Hey there! This may or may not get turned into an audio/video version for The ‘Tubes if I get a moment in what’s turned out to be a pretty busy work week. For now, have you seen the latest GAME OVERTHINKER LIST, IN BOB WE TRUST or heard me on This Podcast?
Okay, then. So… here’s how things are going, and some word about some issues, changes and general scheduling stuff…
REALLY THAT GOOD
Alright. I have no way of knowing if this was on the top of your concerns, but it’s the one that’s been weighing on me.
As you’re probably aware, I ended RTG: THE MATRIX with a tease for the next two installments, the first “normal” episode being for TRANSFORMER: THE MOVIE and a special one-time-only “REALLY THAT BAD” episode for BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE; with the plan being that BVS would hit first because it’s a little more topical and more of a “big deal” than the other. Also, I have A LOT to say about it and I felt a really urgent need to purge it all from my system. However, as I’m sure most of you have by now figured out, real life and perspective have a way of reorienting what you consider to be “urgent needs.”
In case you weren’t aware, we found out a week or so back that Zack Snyder was stepping down as the official director of JUSTICE LEAGUE (BVS’ direct sequel), with Joss Whedon stepping in to direct the latest round of “significant” re-shoots and supervise the final edit and release of the film. The reason: It was revealed that back in March (sidebar: genuine kudos to Warner Bros for successfully keeping this out of the public eye until the Snyders were ready) Zack and Deborah Snyder’s daughter was found dead from a suicide. And frankly, since this has transpired, I’ve found it next to impossible to properly revisit and write about the movie in the fashion “REALLY THAT BAD” demands.
Part of me really, really wanted to keep going: It’s about the movie, not the filmmakers, a commitment was made, etc. But the fact is, Snyder is one of those filmmakers where a deep-dive into any individual film necessitates a deep-dive into their recurring motifs and (in this case) shortcomings, obsessions… and trying to square the circle of not “compromising” the criticism and not sounding like I was kicking the crap out of a man going through a trauma I can’t even begin to imagine the pain of – I just couldn’t find a way around that. Plus, in more “practical” terms, it’s difficult to talk about BVS without talking about the general chaos that’s engulfed the “DC Extended Universe” project at the production level; but now there’s a VERY real question of how much of the “bad vibes” that had surrounded JUSTICE LEAGUE (work stoppage, media-blackouts, re-shoots, schedule shakeups, etc) were actually related to the director having to handle this personal tragedy; with Snyder having already stated that he tried to throw himself completely back into work as a kind of therapy and found that it wasn’t helping.
Bottom line: I have no reason to believe Zack Snyder would have ended up watching this show one way or another, but I just don’t feel right (many thanks to someone with a much better head on their shoulders than me, generally, for helping me affirm that this was the correct decision) putting a full-bore step-by-step dressing-down of a person’s work up for wide viewing under this context. I’m still going to do the episode, that hasn’t changed, I just want to give it some time both out of respect to the Snyder Family in their time of grieving and in order to take a step back and think through the approach on my end. So expect TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE first and (maybe – I stress, maybe) one other additional episode with “REALLY THAT BAD: BATMAN V SUPERMAN” coming after.
I understand that some viewers will be disappointed by this delay, regardless of the reason, and I’m genuinely sorry for that. I have wrestled with this and believe I’ve arrived at the only reasonable decision, but I apologize all the same.
GAME OVERTHINKER LISTS
The response to this has been… actually a lot more positive than I thought it’d be early on. I was reticent about lists because they have a bad reputation as YouTube filler content, but I’m proud of what I’ve been able to put out so far. For awhile, you probably noticed these going up twice a week on a fairly random schedule, which was mostly designed to bank a solid backlog of them to be playlist-friendly. Having now accomplished that, I’m going to be setting release to once a week going forward, now targeting Tuesdays as the regular spot. Let’s see how that goes.
I’m also going to stop (or, at least, try stopping and see what happens to the traffic…) dual-posting the LIST episodes into the “regular” GAME OVERTHINKER playlist. That was always going to be temporary as part of getting the LIST series in front of as many eyes early on as possible, and I’ve heard the feedback that fans who’ve been missing the more “traditional” episodes feeling bummed-out when it looks like a new one has dropped but it’s a crosspost of a LIST instead. I hear you, I get it, and I hope reading the next segment will be good news for you 😉
P.S. Upcoming LIST topics (in no particular order) include “Favorite NES Games (Nintendo and non-Nintendo developed),” “Best TMNT Game,” “Best Genesis Exclusives,” “Best Non-Video Arcade Games,” “Best Ninja Game” (and “Best Game Ninjas!”), “Best Advertisement Games” and more. So… look out for those!
GAME OVERTHINKER 3.0
Like I said: I’ve heard you. You miss the classic-style “in-depth OverThinking” episodes, and I miss doing them. I’ve test-run slightly tweaked versions of a “comeback” by using the set-ups and music for gaming-related episodes of IN BOB WE TRUST, and while they take a touch more work than the average episode of that series it always leaves me eager to do more. However, what I’m finding is that I don’t have the time amid other projects to squeeze in either a new regular (even monthly!) series in addition to IN BOB WE TRUST – as is, the only reason the LIST episodes can be weeklies is that the format doesn’t require nearly as much prep-time now that the “outline” is locked in and B.) Since they aren’t current-events related I can keep a pre-written/pre-recorded backlog on deck weeks ahead of time.
However, one thing I’ve also been feeling the pinch on is that a 4-per-month schedule for IN BOB WE TRUST might be stretching that series a bit thin on my end in terms of subject, which has occasionally resulted in episodes coming in late because I couldn’t scrape a topic and script together until the last minute. So, here’s what I’m thinking: If and When the new iteration of OVERTHINKER is ready to launch on the reg (I’m thinking “GAME OVERTHINKER 3.0” as a tentative title), would you fans/viewers be amenable to IN BOB WE TRUST dropping to a 3-weeks-in-a-row schedule with “week 4’s” spot becoming a monthly OVERTHINKER 3.0 episode? As ever, I’m not necessarily putting this up for a vote – this is the move I want to make – but I’m curious to hear whether this would be welcomed or not.
IN BOB WE TRUST
Apart from considering going to a thrice-monthly schedule in order to incorporate a monthly OVERTHINKER episode, things are steady and stable for the series that’s basically the workhorse of my independent output. No spoilers for next week’s episode, but the “big” project in the offing is the (likely two-part) “HOW I’D HAVE FIXED SPIDER-MAN IN THE MCU” piece, which should be fun to make but I’m curious to see about the reception all the same.
Incidentally, you may have seen a few days back that I was soliciting opinions on whether or not I should be actively revisiting topics that were previously fodder for episodes of the old BIG PICTURE show. The response was pretty heavy in favor of “Yes, do it;” which doesn’t really surprise me all that much, and I went through my backlog and came up with a rough total of 37 topics worthy of revisitation at some point in the future of IN BOB WE TRUST. To reiterate: These won’t be “re-releases,” they’ll be new coverage of a topic covered once before with updated information where applicable.
I’d also stress that this won’t be the “majority” of IN BOB WE TRUST episodes going forward, for now the 37 in question are mainly additions to the “to do” pile and overwhelmingly represent TV/comics/film/etc “history” subjects and “this is a thing that exists” entries rather than topical rants, and I’m particularly interested in stuff where time has changed the narrative somewhat. For one example: A previous “history of Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers)” ended with her having newly become Captain Marvel, so there’s a lot more to discuss there. See also: Green Lantern, The Tommy Westphall Universe, Spider-Man: One More Day (and Clone Saga!), the “lost” TMNT and SUPER MARIO BROS Anime movies, etc. (Speaking of TMNT, look for a “How To Fix” for that in the future as well…)
GOOD ENOUGH MOVIES
There was a period where I basically put everything else on hold to power through REALLY THAT GOOD: THE MATRIX and that meant production slowed a bit on the “other” semi-regular movie series. I feel bad about that, and I’m in the process of getting a new one up soon and seeing them hit more regularly after that. An amusing hurdle is that each one I do usually makes me want to pick another from the “to do” pile on similar lines, which I’m trying to avoid to keep things interesting.
MOVIEBOB SHIRTS
I still want Official MovieBob Merch to happen, I’m still soliciting advice and concerns. Ideally, I’d like to have at least an IN BOB WE TRUST and GAME OVERTHINKER shirts up for sale in some capacity for Holidays 2017. Still leaning TeeFury for the first crack at it, though if anyone knows a better method please don’t hesitate to reccomend.
GEEK.COM WEEKLY REVIEWS
This is going great! I only put it here at the bottom because I don’t have much news to report – I’m on this beat, it’s going well, PLEASE bookmark my page on the site and watch these and send them to all your friends so I can keep doing this!
MOVIEBOB CENTRAL 
First up, huge respect to you as a human being for respecting the current Zack Snyder situation and delaying the RTB BvS video. One of the things I love about your videos/reviews is how you add a human element to them, you’re not just a clinical reviewer checking off a list of points, you’re a thinking, feeling human giving your emotional response to whatever you are talking about.
As a gamer and movie guy I look forward to having a monthly Game Overthinker 3.0 video. I only recently discovered the original GO videos and there is definitely scope for a revival.
Keep doing what you do best and please, please make sure your upcoming T Shirts ship internationally!
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Holding back on that review seems like a very good idea all things considered and it seems like a lot of other stuff is going pretty well, if very busy (My sympathies)
I like the idea of mixing In Bob We Trust and GAME OVERTHINKER 3.0, and swapping out certain episodes, I think it can strike a good balance, and In Bob We Trust seems to work best when you’ve already got something you really feel the need to discuss.
Good luck in the future with review, merchandise and everything else!
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I have to be honest and say I have never been comfortable with the idea of ‘Really that bad’. I do not think it suits your delivery style and would almost certainly begin to feel like a relentless kicking regardless of circumstances. Your shorter movie reviews do this well in part because they are short and so the context lends a certain ‘not to be taken too seriously’ to the remarks that occasionally veer over into what might be seen as a shot at the creator rather than the creation.
I am a huge fan of Really that Good and it was and remains the main reason I want to support your work, but the positive aspect of it is important. To my mind a GEM on Watchmen would be a more appropriate format for addressing Snyder’s work than singling out BvS (which raises the question why League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or Catwoman are not deserving of similar treatment).
So you are absolutely right to delay what you planned, but I for one would not miss it if it never arrived.
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It’s good to see you reaching into your full work range again Bob. Only thing I can add to is the whole Really That Bad thing. Good call delaying that so it doesn’t look like you are hitting a man while he is down. Also a good call on saying it’s a special. It won’t be the only Really That Bad episode you make if you keep doing Really That Good for say at least ten years, but each RTB will probably be a special episode about a stinker of a movie that did an incredible amount of damage with its ideas.
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BvS is something of a weird movie for me. Watching it was torture, but it has provided many hours of fun with my friends, ripping on how awful it was. Which in a way, makes it kind of an enjoyable movie overall I suppose. I am looking forwards to a Really that Bad both to further my *enjoyment” of BvS work my friends, and because I really enjoy reviews of bad movies. Well that and I’ve never seen a thought piece that I feel properly covers all the different ways it was a bad movie. Like how Batman is Jesus, who then forges the “Spear of Destiny” to kill Superman, who is also Jesus.
Call it catharsis or schadenfreude if you want, but I’m still looking forward to Really that Bad.
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I agree with Robert, I really don’t see the need or benefit of kicking the already dead horse that is BvS. I much prefer you turn your energies into Game Overthinker 3.0 (which I really miss) and other cool stuff. I am completely fine with getting less IBWT if we receive a game overthinker monthly. Keep up the great work!
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Oh gosh. I had to resurrect my WordPress account, recover my password, redo my 2 factor authentication, and now finally I can say it:
Good job with the List episodes, at one point I was going to leave a negative comment about them, but then I stopped myself and took the time to actually watch them. They’re filler-ish, sure, but they’re better than I thought they’d be. That being said, I ~would~ still prefer you spent that time & energy on making your more in-depth episodes, especially with how much there is to say about the Nintendo Switch in the time since your last episode about it. E3 revealed Yoshi, Kirby, Metroid, more content for Zelda, and Splatoon + Mario Odyssey are closer than ever…. It is a good time to be a Nintendo fan!
Also if you could talk about Super Mario Run I feel like that could be a full in-depth Game Overthinker, where you could put it in context of all the garbage mobile games out there, and maybe even compare it to the pay-to-win Fire Emblem game D: I personally feel like Mario Run is a much better direction for Nintendo to go in on mobile, for the heath of mobile games, but I’m sure Fire Emblem is making them more money 😛
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Fire Emblem is not pay-to-win. You can get a strong enough core team without spending a penny and relying on reward orbs (I have one).
At most, it’s a “pat-to-get-your-waifu/husbando”
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Yeah if you’re willing to restart the game 50 times until you get high tier powerful heroes with great skills in your free gatchopons. Gatchapon phone games are all scams and Fire Emblem is no exception.
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I would definitely like three IBWTs and one GO3 per month.
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I like the 3-and-1 idea with In Bob We Trust and GameOverthinker. I think they mostly hit the same sweetspot on commentary about important topics, and I’d welcome the return of the Overthinker.
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Think the BvS thing is completely understandable. Personally I’ve always found the Game Overthinker and it’s side personas to be abrasive, but you’ve smoothed out alot of the rough edges in the lists, so I’d probably watch the new Overthinker episodes.
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I still think a really that bad for Batman V Superman is as ill conceived as the film itself. We get it, you were massively disappointed in the end product. You have made that fact abundantly clear in both your review of the film proper and your many other projects which essentially dissolved into a side critique of the film all over again. You can’t seem to make a video review of a super-hero film these days without inserting a side rant regarding the film.
And, we get it. It was a bad movie. But it wasn’t really even bad in a very notable way. Its not the worst film ever made, and it isn’t even the worst Superhero film ever made (I still reserve that honor for 1997’s Spawn) It was just a poorly conceived and poorly executed film.
So, beyond taking potshot at Snyder while he is obviously going through a very difficult time, it also feels like a video meant to take a dig at very specific type of fan. Believe it or not, there are fans who enjoyed it the film. I don’t get it, but I actually have several friends who loved it and greatly enjoyed it. So, at this point, creating an entire really that bad one off feels less like a critique of the films flaws and more of of a petulant “no you are wrong and stop liking things I don’t like” diatribe. I mean, I know you have to market to the fan base you built with you Pixels review. But, personally, I don’t think petty vindictiveness looks good on you.
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A few notes:
Not being a video gamer the Overthinkers aren’t my cup of pixels but i understands why people dig them. A one a month schedule nestled into the other lines is a good play.
I totally agree on delaying the Really That Bad, for all the reasons you state. Personally I don’t think the RTB idea is a great one, but I also understand that when something gets under your creative mental skin you have to work it out to let it go. Plus since it’s unlikel the RTB is going to be you yelling “Why?’ Fuck! Why!?!” At the screen for 45 minutes and instead using your usual critical analysis to tease out why some decisions were errors and how that cascaded through the rest of the film I can see some real technical enjoyment in it (if not the sense of creative happiness that RTG gives me).
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