Your opinion, but I do have to question a couple of things. Critic is the exact opposite of an Insufferable Genius, his self-loathing was the entire plot of To Boldly Flee and quite a lot of episodes, and Doug is nowhere near like the Critic. He was bouncy and fun and actually enjoyed life, unlike his miserable manchild character.
"it is kind of a waste of time"
Which funnily enough is the exact same reaction Doug Walker seemed to have which is why he's trying to branch out and be a bit more theoretical since the reboot =D
Anyway although I disagree must of the review seems pretty reasonable, the two points I'd note is 1) I'd say there is a huge difference between Doug Walker's reviews and the Nostalgia Critics, (I think I made a review about it :P). He's way more enthusiastic, a lot less caustic and generally tries to be very fair minded about everything. And then I've only listened to a couple of commentaries but the things he talks about not actually hating or being bothered about seem to show there is a marked difference between the two. Add to that a couple of storylines and sketches ending with the NC being a schmuck (culminating with the Mara Wilson episode where he was happy to cough up the most embarrassing video of him that he could find)
and 2) Pretentious? I'd have thought someone whose schtick is screaming and freaking out would be the last candidate for pretentiousness
emeriin: Look at the description of the Insufferable Genius then look at Walker/Critic. His self-deprecating humor does counterbalance this, but not as often as it used to. The Critic, all of his personas in fact, just appear to me as exaggerated versions of himself.
tomwithnonumbers: I've watched just about all of The Critic reviews and the Walker reviews. There is a difference, clearly, but it's not as vast as you seem to think. I've come to know a lot about comedians the past couple of years, and it seems all of their comedy is derived from a combination of their own personalities and subject matter. The same can be said of Walker. I personally find him to be a bit pretentious, not overtly, just in a way that rubbed me wrong after awhile.
It's not even Walker or The Critic as much as it is that world of colorful internet reviewers. I tried watching Linkara, Cinema Snob, and Obscurus Lupa regularly too, but that got really tiresome. If it was just The Nostalgia Critic like in the earlier days, without all the crossovers that make me feel as if I should be watching twenty other snarky thirty-somethings going on about nerd stuff I will never have any idea about, and without his new actor friends that have been around since the reboot. Of course, everyone wants to branch out and evolve at some point, so I can't really fault him for those things.
Then again, maybe I'm just fishing for excuses because I either just find him annoying or have simply grown out of that realm of entertainment? I liked his Last Airbender review. This review was spawned by my unwillingness to watch his most recent episode, for no particular reason. Who the hell knows? Maybe he'll reel me in again later on.
I know what Insufferable Genius is, and Doug isn't it. In fact, bringing it back to your review, last year he said at a con the weirdest thing about fandom was everyone feeling the need to waste his time on him. Not to mention that giant Guilt Complex of his. Someone who thought they knew it all wouldn't say stuff like that.
(sorry for butting in but still)
Correcting my comment: Walker is not an Insufferable Genius, but The Nostalgia Critic is, in my opinion. Maybe I'm blanking this, but why does he have a Guilt Complex? Was that something revealed in a Q&A or To Boldly Flee, because I don't watch those.
Commentaries mostly. Like in Kickassia he felt guilty because even though he told everyone to wear sunscreen, they didn't and got sunburn, in Suburban Knights he couldn't get out of bed one day because he thought he'd made everyone too miserable with problems in the production and in To Boldly Flee, despite everyone telling him things were fine, he decided not to do any more big specials because he couldn't go through making people lose sleep due to work again.
I see.
Well hey, what do I know?
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Funny, but inevitably grating
Much as I admire Doug Walker's ingenuity as an artist and a comedian, and did enjoy watching The Nostalgia Critic for a couple of years, I've realized now that I'm out of high school that it is kind of a waste of time. That's not to say I'm super busy or anything, it's just that I know there's more useful things to be looking at now.
My best friend got me hooked on his videos two or three years ago and I loved that there was a guy ripping on a bunch of dumb little movies I watched as a child (Surf Ninjas, Warriors of Virtue, 3 Ninjas, The Pagemaster, etc). I liked the guy's energy, keen use of cultural references, and the genuine nostalgia that the movies he reviewed brought out.
Though, like anything you watch religiously, you start to see the pros and cons of the material. The Nostalgia Critic is a lot like Family Guy and who knows how many other shows that start off really good but then kind of peter out the more popular it gets and greater the following it accumulates. The Critic himself began to project an Insufferable Genius image in my eyes, to an almost Tarantinian degree. I know it's been stated repeatedly that Walker and The Critic are two separate entities, but I don't really think see much difference. I've seen Walker's reviews when he's as himself, and it's really just The Critic except more relaxed (and just as prone to Suddenly Shouting) and with fewer visual aids or gimmicks. It's also the fact that I really just don't see movies the same way as he does, if that makes any sense. All of us critics come off as Smug Snakes after awhile, but it's never that fun when a guy seems to force his ego on you. When that started happening in as great a frequency as his astute commentaries I grew tired of it very fast.
Again, this review isn't meant as a Take That towards Walker or his online personas. The man, his brother and his wide circle of friends are all doing more as internet personalities than I have done ever. They should be respected for their enthusiasm, editing and imagination. Still highly recommend The Nostalgia Critic's first fifty episodes or so.
At the end of the day, there are better, less pretentious and more succinct critics out there. I guess watching a thirty-old man scream and get red in the face over movies primarily meant for sensitized children has just lost its luster for me.