The MR. PLINKETT & RED LETTER MEDIA Discussion - Page 25

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Originally Posted by CreepyThinMan 

It says a lot about the USA that they fell in love with a movie about a simpleton who achieves success with no effort (run Forrest run!), never questions authority, joins the army, get's his ass literaly shot off in an imperialist war, becomes rich through luck, only has sex for pro-creation and gains little or no insight about himself or the world around him despite all of his incredible experiences while Jenny is an independent free thinking liberal lefty that experiments with drugs and protests against the army because she was molested by her father, allows herself to be physically abused by her boyfriend and has a child out of wedlock with a retard before getting A.I.D.S. (probably from doing beastiality flicks) and dying.
 

I have to wonder if Zemekis really bought into that ideology or was he just fucking with people?

 

I say they make a sequel where he gets elected President and is reading Curious George to school children when he learns that the World Trade Center has been attacked. 

Nice shot with the sequel idea.

But it's weird that you say "success with no effort" and then immediately mention that he ran his ass off for some time. As if running ultramarathons takes no effort. Weird contradiction you got there Creepy. Weird.

But, to be fair, I've never looked into the politics of Forrest Gump because the whole shooting match seems as simplistic as the main character to me. It doesn't come across as any deeper than Back To The Future. If there's an ounce of subtext in it I never noticed. And I wouldn't mind seeing Red Letter Media step out of the geek realm for a minute to take a swing at it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by brandhay 

Forrest Gump made more money overseas than domestic.  Just sayin'.

I wouldn't use box office take as an indication of embrassement of the movie. As I recall, the experience was quite, if not similar in behavior, at least in spirit akin to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by brandhay 

Forrest Gump made more money overseas than domestic.  Just sayin'.

They probably saw it as a satire on the American Dream.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucho 

Nice shot with the sequel idea.

 

But it's weird that you say "success with no effort" and then immediately mention that he ran his ass off for some time. As if running ultramarathons takes no effort. Weird contradiction you got there Creepy. Weird.

 

But, to be fair, I've never looked into the politics of Forrest Gump because the whole shooting match seems as simplistic as the main character to me. It doesn't come across as any deeper than Back To The Future. If there's an ounce of subtext in it I never noticed. And I wouldn't mind seeing Red Letter Media step out of the geek realm for a minute to take a swing at it.

But Forrest ran with no effort as far as I could see. Same thing with the Ping Pong, which I had forgotten about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by brandhay 

Forrest Gump made more money overseas than domestic.  Just sayin'.

They probably saw it as a satire of the American Dream.

Quote:

Originally Posted by brandhay 

Forrest Gump made more money overseas than domestic.  Just sayin'.

They probably saw it as a satire of the American Dream.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CreepyThinMan 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucho 

Nice shot with the sequel idea.

 

But it's weird that you say "success with no effort" and then immediately mention that he ran his ass off for some time. As if running ultramarathons takes no effort. Weird contradiction you got there Creepy. Weird.

 

But, to be fair, I've never looked into the politics of Forrest Gump because the whole shooting match seems as simplistic as the main character to me. It doesn't come across as any deeper than Back To The Future. If there's an ounce of subtext in it I never noticed. And I wouldn't mind seeing Red Letter Media step out of the geek realm for a minute to take a swing at it.

 

But Forrest ran with no effort as far as I could see. Same thing with the Ping Pong, which I had forgotten about.

Of course running and ping pong take effort. Forrest is a human being, right? What you're calling "no effort" is what we call "effortlessness". That's what happens when somebody is good at something and enjoys it, and in reality it's only a seeming effortlessness. It appears effortless because of talent. We see this in athletic pursuits all the time. It's a figure of speech. In reality a lot of work is either going on and is hidden by gracefulness of movement or it's gone on behind the scenes. Ask Tony Hawk or Kelly Slater. (PM me if you don't have their phone numbers.)

So saying Forrest achieves success with no effort just ain't right. Forrest works his ass off in the army, in his running, in his ping pong and in his shrimp boat. He's just either doing things he finds enjoyment in most of the time, and when he's not, like in the war, he's just not a whiny fuck about doing the hard yards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucho 

Quote:

Originally Posted by CreepyThinMan 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucho 

Nice shot with the sequel idea.

 

But it's weird that you say "success with no effort" and then immediately mention that he ran his ass off for some time. As if running ultramarathons takes no effort. Weird contradiction you got there Creepy. Weird.

 

But, to be fair, I've never looked into the politics of Forrest Gump because the whole shooting match seems as simplistic as the main character to me. It doesn't come across as any deeper than Back To The Future. If there's an ounce of subtext in it I never noticed. And I wouldn't mind seeing Red Letter Media step out of the geek realm for a minute to take a swing at it.

 

But Forrest ran with no effort as far as I could see. Same thing with the Ping Pong, which I had forgotten about.

Of course running and ping pong take effort. Forrest is a human being, right? What you're calling "no effort" is what we call "effortlessness". That's what happens when somebody is good at something and enjoys it, and in reality it's only a seeming effortlessness. It appears effortless because of talent. We see this in athletic pursuits all the time. It's a figure of speech. In reality a lot of work is either going on and is hidden by gracefulness of movement or it's gone on behind the scenes. Ask Tony Hawk or Kelly Slater. (PM me if you don't have their phone numbers.)

 

So saying Forrest achieves success with no effort just ain't right. Forrest works his ass off in the army, in his running, in his ping pong and in his shrimp boat. He's just either doing things he finds enjoyment in most of the time, and when he's not, like in the war, he's just not a whiny fuck about doing the hard yards.

 ef·fort·less  

Calling for, requiring, or showing little or no effort.

When I see Gump running, playing Ping Pong, fixing his gun, I don't see him knocking his ass out to do any of it. He also doesn't become successful at shrimping because of work or effort but because a storm trashes everyone else's boat which allows him to corner the market. The whole point of the story is that he's a simple boy who loves God, his Mama, has no intellectual curiosity and, as such, leads a charmed life of fame and fortune. I find that premise nightmarish. Forrest Gump is a conservative wet dream of America where the proletariat are just smart enough to follow orders and fight wars. It also presents the premise that if you question authority and are sexually promiscuous, you must have been molested as a child, have self esteem so low that you allow yourself to be physically abused and are a drug addict who will get a terminal illness that right wingers claims is a disease from God to kill homosexuals.

Forrest Gump is a fucking Horror show. Plinket should tear it a new asshole.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nabster 

ASome ghoulish geek wrote a 100 page rebuttal of the plinkett review. Seriously. Its a review of a review. Somebody should review his rebuttal. Could start a nightmarish chain of meta events.

I will not, even under penalty of death, go anywhere near this but I'll take a guess at one of the arguments said ghoul produced.

The moronically simple and boring dialogue scene set-ups are not a product of any deficiency Lucas may have as director. Rather they're a deliberate call back to the simpler set-ups the Flash Gordon serials (they're supposedly inspired from) had to have due to budget and time constraints.

Well I don't have any qualms with infecting my mind with massive amounts of frivilous geek nonsense.

There's a lot of butthurt rationalizing going on in it.  But even I can only endure so much geek rage, I just skimmed it a bit.  And it's pretty funny.  Although, mostly just a bit sad.  The dude basically fanwanks every plot hole away.  And he likes all the prequels.  But still, I love the unbrideled enthusiasm.  There's something to be said about that level of passion.  That something is probably insulting, but nonetheless there is something to be said.

I try to download the file, but my computer has no idea what the extension of it is.  Any tips?

I skimmed over the rebuttal and aside from the obscene length and the very fact of its existence it doesn't strike me as unusually butthurt or angry in the tone of how it's written, and it seems to get the main points of why I don't consider Plinkett particularly worthwhile as a critic on anything more than a humour/entertainment level. I wouldn't disagree about it being an embarrassing, sad waste of time, but then I'd throw the same accusation at the original set of reviews, and the people that worship them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CreepyThinMan 

ef·fort·less  

Calling for, requiring, or showing little or no effort.

 

When I see Gump running, playing Ping Pong, fixing his gun, I don't see him knocking his ass out to do any of it.

Creepy, listen up son.

Forrest Gump ran across America. On his own two legs. He ran ... across ... America. Do you know how much effort that takes? A shitload is how much it takes Creepy. A motherfucking shitload of effort.

And do you know what he did after that? I'll tell you Creepy. Forrest Gump ran back across America! America is the third largest country on the Earth Creepy, and Forrest ran across it AND BACK!

And what did he do after that, for fuck's sake? HE RAN ACROSS AND BACK AGAIN!

Forrest Gump spent three and a half years running Creepy. And you have the gall ... to come in here ... and tell us Forrest didn't put in the hard yards?

Have you ever even played ping pong?!?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul C 

I skimmed over the rebuttal and aside from the obscene length and the very fact of its existence it doesn't strike me as unusually butthurt or angry in the tone of how it's written, and it seems to get the main points of why I don't consider Plinkett particularly worthwhile as a critic on anything more than a humor/entertainment level. I wouldn't disagree about it being an embarrassing, sad waste of time, but then I'd throw the same accusation at the original set of reviews, and the people that worship them.

You know when did we all start using the word "butthurt"?  It's funny how it caught on like fire.

I agree with you it wasn't over the top angry, but I think it can qualify for butthurt, since I think butthurt means being peeved or annoyed, but not furious.  Just semantics I know.

But I disagree with you on Plinkett's reviews not having any critical value.  In fact, I think his humor has far less value as I find it pretty lame and a little obnoxious.  But I thought he completely demolished and deconstructed the prequels.  Lots of good criticism I thought, he really broke down the problems of the prequels and why they were terrible films.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucho 

Quote:

Originally Posted by CreepyThinMan 

ef·fort·less  

Calling for, requiring, or showing little or no effort.

 

When I see Gump running, playing Ping Pong, fixing his gun, I don't see him knocking his ass out to do any of it.

Creepy, listen up son.

 

Forrest Gump ran across America. On his own two legs. He ran ... across ... America. Do you know how much effort that takes? A shitload is how much it takes Creepy. A motherfucking shitload of effort.

 

And do you know what he did after that? I'll tell you Creepy. Forrest Gump ran back across America! America is the third largest country on the Earth Creepy, and Forrest ran across it AND BACK!

 

And what did he do after that, for fuck's sake? HE RAN ACROSS AND BACK AGAIN!

 

Forrest Gump spent three and a half years running Creepy. And you have the gall ... to come in here ... and tell us Forrest didn't put in the hard yards?

 

Have you ever even played ping pong?!?

What kind of person runs across America and back again, for no reason at all? Only an idiot: Forrest Gump.

He was successful because he followed orders, was lucky, and was dumb. You're not arguing the more valid points of Creepy's argument.

I have to disagree with the assertion that Plinkett's reviews are not "worthwhile".  His Phantom Menace review alone has more value than some film classes. His reviews are like mini-courses in film storytelling. I just wish he would churn them out faster, but then the analysis might not be as good. So I'll take quality over quantity, I guess.

I have a feeling Bucho is mostly just messing around.

108 page rebuttal to Plinkett's review:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IFA1O2BI

Be forewarned, this is the type of review that calls out Plinkett saying Anakin didn't appear until 45 minutes into TPM, saying it was actually 32. But then again, "108 page rebuttal" kind of says that, doesn't it?

I was finally going to sit down and watch this but after viewing Part 1 and looking forward to Part 2 it says its no longer available. Hmmm, Oh well. I watching Part 3 and Plinkett's points about the walking and sitting that constantly takes place throughout the prequels is certainly spot on.

If Lucas had relinguished some authority e.g. screenwriter, cinemetographer, director, we may have gotten a different trilogy.

All the parts are available at redlettermedia.com

REVENGE OF NADINE:

TEASER TRAILER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkdCa4mZUhU&feature=player_embedded

Eight bucks says that the actual release title will be Return of Nadine.

Revenge of Nadine is online now!

Mmmm, that wasn't particularly funny or entertaining.  Also, actually seeing Plinkett is kinda 'disappointing.'  Hahahaha.  He should've just been kept a voice!  It's like learning that Darth Vader was once a cute little kid all over again!!!

Is the Transformers 2 reference just a misdirect?  What could the next review be?  The video used the Tron: Legacy soundtrack pretty prominently...

Jumped the shark so fucking hard. Yet...so appropriate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anderson 

Jumped the shark so fucking hard. Yet...so appropriate.

Exactly. That felt so completely divorced from anything else he has done in the worst possible way. "Plinkett"'s voice was also strangely off. Not very pleased at all.

got a slight chuckle, but even that was botched. This video was, as Plinkett would say, "More disappointing than my son."

I have a feeling the joke of the whole video is really the absurd nature going for it. Like it was made intentionally bad. It definitely has different sensibilities compared to the other videos. The beginning of the video having a host throwing tons of hyperbole about Plinkett kind of sets up the tone.

It can't be the same guy as the regular  VO. No way.

The epilogue is overlong. But I got a chuckle or 3. Mainly the cellphone gag.

I'd lie if I said I wasn't interested in FEEDING FRENZY.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DARKMITE8 

 

It can't be the same guy as the regular  VO. No way.

 

It's not. A guy named Mike Stoklasa does the reviews as Plinkett. His name was in the credits here as writer and producer and whatnot, but Plinkett was played by somebody else. Strange decision, but then again this entire video was ill-advised. Only the Emperor stuff was even mildly amusing.

Plinkett has a new review for... Cop Dog.

But at the end, it heavily hints that his next review could be Crystal Skull.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike the Fang 

There's no way Lucas reuses that '04 HD master for the blu-ray.

Oh NO!  Heheheh

Mike and Jay discuss 'The People vs George Lucas' and the Star Wars Blu rays...

http://redlettermedia.com/half-in-the-bag-the-people-vs-george-lucas-and-star-wars-discussion/

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham 

Mike and Jay discuss 'The People vs George Lucas' and the Star Wars Blu rays...

 

http://redlettermedia.com/half-in-the-bag-the-people-vs-george-lucas-and-star-wars-discussion/

I wonder if part two will feature them all engaging in an actual physical circlejerk, to go along with the figurative one they and the geek world have been indulging in for many years now.

Has anyone seen The People vs George Lucas?

I did, at Silverdocs (best documentary film festival in the country, bar none) a year and a half ago. It's funny and mostly keeps the interest. If you're at all familiar with the nerd debates over Star Wars (and I'm guessing everyone here is), it's treading a lot of familiar territory. It's a fun if somewhat shallow examination of fandom, and the most interesting parts come from the debate over whether Lucas had a right to alter his original films in the manner that he did (making changes to the original negatives). What I liked most was how the movie truly dives into the full scope of the obsession of Star Wars fandom. I knew there was a sea of fan-films and other stuff out there, but the sheer variety on display is staggering. The movie samples at least a hundred different fan works, and as someone unfamiliar with it, it was kind of astounding (and a bit saddening). It's worth a watch, I think.

For those of you still interested in Plinkett and his reviews and hoping he would do Crystal Skull....,welll, wish granted this Christmas:  http://redlettermedia.com/

Another sacred cow fearlessly tackled by the great contrarian of modern criticism. So brave!

As much as I enjoy his reviews, I WOULD love it if he tackled something that is actually loved and respected by most people.

What, like Schindler's List?

Shawshank!

Nah.  Probably something like The Dark Knight.  Genre/geek favorites.  But even TDK has been discussed more than enough (though that's the point).

EDIT: Ooooh, Shawshank!

Their review of Jack & Jill and their summation that its an elaborate scam for Adam Sandler to pay all his out of work friends is brilliant.

Shawshank's pretty solidly put together though isn't it? Not that much to nitpick, aside from the massive amount of disbelief it expects you to suspend at the end.

For a beloved classic Blade Runner doesn't make a whole lot of sense, especially if you buy the Deckard As Replicant idea.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul C 

Shawshank's pretty solidly put together though isn't it? Not that much to nitpick, aside from the massive amount of disbelief it expects you to suspend at the end.

 

For a beloved classic Blade Runner doesn't make a whole lot of sense, especially if you buy the Deckard As Replicant idea.

Is Plinkett's main strength the quality of his nitpicking?  I don't think he only attacks a film's logic. (And, in truth, some pretty great films are not terribly logical.)

Yea, I perked up at Shawshank for the sheer challenge it would be to find anything 'wrong' with it.

But Blade Runner sounds like a great one (it's not a movie I've ever been attached to).