RedLetterMedia

/wiki/RedLetterMediacreator

Nadine: Please, mister, let me go. I'll do anything you want!
Mr. Plinkett: Quiet! I'm doing my YouTube Star Wars review!

RedLetterMedia is a channel on YouTube and a webzone featuring a number of shorts by a small creative team. The group's real claim to fame are the "Mr. Plinkett Reviews"; done by Mike Stoklasa, who plays Plinkett, the reviews tackle various sci-fi films in a manner akin to other video reviewers such as Sci Fi Debris or The Spoony Experiment.

In these reviews, Harry S. Plinkett is an elderly man (he claims in one review to be 119 years old) with Deadpan Snarker and Serial Killer tendencies who's been in various marriages where his wives have died under suspicious circumstances (and he routinely kidnaps other women as well).

To date, Plinkett has reviewed:

Plinkett also released a Riff Trax-style audio commentary for The Phantom Menace (for anyone who was willing to watch it again, anyway).

Criticism of the Star Wars prequels can normally be written off as easy (as well as being a bit behind the times), but the Phantom Menace review was widely spread around the internet and was even tweeted about by celebrities such as Damon Lindelof and Simon Pegg. Plinkett's reviews, while often containing borderline dark and tasteless humor, offer many insightful explanations as to why the prequels pale in comparison to Lucas' original trilogy—and these explanations don't involve Jar-Jar (he's barely mentioned throughout all three reviews). Some key critiques of the prequels include:

  • How much exposition is given through dialog and talking heads when compared to simple visuals from the original works. (Note how long the discussion of events of extravagant battles that are never shown to the viewer in the establishing shots of Revenge of the Sith are.) Also the fact that despite this, core concepts like who the Trade Federation is and what the original dispute is about are never explained and so nothing really makes sense.
  • The lack of anything resembling an empathetic everyman character for the audience to relate to (including the complete lack of a central protagonist in Phantom Menace). In the Phantom Menace review, Mr. Plinkett gave four separate people the task of describing four characters (Han Solo, C-3PO, Queen Amidala, and Qui-Gon Jinn) without mentioning their appearances or actions—while they each were able to expound greatly on the first two, they all fumbled for words for the prequel characters.
  • The extravagance and over-reliance on special effects and blue-screen filming to create a fantastic world in lieu of actual story. (At one point, Plinkett calls back to a much younger George Lucas, who once said special effects were a means to an end.)
  • The "dissolution of tension" in nearly every scene that should be exciting, mainly because viewers either don't care about or don't understand what's at stake in the scene (e.g. the fight scene with Darth Maul), don't understand what's happening (due to poor storytelling and/or cluttered visuals), or can't project ourselves into the outlandish events that happen (e.g. the overly long light saber duel over an erupting volcano in Sith).
  • Reusing imagery and concepts from the original trilogy without understanding why such scenes worked on their own in the first place. (In the Attack of the Clones review, Plinkett compares Leia's desperation at losing Han Solo to Boba Fett at the end of The Empire Strikes Back—and the audience's emotional investment in those events—to Amidala's weak retort at failing to capture Count Dooku.)

While there are a few overly-nerdy jabs at continuity and nitpicking at illogical story elements, much of the commentary is given from a filmmaker's point of view, which made the reviews enlightening for numerous viewers. A number of Star Wars fans disliked the approach—and one fan even wrote a 117-page rebuttal of the Phantom Menace review (which Plinkett scoffed at). The style of the Star Wars reviews (and the reviews which followed those) are similar in style to his earlier Star Trek movie reviews (though those reviews nitpicked even more, mostly about details and inconsistencies between the movies and the show).

In addition to the Plinkett reviews, RLM also hosts "Half in the Bag", a traditional review series featuring Stoklasa and Jay Bauman discussing new releases. The show is more in the style of Siskel and Ebert, and while the two are supposed to be repairing Plinkett's VCR, they usually spend the whole time drinking beers and reviewing movies. The Plinkett character also appears, played by Rich Evans.

...now this is where it gets complex, my lovelies...

RedLetterMedia provides examples of the following tropes:

"Maybe It's time for another vodka gimlet... [trips over furniture] GW'OOH FCK!"

  • Any Torment You Can Walk Away From: Following his duel with Nadine, subsequent hospital stay, and near-assassination, Plinkett cheerfully returns home to...microwave his cat.
  • All There in the Manual: Plinkett abhors this trope, or at least despises the fact that fans so often invoke it to explain away the all but incomprehensible plot and setting of the Star Wars prequels:

"...Point is, I'm still not sure what the [Trade Federation] ships were there to do. And don't any of you faggots tell me it was explained more in the novelization or some Star Wars BOOK! What matters is the MOVIE!!"

  • Alternate DVD Commentary: Mr. Plinkett's Phantom Commentary.
  • Alternative Character Interpretation: In-Universe: Plinkett claims that Cop Dog was originally meant to be a dark psychological thriller directed by Todd Solondz.
    • Qui-Gon Jinn is a drunkard.
    • The Jedi are a bunch of disorganized hippies.
    • Jar-Jar Binks was inspired by Tara Reid on a bender.
    • The maid in Baby's Day Out is the baby's real mother, and Mrs. Cotwell is into servant sex.
    • The kid in Cop Dog is a jibbering lunatic.
    • Indiana Jones and Mac are closeted gay lovers.
    • Adam Sandler has actually been pulling a Springtime for Hitler with his movies.
  • Aluminum Christmas Trees: Invoked in the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull review where Plinkett states that the scene where Mutt uses a snake as a rope to get Indy out of quicksand couldn't happen since the snake would get ripped in half.

Mr. Plinkett: I don't know, it just doesn't seem realistic to me. Now go ahead and post comments about how people have used snakes as ropes for years in the Amazon or whatever, you fuckin assho-

  • Ambiguously Gay: Mr Plinkett himself. Apparently, he made out with George Lucas and he compliments William Shatner's "merkin"[1] in the Star Trek the... Star Trek review.
    • We should also remember that he's a deranged, psychotic, senile old man who's frequently drunk, so make what you will of his occasional hilarious offhand comments.
  • An Aesop: Plinkett dispenses several of these over the course of reviewing the prequel trilogy, but at the end of the Revenge of the Sith review, and as the very last line of the review proper, he distills everything he's said into a single sentence:

Plinkett: And in the end, all the computers in the world can't generate the most basic thing that a movie needs: an emotional connection with the audience.

  • Anything But That: ...Except for the bagpipes.
  • Angrish: several minor occasions scattered throughout the series, usually with The Scary Voice, but the best example would have to be when confronted with the asspull of Yoda telling Obiwan how to talk to Force Specters.

And then Yoda tells Obiwan that he should talk to Qui-Gon's ghost! (Laugh Track plays) WHAT THE FUCK?! No-one-evermentionedanyoneeverdevertime 'bout talkin' to ghosts!!!!!!"

Mr. Plinkett: I don't think I've ever seen a movie like this, with mind rape, child slave labor, guy getting impaled on a spike and then pulling it through his own guts, horrific scenes of death, close-ups of Marina Sirtis...

    • He even does a positive example of this, listing two really important good things cultures with technology has before listing something far less important.

Mr. Plinkett: Plus they (savage cultures without technology) don't got things like antibiotics, indoor plumbing, or Taco Bell.

  • As Himself: "Man In A Black Cloak"
  • Ascended Fanboy: Mike admitted in the comments for Half in the Bag's review of ZaAt that he was well-aware of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 airing, and implied it was an inspiration.
  • Author Appeal: Mike considers The Rocketeer an underrated gem, and occasionally includes a clip as an examples of correct storytelling.
  • Ax Crazy: He's killed several of his ex-girlfriends and wives, several Koreans, and now needs to go because his cat isn't going to milk itself.
  • Bait and Switch: In the Episode 3 review, he talks about the "funniest scene in movie history". He goes through the part when Vader arises in detail, and shows the moment as... Yoda telling Obi-Wan to talk to Qui-Gon's ghost.
  • Better by a Different Name: In a variation, he says the latest Star Trek actually is better if you think of it as a Star Wars movie instead of a Star Trek movie. He also says that it's a better SW film than the prequels.
  • Non Sequitur Scene: At the end of the Phantom Menace review, he says that the part where a floating pizza roll told him to go murder his wife was really strange.
    • Plinkett said he didn't understand how it fit into The Phantom Menace either.
  • Big "Shut Up!": "Fred Thompson, shut yer trap! SHUT UP! Let her go look for her baby, she'd probably've found it by now. You haven't gotten shit done!"
    • Gives one to Rick McCallum during a later use of the "its so dense" line. "SHUTYOURFUCKINGFACE!"
  • Big "What?": His discovery of the Revenge of the Sith dvd inside his Baby's Day Out case.

Picard: No, there's a chance we could hit the dish, it's charged with antiprotons. We could destroy half the ship!
(cut to Picard unloading a phaser at the dish)
Plinkett: WhaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAT?

    • Palpatine, after Plinkett preempts his demands for more reviews by linking him to a gay porn video.

Palpatine: I was not going to ask for a review of THAT!
Plinkett: I have forseen it, though.

    • And Palpatine again after answering his cell phone:

"Hello? The Phantom Menace in 3-D? WHAAAAAT?"

  • Big Word Shout: Picard's magically teleporting photo album. You know what that spells: LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZYYYYYYYYYYYYY
  • Black Comedy Rape:
    • Each of the Star Wars reviews have lines about "the force" being used on women.

"Haha. Rape jokes. I love 'em!"
(on Picard disobeying orders) "In fact, Picard's orders get violated more often than Councilor Troi."

"Remember in Nemesis when Riker fought that alien for mind-raping his wife? I don't know why he did that, you'd think he'd want to give the guy a fifty dollar bill!"

Nadine: What do you want, man-in-a-black-cloak-who-is-not-a-trademarked-character-of-Lucas-Limited?
Palpatine: I see you know my name.

Ray Charles could have seen that coming...and he doesn't even know anything about Star Wars.

    • Another good one from the same review, where he rants about how reviews have called the movie better because it's Darker and Edgier

MY STOOL IS DARK! And doctor says that's bad! ...I don't know why he thinks he knows so much about interior decorating though (Rimshot and a picture of a leather stool)

  • Country Matters: Uses this word only once to date, do describe Jar-Jar
  • Creepy Basement: The most memorable and frightening scenes take place in Harry's creepy, dilapidated basement; contents include a plastic bin, several piles of various debris, a refrigerator containing flesh eating cockroaches, more than one human skeleton, one or more living victims to be occasionally tormented by Plinkett, and a Titanic promotional popcorn tub.
    • A popcorn tub filled with bones.
  • Credits Gag: (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) had some good moments but overall it was pretty disappointing That's the end thanks for checking out my review!
    • This joke is repeated on an episode of Half in the Bag, when Jay asks Mike for his opinion about Cabin in the Woods.
  • Damned By Faint Praise: The things he likes best about Revenge of the Sith are things that aren't in Revenge of the Sith.
    • Before complaining some more about Crystal Skull, "I thought it'd be fair to point out some of the things I liked about the film. Don't worry, this won't take long."
  • Dead Baby Comedy: The Grabowskis has this in SPADES.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Mike Stoklasa appears to be this in Real Life, and it's a trait that all his characters share, but Mike on "Half In The Bag" is this trope incarnate. He's usually able to get his co-host Jay to laugh without even cracking a smile himself, and any time he's called upon to show any kind of emotion, he always does it in a very phony and insincere way. He also likes to say things that he knows will piss off his audience (i.e. The Muppets are overrated and for babies).
  • Decided by One Vote: "So do the prequels basically expose Lucas as being a shallow, emotionless businessman? I'll let you decide! -- but the answer is yes."
    • "So, y'know. You might like the characters. If you're stupid.
    • "Now, whether an idea is good or bad is subjective...Except for here, these are all bad ideas."
    • "Again: A matter of opinion, but mine is right anyway let's move on..."
  • Delicious Distraction: Subverted and combined with Squick of the highest order. Plinkett is at one point comparing the Filler in the Star Wars prequels to the filler in Twinkies, when he suddenly goes "Mmmm...I like to fuck my cat..."
  • Demonic Possession: During his Avatar review he mentioned experiencing one once.
  • Department of Redundancy Department: "Qui-Gon Jin and Obi-Wan Kenobi should have been combined to form a new character, named Obi-Wan Kenobi."
    • Star Trek: The....Star Trek."
    • Cop Dog is the worst cop film since Kid Cop, Cop Out, and Cop Cop.
    • And then Star Trek becomes Space Adventure Film - Set in the future ... OF SPACE!
  • Discriminate and Switch "Even Ray Charles could have seen that one coming. And he doesn't know anything about Star Wars."
    • "In this new situation, without the Indians, Picard's suddenly willing to defy orders and risk everything to save white peop-- I-I MEAN, save people he's grown attached to!"
    • "Anakin's just sitting there like a retard! --oh, can I still say retard? Anakin is just sitting there like an exceptional individual."
    • "Who's this dog's trainer, Michael Vick? (Didja get that joke? Its because Michael Vick would often throw passes that would go well ahead of the intended receiver...)"
    • "What were these people smoking? Cigarettes? (warning: smoking these may cause you to make a lousy indiana jones film).
    • "Once again, drug 'em out of retirement for one last shot at embarrassment." [cue images of Brett Farve and Michael Jordan] "--hey, how'd these sports images get into my review?
  • Don't Explain the Joke: "That must be why they call him Qui-gon Gin. 'cuz he's always drinkin' gin.
    • "So Yoda mght be a powerful Jedi, but wise he is not. (Get it? I--I did like a Yoda thing?)
    • "Maybe [Joe Pantoliano] should download a program into his brain about child care." (Get it? I made a Matrix joke.)
    • The Cop Dog is suffering from "post-partner depression. Geddit? I SAID GEDDIT? [Shows picture of Brooke Shields]
    • Although Plinkett also subverted this: His attempts to save time by giving the description of four different films at once are acknowledged as a bad idea not because his speech was incomprehensible, but because he forgot two films he wanted to describe. He then discusses six films at once.
  • Double Entendre: "What red blooded male wouldn't want to dock his canoe in Natalie's port, man? (Rimshot)
  • Driven to Suicide: His second wife killed herself in a bathtub out of guilt for stealing Plinkett's money. Yep.
  • Drop the Cow: He usually cuts a segment short really abruptly (like in mid-sentence) if his picking on a point is beginning to ramble.
  • Early Installment Weirdness : Back in 2005, Mike Stoklasa did a precursor videos to his Star Wars reviews, called the United States of Noooo!!! [dead link] which explored what he considered to be the Jumping the Shark Dethroning Moment Of Suck of Star Wars, namely, the scene when Darth Vader utters a Big No after Palpatine tells him Padmé is dead. While rather funny, the video is also a very ordinary talk-to-the-camera video, without the antics that made Plinkett's reviews famous. Stoklasa's uncannily good imitation of Palpatine's voice can already be heard in this video.
  • Easily Forgiven: Nadine waves the white flag in her Revenge video. Unfortunately for Plinkett, it seems he's made an even worse enemy...
  • Eight Deadly Words: In the Phantom Menace review, Plinkett remarks in regards to the plot, "why in fuck's name should we care at all? I don't care about any of these characers."
  • Epic Fail: Once compared ruining the Star Wars saga to ruining mashed potatoes.
  • Escapist Character: Makes a case in his Crystal Skull review that Indiana Jones is designed to be this, so making him older dillutes this element.
  • Everything's Louder with Bagpipes: Believes they are "the worst thing ever made by a human."
  • Evil Cripple: Red Letter Media's site shows an image of Plinkett in a powerchair. He moves about normally in the videos, so it may just not be used in his house.
    • Making it even more strange and ominous is that the official drawings of Plinkett show him with his right leg severed off.
    • In one of his reviews, he claims to have had polio as a child.
    • The end of the 3rd Star Wars review also has his basement prisoner calling him "El diablo en una silla de ruedas" (The devil in a wheelchair)
  • Evil Laugh: There's his usual 'huh-huh-huh' when he finds something humorous, but he gives one hell of an unsettling laugh in his most recent Star Trek review.

"I know a black hoe once tried to scramble my brains (Shows picture of a well followed by a scream) but don't worry...everything turned out well...huh huh huh (Scary Voice) HA HA HA HA HA!!"

  • Evil Sounds Deep: Harry's voice is fairly deep anyway but will drop a few octaves and gain a flavor of reverb when he gets angry.

"You're going to watch it! You understand?! LOOK AT ME!! YOU'RE GONNA WATCH IIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!"

    • Seems to have gained the apt title of 'The Scary Voice' amongst some fans.
  • Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Plinkett says that Baby's Day Out is in fact what it says it is, about a baby out loose in the city. The one positive about the movie.
  • The Faceless: Mr. Plinkett's face actually has been seen in several instances, both in illustrations and in a still photo from one of the Star Trek reviews. Throughout the Star Wars material, however, Mr. Plinkett seems to be abiding by this trope; we see only his first person perspective while he wanders through his basement and captures women.
    • Averted in the Revenge of Nadine video.
    • The trailer for his Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull review reveals that there are in fact two Plinketts, and the one we've seen is not the one who does the reviews. No it doesn't make any sense, did you think it was supposed to?
  • Fan Nickname: Cate Blanchett's impressive turn as Ivanna Spankov.
    • TV Show Picard—we'll call him Larry.
  • Fan Service/ToplessnessFromTheBack: The inclusion in his Avatar review of the iconic shot of Rose from Titanic dropping her robe to show her butt to the audience. May also apply to his sex puns (with accompanying sexy pictures) for Megan Fox, Natalie Portman and Chris Pine.
  • Filler: Arguably the Baby's Day Out review and Cop Dog review to some fans, as no one would really care much about these movies and would rather see Plinkett review another important Blockbuster. These shorter reviews would tease the audience for the next major review.
  • Flanderization: Plinkett says that the Star Trek remake took minor character traits from all the original crew members and ELECTRIFIED them, to make the characters more interesting.
    • Also applies to Plinkett himself; in the earlier reviews his penchant for murder is just hinted at with a few offhand comments, while in the later reviews we actually see him tormenting his victims and his serial-killer tendencies are mentioned much more often and become much more central to his character.
  • For Want of a Nail: Reviewing Star Trek (2009) creates an alternate timeline where Plinkett's cat is still alive. Cue the chaos.

"Bambi's still alive in this timeline! ...Only, now she's my first cat. I'm so confused."

  • Foreshadowing: "YOU'LL TRY TO ESCAPE JUST LIKE THE OTHER ONE!" He says near the end of the Episode II review to the two girls making the Puzzles.
  • Four Lines, All Waiting: Plinkett tears into Episode I for this happening at the climax. Well, not him so much as selected clips of Lucas and co. looking less than comfortable about having done this and not being able to change it so late in production.
  • Fourth Wall Mail Slot: Parodied in Plinkett's occasional youtube updates where Palpatine harasses him into making reviews, although these mostly exist so he can show off his impressive Ian McDiarmid impression.
    • The 108 page rebuttal to the TPM review is, however, astoundingly real.
  • Franchise Killer: Plinkett blames the Dominion War for creating a rapid burnout and causing the temporary death of Star Trek.
  • Freudian Slip: "I'm sure they cleared it with PETI.'
  • Fun with Acronyms: Home Infant Comedy Injury. (Or "hickey".)
  • Functional Addict: Soon you will learn to appreciate blow.
  • Gag Boobs: Occasionally perks up in their work, as Mike seems preferential toward casting busty women in their films. Most memorably, the two main female characters of the RLM short "The Great Space Jam" size up one another's racks before deploying them as weapons.
  • Go Mad from the Revelation: In his review of The Phantom Menace when a plot hole so enrages him he begins to wonder if someone was screwing with his meds, leading to an...interesting scene in which he repeats "who's fucking with my medicine?!" while he scoops several Pizza Rolls into a paper envelope before slurring "what's wrong with me?!" and blacking out.
    • And again in his Attack Of The Clones review upon seeing the prop from Star Trek that has red lights moving back and forth in one of the The Last Star Fighter clips and then seeing PKE meters being used in another movie.

"Do those guys have PKE meters? Am I going insane?! MY BRAIN IS COLLAPSING IN ON ITSELF-okay, back to the review."

    • Finally, in Revenge Of The Sith, he has an almost pitiful breakdown as he realises just how much of the film refers back to the original trilogy.

"Oh god, all I hear is Star Wars inside my brain! Someone help me!"

  • Guide Dang It. Plinkett has no use for anything but what is presented in the source material.
  • Gushing About Sequels You Like: "I love Empire so much I {{[[[Why Don't You Marry It?]] bleep}}] it."
    • Mike is an avowed fan of The Rocketeer, and encourages viewers not to write it off as a flop.
  • Half-Human Hybrid: Claims to be half-pig.
  • Handicapped Badass: An evil version in Mr.Plinkett. Despite having one amputated leg, he is at least able to kidnap several women and fight his way through numerous police officers at the end of his Phantom Menace review (despite being shot at least once)
  • Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Harry explains the somewhat tacked-on nature of the Spock/Uhura romance as a case of the NotGays wherein the director draws undue time away from the plot in order to establish that a character is in fact heterosexual. He then goes on to show how other characters have a case of the NotGays and begins to refer to it as the disease the director seems to think it is.
    • Points out how it's also done in dog movies.
  • Hearing Voices
  • Hero Antagonist: Nadine.
  • Hypocritical Humor: A Running Gag, such as him confusing World War I with the Cuban Missile Crisis or the Nazi invasion of France with the French Revolution.

"Geez, you stupid people need to learn your history right."

    • "This film is racist against Chinamen!"
    • "Babies are fragile! This kind of disgusting, misleading and irresponsible film should've never been made! Now to talk about my favorite scene: The one where Baby Bink is trapped in a gorilla cage and nearly eaten alive..."
    • "Can't they leave this sex stuff out of a kid's movie? I mean, kids have up until they're eight to start havin' sex, leave 'em with those precious few years of innocence, for God's sake!'
    • "What kind of an idiot would take the time to review a children's movie, anyways? You must be a real stupid asshole."
    • Generations and Crystal Skull convinces Plinkett that it's time for retirement, and he Rolls Into the Sunset for good. --Wait, who's gonna review The Matrix, Twilight, and Red Tails? "Shit, I ain't even close to done yet!!"
  • Idiot Ball: Another pet peeve of Plinkett, such as Padme being transferred to be processed, even though the villains not knowing what happened to the Jedis and the fact she's central to their entire plans.
  • The Immodest Orgasm: Ends up breaking his TV.
  • Inherently Funny Words: "Pantaloons".
  • Incest Is Relative: Dubbed the 2009 Star Trek a "guilty pleasure" - much like his pole-dancing granddaughter, Crystal.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: Mike indulging in a Gene Shalit-style soundbite: "I guess you could say I'm hungry for more Hunger Games." He immediately vomits.
  • Ironic Echo: "Special effects are just tools. A means of telling a story. People have a tendency to confuse them as ends themselves. A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing." -- George Lucas.

Plinkett: You said it brother! Wait, you said that?!

"Look bitch, I don't jump sharks. I fuck them for breakfast!"

(farts) "My balls itch!"

  • Mommy Issues: In the Episode III review, Plinkett mentions that he once threw a psychologist out a window for asking about his "dear mother."

"Bury them under the floorboards, Harry. No one has to know. It'll be our little secret."

  • Mood Whiplash: Whenever Plinkett's other hobbies come up out of nowhere in the middle of a detailed analysis.
  • Mind Screw: Recipe for Disaster. Who exactly was that woman that talked throughout the whole video?
    • She's from the older gorilla videos.
  • Negative Continuity
  • Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: His descriptions of how his wives, girlfriends, prostitutes and Koreans came to their untimely ends is hilarious in its terror.
  • No Budget: Many of RedLetterMedia's early shorts. While some of their newer stuff is a bit better backed by the bank, it is still pretty bare-bones.
  • Not So Different: In his review for Avatar, Plinkett says that, in real life, the tribal cultures that the Na'vi portrayed could be every bit as screwed up as the modern ones.
  • One Rick Limit: Averted. Over a picture of Rick McCallum: "Fuck you, Rick Berman! Ya ruin this, too?! STOP RUINING-- wait. That ain't Rick Berman. [beat] What is it with Ricks?"
  • Only Sane Man: The First Contact guy, who points out how ridiculous Movie Picard and Padme's plans are.
  • Opinion Myopia: Played for Laughs in Plinkett's Episode III trailer, where Palpatine shows a 108 page rebuttal he wrote to the TPM review. His opening lines explain how Plinkett is a stupidpants because he didn't like the prequels, and how the prequels were extremely complex "like a very deep game of chess where both players don't know how to play chess." This is in direct response to an actual rebuttal that surfaced on the internet that was 108 pages long.
  • The Other Darrin: Sorta. The Plinkett character originated in a couple of short films, where he was portrayed by Rich Evans. Mike Stokasa, the main writer of those shorts, decided to use the character for the reviews, and performed the voice himself. Evans portrays the character in a full-length movie that came out well after the reviews started, but was produced earlier. Unlike other examples of this trope, the two versions of Plinkett are not in canon with each other, and it's possible that Evans will continue to portray the character in the future.
    • The line between the two different Plinketts (described by Stoklasa as "Plinkett A" and "Plinkett B") was blurred in "The Revenge of Nadine" short and the Half in the Bag series. In them, Plinkett (as played by Evans) is the same Plinkett that made the Star Wars reviews and became an internet sensation (and who was, of course, voiced by Stoklasa); essentially they seem to have become a kind of The Other Darrin tag team; this was Lampshaded in a Half in the Bag intro which has Plinkett shouting "I don't even know who I am anymore!!!" at the top of his lungs.
    • The teaser trailer for the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull review seems to establish the two Plinketts as two different people who just happen to be very similar to one another, even though this blatantly contradicts "The Revenge Of Nadine". This may be because of Villain Decay on the part of Evans!Plinkett, given his portrayal in Half in the Bag as docile and incredibly senile. The mysteriously revived Palpatine, an established Straw Fan, naturally refers to Evans!Plinkett as "Fake Plinkett" and Stoklasa!Plinkett as "the real Lord Plinkett", and at the end of the teaser, attacks "Fake Plinkett" with Force lightning in an attempt to kill him.
  • Out-of-Character Moment: A major problem he has with the Next Generation movies is that Picard acts like an angry, vengeful, action movie character rather than a diplomatic captain who uses violence as a last resort.
    • Also, Plinkett points out how the Borg in First Contact randomly act like Frankenstein's monster. Plus Obi-Wan has random moments of being foolhardy and showing off in Episodes II and III.
    • Also Palpatine using a lightsaber and everything Yoda does in the prequels.
    • As far as Plinkett himself goes, doesn't anyone else think him saying that he really liked Twilight was weird? Twilight is about a 100-year-old guy who looks young for his age who stalks someone...
      • ...Oh, wait.
  • Overly Long Gag: "And the four-letter-word I'm thinking of is 'fuck'. Naah I'm just kidding the word is 'crap'. Naah I'm just kidding the word is 'shit'. Naah I'm just kidding the word is 'poop'. Naah I'm just kidding the word is 'garbage'. Naah I'm just kidding the word is 'tone'."
  • Overly Narrow Superlative: Inverted: "Star Trek: First Contact is the 3967th worst film ever made."
  • Our Lawyers Advised This Trope: In their review of Jack and Jill they make a very half-hearted one as they make the transition from the review proper to making their case that the movie is basically a scheme to pump the cash from an inflated movie budget into the pockets of Sandler and his friends. Though the first two notes they start to read from their lawyers are themselves libelous(and even in the third, Mike has to change the word "cohorts" to "associates" as he is reading statement.)
  • Parallel Porn Titles: "That'll be the next movie. We'll call it Star Trek: Hiserection."
  • Perma-Stubble: Mike, on Half in the Bag, has a perpetual five o'clock shadow. Contrast Jay, who can't seem to make up his mind whether he wants to be clean-shaven or wear a beard.
  • Pet the Dog: Plinkett's review of "Revenge of the Sith" contains one of these in regards to Hayden Christensen, saying that Hayden himself is not a bad actor, just one handed bad lines.
  • Political Correctness Gone Mad: Captain Adventure Man and Multinational Joe.
  • Popularity Power: Plinkett argues in the ROTS review that this kicks in for Darth Vader. Before the PT, Darth Vader was an iconic character and a symbol of the Empire, formerly a good man gone bad, but come TPM, he becomes Space Jesus and the most pivotal man in the Galaxy. Plinkett believes this is because Vader is a popular and iconic figure, his life is central to not only the story, but to the in-story universe as well, when it was not suggested in the OT.
    • Plinkett also questions why in the world Padme would bother thanking R2-D2, "a piece of equipment". Why would the queen be ordered to clean a dirty droid? If she's thanking inanimate objects, why not thank the spaceship. This, despite in previous films R2-D2 was treated as just another machine by Luke and others. Once again, R2-D2 is famous to the viewer, not to the characters in the original film.
  • Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: "I'm like Sinead O'Connor, and you're a picture of the Pope. Prepare to get torn up."
  • Priceless Ming Vase: Subverted. In the "Half in the Bag" review of Cowboys and Aliens, Plinkett puts out a priceless vase on a flimsy stand while people are throwing bricks with notes responding to their Captain America review through his window. The vase is never broken.
  • Product Placement: By the way, have you guys seen Cop Out? It's amaaaazing. [Ahem] I said, it's amazing. Check it out...! [sound of cash register] --oh, there it is.

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

    • This trope is frequently discussed and parodied in the Jack and Jill review.
    • And, of course, Tostino's Pizza Rolls - which goes meta whenever a Pizza Rolls ad is played before or after a video.
    • CHUNKY'S CHICKEN!!! Yes, they actually went to the trouble of creating a fake website and "promotional video" for the sake of a gag.
  • Real Song Theme Tune: "I Squeeze Gats" by Charlie Brown Beatz.
    • George Lucas' theme song appears to be "We're in the Money."
  • Real Trailer, Fake Movie: On a "Special Edition" Half In The Bag episode, Mike and Jay review a parody fake trailer, for a "movie" called The Zookeeper, starring Kevin James. It turns out the movie is very, very real.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: If he was a kid on the Titanic, he's no less than 100 years old, especially if he remembers bits of it. This is also supported by his claims to have been in his forties back in 1950s, and to have had grandchildren in the 1960s.
    • His YouTube zone lists his age at 108.
      • His Baby's Day Out review say he's 119.
    • In his Episode III review, a short (somewhat disturbing) childhood flashback is shown of his mother, which appears to take place sometime in the late 19th century.
  • Recurring Riff: Mike seems to have an affinity for Rat Pack-era swing music, like "Nice and Easy" and "That's Amore."
  • Running Gag: Oh? You want a Pizza Roll? Let's go down to my basement and get you a Pizza Roll...
    • My dead wife could've done a better job. And she's dead.
    • Oh my GOD! What is wrong with your FAAAAACE?!
    • The Force did it.
    • PALPATINESBEHINDITALL
    • The proper term for website/webpage is "webzone."
    • How did you know x? Did you read the script too?
    • ...And Kevin Bacon.
    • The goldshirt interrupting the review with "a few questions!"
    • Plinkett saying "analsis/anal-ize" (or "analgy") followed by Spock making an intrigued face.
    • "Now I've analyzed this movie/scene with a team of scientists/engineers/perverts/from the Hair Club for Men/cheerleaders/dead people/two experts on the field of love, porn star Joslyn James and Tiger Woods/etc."
    • "Shut Up, I'm Talking!"
    • "I just said that!"
  • Ruined FOREVER: Discussed In-Universe

Mike (The United States of Noooo!!!): "[that scene] ruined everything. Not just Star Wars movies, but every other type of movie ever made."
Plinkett (Star Trek Generations review): "It ruined everything. And not just Star Trek movies, but everything."

"[Star Trek: Generations is being cheap] like my wife. That's why I killed her in that fake car accident- I mean-"

  • Self-Deprecation: In the Half in the Bag shorts, Mike and Jay often jokingly diss their own film, 'Feeding Frenzy,' as being a horrible flop movie.
  • Serious Business: One riled up Star Wars fan threatened to punch Stoklasa in the face if they ever met in real life
  • Shoot the TV: Plinkett's ejaculate is powerful enough to do this.
  • Shown Their Work: Compared with the earlier TNG reviews, Stoklasa clearly makes an effort to begin the Phantom Menace review by piquing your interest and establishing his credentials as anything but an angry Fan Boy. The first ten minutes include an explanation of basic storytelling, familiar examples of other movies which use those techniques successfully, lists of (better) filmmakers who don't use them, and interviews with people which demonstrate the poor characterization in the Phantom Menace. Don't expect to find any nerd rage directed at poor Jar Jar.
    • When asked in an interview why he didn't make fun of Jar-Jar in his TPM review, Stoklasa said that while Jar-Jar was a horrible character, he also had the most coherent story arc in TPM.
  • Sickbed Slaying: After Plinkett is hospitalized by Nadine, George Lucas himself arrives to unplug his respirator.
  • Simple Country Lawyer: "Now, I'm not an expert..."
  • Simpleton Voice: Mike originally tried recording a review in his natural voice, but decided it was boring as hell. Hence the lampooning of his own age and crotchety views.
  • Sinister Silhouettes: George Lucas at the end of Revenge of Nadine.
  • Smurfing: The Ba'ku love to ba'ku.
  • Spit Take: Mike does in a Half In the Bag review when mentioned that Sucker Punch was meant to empower Women.
  • Spoof Aesop: Baby's Day Out has a lesson all of us can relate to. "If you live in a giant mansion and want a picture of your baby in the paper, you better care about your baby too, or else he'll get kidnapped, crawl across a busy street, and a truck will drive over him."
  • Stalker with a Crush: Towards the woman held captive in the Attack of the Clones review. He just needs someone to share his pain!
  • Stealth Pun: He refers to the Neimoidians as the "Shatnerians", a pun on the fact that their actual name sounds like Leonard Nimoy's surname.
  • Straight Man: Jay is usually depicted as this on Half in the Bag, in contrast to the senile Plinkett and the bizarrely fetishistic Mike (though both he and Mike are about equally misanthropic).
  • Straw Fan: Palpatine, of all people.
  • Stuffed Into the Fridge: Literally with a threat by Plinkett. Considering it's two women he's threatening to stuff in a fridge, it borders on Shout-Out.
  • Stylistic Suck: Any time anyone is called upon to "act" in Half In The Bag. The "plot" and any "effects" fall under this as well.
  • Surreal Humor: During the Episode II review at one point a levitating probe droid impossibly shows up in Plinkett’s basement.
    • Don't forget the gorilla movie. Shudder.
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: From Revenge of Nadine

Nadine: What do you want Man-in-a-Black-Cloak-who-is-not-a-trademarked-character-owned-by-Lucasfilm-Ltd?

"J.J. Abrams should have directed the prequels, and George Lucas should have directed people to their seats in the theater. Huh huh huh"

"Hello and welcome. You've made the right decision. You've chosen to listen to my droning, monotone voice for 136 minutes rather than the actual soundtrack to this movie. For that I applaud your common sense and good taste."

  • Take That, Critics!: Palpatine is a rather cathartic Take That toward RLM's Fan Dumb, as he constantly makes outlandish requests (such as for a review of Mobile Suit Gundam) and berates Plinkett for not posting updates fast enough, and criticizes them for being stupid once they are released.

"If you didn't like the Star War prequels then you're stupid-pants."

  • Talking to Himself: The Plinkett reviews are often edited in such a way that Plinkett seems to interrupt himself. Before finishing a sentence, the screen will switch and he'll break out with the next point he's making. It seems to be a massively efficient and time-saving maneuver, as there are plenty of ideas the viewer understands before Plinkett completes the entire thought.
    • Creator Mike Stoklasa has also said he finds these sorts of "jump cuts and hard edits" humorous.
  • That Poor Cat: In the "Half in the Bag" reviews, nearly every time one of the guys throws something offscreen, we hear an unhappy cat.
  • That's What She Said: "Hey! Only guys are allowed to do that!"
  • They Killed Kenny: Sammy Grabowski.
  • They Just Didn't Care: Invoked; Plinkett often seems so genuinely uninterested in actually reviewing his movies, that sometimes he doesn't even care to finish words or to enunciate them whatsoever properly. This works perfectly with Mr. Plinkett's trademark sloppy style, as the sloppy style itself seems coordinated with brilliant craft.
    • And again they show that even this trope isn't bad in Half in the Bag's review of Transformers 3. One of the reviewers watched the first half of the movie and the other watched the second half of the movie out of protest of the bloated nature of the movie. They then compare notes about what happens in their respective halves of the movie and manage an effective criticism by showing the disconnects between the first and second halves of the movie.
    • Implied in the Star Wars reviews. See, for example, the mention of two Jedi Knights in the Phantom Menace title scroll or the difference between Gungas and Gungans.
  • Technology Marches On: Half in the Bags Mike and Jay hasn't had a VCR repair job in 15.
  • That Was Not a Dream: Mike in "The United States of Noooooo!" wakes up and says he had a bad dream about the ending of Revenge of the Sith stumbling out of a contraption and screaming "No", then invoked the Trope.
  • To the Bat Noun: Stupid grandkids, stop leaving toys in his creepy basement™. And stay out of his creepy house™.

"I've behn keepin' a record of it here'n mah creepy notebook."

"Oh. Hold on, let me get my gat."

  • Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Plinkett has a starring role in RLM's film Feeding Frenzy, in which he's wearing a tacky jacket with an American flag emblazoned over it. The jacket frequently reappears in Half in the Bag.
  • Where The Hell Is Plinkett's House: Early episodes of Half in the Bag are contradictory about whether the show is set in Teaneck, New Jersey (setting of the Plinkett Reviews) or Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Real Life home of Red Letter Media). About the same time that the "two separate Plinketts" theory prevailed, so too did the show's setting in Milwaukee.

Hey, email me, if you want a Pizza Roll make an edit on this web zone if you want a Pizza Roll.

  1. ↑ if you don't know what it means, don't look it up
This article is issued from Allthetropes. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.