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SatansBestBuddy
Sep 26, 2010

by FactsAreUseless
Very disappointed none of you have mentioned CineFix yet, as they're probably some of my favourite reviewers out there. For one, there's tons of variety on the channel, from 8-Bit parodies to trailer remixes to trivia shows like Things You Didn't Know or What's The Difference? and even just straight forward reviews and roundtables for what's happening in theatres right now.

But their best series is easily their movie lists series, which are so, so much better than you'd expect from watching any given top 10 list on YouTube. Here's their top ten on colour in movies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tILIeNjbH1E

Every spot is basically a completely different category, talking in-depth on colour theory with vivid examples, and there's just such enthusiasm and energy when talking about movies that it makes me want to watch all the picks on this list just because CineFix talked about them so lovingly, which is exactly why I watch video reviewers in the first place, to get excited for and have a reason to watch a movie I've never seen before, or even better, see a movie I've seen before with a new eye. I love it.

On the flip side, Ozzy Man Reviews is an aussie man reviewing random poo poo on the internet. Here he's talking about Ping Pong. Here he's talking about why hockey is better than soccer. He also does Game of Thrones reviews, his longest reviews but still clocking under ten minutes yet nailing all the basics like what's happening and why it matters. He churns out a lot of stuff and not all of it's good but it's all short so he's great if you need to burn a couple of minutes and want a laugh.

Alacron posted:

If anyone is into videogame speedruns, a youtuber named Summoning Salt has been releasing videos on popular speedruns (Mario, Punch Out, etc.) and how their world records have developed over time. It's pretty neat stuff, though a little dry.

This one is for the Super Metroid world record.

This is also a good series and I'm hopeful he continues cause it's a super niche thing that not many people would be familiar with beyond those already involved, and there's tons of material to work with.

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somekindofguy
Mar 9, 2011
Grimey Drawer
I dig puzzles, especially ones where you have to think outside the box. This guy called FLEB showcases some rarer/obscure physical puzzles, including this strange cube called the X-box. Some of these really require you to stretch your brain and/or experiment, which sadly seems lost on a few of the YouTube commenters.

Josef K. Sourdust
Jul 16, 2014

"To be quite frank, Platinum sucks at making games. Vanquish was terrible and Metal Gear Rising: Revengance was so boring it put me to sleep."

Oliver Harper reviews Dredd (2012) and discusses The Stallone Judge Dredd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A77d231lZsc

TheMaestroso
Nov 4, 2014

I must know your secrets.
Bob's responses to CinemaSins videos never fail to astonish me. I don't think very highly of Jeremy's ability to watch and understand movies, but I didn't think he could be this dense.

Mr.Flibble
Jul 23, 2008
Decker Shado, the internet personality with the best hair, does humorous reviews of horror and action movies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwCwFhw4EeU

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?
I like Decker Shadow's choice of content for his reviews, but I wish he'd develop his style more than just aping old Channel Awesome shtick presentation. My favourite videos he did are his Planet of the Apes retrospectives, and his analyses of the Alien and Predator films.

PassTheRemote
Mar 15, 2007

Number 6 holds The Village record in Duck Hunt.

The first one to kill :laugh: wins.

TheMaestroso posted:

Bob's responses to CinemaSins videos never fail to astonish me. I don't think very highly of Jeremy's ability to watch and understand movies, but I didn't think he could be this dense.

This is what happens when online reviewing is dominated in the early years with the Nostalgia Critic style of reviewing. People now think nitpicking minor things counts as serious film critiques.

Alacron
Feb 15, 2007

-->Have tearful reunion with your son
-->Eh
Fun Shoe
A guy by the name of Jon Bois a series called Pretty Good, which are about stories, mostly sports stories, that he finds genuinely entertaining. It's kind of confusing to find, as the first ten are on his personal Youtube channel, and the latest one is on SB Nation, which I'm pretty sure is a website he works for(?)

Here's his thoughts on professional poker and how absolutely insane it is.

Here's an episode on the career of Lonnie Smith

The story of the Dumbest Boy Alive

The utter depravity that was the 1904 Olympic Marathon

My personal favorite, the most humiliating, crushing defeat in football history

Alaois
Feb 7, 2012

Alacron posted:

A guy by the name of Jon Bois a series called Pretty Good, which are about stories, mostly sports stories, that he finds genuinely entertaining. It's kind of confusing to find, as the first ten are on his personal Youtube channel, and the latest one is on SB Nation, which I'm pretty sure is a website he works for(?)

Here's his thoughts on professional poker and how absolutely insane it is.

Here's an episode on the career of Lonnie Smith

The story of the Dumbest Boy Alive

The utter depravity that was the 1904 Olympic Marathon

My personal favorite, the most humiliating, crushing defeat in football history

Jon Bois is probably better known as the guy who did Breaking Madden for SBNation, and Pretty Good lives up to its name. I just wish the episode about the Russian guy who averted nuclear war wasn't apparently lost forever

Max Coveri
Dec 23, 2015

by Athanatos
The instant classic known as Pissed Off Video Gamer, with his intricate review of the Nintendo Shitkyube.

https://youtu.be/2asDPQrv0Nw

poparena
Oct 31, 2012

I did a video on Ken Grimwood's "Replay", which is about time loops, death and home video equipment.

lornekates
Oct 3, 2014

Web Developer for phelous.com dot com.

Alaois posted:

Jon Bois is probably better known as the guy who did Breaking Madden for SBNation, and Pretty Good lives up to its name. I just wish the episode about the Russian guy who averted nuclear war wasn't apparently lost forever

+77 for Pretty Good. I'm not really INTO sports, but know enough to follow along. And even if I didn't, his storytelling skills are great-- and the stories that he picks sufficiently interesting/insane/unique enough that they transcend "itz a spoorts story!"

It is a shame about the Russian guy one. I never got to see it. I assume it's gone because of a copyright issue, and he just never bothered to corporate-overlord-friendlyify it.

I Am Fowl
Mar 8, 2008

nononononono

lornekates posted:

+77 for Pretty Good. I'm not really INTO sports, but know enough to follow along. And even if I didn't, his storytelling skills are great-- and the stories that he picks sufficiently interesting/insane/unique enough that they transcend "itz a spoorts story!"

It is a shame about the Russian guy one. I never got to see it. I assume it's gone because of a copyright issue, and he just never bothered to corporate-overlord-friendlyify it.

This is basically how it is for me too. He's a fantastic storyteller. He tells you about subjects that he loves or that fascinate him and that carries over--in part due to what appears to be a staggering level of research.

NorgLyle
Sep 20, 2002

Do you think I posted to this forum because I value your companionship?

PassTheRemote posted:

This is what happens when online reviewing is dominated in the early years with the Nostalgia Critic style of reviewing. People now think nitpicking minor things counts as serious film critiques.
I'm afraid I'm finally being 'that's the joke'-d, but I'm pretty sure nobody involved with Cinema Sins thinks of what they do as serious film critique; it's supposed to be a comedy series, right?

EDIT: To be completely honest, though, for a long time I thought Something Awful's own movie review column that used to run was /also/ supposed to be a joke about self-improtant critics and didn't realize how deadly serious the crew that wrote them were being.

NorgLyle has a new favorite as of 20:23 on Mar 11, 2017

Trojan Kaiju
Feb 13, 2012


NorgLyle posted:

I'm afraid I'm finally being 'that's the joke'-d, but I'm pretty sure nobody involved with Cinema Sins thinks of what they do as serious film critique; it's supposed to be a comedy series, right?



The second Everything Wrong With Everything Wrong With video goes into specifics about how that doesn't really hold up. A lot of the nitpicky stuff in EWW that EWWEWW points out as false are used by the same guy as legitimate criticisms elsewhere. It's played up for comedy but they are reflective of the actual poor analysis being made.

NorgLyle
Sep 20, 2002

Do you think I posted to this forum because I value your companionship?

Cinema Sins, like Dave Chappelle, should have listened to idiots misunderstanding their humor and immediately fled to the depths of Canada with its notably spotty internet access and stopped trying to entertain anyone for fear that someone, somewhere might get the wrong idea about the perceived quality of Captain America: Civil War.

Alternatively, I suppose, they could hire the same kind of nitpicking weirdo that they are parodying to make sure that the last names of charaters in movies are sufficiently uncommon to make a proper half second joke about in their videos.

Augus
Mar 9, 2015


Or they could make better videos that are actually funny and accurate instead of the opposite of both those things.

Mischalaniouse
Nov 7, 2009

*ribbit*
On the other hand, they're making bank the way they're doing their videos now, so I don't think they really have an incentive to change anything.

Deport The Irish
Nov 25, 2013
The only thing worse than CinemaSins is Shellshellshell's fevered obsession with doing a boring-rear end nitpick video of everything they upload.

Trojan Kaiju
Feb 13, 2012


Deport The Irish posted:

The only thing worse than CinemaSins is Shellshellshell's fevered obsession with doing a boring-rear end nitpick video of everything they upload.

Yeah all 3 of the things they uploaded.

TheMaestroso
Nov 4, 2014

I must know your secrets.

Deport The Irish posted:

The only thing worse than CinemaSins is Shellshellshell's fevered obsession with doing a boring-rear end nitpick video

I personally find the baffling, often contradictory non-criticisms in CS videos that Bob points out to be incredibly fascinating from a perspective of "how the hell does this guy fail so hard at watching movies," so I can't fathom why someone would be bored by it. But hey, you do you.

quote:

of everything they upload.

If you think CS has only uploaded three videos in the past ten months, HOO boy are you in for a treat.

E: VVV

There's a part of my post that you missed. Kinda like the narrative context and basic details that Jeremy regularly ignores. :boom:

TheMaestroso has a new favorite as of 02:43 on Mar 14, 2017

Deport The Irish
Nov 25, 2013
Yes, I literally believed that Shellshellshells has uploaded a video for every single thing CinemaSins has ever made. You have successfully defended his honor. I am slain. (I'm not literally dead, don't freak out)

Those videos are still bad, though.

TheMaestroso posted:

There's a part of my post that you missed. Kinda like the narrative context and basic details that Jeremy regularly ignores. :boom:

Well, in response to that part I personally think you have bad taste in entertainment. The only thing worse than a nitpick video is an even longer nitpick video.

There, I have now responded to all parts of your comment. You are freed from your curse.

Deport The Irish has a new favorite as of 02:46 on Mar 14, 2017

SatansBestBuddy
Sep 26, 2010

by FactsAreUseless
I find it really telling that Bob's critiques of CinemaSins videos is consistently better edited with obviously more time, effort and thought put into each one.

CinemaSins is basic subtitles with a "ding" sound. You can pound that out in an afternoon.

Meanwhile in the response videos you've got pans, zooms, actual design elements around the counter with video-in-video, and some other effects, nothing super fancy or complex but a definite step up compared to the no-effort videos CS puts out, even discounting the scripts (which is what the response video is all about) there's obviously more time spent on each video.

Tired Moritz
Mar 25, 2012

wish Lowtax would get tired of YOUR POSTS

(n o i c e)
At the end of the day, it's people talking about superhero movies which is coma-inducing to me.

Augus
Mar 9, 2015


It was really funny when EWWEWW pointed out the absurdly dangerous placement of Falcon's missile launcher, a lot funnier than any of the observations in EWW videos

OldTennisCourt
Sep 11, 2011

by VideoGames

Deport The Irish posted:

Yes, I literally believed that Shellshellshells has uploaded a video for every single thing CinemaSins has ever made. You have successfully defended his honor. I am slain. (I'm not literally dead, don't freak out)

Those videos are still bad, though.


Well, in response to that part I personally think you have bad taste in entertainment. The only thing worse than a nitpick video is an even longer nitpick video.

There, I have now responded to all parts of your comment. You are freed from your curse.

Why are you so weirdly hostile about internet videos?

TheMaestroso
Nov 4, 2014

I must know your secrets.

Augus posted:

It was really funny when EWWEWW pointed out the absurdly dangerous placement of Falcon's missile launcher, a lot funnier than any of the observations in EWW videos

This was a legit great moment. He really should go through with doing his own "nitpick" videos showing actual weird/crazy things like that.

Alacron
Feb 15, 2007

-->Have tearful reunion with your son
-->Eh
Fun Shoe
Summoning Salt did another world record progression video, this one's on Mario Kart 64.

MariusLecter
Sep 5, 2009

NI MUERTE NI MIEDO
NerdWriter: Why Bruno Mars 24K Magic Makes You Dance

MariusLecter
Sep 5, 2009

NI MUERTE NI MIEDO
Jim Sterling plays Steam game EVIL featuring the stupidest bathroom in the world.

Puppy Time
Mar 1, 2005



Wow, that... that sure is some interior design, there. :pwn:

Alacron
Feb 15, 2007

-->Have tearful reunion with your son
-->Eh
Fun Shoe
If you're not already sick of videos dissecting The Dark Knight, Rant & Bollox analyzes the movie through the theme of identity

I'd recommend some of his other videos too, particularly the ones on Green Lantern, Terminator 1 & 2, and Batman v Superman :can:

HookedOnChthonics
Dec 5, 2015

Profoundly dull


Blue Star posted:

I kinda like Jontron's videos but lately it seems like he's a little too friendly with alt-right types. I hope thats just an error in my perception because his videos are funny.


wwwwwelp... :v:


I haven't seen any mentions of Things I Bought at Sheetz, which is a uniquely-formatted food review show for the modern era based entirely around products bought on a whim from east coast made-to-order deli/convenience store chain Sheetz. It's good.

Standout reviews:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCEvaEiMXlA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I3JgDfsNYk

SatansBestBuddy
Sep 26, 2010

by FactsAreUseless
BotW has everybody sucking Nintendo's dick, and so far Turbo Button is one of the better people to articulate why one change they made works so well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgBvbX1wTRA

Augus
Mar 9, 2015


SatansBestBuddy posted:

BotW has everybody sucking Nintendo's dick, and so far Turbo Button is one of the better people to articulate why one change they made works so well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgBvbX1wTRA

What's kinda funny looking back is that in a lot of ways Wind Waker was already taking steps in this direction. I mean, look at the Deku Leaf in that game. It can be used to create gusts of wind that push stuff around or as a parachute that lets you move around freely in vertical space, just like the glider in BoTW. They both even have updrafts you could use to give yourself a boost, though Wind Waker's were scripted in their placements. The hookshot could pull you towards hookshot targets, or towards wooden objects like trees and chests, or pull enemies toward you while stunning them, or it could be combined with the iron boots to weigh Link down and yank heavy objects downward. Lava serves as a hazard that can be frozen with either water or ice, and lava plumes would send those platforms upwards. There are also other similarities beyond that, from the increased focus on the overworld over dungeons, to the way combat is designed primarily around large groups of enemies who fill different niches in combat (instead of OoT's constant one-on-one encounters) and Link is given a loser, more agile feel. Hell, Wind Waker let you steal weapons from enemies, except those weapons sucked and were clunky to use. It didn't go all the way with these changes and still very much stuck to the old formula, but things were gradually becoming more complex.

Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword end up being huge regressions in that light. You can see the series evolving from Ocarina to Majora to Wind Waker, and then it kinda just stops and takes backwards steps for the next two games, besides experimenting with motion controls. Items become even more restricted in their use, more so than ever. The world closes up again. The mechanics become more rigged and restricting, even down to the movement of the character. The sprawling vertical spaces that Wind Waker introduced became conspicuously absent, the series loses that extra dimension instead of building on it.

Then Breath of the Wild picks things back up again and makes up for an entire decade of stagnation, picking up the evolution of the series where it left off with Wind Waker and taking a massive leap forward from there.

SatansBestBuddy
Sep 26, 2010

by FactsAreUseless
Yeah, I "finished" BotW recently, or at least beat Ganon so I could put the game down and play Nier, and I also noticed a lot of Wind Waker similarities, with the biggest notable change being that BotW is much more willing to trust players than Wind Waker ever was.

Like, in Wind Waker, you start on your home island, then you sneak into the Forsaken Fortress, then get the boat, sail to Dragon Roost, get the actual Wind Waker so you can change wind direction and beeline to Forest Haven. You can try to explore at this point but you don't even have bombs yet, so you still need to get the final pearl to open the Tower of the Gods to get the Master Sword so you can save your sister, finally, which happens with a healthy dose of plot twists and cutscenes. It's only after all that happens that you're given the quest to find the Triforce pieces and power up the Master Sword that the game actually opens up and lets you explore without limits. It's only then, after three full dungeons and hours of exploration already having taken place, that the game has given you all the tools you need to actually explore everywhere with no restrictions.

You can do either of the final two dungeons in any order! You can find any of the Triforce pieces in any order! You can go anywhere and do anything! It's an amazing feeling and one of the reasons Wind Waker is one of the better Zeldas.

But the game spent half it's playtime holding the players hands, slowly loosening the grip over time but never really letting go until all of the useful items have been found, usually with a dungeon serving as a useful tutorial so the players know how to use the items they have. Wind Waker is a slow, slow burn to get to the good stuff, because it never trusts the player to figure things out on their own, they need to be shown how to use what they have before they're let out into the world.

BotW does none of that. It's got the starting area, with the old man showing you how to hunt, how to chop down trees, how to cook, all things you need to actually explore and talk to him for him to explain, he doesn't lean over your shoulder the whole time telling you where to find the axe to chop down trees with, and there are shrines teaching you how to use your powers, and then you get the glider and you're done! You have everything you need to beat the game now, and only two quests to start with; go see Impa, and Destroy Ganon.

Both games have the same basic structure of giving you useful, multipurpose items and a huge, open world to explore at your leisure, finding interesting things at your own pace, but the pacing between the two is radically different, and it mostly comes down to WW not trusting players to understand how to play as much as BotW does.

EDIT: Also, and I only just thought of this now, but one of the reasons people hated the Triforce quest is because the game's pace slows right the gently caress down when it starts, because it's such a sudden shift to go from constantly being pushed towards the next stage of the quest, to the game finally letting go and saying "you go figure it out yourself now." That shift in tone, that push to get to the real meat of the game, the exploration, comes very suddenly, and people didn't like it because it's different from what the game had been doing up to that point. Players didn't have their own agency up until that point, and they didn't know what to do with it when they got it.

Nintendo's response to that was to make Twilight Princess just like the early parts of Wind Waker all the way to the end, with the game constantly pushing you towards your next objective.

BotW fixes that mistake by never pushing the player at all. Everything the player does, is by their own agency. The game actually teaches players to be self-motivated.

SatansBestBuddy has a new favorite as of 08:27 on Mar 21, 2017

Maxwell Lord
Dec 12, 2008

I am drowning.
There is no sign of land.
You are coming down with me, hand in unlovable hand.

And I hope you die.

I hope we both die.


:smith:

Grimey Drawer
Before BotW, Wind Waker was definitely the Zelda sequel that most reminded me of the original's focus on exploration. You really want to fill in all of the map, it's part of the fun, I didn't even mind how slow sailing was. Not that I necessarily minded other games focusing more on the "epic fantasy quest" element, but BotW does benefit a lot from the focus.

Blue Star
Feb 18, 2013

by FactsAreUseless

that post did not age well

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?
You guys keep saying BOTW referring to Zelda, but I'm just thinking about Mike and Rich.

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e X
Feb 23, 2013

cool but crude

Arcsquad12 posted:

You guys keep saying BOTW referring to Zelda, but I'm just thinking about Mike and Rich.

I was pretty confused how the hell best of the worst pushed Nintendo, since for all I know, the guys are pretty out of touch when it comes to videogames

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