11/05 STILL CRAZY - Movie Misperception

Hi everyone.

I review movies that were either failures intially that I like, or movies that are popular that I don't like. Mostly I like to stick to slightly obscure movies that didn't do so hot at the box office, that I think deserve more recognition

I always keep a positive attitude and this episode is no exception. One of my favorite horror movies ever. I also happen too think it's one of the best vampire movies of all time.

Using the Blip Button was embedding the wrong video, so here's just the link, lol.

http://blip.tv/moviemisperception/still-crazy-review-5724474

All of my reviews can be seen on my website
http://www.moviemisperception.com

Thanks,
Topher

Hello and welcome to CCS, are you looking for critiques or wanting to be featured on the site or both or some other option I cant think of at the moment?!

Constructive criticism is always welcome. Also, I'd love the opportunity to get on this site. It's a pretty impressive place! Mostly my main goal is to reach people with my humor. That means more to me than most things in life. Making people laugh is what makes me happy.

Well I'm sure my comrades here may find some things I missed but what I thought about it is (seeing your Zombie review and the axe murder review) you seem in between doing a shot for shot review of the film and an overall opinionated review of the film (hopefully that makes sense lol)

The lighting and audio are great, you can be seen and heard very clearly, the clip quality is good as well and the editing seems clean.

Your review dialogue seems a bit jumpy like I said you seem to do a shot for shot review of the film but then say things like when you talked about a mini history of elevators in zombie films.

I'm also not sure what your show is about exactly. Do you have a specific genre of film you stay on or you just review whatever you want? etc, etc

Your show isnt bad, but I does need some polishing up a bit.

It isn't specific to a genre. It's mostly about movies that were failures in one form or another, that I would consider to be underrated.

As far as formatting goes, I've tried to steer away from the play-by-play as I call it. I try to give an outline for the progression of the plot, but yes I do jump aside and talk about characters, or make an observation about the movie's genre. I change these formatting structures based on the movie. I won't tie myself down to one type of structure. It gets boring. I don't want to do full-on story progression because its over done. But I don't see myself going the Nostalgia Chick route where I full-out talk about the movie from a sociology standpoint.

Thanks for the notes. I appreciate unbiased opinion!

I really don't get it.

Gee, well I'm sorry to hear that. ROFL

I suppose if I were to word it in such a way that it "made sense" it would go;

"You might not have enjoyed this particular film, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I have the same opinion about it."

I like to word things strangely. It's part of who I am. Thanks for commenting.

Hey, I saw the review and after mulling it over I figured i'd give you the benefit of giving you a critique.

Basically...I think you need to forget about everything you've seen.

Don't worry, I don't mean the movies or anything like that- I actually thought your closing comment on zombies was very insightful and that you do seem to have a decent knowledge of film to fall back on. What I mean is, you need to forget about the Nostalgia critic and every other internet reviewer you've seen.

Why? Here's the thing, and I know how it is having gone through it mentally- you tend to pick up on his rhythms, his pacing, his timing and the way he delivers a joke. The problem is simple- you're not the nostalgia critic. Just making a reference isn't a joke, and seeming mildly annoyed about something that isn't actually that bad or annoying isn't that funny either. When the NC does it, it's like the characters are actually relevant and interferring with him, and it frustrates him. But you're not going for frustarted reviewer, so certainly don't got for half frustrated reviewer. References aren't worth anything comedically unless they enhance the joke. Otherwise there's no joke to be had.

Now you want to go for the humour route, so my advice is going to hinge on that aspect.

Let me give you an example- our very own contributor Cinemax who works on Mockbuster Mockery. One thing you'll notice about Cinemax is that there's very little cut backs to clips and pictures of other movies. Max tends to rely on simply his own words and the pictures which help to punctuate the dialogue and add cheeky embellishment for quick witted viewers. Everything is focused on the actual movie at hand...kind of like an actual review, believe it or not. The humour comes often from the ridiculousness of scenarios and not just by explaining the plot in depth, only picking out what's truly laughable. It's a much less painful way to review a movie.

Now, another thing he does is simply about being hismelf. A cynical, cantankerous, quick witted and dry critic. That's Cinemax's own style that no-one has a handle on. He treats it like a french sounding John Cleese, as if he's dealing with a complete idiot and he has to pull back the curtain and tell everyone why it's not what it pretends to be.

So I want to see more of you in your work.

Clearly, you have something about you. There's a spark of charm and a nice friendly demeanour that I'm not used to in most reviews. As a result, I would ditch the agressive side completely. It might be a lot funnier to see how a much more positive attitude affects your review, maybe like some kind of scout troupe leader who laughs off a bear mauling one of her kids like it happens all the time, and probably does. Try new things. Be super creative. Maybe find a set series of films that only you have the skinny on.

It's also difficult for me to judge this because horror movie critics are a dime a dozen, and as a result I'm a little jaded, so maybe other reviews you've made will be better examples?

Either way, I hope this critique was helpful, and I hope you do continue striving to find something in this. I'd maybe start to get aquatinted with the forums more? Get to know everyone, that way it might not feel so distant for you in the future. Have a gander at what everyone else is doing.

@ B-Mask. First of all, thanks for taking the time to give me an in-depth opinion. Usually in the world of forums, or video comments, you get the polar opposites of. "That was really great, I loved it, now watch my stuff" or "Ur a F#g for liking this movie F$%k you" Without any real insight to it. So thanks for being sincere. A lot of people claim to want constructive criticism, but can't handle it. What you and Sarah have said have been well-weighted and substantial observations. So I'll just hit a few points you made here.

As far as "picking up" on things the big-time reviewers do. I get what your saying. It's similar to say, Bob Dylan's first two albums where he sounded far too much like his hero Woody Guthrie. That being said I can't deny being influenced by other critics and I hope to continue to find my own voice completely. One thing I feel no shame of is my references. I try to never make a reference simply to make a reference. The N-C's style is his own, but it's not just him, it's The Simpsons, Seth McFarlane, South Park, Mel Brooks, The Zucker Brothers, Saturday Night Live and so-on. My brain is constantly being "triggered" in my everyday life by snippets of tv, cinema, and music that shouldn't logically be coming to mind. It's kind of like that show from the 90's "Dream On" where there was constant cut-ins with scenes of old tv and movies that were supposedly in the main characters head. That's pretty much how my brain is all of the time, and just like in my videos it kinda drives me nuts sometimes. So as far as putting myself in the video, that is me, whether or not someone else is already famous for it. Now, don't take any of that as me being annoyed, I assure you still that your critique was well received.

Something I definitely take as good advice is asking me why I bother with a negative aspect at all? Good question. In most of my videos my specialty is being positive. This is a show based around promoting underrated movies (mostly) So that makes a lot of sense. I even see how I could have done this with Return of the Living Dead Two. Since I did the movie because it was a part of my childhood I could have attempted to play it off as being in denial about its shortcomings. I like the route I took with this particular vid, but let's just say that advice hit home for the future.

I would also point out that no, I'm not a horror reviewer. I really am just doing this movie, and one other horror-ish film because I love Halloween and I wanted to have fun doing a couple October episodes. If you would like to see a video that is more my usual thing i'd suggest maybe my Muppets From Space or Return to Oz videos.

I am familiar with Cinemax, and his rant at the beginning and the end of his "Snakes On A Train" review was both awesome, and a little pompous at the same time. Both of which are okay in my book. I also took what he said to heart. Considering I definitely saw something that is truly unique in his videos. He and I definitely see eye-to-eye on the length and pacing of a video. I try very hard to keep my video length at 13-15 minutes. Not the 25-28 minutes that some of the big name folks have gotten too.

And yes, the "friendly demeanor" part that you mention. I am glad you picked up on that. Because it is something I wanted to convey from the start. Also its nice to have someone say I have charm and spark. I take care of sick people for a living, I used to sell things for a living. I have a lot of experience at being "Comforting" for a lack of a better term. Haha

As far as my choice of movies on the whole. My criteria is that it be some variation of one or several of the following: Financially Unsuccessful, Critically Disliked, Publicly Disliked, Under-the-radar, Generically Underrated, Unknown, or simply put...Misperceived.

Thanks Again
Topher

I really had a hard time getting into the video so I quit after the first five minutes. I don't wanna sound like a culo but there wasn't any fresh ideas to keep me watching.