Doug Walker (TGWTG, Nostalgia Critic, Bum Reviews, and other projects)

Can a Film Be So Good It's Bad?

In two weeks: Was That Real? on the live-action version of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin.

Oh, the next week's video, the Ghostbusters (2016) clipless review, is up on Vessel now. I haven't watched it yet, as I'm not subscribed, but I've heard good things. (Tony Goldmark called it "quite possibly [the Nostalgia Critic's] best video ever.") Apparently the video features a large cast, including Rob in a wig looking uncannily like... well, see for yourselves.

edited 26th Jul '16 2:28:01 PM by Motyka5

I've seen it. No spoilers, but the ending had me crying.

How come?

Rachel has a cameo and it's really lovely.

Is anyone else having trouble with Vessel?

Yes. It is negative.

Boo.

It was ok. That ending point, as Emeriin pointed out, was a good note to end on.

But it had a bit too much of doug's "trying to be meaningful and missing important parts of the issue" bluster for me, —shrug—

My stance on ghostbusters is: I LOVED the original as a kid, and even enjoyed the second, but they have NOT aged well at all. They are... kind of skeazy/rapey.

edited 2nd Aug '16 12:20:50 PM by MrAHR

I liked a lot of it, but in particular the Ghostbusters girls were great and Rachel's cameo was beautiful.

edited 2nd Aug '16 12:20:27 PM by emeriin

I can't help but think this review was partially made in part because of James Rolfe getting attack for saying he wouldn't do a review of the film and being labelled a mysoginist.

It's whipped so many people into a frenzy for a movie which is "a good time when drunk" at best and "meh" at worst that it was an easy topic. The controversy was a bigger deal than the film, which was neither truly awful nor truly good.

Well more hate went to the meninists so...

Same opinion here. I watched the original a while back and didn't like it much, but I was vibrating at my seat at this. Holtzmann has made so many young queer girls happy and it's amazing.

edited 2nd Aug '16 12:31:03 PM by emeriin

Adric: That... makes sense actually. Because I didn't even know such a contingent of people existed.

Beatman: Disagree. The new movie, in my opinion, while not perfect, was excellent. It has a lot of weird moments and awkward humor and all that jazz, but that is in the spirit of the original.

EDIT: Not disagreeing with the "meh" at worst and the fact that it is fun to watch while drunk, just that there is an angle to it that gives it a larger range.

edited 2nd Aug '16 12:31:09 PM by MrAHR

I saw the original years ago, I've rewatched it numerous times, and I love it.

Ghostbusters II is still worse than the reboot though. Like, I'm still fucking dumbfounded by the lack of logic for the set up.

Emeriin: I know, right?!! I am a straight lady, but Holtzmann was a gem to watch, and she was just so gosh darned swoon-worthy. And all the girls were so supportive and awesome to each other, and everyone had good lines. And it was so interesting to see how certain values had changed and evolved in comparison to the original v. the new one.

I will accept Ghosbusters 2016 being meh when we have fifty dozen other movies doing this formula, because boy howdy am I ready for lady groups kicking ass and going on adventures.

edited 2nd Aug '16 12:34:26 PM by MrAHR

I really wish that Doug would stop using using the "meninists".

FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN, those sorts of people are in the extreme minority, and the majority of folks thinking along those lines have more nuance to their reasoning than hating women.

Some of the jokes work. By definition, the movie isn't completely bad if at least some of the material works. But an equal amount misses and the plot is full of holes. There's nothing to hate, at least not to the utterly insane level of the fandom, but nothing to truly love either.

edited 2nd Aug '16 12:45:56 PM by Beatman1

Some have nuance, and others have nuance hiding their misogyny.

Like I know there was someone who recently got harassed for being an sjw feminist, despite being an anti-sjw anti-feminist. Because they thought it was sucky that a pregnant woman had to stand while a bunch of other folks were sitting.

Like, he includes 2 varieties of folks who hate the new movie. He includes 1 variety of folk who like the new movie. And he falls more into the liking the old version more. So by sheer amount of groups, the meninist concept represents a much smaller fraction of that group.

So he himself adds nuance.

Beatman: A movie of women with no rape/stalking, no forced romance, no fat jokes, no women hating women, and no forced fanservice, and fanservice towards women in the form of Holtzmann. I know that seems like a low bar, but trust me, it meant a lot to me.

edited 2nd Aug '16 12:49:05 PM by MrAHR

That much I will give him.

It's a step up from how they were used in Fury Road, anyway.

edited 2nd Aug '16 12:49:16 PM by Grounder

Hey, it was pretty funny how they were used in Fury Road.

Though mostly because of how Devil Boner calls them out.

Also considering all the abuse Leslie Jones got on twitter, they deserve to be included.

Yyeahhhhhhh. You can say they have nuance but HOLY SHIT do I feel bad for Leslie Jones. No one deserves that.

Leslie Jones didn't deserve the harassment, but she really, REALLY did not help herself by continually responding to the trolls and making herself into a "lolcow" as the term seems to be.

I think that's what's called victim blaming.

That's a bit of an exaggeration.

To me, it's "No, the archer shouldn't have got you in the eye with an arrow, but you responded by putting on a bullseye eyepatch and just kept on putting Christmas tree lights on it when his asshole buddies came by to do you wrong".

edited 2nd Aug '16 1:15:32 PM by Grounder