damn. i just can't keep up with this site anymore
I know what you mean. 5-6 videos per day is a lot. Since some are long, I have trouble watching 3-4 sometimes.
damn. i just can't keep up with this site anymore
I know what you mean. 5-6 videos per day is a lot. Since some are long, I have trouble watching 3-4 sometimes.
New episode of The Cinema Snob is out,
Redneck Zombies
http://thecinemasnob.com/2010/07/29/redneck-zombies.aspx
New episode of Wrestle Wrestle is out now.
I can see how it's hard to keep up with the site these days. There's so many contributors and various things.
The only person I choose not to watch is The Distressed Watcher. Not because of his beliefs, but his reviews are terrible. His Star Wars reviews lacked soul (and I'm not even comparing them to RedLetterMedia's BRILLIANT reviews), his Top 10 lists are annoying, and his attempts at dark humor irritate me; like he's trying way too hard.
"Cop Out is worse than the death of my own father" LOOK AT ME I'M EDGY!
MarzGurl has gotten better.
The NChick Reviews Hercules
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thedudette/nostalgia-chick/27032-hercules
New episode of Brad tries something is out.
Today, Brad tries Durian Toffee
http://thecinemasnob.com/2010/07/31/brad-tries-durian-toffee.aspx
What the hell is that , exactly ?
The NChick Reviews Hercules
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thedudette/nostalgia-chick/27032-hercules
Booo.
I usually like her but come on. Boooo.
I remember some guy doing a "nostalgia kid" tribute on youtube reviewing Hercules .
Wonder if that is better then this one ?
Hahahah I think the Troll in Central Park is the funniest review
I never knew just how terrible that movie really was
Honestly I don't think that movie was that bad . Why ? Because I watched it like a year and a half before the review came out .
The NChick Reviews Hercules
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thedudette/nostalgia-chick/27032-hercules
Bwahaha! That's pretty funny, imho.
As much as I count Hercules a guilty Disney pleasure, most of what she says is right.
I mean, I really like the music in Hercules, but I won't deny that it's an odd choice of musical style for this story. Christian Gospel and Grecian Myth?
Well, Disney apparently chose to have their Hercules be viewed through a Christian lens (Hades being the bad guy and portrayed in the vein as the pop culture image of Satan). So I guess the Gospelesque singing was sorta fitting.
On a related note, I'm wondering why the people who did Hercules used Hades as the bad guy.
James Wood Hades is good and all but you'd figure, I dunno, Ares would be a better choice since he did more mean things than Hades did in the myths.
Oh wait, Hades is more like Satan.
Christian Gospel and Grecian Myth?
How hard is it to tell the point was to make what was essentially religious material (Ancient Greek and extinct, but religious nonetheless) and riff off it by having a black baptist style gospel choir singing it.
Her criticisms were about as insightful as going after Star Wars for the same shit.
The myth inaccuracy is a real "who cares" affair.
It's not like we're talking about the sort of "so innacurate it's retarded" gyst like what she points out about Anastasia.
Hell the greek myths themselves are inconsistent incongruous tall tales.
Hercules is a great movie and if they don't like it they can eat a turd
Hercules is indeed a different movie, a case of "you either like it or you hate it", but I have absolutely no idea what she's talking about when she says the music sucks, I seriously don't
It's not like it's the first time Disney took liberties with a legend/myth/fairy tale.
I hope NC complained about the innaccuracies in Aladdin. Or the Little Mermaid.
"The music sucks" being said over Zero to Hero was just surreal.
@JERK:
"The music sucks" being said over Zero to Hero was just surreal.
Seriously? SUCKS?
If I stepped into a college class room and screamed out, "Who put the 'glad' in 'gladiator'", I bet you money more than half of them will either think (or say) "Hercules!", and possibly smile from it. That song is fucking contagious!
Oh no argument from me on whether the music sucks. I really like it. I can just see where she's coming from in saying it's an odd choice.
I do think it's weird though that she says the only song she likes is "I Won't Say I'm in Love", which to me was my least favorite song in the movie.
One thing just hit me though: Hades never got a villain song! Why didn't Hades get a villain song, Disney's got an amazing track record with villain songs! Is it because James Wood can't sing? (I don't know if he can or not) Did James Wood not WANT his own song?
One thing just hit me though: Hades never got a villain song! Why didn't Hades get a villain song, Disney's got an amazing track record with villain songs! Is it because James Wood can't sing? (I don't know if he can or not) Did James Wood not WANT his own song?
The closest thing Hades got to a villain song was that brief refrain of "That's the Gospel Truth." As for whether James Woods can sing, I don't know, and I don't think I want to know. Also, Jafar never really got a villain song either aside from the refrain of "Prince Ali" (there was an original one planned, but it got scrapped mostly likely because it sucked).
Anyway, I haven't seen the Chick's review yet, but she really said the music sucks?! What is she smoking? How can anyone not like this?
lenkR5XzSJc
Oh no argument from me on whether the music sucks. I really like it. I can just see where she's coming from in saying it's an odd choice.
It's not though, it's a pretty simple joke.
I_bEWXs_FX4
this is probably my favorite disney song ever, at least in my top 3
though if she's (NC) talking about phil's song, i could accept that POSSIBLY
I saw the NChick's review. Yeah, it was pretty bad. Not because it was badly made or anything, but, as JD said, it really doesn't deserve the flack she gave it. I have to wonder if she's running ideas for things to review. I mean, her last few reviews haven't exactly been "girlish" in nature.
though if she's (NC) talking about phil's song, i could accept that POSSIBLY
She basically said that every song from the Hercules movie sucks, except "I Won't Say I'm In Love", which is just an okay song. She complains about the usage of gospel music in a Greek story.
Anything sung by the Muses, "Go the Distance", and Meg's song are all great songs. And yes, Phil's song kind of sucks. But every 90's to now Disney movie has at least one sucky song.
God knows, Hunchback of Notre Dame had an AWESOME soundtrack, but it still has "A Guy Like You".
I am SHOCKED….SHOCKED.….that she defended the mythological innaccuracies with the movie.
Well you can't go into a disney movie with an gasp Adulterous Zeus!
They could have made him single.. and Hera being an evil tsundere with Zeus.
She's also inconsistent in that review
She said she doesn't care that mythology doesn't get followed, and then she starts complaining about Hera being a legit happy mother here.
What a derp
While not as genocidal and self centered as the old testament god (I did like Dawkins' summary as the "most unpleasabt character in all of fiction") , the greek myths are full of nasty and unjust shit , not to mention the gods ranging from lecherous to just plain assholes .
I mean Zeus's father ATE all of his children for crissake . And all the god pairings are incestuouse .
Stil I find the Greek myths much more tolerable then christian myths , or christian "anti pagan" oriented fiction .
I have yet to see the review , but if there is one thing to complain about , though minor , is the titants . Specificaly the Cyclops titan , not cause I hate the guy or anything but all the others are elemntals and he's just a realy fat one eyed ogre . Kinda sticks out .
And you know what I'd like ? A review of the Hercules cartoon , and pointing out the inconsistencies with the movie . I liked it but it was nowhere near as good as the Movie .
New episode of Wrestle Wrestle is out now.
Pretty funny, only thing annoying is how Spoony thinks he's smart because he knows that Raven had a stupid gimmick before
Derpity derp, look at me, I'm so cool knowing this
Pretty funny, only thing annoying is how Spoony thinks he's smart because he knows that Raven had a stupid gimmick before
Derpity derp, look at me, I'm so cool knowing this
You do realize you're also sounding like a huge smark now?
Spoony's Mazes and Monsters review is up as well. It seems very odd to think now how worried people were of nerds playing board games. It all reeks very WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN???ish.
Also loved the hat gimmick and Benzaie's cameo.
What do you mean? I was just mocking Spoony cause he thought its cool to know about Raven's gimmick at the WWE, derp
Knowing a random stupid fact =/= being a ECW fan
What a derp
I already knew that Raven was Johnny Polo for years now.
I've always really enjoyed Nchick's reviews, especially reviews like How I learned to Love the Keisha. But the Hercules just put a really bad taste in my mouth.
I loved the music, especially for the lyrics. Zero to Hero has sooo many hilarious and quirky lines in it;
Is he sweet? Our favorite flavor!
I mean, I think disagreed with almost everything she said.
I think the Greek styled modern products are hilarious and ominous enough to still hold off strong now. Its not like they did something that's now obscure.
Gah, I'm a jumbled mess of not liking her video. I'll end this post with;
Booooooooooooo! Boooooooooo!
I never realized Hercules had such a strong following. Among Disney movies, I always tend to view it as quite meh and forgettable one.
Hercules is much like Princess and the Frog would be after it. Fantastic villian, one or two catchy songs, a few forgettable ones, combined with a not bad, but mediocre, movie.
Hercules lacked any real chemistry between characters… The silent Pegasus has less personality than the silent Carpet from Aladdin, and both Phil and Zeus were pretty neutral in their interactions with Herc. And Hercules and Megara's interactions didn't really do it for me either, maybe its cause they met so late in the movie and Meg was faking it for a while, I dunno. And Hercules didn't even MEET Hades till the very end of the film, even though Hades was throwing stuff at him the whole time. (I can draw comparisons all day to Aladdin and how it did a lot of the exact same stuff right, but that'd get old real fast.)
The tv show actually fixed it by giving Herc a couple kids his own age to hang with that played off him a lot better, Icarus in particular was great. And, Hercules and Hades actually interacted.
As far as Hades not having a villain song... it may have just been there was no real place to fit one in. Again... he never really interacted with the leads, so he'd have just been singing to his minions. (And the chorus also dealt with most of his material in narration format) Although, if he'd done the "Don't say you're in love" number to Meg, that might have been really interesting twist on the usual love song, combining it with the villain one. Not the road they took though.
Hercules wasn't bad, it was just very... by the numbers. Lacking in a certain spark. Hades singlehandedly brought it up a few notches.
@No:
And you know what I'd like ? A review of the Hercules cartoon , and pointing out the inconsistencies with the movie . I liked it but it was nowhere near as good as the Movie .
The show was, in general, way better than the movie. The chemistry worked better all around with the addition and development of other characters, and had a balance the movie lacked.
And there was a pool of amnesia to deal with inconsistencies with the movie.
i saw Hercules. never cared for it. so can't comment on the songs. i'd like to hear these comparisons with Aladdin though. :) and as for a villain song and singing for his minions; scar did it, and it was awesome. :) haven't watched the review yet. sure stirred up a lot of talk so far though.
I'd have to rewatch Hercules (or at least the Nostalgia Chick review…) and get it fresh before I did any major comparisons. I'd hate to call it out for something it didn't do. But I mostly remember as it being... not bad, but not standout either.
And yes, Scar sang to his minions, and Rasputin did in Anastasia, both to great effect... But Hades' minions were... Pain and Panic. Rather under-whelming sidekicks all around. Not that a good song number can't throw in an underworld full of goons... but again, the plot exposition was largely being handled by the gospel group, so I'm not sure a Hades number would have fit all that well.
But, for instance.
In Aladdin, we get the opening bit with Jafar, then cut right to Aladdin with his song number and action sequence... and then not very much later we meet Jasmine, wandering the streets. Aladdin is instantly taken in by her looks, but also in the fact that while she is out of place, she is immediatley able to pick up on his cues to get out of trouble (greeting the monkey as sultan) and then do an athletic move (polevault) and basically, hold her own and be interesting, and he's already falling in love, and THEN he finds out she's a princess. He then spends the entire rest of the movie trying to overcome that one little detail, including pretending to be something he isn't, and then they eventually have a song number and a heart to heart about being trapped. They're from different worlds, but you understand why they dig each other.
Herc and Meg... well again, first of all, Hercules spends the first hal of the movie growing up, training, and becoming famous, before he ever meets Meg. (Last minute intro of the love interest worked okay in Fox and the Hound, but that flik was about different things.) And when he does, she's apparently in distress, working for the badguy, (which Herc doesn't know) and Herc is on the spot infatuated with her. (My memory is fuzzy here, but did she end up taking care of the cyclops herself, or was that all Herc muscle?) WHile she is disdaining and distrusting, for reasons that are very briefly hinted at later. (She was in love before with a guy that turned out out be an ass) So what happens then? With half an hour left in the movie, Herc is in love with her, and she sees that his Hero shtick is genuine, and falls for that... But there is no moment where she really shows she can handle herself, no moment where she and Herc are made equals, and her dismissive attitude doesn't gel against Herc's infatuation. For the length of the movie she's pretty much just Hades' pawn, despite her spunky attitude about it. Its not even till she gets to her own song number where she's saying "no, that ain't good" that she's falling for Herc, and even thats a fair bit later. In fact, its not till the last 10 minutes of the movie that Herc even finds out she's with the badguy! He makes a sacrifice and goes to the underworld and then gives up his godhood all for her, but we never really see the why.
WHAT is it about this girl that stimulates him, makes him interested? Other than the fact she's completely dismissive of him? I'm not saying all relationships start or go the same way... but in Aladdin the love was central to the whole thing 5 minutes in. In Herc it was a subplot to move the story along in the second half to make him powerless briefly. There just wasn't enough time or finesse in the relationship... because it wasn't one of the main focal points, it was more a matter of crossing off a checklist.
In Aladdin there were three plots. Jafar wants to rule the world. Aladdin and Jasmine want to hook up, except theres a social boundary in the way. Genie wants to be free. And all of those tied together in the genie's lamp.
In Herc... Hades wants to rule the world. Herc wants to be a hero/god. Megara wants to be free of Hades' contract. Megara ALSO doesn't want to fall in love again. Phil wants to be remembered as a hero's teacher. They all had the thread of "Well, Hercules trying to be a hero is getting in Hades' way." But Meg's didn't really tie into that well... since she just sort of happened to be with Hades. She wasn't loyal to him, or with him in spite of Hercules, or his daughter or anything... she was just with him. It wasn't an obstacle or goal built into the scope of the story, it (and Phil's subplot) was sort of a pitstop that happened accidentally as a side effect of the other stuff, she ended up coincidentally being the one thing both sides had in common at the last minute.
And part of that, is probably because Herc wasn't even aware of Hades until the end of the movie. Hades was aware of him, but they hadn't actually interacted at all. That it all tied together was more happenstance that actual effort on the character's parts to overcome anything that was in their way. (Whereas Jafar personally tried to kill Aladdin several times, and spoke to and interacted with him at length, and Aladdin got him kicked out of the palace... Hades just sent bumbling minions)
Not all villains need to be, or should be the same. And not all couples should interact the same way. And sometimes it works to have the hero and villain not actually meet until the very end... but only when the hero is aware the villain exists and is working towards facing them, ala Sleeping Beauty. But when you've only got 90 minutes of screen time to play with, you do need X ammount of interaction between the characters in order to feel real payoff or drama along the way. And really. Hercules didn't even know Hades existed.
(Princess and the Frog suffers from this a little as well. The two romantic leads don't meet for the first half hour, and the villain has nothing really personal with any of them, he just sort of meets them, transforms the prince into a frog for... some reason... and meets Tiana for the first time at the finale. Instead spends his screen time with the completely unconnected Lawrence... who doesn't really get any resolution either.)
@robbybedfart:
Herc and Meg… well again, first of all, Hercules spends the first hal of the movie growing up, training, and becoming famous, before he ever meets Meg. (Last minute intro of the love interest worked okay in Fox and the Hound, but that flik was about different things.) And when he does, she's apparently in distress, working for the badguy, (which Herc doesn't know) and Herc is on the spot infatuated with her.
I wouldn't really call it a "last minute" love interest. Herc met Meg even before he went to Thebes and became a world-renowned hero.
(My memory is fuzzy here, but did she end up taking care of the cyclops herself, or was that all Herc muscle?)
I'm not sure whether you're referring to the Cyclops (which appeared towards the end of the movie) or the Centaur (which appeared around the start of the middle), but I'll address both. In any case, Herc defeated both of them. In the case of the Centaur, that was the first time Herc met Meg and it appeared that she was being held captive, but she was really trying to recruit the Centaur for Hades. The Cyclops was one of the Titans who was sent to kill Herc after he lost his strength. Luckily, Hercules did defeat him by driving a flaming pike into his eye. However, the battle caused a large column to fall, which would've killed Hercules if Meg hadn't pushed him out of the way and it fell on her instead. This caused Herc to get his strength back since Hades promised Meg wouldn't get hurt.
In fact, its not till the last 10 minutes of the movie that Herc even finds out she's with the badguy!
Actually, it's more like the last 20 minutes (15 at least).
Anyway, you made some really good points, and while Hercules certainly isn't up to par with Aladdin, or Lion King, or Beauty and the Beast, I still think it's a great movie. I highly recommend you watching it again some time.
@robbybedfart:
The show was, in general, way better than the movie. The chemistry worked better all around with the addition and development of other characters, and had a balance the movie lacked.
And there was a pool of amnesia to deal with inconsistencies with the movie.
I liked it too , though maybe I disliked it cause of the next to non existant screen time of the fates . I always loved those three .
Hell remember the playstation game where in the options menu when you swaped screen it showed the three of them at the bottom stealing each other's eyes and poping it in , with a lot of mushy sound effects ?
That was fucking awesome .
As for Hades' minions , you'd think the god of the underworld would have more imposing figures around . I mean remember the opening bit with Cerberus being fucking awesome….and then being tamed by Hercules off screen ? I always booed at that .
As for why he's infatuated with Meg : first she's prety hot (by Disney standarts) and he spent several years chasing monsters , on an island with an overweight Danny DeV- I mean satyr . You can see he wants some ass right away .
Also didn't Hades own Meg's soul or something ? That's kind of an "obstacle" .
Oh about the cyclops .....what actualy happened to him after Herc picked him in the eyes with that torch ? I mean that was a prety graphic thing to do in a Disney movie and I remember that ton of lard (probably like 3-5 tons lol :P) just dissapearing .
As I said the Cyclops seemed like a random adition , that wasn't even shown during the opening where all the other titans are presented - if he was a metal giant or something , to have some sort of elemental-y basis (this is based on asian element perception but whatever) .
New AT4W is out. A double feature of The Others #1 and Brute Force #1
http://at4w.blip.tv/file/3955258/
Eh, I think I'd rank PatF higher than Hercules (except for the music, sorry Randy Newman, you can't beat Alan Menken gospel), personally. Just a bit. I think I just dug the main couple more and I like the art more, and there weren't any characters who annoyed me. (Pain and Panic wore out their welcome a bit by the second half)
@robbybedfart:
I'd have to rewatch Hercules…...
Hercules and Aladdin are good choices to compare, since they are both among the most comedic in terms of "cartoon-iness," yet try to allow themselves to be taken seriously overall.
I particularly in terms of the chemistry with the male and female leads–it simply went too fast to really allow the growing chemistry between them to really gel. And, like Aladdin, the love between the two is suppose to be one of the key thematic elements of the latter part of the film, yet it does not come off near as genuine as a whole. Though, it did work to some degree.
Brad reviews "Airline Disaster" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"
http://thecinemasnob.com/2010/08/02/reviews-airline-disaster-and-the-sorcerers-apprentice.aspx
I'm not sure whether you're referring to the Cyclops (which appeared towards the end of the movie) or the Centaur (which appeared around the start of the middle), but I'll address both. In any case, Herc defeated both of them. In the case of the Centaur, that was the first time Herc met Meg and it appeared that she was being held captive, but she was really trying to recruit the Centaur for Hades.
Centaur is what I was thinking of. Its been a couple years since I last saw it. I own it on VIDEO TAPE, yeesh.
John Musker and Ron Clements worked on both movies,and most of the same animation crew carried over, so all comparisons are fair, I think.
Oddly, in Tarzan, Jane doesn't come in until like halfway through the movie either, but that works wonderfully. I guess because the romance is the entire focus in that one and they get most of the remaining screen time together. (And her blushiness endears me to this day)
I would like Tarzan a lot more (and I do like it) if it weren't for Rosie O'Donnel's character. WHYYYY!? I think I dislike her more than the gargoyles in Hunchback of Notre Dame. (at least they had a fun character dynamic between each other)
But yeah, we need a review of the Hercules animated show asap. Does it fall under the NC's cutoff date of 2000?
well the old old old one does. :D
Enough of this Hercules discussion. We glanced over 3 great videos to talk about it.
And now another one, NC's review of Zeus and Roxanne
http://nostalgiacritic.blip.tv/file/3961868/
Gonna watch that tommorow .
Holy shit at the Colonel apearing in a fucking slasher movie . He aparently had a dirty side too .
Didn't watch the NChick video cause honestly I liked her more in the begining , with the Pocahontas and He-Man/She-Ra special reviews ,where she was more like the NC .
It's just….outside of the Kesha review , and maybe the My Little Pony one , I didn't much like what I saw recently . Hell her Last Unicorn review sucked real balls for me , and it's kinda bad when MarzGurl , who stil has little to no shtick of her own , made a much better review of that for the NChick audition .
Speaking of which what did that black chick review ? Never saw a third audition review (outside of the Felix the Cat Movie one on youtube) .
Watched most of Redneck zombies too and I have to ask.....anyone know who the fat guy was ? The one who said "we have a failure to comunicate" ? Seems kinda familiar .
One thing I wanted to ask : anyone here watch Familiar Faces ? Not alot of people mention that (read : none) and it's a decent show . I loved the poster for Mama Klump episode :D lol
Oh batdan , you are the one who does the anti Bores blog right ?
That Chick in the Goggles did "Shows I Grew Up On" and reviewed Sailor Moon. Due to real life and computer issues she's been unable to post regular videos.
Familiar Faces is excellent. Highly underrated and hysterical.
And yes… I do write that blog.
The site's not working too much for me , could you post a list of all FF episodes ? I wanna know what to look up .
Just wanted to say what I read was prety good on there - though I did find the Kool-Aid-Man gimmicky flavours thing to at least be interesting , cause of all the gimmicky shit .
Yeah Bores sucks but I love this kinda stuff . Hell that old as hell space shooter (forgot the name) review was kinda nice in that it was prety informative . If only he'd do all his stuff like this unstead of emulating AVGN all the friggen time .
Also he once claimed , before Aladdin came out , that the next review was a "two parter" and that was the reason it took so long . Any clues on that ?