I’m glad that I still have the opportunity to be around young folks and interact with them. Over the holidays I was talking with a step-nephew of mine who is nineteen and very bright. We were discussing movie reviews and he mentioned the “RedLetterMedia” review of the first Star Wars prequel “The Phantom Menace.” He said it was one of the funniest, yet perceptive reviews he had ever seen and told me to search for it on YouTube when I got the chance. I have seen it now, and it is terrific. It may not be to your taste, but I find it as brilliant as it is hilarious. You can read about it here, and watch the first installment on YouTube here. (There are 7 installments). At last count it had 3,652,511 views!
Be ready for the reviewer, Mr. Plinkett, who is described in Wikipedia thusly:
Stoklasa created his first video review for Star Trek Generations after watching the film again some time in 2008. He noted that he thought it was a "shitty movie" and "completely messed up the transition to the big screen from what was a really great TV show", inspiring him to share this view with others.[1] Stoklasa found his own voice to be too boring for the review and adopted the persona of "Mr. Harry S. Plinkett", a previous character he had used in several short films (originally played by Rich Evans) and since further developed within the reviews.[1]
Mr. Plinkett is an old man (claiming to be born in 1906) bordering on senile and psychotic,[2] a mannerism that Stoklasa deemed was necessary in order to keep the viewer interested in the reviews and guessing what may occur next.[3] The Plinkett character also adds a sense of humor to avoid making the reviewer sound too much like a nerd or armchair critic.[1] Mr. Plinkett speaks in a manner that has been compared to both Dan Aykroyd's character in The Blues Brothers and Ted Levine's Buffalo Bill character fromThe Silence of the Lambs.[1][4] The character seems to live, or at least have lived, in Teaneck, New Jersey, having made references to its police department (in his Star Trekreview) and the Cedar Lanes Cinema (in his Revenge of the Sith review).
Through side comments in narration, flashes of disturbing images, and cuts to scenes filmed by RedLetterMedia, Mr. Plinkett is implied to be a misogynist and a serial killer; recurring themes include the murder of his ex-wife via car crash and women held captive in his basement.[1][2] He claims to have had a disappointing son who hanged himself in a gas station bathroom. Mr. Plinkett also has a fondness for Totino's Pizza Rolls, and he encourages feedback by promising to mail one to viewers that leave comments on his "webzone". When he gets angry, he threatens to not send a pizza roll.[1]
If you dig it, there are plenty more RedLetterMedia reviews to enjoy. If you hate it, I will respect your take, but also surmise that we each have a quite different sense of humor.
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