ghiz876
Joined Sep 2005
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Reviews3
ghiz876's rating
I put off writing this review for a while, since I care so little at this point about the exceedingly egocentric and money-hungry James Rolfe that it seemed like too much effort to put together a professionally done review. So I've decided, screw it, I won't spend a lot of time structuring this and making it as professional as possible because it's simply not worth it and the flaws are so obvious and usually already pointed out by everyone else that it seems redundant to spend so much time on reviewing this film.
To begin with, the very principle behind this film's creation, marketing and distribution is shockingly unethical. James, despite making thousands upon thousands of money from his videos, felt the need to beg for money from his fanbase for funding. To begin with, why is the budget so excessive? James realised the original premise for the movie was ridiculous and would require too much money so he shouldn't have kept going with it. And if he stopped being so absorbed in his own ego for one moment, he'd realise that what fans liked about the AVGN wasn't a billion extravagant locations or overblown special effects. It was the simple humour of the Nerd and the relatable fashion in which he agonised over these games.
But besides his asking fans to donate being unnecessary, he didn't even have enough decency to let said fans see the film! Donators don't get to see the film on DVD or digitally until after it's finished showing in cinemas and even then, they would have to pay, in addition to the potentially huge funds towards the movie, the price for the retail or digital copy as well!
On to the movie itself, it's immediately apparent how amazingly absorbed James has become in his ego. The Nerd in this movie isn't his usual self. He's nothing more than James in the Nerd costume, surrounded by adoring fans. The Nerd as a character was never about this and it adds nothing to the film other than to see how much James has come to see himself as some kind of messiah. Granted, his raving fanboys do see him as such but good lord.
There is very little funny in the movie itself. In fact, I'm struggling to remember any funny parts at all, though there may have been a couple little smirks or giggles on a very rare occasion. Most of the humour comes from the review at the end, of course because it's the traditional Nerd for the most part and is generally simple. You just need to ignore the grating audience laughter after the first gag, the alien gear Nerd's hooked up to and the fact that he's dictating to his worshippers. The review isn't outstanding, either, it's just okay. It would fit among his other reviews as not outstandingly bad, not outstandingly good, just acceptable. It's also disappointingly short, considering the whole movie built up to this review. If he only planned for the E.T review to be a moderate length, why base the movie around it?
The supporting cast are as bland as you can get. The lead female represents much of what is wrong with media's portrayal of women. It's not all bad, she does get herself out of danger without NEEDING to be saved, she is intelligent and has her own agenda. But much of her character concept centers around the Nerd and his sidekick's belief that girls can't be gamers. This is a tired concept and not really one that I believe should be visited for a movie like this, which so many people poured money into and waited so long for. It immediately causes anybody who isn't a piece of crap to feel detached from Nerd and sidekick-what's-his-name, oh Cooper, that's his name. But the lead female has a certain trait I won't mention for spoilers' sake that keeps her from being too relatable too. Nobody in this movie, in other words, is at all relatable or likable. How is anyone supposed to enjoy such a movie? There's also a romantic subplot, apparently, the "conclusion" of which is just slapped on at the end. It came from absolutely nowhere and contradicted how horribly the character was treated before that point. Oh and she ends up objectified before the movie's over. But it's self-aware, that makes it clever! No.
The story feels like a confused mess of crap AVGN thought would be cool and so decided to throw in. The core story of finding the Atari ET landfill and discovering some kind of conspiracy behind it, yeah that works. But why do we need a big-budget dream sequence? Why a detour to a casino? Why do we need a giant monster destroying pricey props for 15 minutes before being anti-climatically resolved? It goes without saying that a crapton of fan-donated money went to gimmicky crap like this instead of the core plot of the film itself which is, to put it short, an insult.
To conclude, this film is the culmination of James' ego and greed rocketing to its ultimate state, as well as his fallen humour. The heart's no longer there, as this is just crap he thought could in theory work for lengthening a story to movie length.
To begin with, the very principle behind this film's creation, marketing and distribution is shockingly unethical. James, despite making thousands upon thousands of money from his videos, felt the need to beg for money from his fanbase for funding. To begin with, why is the budget so excessive? James realised the original premise for the movie was ridiculous and would require too much money so he shouldn't have kept going with it. And if he stopped being so absorbed in his own ego for one moment, he'd realise that what fans liked about the AVGN wasn't a billion extravagant locations or overblown special effects. It was the simple humour of the Nerd and the relatable fashion in which he agonised over these games.
But besides his asking fans to donate being unnecessary, he didn't even have enough decency to let said fans see the film! Donators don't get to see the film on DVD or digitally until after it's finished showing in cinemas and even then, they would have to pay, in addition to the potentially huge funds towards the movie, the price for the retail or digital copy as well!
On to the movie itself, it's immediately apparent how amazingly absorbed James has become in his ego. The Nerd in this movie isn't his usual self. He's nothing more than James in the Nerd costume, surrounded by adoring fans. The Nerd as a character was never about this and it adds nothing to the film other than to see how much James has come to see himself as some kind of messiah. Granted, his raving fanboys do see him as such but good lord.
There is very little funny in the movie itself. In fact, I'm struggling to remember any funny parts at all, though there may have been a couple little smirks or giggles on a very rare occasion. Most of the humour comes from the review at the end, of course because it's the traditional Nerd for the most part and is generally simple. You just need to ignore the grating audience laughter after the first gag, the alien gear Nerd's hooked up to and the fact that he's dictating to his worshippers. The review isn't outstanding, either, it's just okay. It would fit among his other reviews as not outstandingly bad, not outstandingly good, just acceptable. It's also disappointingly short, considering the whole movie built up to this review. If he only planned for the E.T review to be a moderate length, why base the movie around it?
The supporting cast are as bland as you can get. The lead female represents much of what is wrong with media's portrayal of women. It's not all bad, she does get herself out of danger without NEEDING to be saved, she is intelligent and has her own agenda. But much of her character concept centers around the Nerd and his sidekick's belief that girls can't be gamers. This is a tired concept and not really one that I believe should be visited for a movie like this, which so many people poured money into and waited so long for. It immediately causes anybody who isn't a piece of crap to feel detached from Nerd and sidekick-what's-his-name, oh Cooper, that's his name. But the lead female has a certain trait I won't mention for spoilers' sake that keeps her from being too relatable too. Nobody in this movie, in other words, is at all relatable or likable. How is anyone supposed to enjoy such a movie? There's also a romantic subplot, apparently, the "conclusion" of which is just slapped on at the end. It came from absolutely nowhere and contradicted how horribly the character was treated before that point. Oh and she ends up objectified before the movie's over. But it's self-aware, that makes it clever! No.
The story feels like a confused mess of crap AVGN thought would be cool and so decided to throw in. The core story of finding the Atari ET landfill and discovering some kind of conspiracy behind it, yeah that works. But why do we need a big-budget dream sequence? Why a detour to a casino? Why do we need a giant monster destroying pricey props for 15 minutes before being anti-climatically resolved? It goes without saying that a crapton of fan-donated money went to gimmicky crap like this instead of the core plot of the film itself which is, to put it short, an insult.
To conclude, this film is the culmination of James' ego and greed rocketing to its ultimate state, as well as his fallen humour. The heart's no longer there, as this is just crap he thought could in theory work for lengthening a story to movie length.
The story of two disturbed women whose lives end up intertwining. Or to be precise, one obsessive and possibly delusional woman and another who simply has had a hard life. When the psychotic of the two, Amy, develops a fascination with her reclusive neighbour, Saffron, she shows it through trying to push her love of food on to her. What follows is a rather bizarre but intriguing series of events.
A great aspect of this film is that I believe it's open to interpretation. Amy clearly doesn't have the tightest grip on reality, in fact we are often shown glimpses into her head where an imaginary audience is cheering her on. Combine this with the plot and characters going in the strangest of directions and the sceptical comments of a particular other character and the film raises the question of how much of it is in Amy's head and how much of it is simply events going in such a unique way.
Admittedly, this film is probably a bit of an acquired taste(ha, get it). It's labelled a thriller, which is partly true but the vast majority of it is a character study. If you like analysing the mindsets of flawed characters, this film is for you. Worth re-watching if you want to look at things from a different angle.
A great aspect of this film is that I believe it's open to interpretation. Amy clearly doesn't have the tightest grip on reality, in fact we are often shown glimpses into her head where an imaginary audience is cheering her on. Combine this with the plot and characters going in the strangest of directions and the sceptical comments of a particular other character and the film raises the question of how much of it is in Amy's head and how much of it is simply events going in such a unique way.
Admittedly, this film is probably a bit of an acquired taste(ha, get it). It's labelled a thriller, which is partly true but the vast majority of it is a character study. If you like analysing the mindsets of flawed characters, this film is for you. Worth re-watching if you want to look at things from a different angle.