Jon Jafari, Tom White, Leon Thomas, Austin Hargrave, John Aprigliano, Eric Power, Harry Partridge, Eric Rodriguez, Ed Glaser, Rollo T, Lindsey Briggs, Dr. Gonzo, Cat Thompson, Travis Excelsior, Gordon Smuder, Matt Burkett, Sam Goldberg, Ven Hosky, Kelley Bain, Christopher Barnard and every other person I have forgotten (like the title card artists and Vincent E.L. Goddamn it!)

But I thank each and every one of you for all your hard work, and for your continued efforts to make Channel Awesome one of the greatest things to be born out of the internet and the world in general.

Well, that covers that. Hopefully I got names and details right and if I didn't, take another apology out of petty cash and remember, I am quite stupid. Next blog is the song I have “crafted” to mark four years of the site. I'll go over that in greater detail next time.

And as a smart man once said “I won't hold back anything and I'll walk away a fool or a king”. That might just be a hint at the artist whose song I've chosen to borrow for mine...