If you enjoyed the irreverent humor of
Mystery Science Theatre 3000, or got chuckles out of the culture of
MisTing that grew out of same, then you ought to check out the satirical videos produced by The Nostalgia Critic, a.k.a. Doug Walker, a.k.a.
That Guy with the Glasses. I first encountered his productions when I was searching for "independent" reviews of
DuckTales in preparation for my 25th anniversary tribute to that series (which I hope to finally start on or about the Fourth of July, BTW). It just so happens that TNC had some very nice things to say about
DuckTales; indeed, it's the
ONLY "Golden Age" WDTVA series on his list of The Top 11 Nostalgic TV Shows ("nostalgic," in this case, referring to films and TV shows of the 80s and 90s). This is noteworthy, in that TNC usually engages in strafing, spoofing, and otherwise
Stuka-bombing less accomplished entertainment products of that era.
One caveat re TNC's approach: he drops a few more cuss words than even hardened
MST3K viewers are probably accustomed to hearing. He's perfectly capable of avoiding the words in red letters and doing straight, insightful analysis, e.g. when he devoted a whole month a while back to reviewing all of the Disney feature films. But I have to admit that the more foul-mouthed commentaries feature some hilarious moments.
Here is TNC's take on a couple of misbegotten Italian animated "retellings" of the story of the Titanic, made in the wake (heh) of
James Cameron's blockbuster movie. The results are simply James Came...
wrong. When the time comes, I'll post TNC's review of "
Treasure of the Golden Suns," plus any other of his baubles that I consider to be worthy of your perusal.
3 comments:
Thanks for posting this. I need to rewatch his Titanic reviews-- those were always the best.
How many of his episodes have you seen?
Jeremy,
Quite a few, actually. Most of them are very funny. When he is reviewing something that he truly LIKES (BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES, ANIMANIACS, DUCKTALES, many Disney feature films), he is able to tone down the four-letter shtick and make some really cogent and useful comments. But it is still fun to listen to the rants about such crappy fare as the TITANIC "reinterpretations."
Chris
I think his best reviews is when he reviews a film (either good or bad) that has a huge reputation among audiences, like Batman and Robin, Moulin Rouge!, The Avengers, The Room, etc.
I still can't believe those Titanic ripoffs actually exist. XD
If I can bring up Superbook up real quick-- a lot of people seem to complain about Superbook intergrating modern day kids + robot (in this case, Chris, Joy and Gizmo) which disrupts the presentation of the Bible story-- in fact, some conservatives have complained about the show confusing kids when they read the source material in the Bible. As a SB fan, Superbook is more dignified than the Titanic ripoffs. I say that because I think the show does its best to present the Bible stories in an understandable fashion without creating pseudo plots, as well an underline focus of it's premise.
The animated Titanic films are pretty much half-a**ed to the point where the show is desperate to do anything to keep the viewers engaged. XD
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