Friday 7 April 2017

Meta Month: Catch-Up Part 1: JonTron, Film Brain, Todd In The Shadows and Lindsay Ellis (2017)



It’s April again, and you know what that means! It’s once again time for Meta Month, where I dedicate the whole month of April to discussing my critical influences and the people that I spend an unhealthy amount of time watching on YouTube. Well, not exactly. Given how last year’s catalogue consisted of articles and lists that I had literally been cultivating for at least a year beforehand, I’m not set up to do the same thing again this year. However, I will be doing some special reviews this month as well as doing a bit of catch-up on the reviewers I’ve already covered. See, while I have pinned down my favourites among their respective bodies of work, they have still been keeping busy and making videos that honestly stand alongside some of their best. So, in light of that, I’m going to go through what they have gotten up to over the last twelve months and cherry-pick some examples that, in my not-so-humble opinion, deserve a spot amongst the Best Of lists I did last year.

First off, we’ve got JonTron… is it safe for me to discuss this guy at all? Okay, getting away from all the politically-driven raging that has been going on of late due to his real-world ideals, let’s actually focus on his video output. And honestly, given how many times I’ve quoted The Great Bootleg among friends, his look at Disney Bootleg games is pretty damn good.


Next, Film Brain is starting to make some more Bad Movie Beatdowns. They are still not as prevalent as I would like but, once again, that quality boost seen in Moonraker has continued with his look at this extremely perplexing attempt at a Christmas film: The Nutcracker In 3D.


Todd In The Shadows is still at it and, honestly, the more time passes, the less his actions seem to annoy me. Hell, he actively seems to be improving as a critic and presence on social media. To highlight this, look at his review for Mike Posner’s I Took A Pill In Ibiza where he ends up not only giving the song its fair due, but also looks back on his past review of Cooler Than Me and coming the same conclusion that I did: Maybe he was a little too harsh on the guy.


And finally (for today, at least), Lindsay Ellis FKA the Nostalgia Chick has kept herself very busy with plenty of video essays and of course her new series Loose Canon. Now, while I have yet to really get into said series as of yet (these catch-ups will just be comprised of the videos I just happen to catch over the last year), her look at the film version of Rent is quite brilliant. Looking at the film and original stage incarnation and highlighting the inherent flaws common to both, she also brings into a greater context concerning the AIDS crisis, resulting in an incredibly chilling watch with how it bookends her analysis of the film itself with a look at the real victims.


Stay tuned as I'll be getting into more critics over the next few weeks, as well as continuing my usual film reviews this time around. Of course, I will be looking at a few critic-centric films as well during April, including what may be the single worst film I could possibly cover on this blog. What film is that? Stick around and you might find out.

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