Pretty Much It
is a YouTube channel run by Eric Striffler that does commentary tracks for movies and TV shows, very much akin to Rifftrax. Highlights from each track are put on YouTube along with clips from the actual movie, copyrights permitting (their videos have a tendency to disappear and reappear over the years).
Their videos feature a lot of brick jokes, impromptu rap, and references to pop culture. As a theater kid and film student, Eric loves pointing out movie-making techniques and different actors' performances in between a lot of immature humor and leans towards praising what he likes about the shows more than criticizing them.
Eric has had a variety of co-hosts on the channel, usually his friend Miles Bonsignore (typically for enlisted for musicals) as well as his sister Jillian (usually brought in for childhood favorites, particularly for the filmography of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen). PMI has also done live tours and taken part in collaborations with other channels such as Kurtis Conner and Jon Cozart.
Not to be confused with the boy band Pretty Much.
This channel provides examples of:
- Alternative Character Interpretation:
- In-Universe, Eric and Miles believe that 13 Reasons Why's fourth season is all about Clay and the rest of the cast being poisoned by The Scarecrow's fear toxin (and that Justin is a werewolf).
- It (1990), after Ben falls into the woods and Henry Bowers screams “You’re gonna die,” Eric and Jacob jokingly postulate the possibility that he wasn’t threatening Ben but instead trying to warn him."You’re gonna die!" Careful man, there’s a clown down there!
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: When the deaths of Bryce and Monty from the 13 Reasons Why commentary screening were revealed, Jacob, Eric and the entire audience ecstatically gave out standing ovations given the two were absolutely horrible people.note
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Eric intentionally takes his usual high energy and inappropriate humor up to eleven for the commentaries with his sister Jillian, leaving her mortified (and, usually, laughing along with him).
- Critic Breakdown: Eric typically prefers to cover media that he enjoys, but The Fine Brothers' F the Prom completely broke him to the point of first considering turning it off early and, eventually, screaming hysterics.Eric: "I HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION! IF I DON'T, MY BRAIN IS GOING TO FALL OUT OF MY FUCKING EARS!"
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Exaggerated in their Back to the Future Part III video, where they make fun of how backwards someone like Marty would find the Old West, and imagining the townsfolk lynching him for saying things like "Nikes," "7-11", and "consent."
- Failed a Spot Check:
- During the commentary screening of 13 Reasons Why Season Three, Jacob and Eric get so caught up in trying to remember and discussing a joke, respectively, that they completely miss Zach confessing that he killed Bryce.
- Miles speculates that Charlie in 13 Reasons Why is going to be the character killed off at the end of the show... while Charlie is shown giving the eulogy at the funeral.
- Haunted House: During The Kissing Booth 3, Eric theorizes that the house they stay in is cursed after both couples break up.
- The Hyena: Eric, made all the more noticeable by his Signature Laugh.
- Knew It All Along: While watching 13 Reasons Why Season Three, they ended up calling Alex Standall being Bryce’s murderer and Monty being killed off in prison, as well as several other big events of the season.
- Lives in a Van: Eric, by choice, lives in a van; his commentary track on Nomadland is mostly a personal Q&A about his lifestyle choice.
- Musical Episode: Starting with The Greatest Showman, Eric brings in a group nicknamed "The Showman" (Miles, Andrew, and Nick) who are willing to sing along to the soundtrack with him whenever they cover a musical.
- Nothing Is Scarier: Eric praises director James Wan from Insidious for his camerawork that makes you expect something bad is about to happen and then not following through, making the jump scares that much more powerful when they do come. However, by the fourth film (under a new director), he also notes that this can be done poorly and lead to the total defusal of tension.
- Oh, Crap!: While watching The Kissing Booth, Eric has one when Noah catches up to Elle while she’s running away from him.Eric: Oh my God, he’s gaining on her— this is horrifying.
- Piss-Take Rap: Miles frequently employs these for comedic effect, though some of them actually manage to cross over to being pretty solid.
- Sarcasm-Blind: When Marty tells Buford Tannen "I do my killing after breakfast" in Back to the Future Part III, the boys' version of Doc immediately asks "Marty is that true? Have you taken someone's life?"
- Signature Laugh: Eric's wheeze, which became even more prominent in 2020 while recovering from COVID-19 (most notably in the Season 4 Commentary for 13 Reasons Why).
- The Wildcats: The "GOOOOO TIGERS!" Running Gag initially started out as a joke about the typical high school mascot in 13 Reasons Why and how this lighthearted trapping of the real-life High School experience contrasted so glaringly with the near-dystopian drama of the rest of the show. Since this mascot is so common in other media, the catchphrase has continued to pop up in commentaries for other movies and shows.
