There has a been a lot of chatter this week about the slightly controversial YouTube channel, CinemaSins. Very upfront about what it’s all about, the channel picks apart movies, and logs their flaws with a sin counter. They tally everything that either doesn’t make sense, or seems repetitive, or that is just too far gone for a person to appreciate or understand the first time they watch the film in question.
For some, CinemaSins can be a very entertaining platform. The concept of tackling otherwise respected films, and some not so respected, and finding minute details that make the film less than stellar has great potential for witty commentary and candor. However, the channel recently received criticism following a video on “Kong: Skull Island.” The film’s final tally by the end of the 20-minute video was 146 “sins” from odd edits to unexplainable happenings in the plot. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts lashed out at CinemaSins for their “self importance,” calling their attempt at satire “amateur hour.” But he wasn’t the first to take issue with the channel.
Last year, a YouTube user going simply by the name of Shaun, compiled his own complaints about CinemaSins. Having watched their video on George Miller’s widely acclaimed “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the Youtube user decided to break down the CinemaSins commentary, and it doesn’t take long to expose the satire channel’s exhausting approach which often finds them fundamentally misunderstanding the film they’re watching. Shaun also takes a look at CinemaSins’ video for “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back,” before eventually using two lengthy videos to highlight how many mistakes the YouTube channel in their own videos, and much more.
As Vogt-Roberts said, the claim that the CinemaSins is just making a bunch of jokes doesn’t quite hold up to scrutiny, and Shaun elaborates on many of the points the director made. Take a look at the video playlist below and share your thoughts in the comments section.
lol the channel is a joke you idiots. They’ve admitted to being overly critical just for comedic effect.
Comedy is supposed to be funny
It is funny, just not for you.
saying “lighten up it’s a joke” isn’t a get out of jail free card for producing useless trash.
Useless trash like Kong Skull Island?
Your joke doesn’t even make sense in this context. You cant just take random words out of the sentence your responding to and just tack the name of the thing you want to disparage onto the end lmao. Christ you people, watching trash ass socially inept youtube nerd personalities has destroyed any moral or humor sense you could of ever had. Though I guess we can’t expect much from somebody with a fedora for an avatar.
Actually, I can and I did. If you’re going to call a comedic YouTube video useless trash then you might as well look at what he was talking about which is a useless dumb, entertaining film.
Yeah what a bulletproof train of logic you followed to get there, great work, like a kid saying “I know you are but what am I”
Not like that at all. If the video is useless trash then explain to me how a dumb summer blockbuster with a terrible story isn’t?
These two things actually don’t have anything to do with one another? Hence why your useless comment made no sense to begin with? Terrible youtube “content creators” with dumb schticks have nothing to do with the movie and whether it’s good or not? Don’t know why that’s a difficult concept for you to grasp maybe your fedora is on to tight
Why are you writing this like it’s a question?
You’re criticising Cinema Sins for making “useless trash” but the same thing applies to Kong: Skull Island. I get it, you like the film and much like the director you’re offended by Cinema Sins, but it’s just a joke, calm down.
Because it’s baffling you can’t comprehend this basic stuff. But I guess somebody is insulting your Favorite Nerd Content Brands so now you got to be an obtuse goon about it.
I really don’t know what part of “saying ‘lighten up it’s a joke’ isn’t a get out of jail free card for producing useless trash” or a trash ass youtube channel being trash has nothing in itself to do with the quality of any random ass movie that comes out is really so hard for you to understand. It’s like you socially inept autismal nerds just roll of an assembly line somewhere.
Haha, I love the hypocrisy in our comments. It’s cute that don’t realise you’re doing exactly what you’re accusing me of.
No I’m aware you think I give a shit about this king kong movie lol, because of course in your world nobody could possibly have an opinion on any subject without being a dignity-less fanatically nerd about it
Ha, you’re so cute the way you think you’re smart.
Ok, socially inept Fedora Nerd Man
I bet you say that to a lot of people on the internet.
Well it is like you types just roll off an assembly line somewhere
Uh huh.
That could also be applied to literally everyone…
They’re not merely “overly critical”. They get factual things wrong about the movies they’re supposedly criticizing. How is that funny? They’re just idiots.
I don’t mind the channel so long as nobody confuses it for actual film criticism. The problem is that many people will watch this and take it as gospel given the large view count and dramatically serious tone of the narration.
It’s an objectionable approach to film critique. If you want to go this route keep it light-hearted and brief.
Believe me — nobody confuses anything for real critiques — because there is nothing quite like them. You know damn well what you’re listening to. I’m not going to say there isn’t a place for the art-world and it’s response to things. . . there’s gotta be somewhere. But there’s also gotta be a place for entertainment.
Besides, the artistic types should really stick to good, art movies. There’s precious few of those in the mainstream, but that’s what things like cinemasins are for.
They are the kind of people who says black and white films are dumb and there is no reason to make one today because color was invented a long time ago. Its ironic how the biggest proof of their bullshit is the video about transformers 4, its very long, they only say a lot shit and most of the time they are correct. Then you remember its transformers.
CinemaSins has a lot of flaws, but that video was atrocious, and commits many of the same “sins” people are critiquing the original for making.
Also, there needs to be a better hill to die on than Kong: Skull Island. That movie was garbage. Even mistaking the characters in their video speaks volumes – I can’t tell you one thing about any of the characters beyond their one-dimensional pitch line (“He’s crazy, he’s John Goodman, he’s the innocent one, etc.”)
What “sins” did this video criticizing CS make?
I can tell you why I watch Cinemasins — they make me laugh. There’s a mix of absurd statements, sinning things that shouldn’t be sinned, nitpicking details I never noticed, pointing out a few real flaws with movies, and mostly just having a good time. Also the guy talks fast enough, especially since I listen to everything at 2x — there’s a pretty good jokes per minute rate, like early South Park episodes or something. Plus they aren’t actually mean or crude, which is nice for a change of pace.
I can also so why I don’t much watch movies: I find almost all of them either bad or pretentious. This doesn’t mean they are. It means they are TO ME. I don’t enjoy movies. I used to. . .not really sure what happened, but about 10 years ago I just lost like, 95% of my interest in movies and went from seeing hundreds a year to maybe 3 or 4. And I’ve been to the theatre exactly twice in 5 years.
And I can say why the critiques of Cinemasins bother me — their entire point seems to be defending their movies as, not only more than mere entertainment (what’s wrong with entertainment?) but also above petty mockery. Why? Why is anything above petty mockery? Petty mockery is fun, as long as the intent isn’t actually to hurt people: I’ve not seen nearly all of Cinemasin’s stuff, I just found them a month or two back, but I haven’t seen them do anything like the personal attacks of character in, say, these critique videos.
The claim that Cinemasins is just making jokes holds up to every scrutiny. The satire claim doesn’t, few if any of their jokes are based on satire, I mentioned (with absurd statements) that a lot of them are entirely based on just “say a silly thing related to this image”. That’s entirely fine, and sometimes quite funny.
As for this video, specifically — dude, you just bore me. And that’s the gravest sin any video producer can commit. I’m not interested, entertained, enlightened, or anything. I’m not even specifically annoyed by your video, I’m annoyed by the fact I’ve seen about a dozen suddenly. . .over Kong and Looper. I didn’t see Kong, I’ve seen a few Kong movies in my day and the story doesn’t interest me, and the more you stick to the classic, the more overtly racist you get. But I did see Looper, it was disappointing and forgetful. Are we seriously going to trash an amusing YT channel in defense of crap movies?
Let me offer a brief version of my argument as alternative:
Only art deserves true critique — reviews and mockery are entirely appropriate to dross, and usually more entertaining.
I don’t think its funny so have generally stayed away. I don’t have a high opinion of them, but it is more thinking they are a waste of time to watch and make than thinking they are a bane on cinema. That said, any argument for them being satire or parody does not hold up. It is literally a dry mile-a-minute list of nitpicks with barely a nod to their “j/k, j/k, relax” attitude.
Fury Road is a garbage movie.