Youtube channel banner as at 17 April 2024

(2) CINEMA SINS & TV SINS (USA 2012 & 2018)

“No movie is without sin.” Ding!

With over 9 million subscribers, Cinema Sins is the most popular (and prolific) film review or commentary channel in my top tens or special mentions by a long shot (probably among film channels in general for that matter) – and not coincidentally, the most contested. People seem to love or hate them online.

Haters tend to see it as nitpicking and to a clickbait formula at that – with some fairness to both claims, although as my top-tier ranked special mention would indicate, I think that’s taking the whole sin schtick too seriously.

I see their video content more as playing a drinking game while watching a film, even (or perhaps especially) films they like or enjoy, and calling out ‘sins’ for shots – with only a minority of sins as actual flaws in the film and the majority mostly running gags or just plain snark:

“Sins include continuity errors, research errors, anything that breaks willing suspension of disbelief, editing mistakes, instances of  “Dude, Not Funny!”,  instances of idiot ball or idiot plot, plot holes, deus ex machinas, logical fallacies, continuity lockouts, overused and misused tropes, or just anything the guys can make a snarky joke or reference to.”

I mean how seriously can you take such running gags as “Roll credits” (for title drops or where the title of the film is used in the film itself), or my personal favorite “Scene does not contain a lap dance” (for exactly what you think – an actress the narrator finds attractive is onscreen, usually in a titillating way).

I’m also a fan of their recurring gag for “the Prometheus school of running away from things” for the infamous scene in the film Prometheus for running away from the crashing ship in a straight line (and failing), as opposed to taking a few steps to the side. Also their sin “they survive this”, for scenes in which the characters should have died.

And speaking of “they survive this”, you know their takedowns of the Fast and Furious franchise as cinematic trash is absolutely right, even if I have seen (and will continue to see) every film instalment in that franchise.

They do remove sins from time to time for things they like about a film or that it does well (like having Natalie Portman curtseying in kinky outfit in V for Vendetta).

They’ve had several spin-off channels, but the most enduring (and one I like the most) is TV Sins, which adapts the Cinema Sins formula to episodes of TV series.

RATING: 4 STARS****
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Youtube channel banner as at 16 April 2024

(1) DOVAHHATTY (BRAZIL 2013)

“There once was a dream…a dream to purge this rotten world from the barbarians who infest it. A dream called Rome.”

Or at least a dream called the Unbiased History of Rome. I’m calling it now – despite being self-proclaimed satire and “a channel not for learning history…but to indulge in the sheer madness of it”, it is still the best introduction to the history of Rome from its legendary founding to the fall of the western empire.

And certainly the most entertaining – I never knew I needed Roman history as depicted by memetic chads, wojaks and virgins but there you have it. I desperately needed it and you do too. Note that it evolved over the course of its videos – all nineteen of them, from The Roman “Mythology” in Unbiased History of Rome I to The Fall of Rome in Unbiased History XIX – from simpler and shorter videos to more sophisticated and longer videos. For all his historical parody, Dovahhatty has an eye for attention to detail and his content appears comprehensively researched.

Narrator (no, not Dovahhatty as narrator appearing in his own videos as an horned overlord in purple but my own rhetorical narrator): “It is in fact not unbiased”.

Indeed, it is history as the Romans themselves might have told it, but even the most luridly over-the-top self-mythologizing Romans – looking at you, Virgil – might have blushed at it as “blatantly biased towards particular factions, sometimes even reinterpreting entire events in their favor”.

And by particular factions, I mean the Romans – but not all Romans, just the good ones, not the plebs. And by the good Romans, it means selected emperors, leaders and military commanders or other heroic figures, typically those who the Romans themselves saw as exemplary or heroic. Usually of the patrician class – with the occasional equestrian or even low-born figure risen through the ranks of the army thrown in.

Not so much the senatorial class or senators with occasional exceptions – after the Senate turned bad that is, conspiring against the emperors, usually in the same room each time as a running gag. Also not so much the Praetorian Guard – after they turned bad, which was almost immediately. And of course not so much Roman women – or foreign women for that matter – who constantly recur in something of a running gag theme as the eternal femme fatale for Rome, particularly the empire, although there are noble exceptions.

The good Roman men are of course usually portrayed as absolute chads – or the occasional good wojak. The bad Roman men are usually portrayed as memetic virgins – or the occasional bad wojak. Although Dovahhatty often has his tongue firmly in his cheek, portraying emperors notorious for their legendary cruelty and depravity as the divine chads they no doubt saw themselves as – Caligula, Nero, Caracalla and Elagabalus for example.

And that’s the Romans – you can imagine how hilariously biased it is against the various peoples Rome saw as their barbarian enemies. By Jupiter – it’s scathing of their “civilized” opponents like the Greeks, let alone when you get to the Persians or Germans, both of whom it literally demonizes.

Its portrayal of Germans or “Germs” is a particularly amusing highlight for me – typically horned and fanged with yellow or red demon eyes (except when they’re slightly more human wojaks with slasher smiles). And of course they’re mindlessly destructive, hating the barest hint of civilization or construction of anything less rudimentary than their wretched mudhuts, with a persistent desire to spread chaos and burn the world as they constantly clamor in (modern) German, albeit often as only single-word expressions of their chaotic evil – “toten”, “mord”, “zerstoren”.

Indeed – the only reason that Dovahhatty is my top special mention and not first in my actual top ten is that, sadly, he seems now to be dormant. That is despite continuing his Roman history with his Byzantine Empire Unbiased History (until the dawn of the Arab conquests) as well as a couple of other historical topics and media reviews – including one of Game of Thrones – all of similar high quality.

One simply doesn’t listen to a Dovahhatty video in the background (unless you’ve already seen it) – it’s important to actively watch for the in-video captions, usually the dialog of the historical characters and source of much of the humor, albeit often misspelt.

Speaking of captions, I’ll let Dovahhatty’s disclaimer which appears at the start of his videos speak for itself:

“Unbiased history is a work of historical parody…It seeks nothing, but to provide a severely distorted, and outright false rendition of historical events, producing heavily biased narratives for light-hearted critical reflection, and with luck, comedic effect…It portrays acts of sexual, vulgar, violent, and highly offensive nature. The topics it discusses are those of political intrigue, historical importance, and humanitarian tragedies”.

RATING: 5 STARS*****
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What can I say? There’s a lot of Youtube channels out there – more than enough for my usual twenty special mentions I like to have for a top ten, if the subject matter is prolific enough.

So these are the special mentions for my Top 10 Youtube list, featuring channels beyond reviewers or commentators in popular culture, film or television to history and other topics – more than half the entries or so for the latter, although of course there are still some of the former. 

Youtube channel banner as at 10 April 2024

(1) DESPOT OF ANTRIM (SOUTH KOREA 2019)

“You will hear my thoughts on movies, TV shows, media companies and the cultural and political influences that go into them.”

Shortened to the Despot, just as my previous entry is shortened to the Drinker, his accent reveals him as the Irish member of my holy trinity of caustic critics hailing from the British Isles, although his Youtube bio has his location as South Korea. That – and the reference in one of his videos to Taiwan – might well originate from his former life as a teacher, to which he also has referred.

I can’t help but feel that his former life as a teacher is also revealed in the analytical style and sequence of his video content, such that you can almost see his video scripts in the same style as lesson plans. I’m a sucker for a systematic logical sequence, although the downside is that his video content tends to be by far the longest of my holy trinity. And I’m a sucker for a black sense of humor with an Irish accent – both of which you get in spades in his videos, or “taking the p*ss” as he puts it.

I’m obviously not the only one – as at April 2024, he released videos for the milestone of 10 and 1,000 subscribers respectively only a year previously but his channel subsequently ballooned to 86,800 subscribers.

His epic takedowns of film or TV are things of beauty to behold, often released with subtitles “Anatomy of a Disaster” or “So Much Worse than You Think” – my absolute favorite was his annihilation of Rings of Power, but other highlights include his videos savaging Bros and the Netflix Cleopatra documentary.

Oh and I looked it up – Antrim is actually a town (and district) in Ireland. So there you go.

RATING: 5 STARS*****
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Youtube channel banner as at 9 March 2024

(2) THE CRITICAL DRINKER (UNITED KINGDOM 2006)

“I drink and I say things. I’m here to deliver reviews, breakdowns and analysis on modern entertainment media. Expect a healthy dose of sarcasm, biting criticism and low-functioning alcoholism.”

The second of my holy trinity of Youtube popular culture commentators hailing from the British Isles as its Scottish member – and Youtube alter ego of writer Will Jordan. He perhaps prompts the most controversy of the trinity, given that he has a profile of an entirely different higher order of magnitude than the other two – closing in on 2 million followers – and people online seem to love him or hate him with little middle ground.

I fall somewhere in between, although obviously falling more towards the former, given I’ve placed him second in my Top 10 Youtube rankings. The fact that there is such a divide – and that it is so intense – between his fans and his critics may well illustrate his recurring theme about political messaging in entertainment media (or as he puts it in his videos, the MESSAGE!), as his fans and his critics are usually on opposite sides of that message.

I often don’t agree with his criticism or for that matter his recommendations but I usually find them entertaining, which is my primary criterion for these rankings. The usual example off the top of my head is his criticism of Midsommar – I agree that film is flawed but for different reasons than the Drinker and which do not detract from my appreciation of the film as a whole, particularly for its visual and stylistic elements.

Similarly, the points where I disagree with the Drinker do not detract from my appreciation of the Drinker’s video content as a whole, including the persona he adopts for it – “a Scottish drunkard with a crude attitude, a penchant for black comedy, speaks in biting sarcasm and snark, and frequently uses running gags and catchphrases” as well as a “snide demeanor…juxtaposed by his intelligent critique of the art of filmmaking and storytelling.”

Although he can be as caustic as the other two members of my holy trinity of caustic critics from the British Isles, he is perhaps the most positive of them – with videos appreciating or recommending films or TV series, including some that might surprise those on the other side of his caustic catchphrases “updated for modern audiences” and “reflecting the world we live in today”, as well as videos proposing ways to fix the issues he criticizes.

Also I have a soft spot for Tatiana, the Critical Drinker’s fictional muse and with whom he is said (by himself) “to live out many of his most perverted desires”.

RATING: 5 STARS*****

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Youtube channel banner – 8 April 2024

(3) REAPER (UNITED KINGDOM 2022)

“Christ – who wrote this?!”

And now we come – perhaps aptly enough given the featured tagline for this entry – to my holy trinity of Youtube popular culture criticism, all hailing from the British Isles interestingly enough, one from each of its holy trinity of England, Scotland and Ireland.

(Sorry, Wales – you miss out. You’ll just have to make do with Mauler, the only Welsh Youtuber I know – and whom I like well enough, except I tend to skip out on the notorious length of his content).

All three are classic caustic critics but Reaper is perhaps the most entertainingly embittered of them, often in the most, ah, incorrect ways. He does profess to like a few things, or at least occasionally comment on positive aspects or potential, but mostly he is tearing whatever film or TV series he is reviewing a new one – and hard!

He’s the English member of my holy trinity of caustic critics by the way.

If nothing else, he put me on to The Inbetweeners, the British TV comedy series with its delinquent high school cast of characters – and particularly the toweringly sarcastic teacher Mr. Gilbert (played by Greg Davies, funnily enough an ex-teacher turned actor and comedian).

That’s a quote from Mr Gilbert in the featured tagline – from a brief clip that Reaper plays as a recurring gag for, you guessed it, flaws that he perceives in the writing for film or TV scripts.

Unfortunately, the mere quote does not convey the sheer tone of annoyed exasperation in its line delivery, prompting me to quote it regularly in my office – rivalled only by the quote by Matt Berry from “What We Do in the Shadows” (I think) which Reaper often uses as conclusion for his video reviews, “it’s a piece of sh*t!”.

RATING: 5 STARS*****

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Youtube channel banner as at 31 March 2024

(4) HONEST TRAILERS – SCREEN JUNKIES (USA 2008)

“Enjoy our warped take on film & TV with a steady stream of pop-culture parody, original series, thoughtful commentary, and whatever we can think of next…Trailers that tell you the TRUTH about your favorite movies and TV shows: Honest Trailers. These are the hilarious trailers the producers don’t want you to see”

Similar to the fictional pitch meetings in my previous entry, the framing device for the video content here consists of fictional trailers – if they were honest about the plot holes and other issues in their films, although often still positive about the film itself (in the style of what TV Tropes – with which they seem to overlap at times – dubs affectionate parody).

Highlights include the starring credit puns – and of course the narration by Epic Voice Guy, whose voice is so epic fans write in asking him to narrate things at the end of each video.

RATING: 5 STARS*****

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Youtube channel banner as at 31 March 2024

(5) PITCH MEETINGS (CANADA 2022 – formerly part of Screen Rant USA 2008)

“Actually it’s going to be super easy, barely an inconvenience.”

Instead of the channel blurb, I couldn’t resist quoting its signature catchphrase – indeed so signature that the videos even originally went by the title Super Easy, Barely an Inconvenience – Screen Rant Pitch Meetings.

That catchphrase is routinely invoked by one of the duo of characters that appear in each video, the screenwriter played by Canadian comedian Ryan George, when pitching his film or TV series script in the titular fictional pitch meetings for popular films or series to the second of the duo, the film producer also played by Ryan George.

Invoked that is, by the screenwriter to dismiss the apparently irreconcilable narrative conflict or obstacle into which he has written his characters when the producer queries that very point – and seemingly accepted without any further argument by the producer.

Indeed, much of the exchange between them is the producer querying issues – being surprisingly “adept at spotting the problematic aspects of whatever he’s being pitched” – but fortunately for the screenwriter, is also easily distracted or deflected, usually by love of money as “a profit-obsessed doormat”.

One of my favorite aspects is how the screenwriter and producer seem to alternate playing the straight man to the other’s absurd thought processes or enthusiasm, only to be distracted or deflected by ulterior motives – usually profit for the producer and pride for the screenwriter, often to the detriment of the final product.

RATING: 5 STARS*****

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Youtube channel banner as at 2 April 2024

(6) MEDIA ZEALOT (NEW ZEALAND 2014)

“Media Zealot casts judgement on all things entertainment related. Prepare thyself for lashings of over-analysis, questionable criticisms, and uncomfortably long tangents, all held together by a relentless barrage of semi-satirical cynicism. Your sacrament is a grain of salt.”

The second of my antipodean popular culture critics in my top ten – although dare I say it, from the Lesser Antipodes that is New Zealand as opposed to the Greater Antipodes that is Australia. (Cue the esoteric bad geography joke on the Lesser and Greater Antilles. Yes – they’re a thing. Look it up!)

Anyway, the particular focus of Media Zealot is on cinematic fantasy and science fiction – with his two long-running playlists of videos, Villains Too Stupid to Win, and SF Civilizations Too Stupid to Really Exist, which are each pretty much exactly what they say on the tin.

RATING: 4 STARS****

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Youtube channel banner as at 31 March 2024

(7) IT’S A GUNDAM (USA 2015)

“The voice of a disenfranchised generation. Culture critic, trash comedian, failed musician. I’m the triple threat.”

Perhaps the most caustic of the caustic critics in my top ten and the most wide-ranging in his criticism, which might be broadly characterized as extending throughout online or social media controversy, popular culture criticism and social commentary.

He has a particular focus on the, ah, questionable aspects to be found among the perpetually – and, ahem, progressively – online, especially on Twitter or X as something of his happy hunting grounds for subject material for his video content. However, I can’t help but laugh as he nails the absurd outrage and indignation you see hyped online. Whatever you may think of his content, he does have comedic style.

No doubt he thrives on the outrage – particular highlights for me in his content are where he uses clips as running gags to mock the incoming outrage at someone daring to say such things, such as Sansa Stark saying “he’s a monster” (or more recently a clip of unknown origin to me – “Stop him!”). Also his running gag of calling to his poor overworked video editor – Stu? Stew? – “EDIT THAT OUT!”

RATING: 4 STARS****

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