Thank heavens this staple of American culture is no more. I have literally no idea who these people are or what they have done, and every time they appear on Videogum I, as a Briton who is not deeply involved enough in US television to understand how to respond, feel alienated. So I guess good riddance indeed.
SIDE NOTE: Lorry. I just wanted to say it so that now if anyone replies calling me a lorry their humour will look as old, tired and repetitive as that joke actually is.
...I meant the gif. The gif is irrelevant. Because that's its point isn't it? To be an irrelevant gif? And then I thought I would use a play on words with your username because that's what people do around here. I didn't realise it would be taken so seriously. Sorry =(
So I've only just caught up with today's Videogum. And seeing as I have a bit of a personal interest in this, I thought I'd have my say here. The "Russell Brand breaks his legendary silence" post just makes me sad. A person writes an article for a national newspaper about the London riots, someone who has lived in these areas for most of their life, and gets treated with disdain and mocked because it was Russell Brand who wrote it.
The whole "legendary silence" trope seems to be about taking self-important celebrities and pointing out ill-informed quotes they've made about topics completely unrelated to them. Russell Brand's article was thoughtful, considered, and described more than adequately some of the social complexities of the area where the rioting has occurred. I don't want to tell Gabe how to run a blog, and I know the MO of this place is mocking of celebrities who have a little too much self-worth. And let's face it, Russell Brand has done a lot worth mocking. It was just disappointing that when he does something positive with regards to a very serious issue that he is knowledgeable about, it was treated as a joke.
He can get away with that because he played Zeus. There is not a man who, if asked "would you like to be paid a lot of money to pretend to be Zeus for a few weeks", would say no.
Hmm... feeling awful about Robert de Niro's career path versus feeling awful about Liam Neeson's career path. New Year's Eve edges it in the "why are you appearing in this shit?! You're a serious actor!" stakes.
Is nobody going to mention how, on an article about how post-ironic meta-commentary is pretentious and inherently ridiculous, the highest rated comment is post-ironic meta-commentary?
Speaking of the over-sexualisation of actresses who should be credited with their acting work over their looks...
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_loc5ta71zj1qbohddo1_r2_500.gif
Hey, come on, I know you all what to make your comment first to have more chance of winning, but you really should watch the whole video before commenting on it.
Hooray! I performed well in an Internet-based game concerned with subverting the synopses of movies!
I'm glad you're all here today, actually. I've rejoined Twitter after an absence and wondered how I go about joining all the Twitter-related Videogum lists that seem to be around these days. Werttrew (my second favourite word to type on a QWERTY keyboard after "QWERTY", by the way), some assistance please? I am @TwoTwoForNow
I don't think The Sixth Sense really has an antagonist, unless you said that M Night Shyamalan was the antagonist and people who like good movies are the protagonists.
Kick Ass: Entire, multi-layered, decades-old organisation destroyed by two kids and a bazooka. Also, son is a bit of a dick and refuses to do McLovin impersonation.
You all thought this was a fake brand. Turns out the company were just smart enough to preemptively advertise it on the most popular cartoon in the world 25 years before actually releasing it.
http://simpsonslit.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/the-simpsons-brands-duff-beer.jpg
Clever marketing folk
The Hunt For The Worst Movie Of All Time Provided It Was Released In The Last Five Years And About Boring People In A Position Of Privilege Being Needlessly Philosophical
Seriously, can we not think of ANY film from before 2006 Gabe can review? At least stretch the guy's writing talent a little? "This film was pointless and about White People's Problems. So was this. So was this." THERE ARE LOTS OF BAD FILMS THAT ARE NOT ABOUT WHITE PEOPLE'S PROBLEMS! I cannot be the only person thinking this, surely?!
Oof. Signs was stupid. It took itself way too seriously. It had aliens that were awfully rendered which, considering they were the focal point of the "tension" (lol it's funny because there was actually no tension because the film was incredibly dull), was a major disadvantage. Before you even get into the idiotic twist. And the baseball bat. And the acting. And the script. And actually now I think about it every part of that shit.
Woah woah, hold up, time out. I am not 10% into these links and I have to ask this. People actually think Signs is good? Like, 80 on Rotten Tomatoes good? Signs is the worst film I have seen in the last 10 years. And it is only M Night Shyamalan's 6th worst film? I'd better watch out for that guy
I haven't used Videogum very much over the last six months. I used it consistently in 2010 (get to the point Grandpa), probably reading every post and rarely going a day without contributing. And since New Year I've barely made a post. I don't think anything has changed on Videogum, but I no longer get the kind of excitement I used to get that a post was imminent. It could be that there's more focus on American culture/TV shows recently, and as a Brit there's no real in-road where I can comment.
It could be a little bit to do with the favouritism amongst certain commenters, leaving comments unrelated to the article as if trying to exclude other people (Videogum is not a special place just for you to make your tiresome repetitive jokes, it is a place for EVERYONE). It's maybe a little to do with some of my favourite columns morphing into the same old thing every week, The Hunt is suddenly Gabe exaggerating the flaws of average films every Monday, WUWTG has disappeared. Guest weeks keep popping up and, whilst entertaining, just don't have the same standard of writing I'm used to. I'm not trying to knock Videogum here, I'm just saying the little spring of excitement I used to get at about two minutes to the hour has dried up and I'm sad it has.
This is still a great place for funny, smart writing not just from the article writer themselves but from the comment sections (the best comment sections on the internet? The best comment sections on the internet) but somehow, what was once a need for Videogum has dried up to be an idle interest. Just me, maybe. Don't know if all that's at all relevant to your six month review but I loved the few months I was commenting and my interest waning is a sad event. You monsters rock. Keep it up.
tl;dr I don't know what I'm talking about
#donaldtrumpisabellend
(CLARIFICATION: I don't use or care about twitter, but Charlie Brooker told me it is important for people to get this trending (?) so I am giving support the only way I know how, over Videogum)
No, don't you see? Comic book is a derogatory term, so it is only used to give us all a sense of intellectual superiority to low-rent, celebrity-focused material. Isn't hypocrisy fun!
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