Was this movie made just to piss me off?

July 14, 2010 1:40 PM

Possibly having tired of reviewing blockbusters such as Avatar, Phantom Menace, and Attack of the Clones (previously: 1, 2, 3, respectively), RedLetterMedia has taken a different approach and posted a video review of John Hughes' 1994 family comedy, Baby's Day Out.
Then, in a visual you might find more creepy than anything you've seen in The Shining, the baby's little hand reaches down and starts grabbing at his cock. He actually squeezes his dick over and over again with the creepy little baby hand.
Not to be missed are Plinkett's other reviews, including several Star Trek films. RedLetterMedia also dabbles in comedic shorts.
posted by Christ, what an asshole (31 comments total)

If I recall correctly, Baby's Day Out was quite a treat.

For some reason I saw it in the theatre. It was absolutely appalling. At one point the baby sets fire to the main bad guy's crotch which leads the dim-witted henchmen to throw the guy to the ground and start stomping the fire out with his boot. The scene never seemed to end -- it went on and on with the crotch stomping. At that point, the movie turned from being merely bad to something... transcendental.

Some time later I was on a plane where it was the inflight movie. Disappointingly, the movie was edited for a general audience and bizarrely goes from the main bad guy sitting on a park bench with a baby crawling on him to a jump cut to the bad guy lying on the ground moaning and holding a smouldering crotch. Brilliant edit.*

Anyhoop, I eagerly await sitting down to RedLetterMedia's review.

----
*Almost on par with the airplane edit of Broken Arrow which totally side-steps the whole plane crash at the beginning of the film. One moment is a tense discussion in the cockpit, the next moment Travolta and Slater are walking around in a daze on the ground, all smokey like sans plane.
posted by mazola at 1:54 PM on July 14, 2010 [8 favorites]

It's interesting that the site notes how the review has already been flagged and taken down from YouTube by Fox. That's kind of a rarity, isn't it? That original material can only be found direct from the creator and can't just be found on YouTube? Plus, since RLM's site doesn't have restrictions on time limits of the videos... it's actually better.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 1:57 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

I didn't realize he had an Avatar review. Gonna have to watch that when I get home.

Some people don't like his humor. Sometimes it makes me chuckle - sometimes it falls flat. But you've got to admit his analysis of the structural and narrative failings of Phantom Menace and When Clones Attack is spot on and insightful.
posted by Babblesort at 2:01 PM on July 14, 2010 [3 favorites]

Thanks. I always forget that I don't hate this guy.

I see the posts about him and I start to listen to his annoying voice and think "Christ, again."
And then Ilisten to his Star Trek: Generations rant and think "duh every nerd thought that", but before I know it then I'm embarrassing myself at work laughing out loud. (For some reason his bit about Starfleet's new uniform transition policy really tickled me.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:01 PM on July 14, 2010

Does he still do those horribly unfunny serial killer bits?
posted by kmz at 2:02 PM on July 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

The hilarious serial killer storyline that extends through all his reviews continues to progress, yes.
posted by kafziel at 2:06 PM on July 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

This is great. I didn't know that he had a site with the reviews in their entirety instead of vroken up into chunks (like his victims! HA!)
posted by Hicksu at 2:08 PM on July 14, 2010

kmz: Does he still do those horribly unfunny serial killer bits?

Oh right, that's why I don't like him. Which I had gotten to yet. Thanks.

On a partially related note, why do I find people getting hit in the crotch not funny but people falling down or being blown up unexpectedly totally hilarious?
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:11 PM on July 14, 2010

What about people unexpectedly having their crotch blown up?
posted by Babblesort at 2:12 PM on July 14, 2010

I can take a few awkward serial killer jokes for deep structural analysis (MY FAVORITE KIND) of movies so I can say "See! See! I can prove this is bad! USING LOGIC." and then I lose a whole bunch of friends.
posted by The Whelk at 2:14 PM on July 14, 2010 [4 favorites]

This guy is always on the mark. Nice post.
posted by nola at 2:14 PM on July 14, 2010

Huh, I clicked on the link just to see what it was (never heard of this guy before) and ended up watching all 24 minutes of it.
posted by afx237vi at 2:19 PM on July 14, 2010

Does he still do those horribly unfunny serial killer bits?

The entire reason he reviews Baby's Day Out is because of the serial killer character. One of his captives recommends it to him an earlier review.
posted by Widepath at 2:35 PM on July 14, 2010

I saw it while I was in a drug rehab as a teenager. They also showed us Dune. They wanted us back on drugs.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 2:39 PM on July 14, 2010 [3 favorites]

I hadn't known that he'd done the Avatar one, so I just watched it and this comment is based on that. He has okay stuff to say about his movies, but I am sick, sick, sick of his humour.
posted by Trochanter at 2:43 PM on July 14, 2010

Oooh, his victim really did a number on him recommending this horrible movie. And she knows where he lives.... Mouahahaha.
posted by dabitch at 2:44 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

When I watched this, I forgot about the ending of the Episode II review. So the last five minutes of this, on top of being really funny (the bit where he jumps back and forth between random preposterous scenes is hilarious), sort of gave me a genuine chill when it fell into place.

"She LIED to me."

I just watched a 20-minute review of Baby's Day Out, and then at the very end it turned out to be the natural, organic continuation of the (even longer) Star Wars review I watched months ago. That's a better moment than I've seen in a lot of genuine Hollywood movies.
posted by EmGeeJay at 2:46 PM on July 14, 2010 [9 favorites]

I watched the Avatar review before and it sorely lacking compared to his Star Wars reviews.
posted by P.o.B. at 3:06 PM on July 14, 2010

When is he going to get around to doing what we all know he wants to do and finish the Episode III review. One whole 5 minutes segment will just be:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..............................!!1
posted by DetonatedManiac at 3:16 PM on July 14, 2010

...why do I find people getting hit in the crotch not funny but people falling down or being blown up unexpectedly totally hilarious?

Well, I don't know about you, but I've been hit in the gear a few times in my life and I know how depressing it is, so I sympathise when it happens to others. I've not yet been unexpectedly blown up, however, so to me it looks like a pretty fun and interesting way to go out.
posted by turgid dahlia at 3:27 PM on July 14, 2010

When is he going to get around to doing what we all know he wants to do and finish the Episode III review. One whole 5 minutes segment will just be:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He already did a whole documentary on that subject.
posted by EmGeeJay at 3:55 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

[Cry of existential despair and regret shortened a bit. Please don't make super-long lines, they force people's browsers to load horizontal scroll bars and ain't nobody happy when that happens.]
posted by cortex at 5:39 PM on July 14, 2010

Metafilter: Cry of existential despair and regret shortened a bit.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 6:27 PM on July 14, 2010 [6 favorites]

Thanks for killing my evening by forcing me to sit here and watch the Baby's Day Out as well as all 3 parts of Attack of the Clones. I haven't seen my baby in 3 days!

{the serial killer parts were creepy but then they kind of grew on me. Because he's kind of like a totally inept serial killer. Kind of.}
posted by amethysts at 6:28 PM on July 14, 2010

Are there like Cliff's Notes for these?
posted by Naberius at 7:20 PM on July 14, 2010

Naberius, it's like if Zoidberg from Futurama was a serial killer and talking about why jamming a scene full of computer animated shit but not making anything follow the rules of physics or logic doesn't make for a good movie. The fact that Yoda is at a disadvantage because he's short in Episode 2 totally unravels the magic and coolness of having Yoda being the unlikely-looking Jedi master of the original movies. The physicality and realness of the original movies is what made them good. Copying the visual elements of those films without any of the realness or logic isn't what makes a good movie. You can't just show two attractive people who sometimes smile at each other but mostly act like boring asses and call it a believable love/friendship story. And it's all backed up with actual clips next to each other to demonstrate.
For Baby's Day Out: Cartoon violence works in cartoons. You can't just take an old cartoon and re-shoot it with actors with no comedic experience and have it make sense and make up for a total lack of plot.

I wasn't taking notes but this is what I remember off the top of my head.
posted by amethysts at 8:36 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

Love this - for some reason my family watched Baby's Day Out a LOT when I was younger - just wish video players would behave so when I click back to see a bit I missed they don't completely start again!
posted by doublehappy at 1:41 AM on July 15, 2010

RedLetterMedia just posted a new review trailer. It'll probably be Revenge of the Sith, but I would pay big money to see them tackle Twilight.
posted by brookedel at 7:41 AM on July 15, 2010

Stumbled over this 'behind the scene' vid when I watched the Baby's Day Out review the other day... interesting to see how much effort they put in and professional they seem to be and that no actual prostitutes seem to have been harmed much in the making. WARNING! Might ruin the magic by seeing what Mr Plinkett actually looks like.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 10:26 AM on July 15, 2010

Are there like Cliff's Notes for these?

It's like poetry.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 10:42 AM on July 15, 2010

turgid dahlia: Well, I don't know about you, but I've been hit in the gear a few times in my life and I know how depressing it is, so I sympathise when it happens to others. I've not yet been unexpectedly blown up, however, so to me it looks like a pretty fun and interesting way to go out.

Duh. Of course that's what it is. I have fallen down a lot, but I don't think that's going to elicit that same kind of sympathy pains.

Seems so obvious now that you point it out to me. (Sort of like the humor in the Red Letter Media reviews...which I'm growing to love even more, even the serial killer parts -- because even more than people falling down and/or getting blown up unexpectedly, I really respect sticking with a joke.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:43 AM on July 15, 2010