Line #28 Recap/TheNostalgiaCriticS8E26


1	'''Release:''' December 15, 2015
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3	'''Film:''' ''Film/ChristmasWithTheKranks''
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5	'''Tagline:''' Appearing on several Top 10 Worst Lists, the time has come to look at one of the most despised Christmas movies ever!
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7	* ActorAllusion: {{Invoked\|Trope}} twice:
8	** After Luther Krank (Creator/TimAllen) gets drenched by a passing car, 2015 Critic dubs in him lines about how he should have done ''Film/TheSantaClause 4''.
9	** A scene with Vic (Creator/DanAykroyd) singing is thought to be a violation of his agreement to not sing again after ''Film/BluesBrothers2000''.
10	* AnAesop: In the end, 2015 Critic realizes that he shouldn't be ashamed of his pre-reboot days, no matter how cheesy he viewed it, even as he is pursuing a more creative path. Likewise, 2007 Critic realizes that he should not be forever bound to any single form of expressing his ideas.
11	* BackToTheEarlyInstallment: [[StylisticSuck Trying to put as little effort as possible]] for reviewing ''Christmas With the Kranks'', the Critic goes back to 2007, when he first started reviewing.
12	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Malcolm and Tamara, miffed at having little role in the review, accepts 2007 Critic's offer to give them better roles... as his table and camera tripod, respectively, since this incarnation of the Critic is inexperienced at casting actors.
13	* CallBack:
14	** Santa Christ mentions having come BackFromTheDead after WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob's review of ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'' with the Critic.
15	--->'''Santa Christ:''' By [[NegativeContinuity the discontinuous powers]] that somehow killed me in the ''Cinema Snob'' crossover, yet brought me back...\
16	'''Critic:''' Yeah, sorry about that.\
17	'''Santa Christ:''' Dick.
18	** The MoodWhiplash between Bev revealing she has cancer and Luther accidentally stepping on Muffles, Bev and Walt's pet cat, is compared to the "Rape Whistle" PSA from the "[[Recap/TheNostalgiaCriticS6E20 Dawn of the Commercials]]" episode.
19	* TheCameo: Sandra Walker, Doug and Rob's real-life mother, briefly appear near the end of the first half together with Barney, after 2015 Critic forces Santa Christ to whisk him out of his 2007 room.
20	* ChristmasEpisode: {{Downplayed\|Trope}} -- despite the Critic's well-known enthusiasm for the holiday, this episode is less about Christmas (the film's theme notwithstanding) than it is a retrospective on the Critic's career and the changes in his reviewing style since 2007.
21	* {{Flashback}}: 2007 Critic remembers the time he was picked on in school, when he tried to be a filmmaker when no one believed in him, and when he got rejected by a girl he had a crush on, when he laments how he only wanted to make videos so people would like him for once.
22	* {{Flanderization}}: The pre-reboot version of the series is presented in a truncated, exaggerated manner, with random running jokes, video clips and memes ruining 2015 Critic's attempts to review the film in the good old ways, driving him to ask Santa Christ to immediately return him to his home timeline.
23	* FutureMeScaresMe: 2007 Critic does not approve of what 2015 reviews have become.
24	* HalfwayPlotSwitch: Halfway into the episode, the Critic regrets his decision not to put in any effort into his review of ''Christmas with the Kranks'' thus far, and goes back to the present so that he can spend actual effort on what's left of it. The rest of the review's storyline focuses on the Critic of 2007 attempting a HostileShowTakeover so that he can continue the reviews ''his'' way.
25	* HilariousOuttakes: There's one after the end credits of Tamara trying to be a camera tripod and getting fired.
26	* ICantBelieveImSayingThis: When 2015 Critic is heckled by 2007 Critic, he tells Malcolm and Tamara this:
27	-->'''Critic:''' I never thought I'd say this, but... you have my permission to beat the shit out of me.
28	* IHatePastMe: How 2015 Critic partially views his pre-reboot self, in particular for his brevity and abuse of memes.
29	* IJustWantToBeLoved: Both incarnations of the Critic realize that this is his driving reason for putting up his videos in the first place.
30	* ItWillNeverCatchOn:
31	** 2015 Critic sarcastically notes that Luther's botox joke will never be a popular topic in other films (while showing other film clips mentioning it).
32	** Likewise, 2007 Critic refuses to accept how his future experimentation and departures would turn out:
33	-->'''2007 Critic:''' Who knows what this might lead to? Crossovers! Anniversary specials! A pointless feud with an angry gamer! And all of them will bomb!
34	* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: InUniverse, 2007 Critic discovers that people are not very receptive to his "classic" review of ''Film/TheLastAirbender''.
35	* ManipulativeEditing: An in-universe example, where Malcolm & Tamara play the seizure-transition over & over again with the remote to cause Present! to pass out.
36	* MeetYourEarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The Critic meets his 2007 self.
37	* MyFutureSelfAndMe: 2015 Critic asks Santa Christ to whisk him back to 2007 so he can do his deliberately half-assed review of the film, while sending his past self to 2015.
38	* NeverTheSelvesShallMeet: The 2015 and 2007 incarnations of the Nostalgia Critic debate over how the series developed.
39	* NostalgiaFilter: 2015 Critic points this out when 2007 Critic complains about all the sketches (clipless reviews in particular), reminding him of things that prove that even pre-reboot Critic had plenty of non-review stuff, too.
40	* {{Retraux}}: The episode serves as a throwback to the Nostalgia Critic's pre-reboot days, using the Walkers' residence, where Doug started filming his episodes.
41	* RulesOfTheInternet: As a way to console a bummed-out 2007 Critic after discovering his own review is a failure, Malcolm advises him to never read the comments.
42	* SpoiledByTheFormat:[[invoked]] Brought up when the Critic violates the premise of the review by changing his mind about not putting in effort to review ''Christmas with the Kranks''.
43	-->'''Critic:''' Christ! I thought all these repetitive traditions would be great, but I'm sorry! I gotta return to effort!\
44	'''Santa Christ:''' What?! You can't go back yet!\
45	'''Critic:''' Why not?!\
46	'''Santa Christ:''' Because you're supposed to learn your lesson by the end of the video. We're not even halfway through! Look at the little red border.\
47	'''Critic:''' I don't care! I need to go back, right now!\
48	'''Santa Christ:''' Ugh, fine. But we're violating the screenwriting lessons of Creator/ChrisColumbus.
49	* StylisticSuck: 2015 Critic deliberately tries to make the review as half-assed as possible, reflecting how equally half-assed the film is, by treating the audience to a throwback to the Nostalgia Critic's early days, with the same old wall, cheap lighting, cheap camera, no sets, no actors, and poorly-edited photo animation.
50	* TakeThat: Delivered thrice by 2015 Critic.
51	** At the scene where Nora keeps sending Luther back to the grocery without an umbrella, he thinks they are assholes of such a degree that they make the Kardashians look down-to-earth in comparison.
52	** After Luther decides to be a buzzkill and pass up on an annual Christmas charity donation, he also says that the Kranks might as well sign up for ISIS.
53	** He also claims that Luther and Nora's exchange about turning from geniuses to idiots (after learning that their daughter Blair is returning with her Peruvian boyfriend Enrique, forcing them to hastily prepare a Christmas party for them) can be applied to Creator/JohnGrisham (who wrote the original novel, ''Skipping Christmas'') by the film's audience.
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Context Recap / TheNostalgiaCriticS8E26