Neuigkeiten

Nukie is a terrible sci-fi film unapologetically copying E.T., making it universally disliked on nearly every level. Red Letter Media sold a Nukie VHS for $80,600 after destroying all but one copy to benefit charities, sparking controversy. Nukie's production was a disaster with reshoots, bad effects, and disappearing crew, deemed one of the worst films ever made.

Nukie is a South African science-fiction film that is so bad, that a charity based around its destruction has garnered more interest and controversy than the film itself. In 1987, a group of South African and German filmmakers released Nukie, a movie that concerns the titular alien who crash-lands in South Africa and acquires the help of two young children to save his brother Miko, who has been captured by US government agents. If that sounds familiar, here's a hint: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial came out to worldwide acclaim five years earlier, in...

The enduring “Rocky” fandom sure packs an expensive punch.

The rise of VHS auctions has included a whopping sale of $53,750 for the “Rocky” trilogy starring Sylvester Stallone. A February sale from Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas marked a return for videotapes. As Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary relive their video-store days with a VHS-centric podcast, and video production company and YouTube channel Red Letter Media raised over $80,000 for charity by selling a sealed “Nukie” tape, consumers are flocking to collectibles. And especially as content keeps getting yanked off streaming services.

“A man told us he found a sealed first release of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ at Goodwill,” Heritage specialist Jay Carlson, a collector who uses an Instagram account titled Rare and Sealed, told The New York Times. “He paid a quarter. That will probably go for $20,000.”

Carlson’s first auction in June 2022 profited more than half a million dollars.

Sias Odendaal and Michael Pakleppa's 1987 film "Nukie" is only remarkable for how undeniably terrible it is. Very clearly riding on the coattails of Steven Spielberg's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," "Nukie" follows the adventures of the titular space alien as it crash lands in the African savannah and befriends two young brothers named Tiko and Toki (Siphiwe Mlangeni and Sipho Mlangeni). Much of the film is devoted to reuniting Nukie with his alien compatriot Miko (both played by Anthony Morrison) who crash-landed in the United States, and who is being held in a high-security military facility. The two aliens can communicate telepathically, and they repeatedly scream each other's names, perhaps inspiring rowdier audience members to join in.

"Nukie" has appeared on lists of the worst movies ever made, and is a largely miserable experience. Steve Railsback from "The Stunt Man" and "Lifeforce" appears, as does Glynnis Johns from "Mary Poppins.

The YouTube channel Red Letter Media proved how much nostalgic cult classic VHS tapes are worth.

Rlm, comprised of Mike Stoklasa, Jay Bauman, and Rich Evans, set out to capitalize on their massive fan-sent “Nukie” VHS collection to benefit charity. With 1.46 million subscribers, a Patreon page, and frequent celebrity guests like Jack Quaid, Macaulay Culkin, and Patton Oswalt, the Rlm film review founders opted to use their platform for philanthropy. After almost a decade of collecting VHS copies, the trio of hosts finally watched the 1987 South African sci-fi movie “Nukie” — the infamously bad “E.T.” knockoff about an alien who sets out to rescue his brother from evil researchers — and sold their best copy for upwards of 80,000 on eBay.

Host Stoklasa explained that the idea came from a recent sealed VHS copy of “Back to the Future” selling for 75,000 at auction, and the YouTubers were curious about what “Nukie” would garner.

It’s kind of amazing that Mike Stoklasa‘s creation of RedLetterMedia and the character of Harry S. Plinkett has lasted so long after first finding viral fame for a seven-part takedown of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace back in 2009. But the internet is full of plenty of wackier things, and despite the fact that this […]

The post Red Letter Media Takes Down and Breaks Down the ‘Ghostbusters’ Reboot appeared first on /Film.

The YouTube channel RedLetterMedia (created by independent filmmaker Mike Stoklasa) gained notoriety for their extensive seven-part video review of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace back in 2009. Since then, his character Harry S. Plinkett has taken down all the other Star Wars movies by mixing humor with some rather insightful commentary. And now he’s doing […]

The post RedLetterMedia Is Not A Fan of ‘Rogue One’ [Video Review] appeared first on /Film.

Nearly 10 months after the film’s box office record-breaking release, the independent-filmmakers-turned-film-reviewers over at Red Letter Media have finally shared Mr. Plinkett’s review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and it’s nearly as long as the movie itself. If you’re thinking there’s no way a review— even one clocking in at an hour and 45 minutes —can tell you something you haven’t already read about the newest Star Wars installment, you’re mostly right. Still, it has its moments.

For those not in the know, Harry S. Plinkett is a movie-reviewing character created by Rlm’s Mike Stoklasa. The character is often described as ”psychotic” and simultaneously embodies the best and worst qualities of online film reviewers. He’s able to offer thoughtful insights into the inherent flaws of mass-marketed genre pictures, while still maintaining his image as a hateful pizza-roll eating slob— albeit ...

RedLetterMedia has finally posted their epic feature-length takedown of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. You might remember that independent filmmaker Mike Stoklasa’s 70-minute video review of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace went viral in 2009. The review was posted in seven parts on YouTube, and presented from the point of view of […]

The post Watch: RedLetterMedia’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Review appeared first on /Film.

With it winning the Golden Globe for Best Picture last night, Boyhood is easily the frontrunner for Best Picture at the Oscars. There is almost unanimous praise heaped on to this film. I am no different. It will be making my top ten of the year, in a fairly high position. However, people need to calm down about the movie. Boyhood, despite what some critics will tell you, is not the second coming. Well, the folks over at Red Letter Media (Mike Stoklasa, Jay Bauman, and Rich Evans, to be specific) were not the biggest fans of the film. So, on episode 76 of their show "Half in the Bag", which was the episode that followed their review of Boyhood, took the time for a pretty great response to people who loved it. Obviously, I disagree with their opinion of the film, but that does not mean their opinion is invalid.

“Red Letter Media is Creating Weird Internet Videos and Films” is the tagline for the Milwaukee-based collective’s page on online fundraising platform Patreon. It’s an appeal that has impressively generated the group almost $100,000 a year in fan donations. Red Letter Media is the home of various creators, including Mike Stoklasa, whose critical vivisections of George Lucas’s Star Wars prequels landed him on Filmmaker‘s 25 New Faces list in 2010. Offering reviews of films and video games alongside other content (like a comedic instructional feature film, How Not to Make a Movie), Red Letter monetizes itself through YouTube advertising, DVD […]...

“Red Letter Media is Creating Weird Internet Videos and Films” is the tagline for the Milwaukee-based collective’s page on online fundraising platform Patreon. It’s an appeal that has impressively generated the group almost $100,000 a year in fan donations. Red Letter Media is the home of various creators, including Mike Stoklasa, whose critical vivisections of George Lucas’s Star Wars prequels landed him on Filmmaker‘s 25 New Faces list in 2010. Offering reviews of films and video games alongside other content (like a comedic instructional feature film, How Not to Make a Movie), Red Letter monetizes itself through YouTube advertising, DVD […]...

Matt’s interviews with Kill Shakespeare and Red Letter Media at Toronto Comic-Con

Last month the Dork Shelf crew had a chance to invade Wizard World Toronto and a fun time was had by all. I got to interview some lovely people, including Andy Belanger from Kill Shakespeare, as well as as Mike Stoklasa from Red Letter Media (largely famous as the voice of Harry Plinkett the film critic).

Both of these gentlemen were amazing to talk to, and I’m happy they let me pick their brains despite me being quite sick from a flu bug. Enjoy the interviews!

We’ll be adding more interviews in the coming weeks, but in the mean time you can enjoy our highlight reel from the convention here.

In a very short time, filmmaker Ron Purtee is becoming quite the expert on creating no-budget shorts. His first effort, Becoming Undead, garnered a lot of attention from Internet audiences and led to Purtee’s next project - The Social Media Massacre, which the filmmaker hopes will some day become a trilogy of films.

Dread Central recently caught up with Purtee to find out what some of his favorite independent genre flicks are.

1. Raymond Did It (Written/Directed by Travis Legge)

I had the pleasure of seeing this on the big screen, and it did not disappoint. It's a huge throwback to films like Prom Night and Halloween. And the kills? Well, the kills are some of the most inventive things I've ever seen. Made me not want to do my laundry for a week. My family was less than happy.

2. Frozen (Written/Directed by Adam Green)

What can I...

Red Letter Media's Mike Stoklasa finishes evisceration of 'Star Wars,' creates 'Half in the Bag' to skewer movies on more regular basis.

By Shawn Adler

Mike Stoklassa

Photo: Logan Jacobs

His video eviscerations of the "Star Wars" prequels were among last year's most anticipated, widely viewed online videos, garnering millions of views, inspiring new discussions of copyright in the digital age, and making celebrity fans ranging from Simon Pegg to Roger Ebert. But now that Mike Stoklasa, aka Mr. Plinkett, has finished carving up George Lucas — his "Revenge of Nadine: Episode III Review Epilogue" dropped Thursday (March 10) — the Milwaukee based writer/director turned millennial critic is breaking out the entire cutlery set for his next target.

And this time, nobody will be safe, Stoklasa laughed in an interview with MTV News.

Titled "Half in the Bag," Stoklasa and friend Jay Bauman have launched a new online review program...

I love Mike Stoklasa's video reviews, though perhaps "video reviews" isn't a generous enough term for this man's borderline heroic work. Stoklasa uses carefully selected video clips, smart observations about the language of cinema, and deranged humor from his videos' narrator -- a grumpy and cruel old man named Harry Plinkett -- to critique the movies he hates. His eviscerations of "The Phantom Menace" and "Star Trek: Nemesis" are the stuff of Internet legend. Just in time for New Year's, Stoklasa released his astoundingly in-depth "Revenge of the Sith" review. It is over 100 minutes long, longer than some feature films and almost as long as the film it is critiquing.

Stoklasa's videos are crude, and the Plinkett storylines interwoven through the commentary of some of them play masochism for laughs in a way that makes me uncomfortable. Still, there is some legitimate and very perceptive film criticism. The final...

Red Letter Media, who are known around the net for their in-depth and scathing video reviews of the first two Star Wars prequels, have finally unleashed their breakdown of Anakin Skywalker's turn to the Dark Side. Red Letter Media is a movie production company created by Milwaukee-based independent filmmaker Mike Stoklasa. The filmmaker attracted significant attention in 2009 through a seventy-minute video review of the 1999 film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The review was presented by his character "Mr. Plinkett" who has since released a massively popular review for the subsequent Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Stoklasa has received considerable media attention for both the insights provided by the reviews and the manner of the review style. Now, Stoklasa's...