The DVD Shelf Movie Reviews

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I've honestly REALLY gotten pretty burned out on the whole Internet reviewer thing over the past year. It was fun at one time, but then we got a ton of NC and AVGN rip-offs and while some reviewers were great, the whole formula of ripping bad movies or games or whatever medium to pieces got really stale for me really fast.

I have really been appreciating when people give a more critical and well thought-out analysis of things, rather than focusing on cheap humor. While I'm still not the hugest fan of Lindsay, I really respect the knowledge-base she has on what she reviews and that he actually puts genuine effort into researching stuff thoroughly (for the most part, anyways). There's also the stuff from Red Letter Media and Mr. Plinkett, which is also great.

But honestly, while negative reviews can be fun, I've always found much more enjoyment out of seeing people express a genuine passion for movies and giving out more positive and descriptive reviews. Its one of the reasons why I tend to watch more of James Rolfe's movie review stuff, and over the past few months I have watched David Rose's series, The DVD Shelf Movie Reviews. You can find all of these reviews at his website, Happy Dragon Pictures. To be clear, though, these are really more like educational videos on the history of how these movies came about and were made more than flat-out reviews. But honestly, that's what I find to be more interesting these days. Granted that, I haven't really had the chance to check out the sources this guy uses, so I can't exactly vouch for the accuracy of his information, but he presents his videos in such a well constructed and intelligent way that it still holds my interest, even through his ridiculously long videos, including his Godzilla review (which is actually my favorite one, so far).

Now, I'm aware that these type of videos aren't really to everyone's interest, so some of you may find it boring and prefer the more comical and/or angry style reviews out there, but for me this is what I wish I was seeing just a little bit more of from Internet reviewers, these days. There's a lot of clear time and effort put into each of Rose's releases, and while they aren't really humorous or even short videos (though he does have a specific series of short video reviews, as well), they are thoroughly intriguing and honestly never fail to ignite the passion I have for watching movies deep down, which to me is much more effective than watching any negative review, as I like to be reminded at the end of the day of why I like movies, rather than why I shouldn't like them.

At any rate, I just wanted to see if anybody else enjoyed this review series, or even stuff along the lines of these types of reviews.

[Daikun]

I've been watching DVD Shelf over the past year. It's certainly one of the best shows the Internet has to offer. The production values are fantastic and it's total brain food if you want to learn about movies.

Another recommendation is Jaimetud. He has some of the most seamless special effects and green screen I've ever seen in any Internet production. His From Pages to Pictures series compares movies to the books they were adapted from. He goes over the plot points in both versions, the changes made in the adaptation, and which one he feels is better overall.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I've been watching DVD Shelf over the past year. It's certainly one of the best shows the Internet has to offer. The production values are fantastic and it's total brain food if you want to learn about movies.

I'm glad to see someone else who enjoys this series. Its so criminally underrated. I mean, I know people who watch it, but its nowhere near as popular as a lot of mediocre series on TGWTG (IMO, anyways), even though it deserves a lot more views than it gets.

Another recommendation is Jaimetud. He has some of the most seamless special effects and green screen I've ever seen in any Internet production. His From Pages to Pictures series compares movies to the books they were adapted from. He goes over the plot points in both versions, the changes made in the adaptation, and which one he feels is better overall.

That sounds right up my alley. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Avaitor]

I've finally been getting around to watching these, and I'm on episode 2 now. UHF is a fun one that I definitely need to watch again.

I have that Target exclusive of The Dark Knight, btw. I'm pretty sure the documentary on that exclusive disc aired on the History Channel around the time the movie came out, and I saw it there. It's pretty great, but I haven't pulled out my copy in a long time.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

One thing I like about his reviews is that he's one of those reviewers that gets me into movies that I've never seen before. I honestly had no interest in UHF before, but after seeing his review it caught my interest enough to check it out, and I surprisingly enjoyed it for what it was. His 3rd episode also got me to watch They Live, which I think deserves its recognition as a cult classic after seeing it. Its got that John Carpenter style but also doesn't come off as pretentious with its message because the movie doesn't take itself too seriously for the most part. And believe it or not, I never actually knew that the "kick ass and chew bubble gum" line even originated from this movie. I always used to ignorantly think that Duke Nukem just created that term.

Also his review quality only gets better as the episodes go along. I think you may really enjoy his review of Batman The Movie (the 1960's one). Even if you have no interest in Adam West's portrayal of Batman, the history of that TV show and the movie and how he delves into it is so fascinating in so many ways, or at least it was for me. That's another film and TV series that I'll have to check out at some point down the line.

[Foggle]

A positive review of the 60's Batman show? I'll have to watch that!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

A positive review of the 60's Batman show? I'll have to watch that!

Its technically a review of the movie based off the show, but he covers the show pretty in-depth anyways, so I think you'd enjoy it.

[Avaitor]

I love Adam West ,but hate Smallville.

Go figure.

[Foggle]

I love Adam West ,but hate Smallville.

Go figure.

Same. Adam West Batman is a big part of my childhood. <3

[Avaitor]

Oh sweet, World's Greatest Dad.

I don't know if you guys know this, but I admire Bobcat Goldthwait. A lot.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

And that's yet another film which I need to see. Especially since he promised that there's a twist in it, but never actually spoiled what it was, for obvious reasons, I suppose.

As for Adam West, I'll go on record as saying that if nothing else, he's a WAY more "entertaining" Batman than Christian Bale.

[Avaitor]

Oh wow, I remember Young Hercules! That was Ryan Gosling?

I knew about his Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode and his MMC stuff, but not this. Crazy.

I do remember that I had a girlfriend around the time Lars and the Real Girl came out, and she wanted to see this movie very much. We broke up before that happened, but honestly, I never had much interest in it.

[Daikun]

Two new mini-episodes released today!

Reign Over Me
The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3

And he posted this on the TGWTG forum:

my next full episode - Twilight Zone: The Movie!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

That reminds me that I still need to catch up with his mini-reviews, though while they are great, I do generally prefer his more in-depth reviews that he does in his normal videos. That said, I'm just glad to get more of David Rose's material whenever he manages to put it out. He's still my personal favorite Internet reviewer out of the ones that I have seen. Aside from him, there was Welshy who did great in-depth reviews (even if they were mostly for movies that I didn't care about, he made me interested in his videos), but now that he's officially quit making videos, I don't have too much else to turn to these days, so I'm still glad that this series is continuing, even if the episodes are released months apart.

[Avaitor]

I haven't got to his mini-reviews yet, but I can understand why he'd stick to ones like that. David really seems to do his homework for the main DVD Shelf videos, and that seems to take up a lot of time.