I know a lot of people here really like those Collider/Schmoeville guys, and I think they're at least genuinely passionate, but no one in Hollywood really takes any of them seriously for the very reason the Red Letter guys hit on... everything is awesome to them, they're always the first to react to all the blockbusters in which their praise is almost always glowing, and they do have a tendency to use the same, cliched phrasing over and over again. And look, I could be considered just as guilty at times, but a lot of those guys are basically socks for the studios. Studios literally fly them around the world for completely comped set visits, pay them to attend premieres, and send them all kinds of free merchandise. Because most of those those outlets are usually guaranteed lays who will effusively report on their sets visits (which the studios coordinate to "release" in conjunction with certain marketing phases), and then effusively praise the movies themselves the second they screen. Collider, Slashfilm, First Showing, etc... again, they're all well liked and they have great content, but they're also in bed with the studios big time. That's not to say they don't go off script a decent amount, or, again, aren't genuinely passionate, but the inside baseball of it all is more than what you might perceive.
So what sets someone like Red Letter Media apart? They're not shills. And as successful as Collider and Slashfilm are, they deserve a little ribbing now and then if only for how fanboy-ish they can be, never mind the fact that they ultimately serve as independent marketing arms for the studios.
So what sets someone like Red Letter Media apart? They're not shills. And as successful as Collider and Slashfilm are, they deserve a little ribbing now and then if only for how fanboy-ish they can be, never mind the fact that they ultimately serve as independent marketing arms for the studios.
