History WebVideo / HalfInTheBag

** Mike considers ''Film/TheRocketeer'' an underrated gem, and occasionally includes a clip as an examples of ''correct'' storytelling. He eventually made it official by discussing it on an episode of [[WebVideo/ReView Re:View]].

** Mike's love of all things ''Star Trek'' and "hatred" of the elderly even spreads to other RLM shows.[[note]]Mike in reality cherishes the elderly, as evidence of his defense of videos like ''Geritol Follies''.[[/note]] In the ''Film/TheExorcistIII'' episode of ''WebVideo/ReView'', Mike even lampshades it in the opening.

** ''Half in the Bag'' also used to review the original versions of remakes they were reviewing for comparative purposes, but they now usually reserve this for a ''Re:View'' episode uploaded a few days prior to their ''Half in the Bag'' episode covering the remake.

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: During the review of ''A Haunted House'', Jay talks about ''Film/ScaryMovie'' as the template for the "horrible plague" of the modern era of spoof movies, and examples of movies that fits the template such as ''Epic Movie'', ''Date Movie'', ''Vampires Suck'', and ''Meet the Spartans'' are shown on the screen. The last of the "horrible spoof movies" examples is ''Film/IAmSam''.

** Upon hearing from Mr. Plinkett about the existence of Website/YouTube shows where people talk about movies, Mike and Jay immediately call the concept lame and embarassing.

** Rich Evans mocks the ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' Website/YouTube reaction videos by going ''way'' overboard on the fanboyish, masturbating a droid. He's still doing it in "Fuck You It's January (2015)".

** ''[[Film/TheBloodWatersOfDrZ Zaat]]'' was one of the first films the show reviewed, and the guys will occasionally use it as a punchline when they need to name a terrible movie.

* AsYouKnow: Played straight and {{lampshaded}} in Episode 73 by Future Mike and Future Jay, who give an InfoDump about the BadFuture where Carol took over the world.

-->'''Onscreen Subtitle:''' '''''[[LampshadeHanging MIKE TALKS ABOUT STAR TREK FOR FIVE MINUTES]]'''''

-->'''Mike:''' ''(to Jay)'' I'm so glad Halloween is your favorite holiday. I wish there was a Star Trek Holiday, so I could force all ''my'' fucking friends to talk about Star Trek. ''(Jay loses it)''

** {{Subverted}} and PlayedForLaughs in their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5hSwnZ7FyY Dark Knight Rises review]]:

'''Jay''': Mike, what did you think of ''The Last''-- movie we saw?

-->'''Plinkett:''' I'm just watching the end of the movie on my [=iPad=]... These things are great. You know all about it - '''yours is in my TV'''. ''(chuckles)'' I sure loved watching the same movie 68 times tonight. Maybe that'll '''teach you fucks not to LIE to me.'''

* {{Kayfabe}}: [[DefiedTrope Defied]]. While the show nominally centers around Mike and Jay, two amoral VCR repairmen, the duo barely even try to conceal the fact that they're Mike Stoklasa and Jay Bauman, two internet sensations and indie filmmakers. Likewise, any additional members of WebVideo/RedLetterMedia are introduced as fictional characters with only the barest of pretense.

** Mr Plinkett wasn't really dead [[spoiler: (it was his twin brother who had assumed his identity who died from eating greasy hamburgers)]] and his house gets rebuilt by the city as part of his settlement for their destroying an historic monument (which his house was, somehow). Naturally, his VCR still isn't working and needs repairing.

* SadClown: Mike decribes Creator/AdamSandler as this in the ''Film/{{Pixels}}'' review, punctuated by showing pictures of him looking miserable and comparing it to Creator/OrsonWelles' wine commercial.
* SchmuckBait:

-->'''Mike:''' If you looked up "forgettable" in the dictionary, you would find a picture of us, and then beneath that, you'd find a picture of this movie, ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'', the remake.

-->'''Mike:''' I'm not gonna speculate whether they fake their evidence, I don't know, I'm not gonna talk about that.\\

--->'''Mike:''' [''Film/BohemianRhapsody''] had a creepy vibe, because Bryan Singer's fingerprints were all over it...\\

-->'''Mike:''' That's right, Jay.

* UndercoverCopReveal: {{Inverted}}. "Officer Cooper" turns out to be an undercover ''hooker'', out to get Mike and Jay to pay money so that she and her colleagues can perform "humiliating sex acts". Cue EvilLaugh.

* WhamShot: [[AC: Classic Yellow Cake Mix [[spoiler:Now with Gay Pheromones!]]]]

* PoesLaw: InUniverse. Mike and Jay think the trailer of ''The Film/{{Zookeeper}}'' is a fake movie trailer parody of by-the-numbers comedies starring Kevin James.

* SarcasmMode:
** Mike puts on an extraordinarily thick layer when he claims that ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve'' is one of his favorite films.
** After giving ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'' a positive review, he adds that it's the most exciting movie he's seen since ''Film/HollywoodHomicide''.

The show has featured numerous guest critics, including [[Creator/TimAndEric Tim Heidecker]], ''Film/SamuraiCop'' star Matt Hannon, a self-appointed Milwaukee superhero known as The Watchman, and Creator/MacaulayCulkin. Other members of [=RedLetterMedia=] occasionally drop in playing one-off strangers with a paper-thin excuse to talk movies.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Jay and Mike spend the first few minutes of the review of "''[[Film/{{Skyfall}} SkyFAIL]]''" bashing the movie for being [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny full of cliches]] and unrealistic ("[[WhyDontYouJustShootHim Why doesn't the bad guy just shoot M in the face]]") before the ''real'' review cuts in and they say what they really think (they liked it).

** Upon hearing from Mr. Plinkett about the existence of YouTube shows where people talk about movies, Mike and Jay immediately call the concept lame and embarassing.

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: [[invoked]] Discussed and Played With in "2014 Movie Catch Up Part 1". Jay says many of his favorite movies have a balance between a coherent story and surreal elements. While Mike says [[InvertedTrope he prefers coherent stories]], but thinks surrealist elements can be cool as long as it's not too incoherent.

** According to Mike, ''Prometheus'''s first title was ''[[Film/TheGirlWithTheDragonTattoo The Girl With a Dragon in Her Cooch]]''.

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: Invoked by Jay in their review of ''Film/It2017'', explaining it by saying "the coauthor of [[Literature/{{It}} the book]] is cocaine.". When they review ''Film/ITChapterTwo'', they mention the main reason why the plot falls apart is the amount of coke done while writing the source material.

* ContinuityReboot: In 2023, Mike and Jay enter an alternate dimension where they switch seats and wear the opposite shirt color as they used to. Also, Mr. Plinkett wants to watch ''Series/{{Newhart}}'' rather than ''Series/NightCourt''.

* MidReviewSketchShow: This is the general style of the show. Each episode begins with the FramingDevice, then transitions into the reviews, then transitions back into the FramingDevice. The sketches themselves are often openly parodying the trope, in the sense that they are deliberately hackneyed and self-deprecating.

The framing tale has Mike and Jay attempting to fleece Mr. Plinkett (Rich Evans), a clueless and misanthropic senior who hires them to fix his VCR. Instead, Mike and Jay just sit around drinking beer and discussing movies while billing Plinkett for work they're not doing. Over the course of the series, the pair become embroiled in all manner of ridiculous high jinks, yet nothing ever seems to distract them from getting down into detailed discussions about modern films.

* SophisticatedAsHell: Mike, Jay, and just about everyone else who discusses movies with them perfectly balances a learned and erudite approach to film critique with a sense of playful clownishness. There's also a distinct lack of snobbery in their analysis, as exemplified when they denounced critical darling ''Film/{{Boyhood}}'' as being dull, ponderous and self-indulgent, then praised ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' for succeeding at its goal of being a fun, light-hearted action movie.