Riley Rewind

Riley Rewind manages to merge the online culture and the television-feel perfectly. With its vlog style used as a narration tool it instantly connects with the audience, making them feel a part of the experience. And with its attention to detail and high production value, it makes it clear that it's not "just another online show".

Ray William Johnson joins the list of pioneers that includes Freddie Wong, and David Fincher, who are making top quality content for the Internet. And this being Johnson's directorial debut for a feature like this, it was an excellent job. This was Johnson's and Anna Akana's (Riley Rewind writer and Riley) baby, and it shows that they did their best to produce something worth watching.

The premise is a very well known one (time travel dilemmas), but the take on it is different enough to look passed that. The acting is a little cheesy, and so are some of the lines, but in a way it makes Riley Rewind a bit more charming, and might have been done intentionally. If not, it's something to work on for future projects, which I'm sure will happen. Because Riley Rewind's strength is its ability to connect with people, and that is one of the most valuable traits any sort of media could hope for.

I'm looking forward to seeing what's next for Runaway Machine.

I mean it's an indie film project, which took time, effort, and money to make. Personally, I enjoyed it! - Looking forward for Season 2 if any... Everything from the screenplay/story, (good job Anna!) acting (especially that gay dude!), Editing (Video Post was my favourite part about this film) was spot on! - also Ray (that fake and gay-homo-fag :-) ) did a good job directing, getting the most from the characters. what I didn't like though was the scoring/music - or at least the sound quality. Mix wasn't that warm, and audio didn't stand out to say the least. This may or may not be biased by personal passion in music production, scoring, and sound design, but the music in film left a lot to be desired. All in all though, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, and was hooked almost immediately!

While I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, it was lacking in a few places, and there were a few things that it could have done without. I understand that this was a first for the director, writers, and producers. I feel they hit the gay story just a little too hard (and by that I mean a LOT too hard. Too much gay story going on.) The acting was pretty hard to not laugh at on some scenes as well. Knowing Anna Akana's work, I felt like she was being herself, and not Riley. I did love the cartoon cut-scenes of introduction. Great for laying out parts of the story. I also loved the humor in many of the lines. Overall, I would definitely recommend to friends and family. I'm excited to see Runaway Machines next project.

This "movie" is (at the time of reviewing) ranked on IMDb with the same score as Citizen Kane, which is obviously a travesty. From reading some of the reviews it seems that this is thanks to the overzealous support of their preexisting fan base.

On YouTube it might get a thumbs up for effort, but when you're running with the big boys, this doesn't cut it I'm afraid. I might have given it a 2 or 3 if it wasn't for the arrogance of the writer getting herself cast as the female lead (Riley). She is upstaged in just about every scene, mostly due to the fact that the other people in it can act at least slightly.

If you're like me, and use IMDb to try to find great films via their ratings on here, then please do not bother with this. I understand that their fans want to support them. However, I believe that IMDb should be a level playing field, and Citizen Kane this is not.

I have watched all episodes on Facebook and i must say that i am quite surprised.

When watching this series you'll easy forget that it is made by Ray William johnson, why? it's because its made very very well. You wouldn't even see the difference between a high budget series or this one. The actors, special effects, lighting music etc.. they all look really good and are well executed. I do not believe that there is anyone out there that can do better with a 75K budget.

This shows the potential that ray has to offer to those Hollywood suits people with bags of money. He shows that you can make a good series with very low money/resources.

He also shows that if you put enough time and effort in it (love in what you do), that you can make everything work. I am truly amazed by how far our midget has become (love you ray).

There is a bright future ahead of you, keep on holding it and you'll be sitting next to the stars that we all desire to meet.

Hopefully will see the sequel to this well made web series! keep up the good work ray!

7/10