Poll: Do you enjoy Moviebob's content?

[endtherapture]

I used to quite like Escape to the Movies years ago, but it was somewhere around the time of The Expendables/Scott Pilgrim reviews that I began to dislike the man. He's not the first or only overweight nerdy kid who was bullied in school, but it's a chip he can't seem to shake off. Not to mention how sanctimonious he became.

I'm sure he makes a good show, is informative and all the other positive things people have mentioned in this thread, but my disdain for the man is so great I simply refuse to watch or read anything he does now. For those who like and enjoy his content, fair play to you.

Captcha: Do you Love me? Nooo! I have no heart, I feel no love. I feel no fear, no joy, no sorrow. I...am...hollow!

Oh god yeah this. I obviously have the greatest sympathy for those who have been bullied (and really, we've all been bullied at some point), but Bob's insistence that everything low-brow, like Call of Duty or The Expendables, is something loved by bullies and jocks, some sort of underclass of entertainment for those without brains, is frankly insulting and stupid. The people who bullied him and probably gone off into a lot of different sectors, some might be scientists, others bankers and others sportsmen and some might be on minimum.

Bob's personification of all evil into a misogynistic, stupid CoD-playing bro because he got bullied 10-15 years ago is ridiculous.

 

[RedDeadFred]

To put it lightly, no; I cannot stand the guy. And I'm a big fan of harsh critics, like Brooker, Yahtzee, and Sterling. But Bob always seems to be arrogant in his commentary, using his bias as a crux as opposed to a reference point. That and I studied film, so I can't stomach his movie reviews given that most of them make little to no sense in my mind. The Road = a film in which nothing happens vs 2012 = best apocalypse film of 2012? No.

To be perfectly honest, now that Jim has gone I'm seriously thinking about taking my leave from this site given the sheer volume of Bob stuff posted here.

See, I see this the exact opposite. While I find Bob incredibly watchable, whether I agree with his opinion or not, I find Jim f*ing Sterling to be a overbearing arrogant prat, even when I totally agree with him.

It's interesting isn't it? I find Jim's arrogance to be a caricature of half enraged advocate, half intentional man-child. All in all, I think it's pretty funny and sometimes charming because it's an obvious affectation. Bob on the other hand comes off as actually full of himself, which is what I find grating even when I'm totally with him on a point. Even though it all comes off as arrogant, people seem to prefer one over the other. Odd, that.

Agreed, with Jim, his arrogance is part of the joke and it's how he effectively communicates his content. With Bob, his arrogance seems genuine and I've found it to be more and more off-putting lately.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Movies, comics and obscure stuff-wise, definitely.

Games content, not so much, since he seems to be fixated on Nintendo.

Otherwise, he's okay.

 

[Kevlar Eater]

Nope. Personally, I think he comes off as a pretentious, mean-spirited douche who, every time he opens his mouth or tweets, tries to justify his holier-than-thou attitude. I get my movie reviews from more reputable, ethical reviewers; and I can form my own opinion concerning things geek/nerd, all I have to do is do a bit (or a lot) of digging. But he still has the right to say what he wants, in the same vein that I should be afforded that right as well.

And I'm glad he's long since removed his mask so I can see the true him. Not exactly someone I'd wanna meet in public.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

I used to like him, but I find him to be as shallow as a puddle these days and frustrating to read. He brings far too much of his own prejudice into things and likes to generalize people. I gave up altogether recently. Life is too short. I can see why his fans like him. But I can't stomach him or his articles any more.

 

[mitchell271]

Zero Punctuation made me come over and start lurking on The Escapist. Escape to the Movies is what made me say, "screw it" and sign up. I really like Big Picture too and whenever he posted Overthinker on youtube I'd be sure to check that out too. I haven't seen many new Overthinkers but I think those moved to a different site...oh well.

Just... avoid the Overthinker. The first episodes were interesting when he was talking about games, but Jim and Extra Credits did that but better. Then he added what can barely be called a story along with some of the worst effects and acting I've ever seen. I get that he's just one guy, but he should be able to realise when something is just plain bad.

 

[JonSherwell]

Yes, I like him, he's one of three groups I watch regularly on The Escapist (Yahtzee, LRR, MovieBob, until recently JimFnSterlingSon), and I do enjoy his reviews and articles. Guy's got a talent for what he does. I can't blame him for being opinionated, and I think usually it comes from genuine passion and has some good weight to it (except for his over-abundant disdain for certain directors). That being said, I don't always agree with him, but, like I said, I think something beneficial can be drawn from what he says.

 

[Story]

I like his work on the Escapist. However, I never watched his other series the Game Overthinker nor have I read his book. He has never insulted me personally or at least I never felt that he has. I also tend to agree with him politically 90% of the time too.

My biggest problem with Bob is that he tends to be hypocritical, or at least he doesn't "stick to his guns" long enough for me to take him very seriously as a critic. It seems like he changes his mind on things way too often.

 

[Mutie]

snipety

See, I see this the exact opposite. While I find Bob incredibly watchable, whether I agree with his opinion or not, I find Jim f*ing Sterling to be a overbearing arrogant prat, even when I totally agree with him.

Yeah, I see where you're coming from. Due to the fact that I often disagree with Bob I make a point to watch reviews of things I have a vested interest in, as it's a healthy way to get a little duality in my internal argument. And he's deffo the best place for Marvel news. I think the defining difference between Bob and Jim Blooming Sterling Dude is that you very much have to "get" Jim's persona. It's likely a product of mine and my best friend's dynamic that makes the faux-grandeur appeal to me; the guy just cracks me up every time he takes it to a new level... Probably because it is a rather blatant facade masking a likely timid and uneasy true-character, as with many such comedians. I imagine it's the fact that Bob ISN'T so exaggerated in his persona that bugs me; I feel like he's being less of a character and more of a genuine prat, even when I know he isn't.

 

[Mikeybb]

I can separate the person from the output, but in honesty I've never really felt the compulsion to watch any of his work.

This isn't to say I think he is bad at producing content, but more that I see anything that made me particularly attracted to the prospect of watching or reading any of it.

Tend to get my movie news, reviews and riffing upon the two for fun from other places, to be honest.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I give him credit that he's really good at communicating his point in the time frame the videos allow him. Whether or not I agree with him depends on every video, but I guess I can say he is a pretty good guy for his position.

I don't think he's anywhere near as good as Yahtzee.

 

[And Man]

I enjoy the content he provides for the Escapist. I don't agree with a good number of the things he posts, but I'm able to separate the content from the creator (when his political leanings and views aren't the center of one of his videos or articles).

 

[silversnake4133]

While I don't always agree with all of the things he says or puts his opinions on, I do overall enjoy his content. Unfortunately, he'll never be able to beat out Yahtzee for my favorite Escapist Contributor.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

He's a liberal fascist - I find that his intolerance of viewpoints outside his own narrow one negatively impact his professionalism. I definitely can't say I appreciate his work because of this.

This.

I stopped watching him after the Mass Effect 3 debacle. I didn't have a strong stance on the whole thing, but his behavior was deplorable, his attitude towards people who anyone who disagrees with him is deplorable, I'm not surprised at his behavior toward GamerGate supporters. No matter your stance on GamerGate, that behavior is unacceptable, you don't endorse harassment to anyone.

I think he's good at what he does, though I more often than not take issue with his attitude both in his videos and on Twitter.

And no, it's not because of ''t3h SJW!!11'', though he and I are definitely political opposites in many ways. I find it ironic that despite claiming to be all about the joys of geek culture and campaigning for more inclusivity, he can be really hostile to people who disagree with him even over small things.

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2014/10/cultural-genocide-thing/#comment-1649541742

In the comment section of that article he outright compares people who don't like superhero movies to Gamergate of all things. Yes, he compared people who don't like a particular genre of movie he's passionate about to a hate group that's best known for harassing women.

Speaking of harassment. This is what he thinks of the fact that Jack Thompson was also harassed back in the day:

https://twitter.com/the_moviebob/status/527993572734537728

Yes, that's him openly and explicitly endorsing harassment of Jack Thompson.

He hates GamerGate so much that he's made it into his boogey man.

Oh yeah, not to mention the time he tried to get a guy arrested for trolling female game players, then quickly backtracked on it.

 

[FriedRicer]

I enjoy the content for the most part. The self-reference - meta-explaining-social commentary on jocks/geeks thing IS cringe-worthy though.

Is this topic around because Jim fuckin' Sterling left?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Is this topic around because Jim fuckin' Sterling left?

Yeah, as of Jim's departure Bob and Yahtzee are the two biggest content creators left. Except Yahtzee gets way more positive feedback than Bob. Or at least that's my impression. So far Bob has 45% positive feedback, 30% negative feedback and 25% of middle ground.

 

[The_Waspman]

Way back when I first started lurking here, he was one of the contributors that I tuned into each week. Now though, it feels like an effort to do so. I can generally tell from his movie reviews whether I'll like a film or not (mainly because his taste and mine are not in sync. Captain America: First Avenger the best of the Phase One movies? Pffft, Please...) but I dunno, there came a point - and this happened quite a long time ago now (which is when his content went from 'tune in to' to 'meh, maybe later') when his attitude kinda changed from 'this is what I feel about a film/topic' to 'my opinion is right, and if you disagree, you're a culturally devoid moron'.

So yeah.

Now that Jim has gone (someone else who I only occasionally tuned in to), all the escapist needs to do is lose Yahtzee and I'll probably stop coming here...

 

[Spider RedNight]

As others have mentioned though, I go to TGWTG almost every day, at LEAST twice a week because their stuff is just funnier and more honest and open.

Out of curiosity, I searched TGWTG since I'd never been to the site. Wow. I didn't realize that a bunch of Youtubers I enjoy all contribute to the same place. I'll definitely going there quite regularly now.

Awww buddy, welcome to a slice of LIFE. TGWTG is GREAT. I love it so much

 

[camazotz]

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2014/10/cultural-genocide-thing/#comment-1649541742

In the comment section of that article he outright compares people who don't like superhero movies to Gamergate of all things. Yes, he compared people who don't like a particular genre of movie he's passionate about to a hate group that's best known for harassing women.

Speaking of harassment. This is what he thinks of the fact that Jack Thompson was also harassed back in the day:

https://twitter.com/the_moviebob/status/527993572734537728

Yes, that's him openly and explicitly endorsing harassment of Jack Thompson.

You're misrepresenting him. The post in question:

$200 million wasn't even a plausible amount of money as early as three decades ago. Meanwhile, SEX TAPE cost *only* $4 million less than CLEOPATRA. inflation happens.

Online video is my business, I know it's not easy and it sucks. But are you seriously going to argue that it (getting a smaller film seen) sucks MORE than it did even a decade ago when streaming etc didn't exist? When your options for distribution of a self-produced film was to luck out at Sundance, sell cheap to Troma or Full Moon (and then ONLY if you were "genre") and nothing else? It ain't easy, but it's better now.

And we both know that you won't be "scrambling" for "normal human being" movies because of the 4 - 5 superhero movies out of hundreds a year. Really, now - that's veering into the cinephile version of Tea Partiers screaming about "LOSING AMERICA!!!!" because they have to push 1 for English, or the GamerGate brats squealing about games without guns.

He is specifically indicating that someone arguing from the unreasonable position that 4-5 blockbuster super hero films will prevent hundreds of lower cost human interest films from being made is taking an unreasonable stance, comparable to the nuttier elements of society which he (Correctly) characterizes as Tea Partiers and the stranger, scarier elements of the amorphous Gamergater movement.

On the Jack Thompson harassment issue: context is everything. He was making a statement about Thompson's notoriously creepy interaction with Janet Reno that frankly even pisses me off to have had to dredge that effin memory up. But then....Thompson was a very bad man in his time. Emapthy is hard to feel for the man.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_(activist)

 

[camazotz]

Double post! Gah!!! Well...I voted "entertaining sometimes." I realized at some point that Bob's highly specific view on the last few decades is not in sync with mine, so his movie reviews are unreliable....but his informational pieces are usually fun.