Entry #4 - The Nostalgia Critic

NOTHING IS BETTER THAN THIS! 

Well, some things might be better than the Nostalgia Critic, but personally I feel it would be very difficult to identify those things right off.  For those of you who have not had the pleasure, let me introduce you to one of the most amazing YouTubers out there:

Alright so I might be a little biased, but the fact is still that the Nostalgia Critic is in fact awesome.  His tagline "I remember it so you don't have to" seems to sum up most of the purpose of the channel but it's how he does his reviews that truly takes his videos to a whole different level.   While the majority of his review of a movie consists of an unusual amount of over-the-top rage at the occasional ridiculousness of nostalgic movies, at the heart of it his reviews are actually rather insightful.  His sarcasm, body language, hand motions and over-exaggerated movements just serve to make the review more amusing and enthralling.  The way he behaves keeps the viewer interested to get to the more insightful parts, almost as though he's slipping in an actual review into the humor so we don't realize we've actually learned something.  (*gasp* The horror!)

 

The character of the Nostalgia Critic is played by Doug Walker.  He and a number of others work hard on the production of the reviews that are done and the effort put into them is clearly evidenced.  The premise is a singular camera view on the Nostalgia Critic as he watches a movie that is nostalgic to him.  Generally these movies consist of those that were released from the 80's to current day and a number of views have been done about a 'classic' movie and it's 'reboot' modern counterpart and the comparison of them.

Often times, the review of a nostalgic movie is done in a manner to peel away the veneer of time and look at the movie with fresh eyes.  When we think back to movies we loved as children, we tend to think of them with a kind of haze that comes from time and a lack of maturity at the time we viewed the movies.  What the Nostalgia Critic does is to review these movies, looking at them again as an adult, and through the expressive disdain he displays often ends up showing us the ridiculousness of some movies.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing either.  Sometimes when we look back at movies we enjoyed as kids, those aspects are still there that we enjoyed.  However, we're now privy to more mature jokes that we likely missed when we were children.  A good many movies that were geared towards children also have adult oriented humor interspersed throughout the film to appeal to parents that were watching along.  Then again, sometimes movies that are meant to be for "children" and "family oriented" in theme are... a bit disturbing for that target audience. 

While not all of the reviews offer a degree of positive response - let's face it, not everyone likes all movies - the reviews whether positive or negative are still just... funny!  Doug Walker has created a character in the Nostalgia Critic that is actually as interesting and engaging as the movies that he's reviewing.  All told, it's really a YouTube series that I love watching.  And if I'm being honest, just in the course of writing this entry about the Nostalgia Critic, I got side-tracked more than a few times watching some reviews that I came across and realized I hadn't seen yet. 

If you enjoy movies, honestly I'd check his reviews out.  At the very least you're likely to get a laugh out of it and who knows, you might just get a bit more insight to movies you've enjoyed (or even hated) that will offer a different perspective from which to view movies from your childhood.  Take a look and see for yourself.