James Rolfe / James D. Rolfe / Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN) / Rex Viper and Cinemassacre / Screenwave - Now with not much grieving about a 41-year old man still making videos on YouTube. We're the balls on the dick.

[Dom Cruise]

Was the Nerd movie really critically bad?

I never watched it besides the abridged clips in Nostalgia Critic but it never felt too bad to me.

It's not critically bad but it never rises above being a disappointment.

One of the big issues is the token black sidekick, a character we've never seen before and the Nerd has ever needed a sidekick like that before, it'd be like giving Pee Wee a sidekick in Pee Wee's Big Adventure, which would have only taken focus away from the character you're there for, it was a totally misguided and unnecessary idea.

Honestly, I've always wanted to see it because I'm a fan of his work and I just want to see how it turned out. I know it's probably not that good, but I'm just curious you know?

It's definitely worth watching if you're curious, it took me a few years to work up the courage to watch it, but I was curious and I wouldn't say I regret watching it.

 

[TrippinKahlua]

I thought it was implied that Cooper was the in-universe partner for the Nerd who was his camera man and sound guy for the AVGN series

I can get that people complain how he came out of nowhere, but being "Token Black" sounds like people complaining about something that isn't there just for the sake of complaining about something that isn't there.

 

[KillThemCrackasBabies]

The biggest problem was when people thought AVGN movie, most people thought something small scale like a Clerks or something like that. The big action adventure bullshit, while should have been understandable given how a lot of the smaller storylines played out in individual episodes, wasn't something I think a lot of people were really clamoring for.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Today's the 30 year anniversary of when James started making movies.

 

[TheTriggerin']

AVGN is dead, pretty much. Its still going, but you can tell the passion is gone. I miss 2007 AVGN, But he's moved on, I much prefer his monster madness/Sequelathons these days.

"Where did you learn to fly?"
"WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO BE A ASSHOLE!?"

 

[JM 590]

The AVGN movie was one of the worst movies I've ever seen, and the worst thing I've ever seen from James. I'm a big fan of his, too, and I watch most of the stuff he puts out. That movie was just terrible. Every single person in the movie who wasn't involved in anything Cinemassacre beforehand can go fuck themselves.

But I guess it was his dream movie to make, and he had fun making it, so, whatever

 

[StarkRavingMad]

Haven't seen the Nerd movie. I want to, though. I'm not expecting anything good based on what I've heard, but I'm curious enough to want to check it out at some point.

Today's the 30 year anniversary of when James started making movies.

Adorable and wholesome.

 

[ManateeHunter]

I haven't watched the film, but the reek of "poor quality Z film" from the poster and previous experience from CA anniversary films sure as well don't make me want to see it anyway. Though I kinda want to see James work with Asylum to make the best/worst shark movie.

 

[Travoltron]

It's better than those Channel Awesome movies. He hired real actors and a professional crew.
But the script is the weakest link. For example, a giant monster is shoehorned into the story even though it doesn't really make sense, just because James likes Godzilla movies.
The inconsistent production quality really takes you out of the movie. It will cut between quality footage shot by the Hollywood pros to really terrible miniature work that was obviously shot by James and Mike at home.

EDIT: I think part of the reason people were so pissed about this movie was because people's expectations were built up too high. It took years to make this thing and people donated their hard-earned dollars to the Kickstarter and bought the Blu-ray. If this movie would have been free on YouTube like the Channel Awesome specials, it would have been received better.

 

[deeman]

I haven't watched the film, but the reek of "poor quality Z film" from the poster and previous experience from CA anniversary films sure as well don't make me want to see it anyway. Though I kinda want to see James work with Asylum to make the best/worst shark movie.

As people stated before... the production of the movie is something James can be proud of, it's actually really well made, just that the script and the basis of the movie sucks.

 

[Raging Capybara]

I mean, James himself put his own movie alongside Plan 9 From Outer Space:

He knows it's trash and he's fine with that. He accepted the criticism and will probably learn with his mistakes.

 

[BrunoMattei]

The movie was a good example of needing another writer and/or knowing when to reel it in.

 

[Dom Cruise]

I thought it was implied that Cooper was the in-universe partner for the Nerd who was his camera man and sound guy for the AVGN series

I can get that people complain how he came out of nowhere, but being "Token Black" sounds like people complaining about something that isn't there just for the sake of complaining about something that isn't there.

Oh really? I didn't pick up that he was supposed to be the Nerd's cameraman at all, is it clearly stated?

But you're right, maybe calling him a "token black" character is a little too harsh as the character still would have felt unnecessary no matter who played him.

Again, if you compare it to Pee Wee's Big Adventure, which the movie is obviously modeled after (James confirming it with that shelf pic) Pee Wee meets all sorts of side characters but the focus is still on him, he doesn't have a sidekick throughout the whole movie.

I can see what James was going for and in my mind's eye "Pee Wee's Big Adventure but with the Nerd" could have been great, but it needed more polish in the script department.

AVGN is dead, pretty much. Its still going, but you can tell the passion is gone. I miss 2007 AVGN, But he's moved on, I much prefer his monster madness/Sequelathons these days.

"Where did you learn to fly?"
"WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO BE A ASSHOLE!?"

Yup, 2007 was his peak.

But hell, I miss 2007 in general.

 

[BrunoMattei]

Yup, 2007 was his peak.

But hell, I miss 2007 in general.

The passion isn't there anymore but it's still decent. I'd argue he's reached season 12 Simpsons quality in that it's hit and miss.

 

[PL 001]

I'd say AVGN was consistently good up to 2014 or so. His review of Big Rigs was the last one that really cracked me up. After that I could start to see more of the burnout and lack of interest and just moved on from it.

 

[Dom Cruise]

The passion isn't there anymore but it's still decent. I'd argue he's reached season 12 Simpsons quality in that it's hit and miss.

I agree, I'm glad he's stuck with it for all these years, even if new episodes are only once in a blue moon.

I'd say AVGN was consistently good up to 2014 or so. His review of Big Rigs was the last one that really cracked me up. After that I could start to see more of the burnout and lack of interest and just moved on from it.

The golden aged ended with the ROB episode in 2011, that was when he embarked on the movie and things were never really the same after that.

While he's had some great episodes since, like Big Rigs, it has been a downward slope ever since, with new episodes becoming rarer and rarer.

AVGN is kinda like the Icarus of internet videos, he really went for it and tried to make an actual Hollywood caliber movie made, you can't fault his ambition, but it turned out to be flying too close to the sun and he should have just stuck with what was tried and true.

 

[KingofNothing]

I mean, James himself put his own movie alongside Plan 9 From Outer Space:

View attachment 853308

He knows it's trash and he's fine with that. He accepted the criticism and will probably learn with his mistakes.

Been 5 years since he made the movie? Damn time flies


But speaking of Plan 9, James and his pals did a vid on it. I'm not as into the AVGN videos as much as I used to be, but I always love James talking about the old movie shit.

 

[Man vs persistent rat]

I feel that Big Rigs signalled the start of him becoming a parody of his former style. Don't get me wrong, the Big Rigs video was good, and new James is better than 99% of Youtube, but by the time he'd done Big Rigs it was already a dead meme in the community and many other channels had covered it. It signalled a transition from him being the person who introduced you to these games, to the person who is merely keeping up with faster-advancing trends and who you enjoy increasingly for the cozy nostalgia rather than the videos themselves being incredible, though they have their peaks. I'd consider almost everything prior to 2014 to be essential viewing, but almost all of what came after to be only good if you want more of the same and are willing to accept worse, later Simpsons-style.

 

[Higgins]

I feel that Big Rigs signalled the start of him becoming a parody of his former style. Don't get me wrong, the Big Rigs video was good, and new James is better than 99% of Youtube, but by the time he'd done Big Rigs it was already a dead meme in the community and many other channels had covered it. It signalled a transition from him being the person who introduced you to these games, to the person who is merely keeping up with faster-advancing trends and who you enjoy increasingly for the cozy nostalgia rather than the videos themselves being incredible, though they have their peaks. I'd consider almost everything prior to 2014 to be essential viewing, but almost all of what came after to be only good if you want more of the same and are willing to accept worse, later Simpsons-style.

I think, especially with internet content, becoming a parody is almost inevitable. It's easy to forget that he was the first to get the ball rollig with video game reviewing content, particular with angry reviewing. Look at the endless rip-offs of the AVGN like the GameDude and Armake21. Everyone gets old and shitty eventually and James is no exception. I'm guilty of the cozy nostalgia you mentioned, but he has enough goodwill that the fans don't go in demanding he chase past glory days. You compare Rolfe to the Nostalgia Critic and other former CA contributors and the differences are night and day.

 

[Man vs persistent rat]

He's definitely in the position where he's doing as well as can be expected, and has enough respect for his followers to do a good job (something many creators lack). His problem I suppose is that this fun thing he did became his job, and he doesn't want to/can't get another line of work as fun as this, so any waning inspiration needs to be weathered until he feels some excitement about the subject again, which over time becomes slightly less likely. I like his increased use of green-screen in AVGN, so maybe he could at least remain engaged in the technical side and it will never become 100% a slog that he only does for money.