Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Feb 14, 2014 22:13:28 GMT -5
Cypher Raige: Oh, hello! My name is Homestar Runner, and this is a website! Oh, wait, that's not right. Hello, peoples. We are back for another round of slightly belated Homestar reviews. This week, we get more sbemails, and the quality of the toons continues to improve. Some are more chock full o' laughs than others, but overall, they are getting better and better and will continue to do so. One reason for this, which we see in this week's sbemails, is that the Brothers Chaps have fully embraced the concept of Strong Bad living in a full world, so instead of just seeing Strong Bad sitting at his Compy the whole time, we are now seeing many cutaways to different characters and environments.
random dude: Yeah, sorry that we're a week late everyone, but real-world-things-that-are-only-tangentially-at-best-related-to-these-reviews things kept both of us busy this week. It's largely my bad, so sorry about that. So without further ado, lets get to reviewing.
Strong Bad Email #21: cartoon
Cypher Raige: I have never really been into director commentaries on DVDs, as I have kind of found them all to be pretty boring. The behind the scenes stuff described in exhaustive detail has just never been something I care about. The Brothers Chaps seem to be echoing my sentiments here, poking gentle fun at commentary tracks, while also pointing out that "All Strong Bad, all the time!" might get a bit repetitive and boring after a while. We also get to see a feature of the sbemails that, along with the forthcoming easter eggs, would become one of my favorite recurring gags: the continuation of the email after The Paper comes down. Here, we get a kind of commentary-ception, as a new Strong Bad voiceover comes in and describes Strong Bad just sitting there staring at the green lines on his screen. This little bit at the end rescues what was otherwise just an okay sbemail and pushes it to the next level.
random dude: Yeah, this was basically just a pretty straightforward, not-particularly-inspired parody of director's commentaries. I wasn't a huge fan of this one, although I did enjoy the meta of Strong Bad providing a commentary track to his own end-of-email sequence. And Strong Bad's convoluted saying was pretty idiom was amusingly pathetic: "Too much of a good thing is an awesome thing. But too much of an awesome thing is...umm...really, really dumb and bad."
Strong Bad Email #22: sb_email 22
Cypher Raige: Our second sbemail of the week is super short, but let me tell you something, people: Strong Bad is PUNK AS FUCK! This whole cartoon exists simply to drop some Sex Pistols references, although one must wonder why they misspelled "bollocks as "bullocks." Is "bollocks" considered a curse word? If so, this is probably an example of the Brothers Chaps trying to keep things family friendly. Even though it is slight, this sbemail still made me laugh. Oh, you British people, with your tabloids and censorship and superfluous vowels and easily offended royalty!
random dude: This one was fairly funny, even though it's incredibly short. It manages to lightly joke about English stereotypes without coming across as culturally insensitive, and it's one of the most interesting experiments that the Brothers Chaps had made to this point in their sbemails. Future installments of the feature would involve more involved, often funnier experimentation with the basic format, but this was an interesting step forward. Also, I liked the idea of an article titled "Cricket Still Pretty Weird Sport."
Strong Bad Email #23: little animal
Cypher Raige: Another short one, but it has a decent payoff. Here we see a ridiculously simple email inquiry in which Strong Bad is asked what he would do if a little animal came up to him. That's some hard-hitting investigative journalism right there. So Strong Bad kicks the Cheat, which enrages an always enraged Strong Mad (you know, 'cuz his last name is "Mad"). Strong Bad then throws a kick to his simple, Lenny-from-Of-Mice-and-Men-like brother, and the sbemail ends with an endless chase around the room. We are also treated with an easter egg at the end of this toon: if you click on Strong Bad's head as he is running, the screen switches to old timey Strong Bad being chased by old timey Strong Mad. This is oviously a commentary on the perpetuation of sibling rivalries and familial dischord from generation to generation. or maybe it's just a silly joke. Impossible to tell.
random dude: Aww, poor The Cheat. This is far from the last time that Strong Bad's henchman/lackey/friend/pet will be kicked by our wrestling mask-faced sbemail protagonist. I liked the Hanna Barbara-inspired chase sequence at the very end of the cartoon. All that was missing was characters running into and out of three doors on either side of a hallway at complete random to complete the crappy visual gag.
Strong Bad Email #24: the bird
Cypher Raige: And now we come to what is hands down the funniest sbemail we will review this week. random dude has mentioned before how the Brothers Chaps like to poke fun at their own character design, and they do so brilliantly here, demonstrating how a few different characters "flip the bird" at people ("You know, the finger?" - Goose, Top Gun). The joke is that Strong Bad's fingers are hidden by boxing gloves, Pom Pom doesn't have any fingers, and Homestar Runner doesn't even have any arms. The true hilarity comes from the viewer's imagination, which has to supply these characters the ability to perform this vulgar gesture. It's especially funny to think of Homestar doing it, because Homestar is such a jolly little chump. Also, we get to see Strong Bad check his email remotely via Pom Pom's Palm Pilot. Remember when those were a thing?
random dude: I think I had a palm pilot which I almost never used. It's kinda strange to think of it being used to contrast Pom Pom's technologically "with-it" character with Strong Bad's monstrosity of a CPU, which was pretty much as outdated in 2002 as it is now. Also noteworthy about the appearance of the Palm Pilot is that this is the first time that Strong Bad doesn't use his Tandy 400. And of course, as Raige mentioned above, I will never cease to enjoy jokes about how Homestar doesn't have any arms, or how Strong Bad appears to have perfect dexterity despite having boxing gloves for hands.
Strong Bad Email #25: super powers
Cypher Raige: I want Strong Bad's power. Being able to telekinetically pop the top off of a cold one is a valuable power to have. Sure, you won't be saving the world or anything (unless aliens invade, and the only way to defeat them is to pop their hats off. Or to serve them a beer, I guess), but you still get to have a super power that will prove refreshing on a hot summer day. Also, tight pants.
random dude: "Ooooohhhhh, tight paaants." This one, like so many sbemails before it, was kinda slight. But I like the idea of a superpower that does nothing but open Cold Ones and make someone's hat fall off. Nothing is worse than experiencing your Cold One turn into a Lukewarm One as you search about for something that will make do for a bottle opener when you don't have one handy.
Next week, we'll be reviewing yet more Strong Bad Emails, before moving onto some other stuff the week after next. But for next week:
Strong Bad Email #26: CGNU
Strong Bad Email #27: 3 Wishes
Strong Bad Email #28: 1 step ahead
Strong Bad Email #29: superhero name
Strong Bad Email #30: 12:00
random dude: Yeah, sorry that we're a week late everyone, but real-world-things-that-are-only-tangentially-at-best-related-to-these-reviews things kept both of us busy this week. It's largely my bad, so sorry about that. So without further ado, lets get to reviewing.
Strong Bad Email #21: cartoon
Cypher Raige: I have never really been into director commentaries on DVDs, as I have kind of found them all to be pretty boring. The behind the scenes stuff described in exhaustive detail has just never been something I care about. The Brothers Chaps seem to be echoing my sentiments here, poking gentle fun at commentary tracks, while also pointing out that "All Strong Bad, all the time!" might get a bit repetitive and boring after a while. We also get to see a feature of the sbemails that, along with the forthcoming easter eggs, would become one of my favorite recurring gags: the continuation of the email after The Paper comes down. Here, we get a kind of commentary-ception, as a new Strong Bad voiceover comes in and describes Strong Bad just sitting there staring at the green lines on his screen. This little bit at the end rescues what was otherwise just an okay sbemail and pushes it to the next level.
random dude: Yeah, this was basically just a pretty straightforward, not-particularly-inspired parody of director's commentaries. I wasn't a huge fan of this one, although I did enjoy the meta of Strong Bad providing a commentary track to his own end-of-email sequence. And Strong Bad's convoluted saying was pretty idiom was amusingly pathetic: "Too much of a good thing is an awesome thing. But too much of an awesome thing is...umm...really, really dumb and bad."
Strong Bad Email #22: sb_email 22
Cypher Raige: Our second sbemail of the week is super short, but let me tell you something, people: Strong Bad is PUNK AS FUCK! This whole cartoon exists simply to drop some Sex Pistols references, although one must wonder why they misspelled "bollocks as "bullocks." Is "bollocks" considered a curse word? If so, this is probably an example of the Brothers Chaps trying to keep things family friendly. Even though it is slight, this sbemail still made me laugh. Oh, you British people, with your tabloids and censorship and superfluous vowels and easily offended royalty!
random dude: This one was fairly funny, even though it's incredibly short. It manages to lightly joke about English stereotypes without coming across as culturally insensitive, and it's one of the most interesting experiments that the Brothers Chaps had made to this point in their sbemails. Future installments of the feature would involve more involved, often funnier experimentation with the basic format, but this was an interesting step forward. Also, I liked the idea of an article titled "Cricket Still Pretty Weird Sport."
Strong Bad Email #23: little animal
Cypher Raige: Another short one, but it has a decent payoff. Here we see a ridiculously simple email inquiry in which Strong Bad is asked what he would do if a little animal came up to him. That's some hard-hitting investigative journalism right there. So Strong Bad kicks the Cheat, which enrages an always enraged Strong Mad (you know, 'cuz his last name is "Mad"). Strong Bad then throws a kick to his simple, Lenny-from-Of-Mice-and-Men-like brother, and the sbemail ends with an endless chase around the room. We are also treated with an easter egg at the end of this toon: if you click on Strong Bad's head as he is running, the screen switches to old timey Strong Bad being chased by old timey Strong Mad. This is oviously a commentary on the perpetuation of sibling rivalries and familial dischord from generation to generation. or maybe it's just a silly joke. Impossible to tell.
random dude: Aww, poor The Cheat. This is far from the last time that Strong Bad's henchman/lackey/friend/pet will be kicked by our wrestling mask-faced sbemail protagonist. I liked the Hanna Barbara-inspired chase sequence at the very end of the cartoon. All that was missing was characters running into and out of three doors on either side of a hallway at complete random to complete the crappy visual gag.
Strong Bad Email #24: the bird
Cypher Raige: And now we come to what is hands down the funniest sbemail we will review this week. random dude has mentioned before how the Brothers Chaps like to poke fun at their own character design, and they do so brilliantly here, demonstrating how a few different characters "flip the bird" at people ("You know, the finger?" - Goose, Top Gun). The joke is that Strong Bad's fingers are hidden by boxing gloves, Pom Pom doesn't have any fingers, and Homestar Runner doesn't even have any arms. The true hilarity comes from the viewer's imagination, which has to supply these characters the ability to perform this vulgar gesture. It's especially funny to think of Homestar doing it, because Homestar is such a jolly little chump. Also, we get to see Strong Bad check his email remotely via Pom Pom's Palm Pilot. Remember when those were a thing?
random dude: I think I had a palm pilot which I almost never used. It's kinda strange to think of it being used to contrast Pom Pom's technologically "with-it" character with Strong Bad's monstrosity of a CPU, which was pretty much as outdated in 2002 as it is now. Also noteworthy about the appearance of the Palm Pilot is that this is the first time that Strong Bad doesn't use his Tandy 400. And of course, as Raige mentioned above, I will never cease to enjoy jokes about how Homestar doesn't have any arms, or how Strong Bad appears to have perfect dexterity despite having boxing gloves for hands.
Strong Bad Email #25: super powers
Cypher Raige: I want Strong Bad's power. Being able to telekinetically pop the top off of a cold one is a valuable power to have. Sure, you won't be saving the world or anything (unless aliens invade, and the only way to defeat them is to pop their hats off. Or to serve them a beer, I guess), but you still get to have a super power that will prove refreshing on a hot summer day. Also, tight pants.
random dude: "Ooooohhhhh, tight paaants." This one, like so many sbemails before it, was kinda slight. But I like the idea of a superpower that does nothing but open Cold Ones and make someone's hat fall off. Nothing is worse than experiencing your Cold One turn into a Lukewarm One as you search about for something that will make do for a bottle opener when you don't have one handy.
Next week, we'll be reviewing yet more Strong Bad Emails, before moving onto some other stuff the week after next. But for next week:
Strong Bad Email #26: CGNU
Strong Bad Email #27: 3 Wishes
Strong Bad Email #28: 1 step ahead
Strong Bad Email #29: superhero name
Strong Bad Email #30: 12:00