Bounding Into Comics

Interview: The Critical Drinker Tops Woke Hollywood With His Own Novels & Movie

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Will Jordan is scheduled to appear at the Atlanta Comic Con in February 2023.

Many YouTubers take on Hollywood’s woke content, with The Critical Drinker being one of the standouts among them. One of the reasons for that is because, as Will Jordan, he also creates stories. And he spoke about the novels he writes, the movie he is crowdfunding, and more in an exclusive interview with Bounding into Comics.

Will Jordan's profile photo of him as The Critical Drinker.

Will Jordan’s Amazon author page.

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Bounding into Comics: The earliest video on The Critical Drinker YouTube channel is from 2012, and the American version of your Amazon author page lists your first Ryan Drake novel as having been published in 2012. Which came first: The Critical Drinker reviewing entertainment, or Will Jordan authoring tales ?

Will Jordan : Well, there were actually other, older, video reviews which I’d done before then, although I ended up removing them because the editing was so shockingly amateurish that I just couldn’t bring myself to keep them visible. One day, who knows? Maybe I’ll re-edit them and post them back up again.

But the two things were very much happening in tandem back in 2011 when I first started making YouTube videos, while also working towards becoming a published author. It was a tiny channel at the time, just a few hundred subscribers, although I really enjoyed the process of making videos.

Composite image of the covers of the first three novels in Will Jordan's Ryan Drake series.

Novels 1-3 of the Ryan Drake series.

But when I got a call from my agent telling me my first publishing deal had been signed, I felt like I really had to choose between the two things—either give 100% to my writing or 100% to YouTube. And, well, writing seemed like the more worthy cause at the time.

It’s a shame in a way, because the YouTube channel was just starting to gain some traction when I stopped posting. Lucky for me, I never deleted it altogether and so there it sat for the better part of a decade before I started posting again.

Cover of Will Jordan's novel 'Something to Die For' (2020), book 9 of the Ryan Drake series.

‘Something to Die For’ (2020), Will Jordan.

BiC: How much did your writing change between Redemption in 2012 and Something to Die For in 2020 , and are you ultimately satisfied with the Ryan Drake series or are there things you would do differently today?

WJ : Looking back on Redemption , I can definitely see how my writing was still rough around the edges and maybe a bit over the top at times, but I guess it was my first novel and I was only in my 20s so I can live with it. But each new novel is a learning experience, and I’d like to think my writing has matured and improved with each subsequent book.

Overall, I’m very happy with how the Ryan Drake series concluded. Writing that final novel was a real challenge, both intellectually and emotionally, because on the one hand I had a tonne of plot threads and character arcs to bring together and close off in a satisfying way, and on the other, I was very much aware that this might be the last time I was allowed to write about these characters I’d spent the past decade with. You almost feel like you’re saying goodbye to old friends.

That being said, I know so many authors who started a series with grand plans to write a dozen books, only to have the publisher pull the plug after just two or three entries because they didn’t meet sales targets, so I’ll always be grateful that I got to say goodbye to Ryan Drake on my own terms.

Promotional image for Will Jordan's forthcoming short film, 'Rogue Elements.'

‘Rogue Elements,’ A Ryan Drake Story.

BiC: You go into detail on your Kickstarter page with explaining how you teamed up with your film crew to produce Rogue Elements . But apart from that, what inspired you to crowdfund the movie and take such a hands-on approach with it instead of going the more traditional route where you would option the rights to producers and a movie studio, and let them do the work?

WJ : Well, I’d had experience of that kind of thing before, and come away from it feeling pretty unimpressed. Hollywood and bull**** go hand in hand, and people sign you up with big promises of ambitious productions, industry connections and investors with deep pockets, only to sit on the rights for years and do basically nothing.

This time around, I wanted things to actually happen with a sense of urgency, and I wanted to be involved with the production as much as possible, and I was lucky enough to meet some people who were able to do that. And as for the crowdfunding, it was a handy way of gauging audience interest in the project, which turned out to be far bigger than any of us could have expected!

Will Jordan tweets about his February 2023 appearance at the Atlanta Comic Con.

The Critical Drinker Twitter

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BiC: Your Amazon author page mentions that the movie rights to your first Ryan Drake story, Redemption , were optioned and a feature film is in production. Is an adaptation of Redemption still happening?

WJ : Well, they currently have the option rights for the time being, so they’re free to do what they wish with Redemption . After that, we’ll see what happens.

BiC: Your Kickstarter campaign for Rogue Elements smashed through its initial goal and has over 5,000 backers. What’s your takeaway from this so far? Is that a much larger number than you envisioned? Does it increase the pressure on you? Do you see it as another sign that people are becoming increasingly open to the idea of supporting creators outside of the major entertainment systems and industries?

WJ : I see it as a sign of the hunger there is for proper movies whose only goal is to entertain the audience. I mean, having a certain profile online obviously helped raise awareness of it, but I was genuinely blown away by how it took off. Almost overnight it went from a little fan project on a shoestring budget to a proper production with actual resources and people behind it.

Obviously that brings with it higher expectations, which is why we’ve expanded the script from a little 15 minute short up to a 45 minute mini-movie. The pressure is definitely on us to deliver something good, and I love it. I’d rather be under pressure than have nobody care about it.

Cover of 'Deadly Cargo' (2017) by James Patterson and Will Jordan.

Deadly Cargo’ (2017), James Patterson and Will Jordan.

BiC: What was it like working with James Patterson on Deadly Cargo and how did that affect your writing career?

WJ : I wish I could tell you! Guys at Patterson’s level don’t really “work” with little guys like me—they have assistants and editors who act as go-betweens. So my interactions with him basically amounted to some editor saying, “James likes what you’ve done,” and that was it. But hey, it was a fun book to write at least!

Will Jordan quote tweets a response to a PC Gamer article about 'The Witcher: Blood Origin.'

BiC: One of the big ways the legacy entertainment world has driven away its fans is through its open contempt and downright hatred of said fans, particularly when fans criticize the Latest Product. Is this something that you keep in mind when fans and readers critique or criticize your work, and what do you think the proper response should be from a creator to criticism he receives?

WJ : Obviously few people relish the idea of criticism, and occasionally you’ll see some review on Amazon or YouTube where you think, “What is this guy even talking about?” but ultimately you just have to remember that people have a right to say what they want.

I never get into beef with critics and detractors because really, what’s the point? If they’ve already decided they hate you, then you’re not going to change their minds. And all it does is drain time out of your life, and make you look petty and insecure. So my advice to anyone in that position is to simply take it on the chin, keep your mouth shut and move on with your life.

Cover of Will Jordan's novel 'Dark Harvest' (2022).

‘Dark Harvest’ (2022), Will Jordan.

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BiC: Dark Harvest is your latest novel . Are you satisfied with readers’ reception of it and do you envision any sequels to it?

WJ : I’m very satisfied! It’s been getting excellent reviews, and I’m pleased with how its done. As for sequels, well, watch this space. I certainly left the door open for more books, but for the time being, my creative focus is on Rogue Elements .

The Critical Drinker tweets about Adam Sessler.

BiC: The United States Army, through its Mad Scientist Laboratory , seeks out speculative fiction to help it think about future threats, technology, and so forth. Did you write Dark Harvest with the idea that what appears in the novel could be similar to a potential future threat?

WJ : Haha! I never could have imagined we’d face a real global pandemic when I started writing it, but life has a funny way of emulating art sometimes.

The Critical Drinker tweets about the cancelled 'Batgirl' movie.

BiC: Apart from any potential sequels to Dark Harvest , what future novels and stories do you have planned, which genres will they cover, and will any of them become new series?

WJ : My work on Rogue Elements has kind of reinvigorated my interest in the Ryan Drake series, and since the series timeline only goes up to 2011, I think it would be interesting to pick up with Drake and the others in the present day as slightly older and wiser versions of themselves. I always wanted to leave that door open when I finished Something to Die For , and if I decide there’s still interesting stories to tell, maybe I’ll go back to it.

If my YouTube channel coming back to life after a decade of gathering dust has taught me anything at all, it’s to never say never.

Fans of Jordan can follow him on The Critical Drinker YouTube channels, and also can check out his merchandise , his Subscribestar page , and his Patreon page .

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the critical drinker movie reviews

YouTube Channel Review

The critical drinker.

  • Arts , Culture/Commentary , Unboxing/Product Review
  • December 8, 2023

The Critical Drinker youtube

No. of Subscribers

  • Over 1 Million

YouTube Join Date

  • September 20, 2006

Posting Frequency

Plugged In isn’t the only team talking about film. In fact, were you to peruse our YouTube reviews, you’d see that we’ve covered CinemaSins , How It Should Have Ended , Screen Junkies , Pitch Meeting and Corridor Crew , all YouTube channels that primarily deal with movies in some way.

Well, another channel has risen in prominence lately, too: The Critical Drinker, helmed by Scottish movie reviewer Will Jordan. This conservative-leaning commentator’s enormous popularity is based on his ranting critiques—in particular, for his videos skewering Disney-owned franchises like Marvel and Star Wars . While many of Jordan’s videos are simply discussions about what he did and didn’t like about a film, others slot into several different categories.

“The Drinker Recommends” is a category for movies that Jordan feels are prime examples of great storytelling and engaging movies. In this playlist, viewers will find movies both new and old that Jordan believes stand above the rest.

“The Drinker Fixes” contains videos where Jordan analyzes a character or movie plot and rewrites their motivations or the context around them in order to present a “better” version of it. What’s most notable about this category is that Jordan tries to stick as closely as possible to a movie’s themes and characters in order to prove that poor stories can be made better with a bit of workshopping.

“Production Hell” showcases movies or TV shows that had to go through difficult development and production processes due to monetary issues, overbearing higher-ups, difficult actors or other problems.

“Why Modern Movies Suck” allows Jordan to explain the unique issues behind newer films that he believes undermine their entertainment quality. These videos showcase examples Jordan uses to prove his point and are often the most opinion-based of his uploads.

POSITIVE CONTENT

The Critical Drinker provides valid points and commentary on many films and TV shows. For instance, Jordan often explains that movies that value universal messages will inherently relate to more people than those made to make a statement for the zeitgeist. He notes that movies with messages about family, the value of life and redemption are often the most compelling to audiences.

Jordan primarily focuses on each piece of entertainment’s storytelling, and he criticizes a given film when he feels that the storytelling has been thrown to the side in favor of pushing a political or cultural agenda.

CONTENT CONCERNS

If you thought that the name of the channel was indicative of the content concerns, you’d be right. In older videos, Jordan’s speech is intentionally meant to sound like he’s going on an intoxicated rant. Though newer videos haven’t focused as heavily on that schtick, The Critical Drinker channel name still brings to mind alcoholism.

By far, though, the biggest issue viewers will contend with is the heavy swearing. Both f- and s-words are frequent, as are other vulgarities. God’s name is taken in vain sometimes, too.

In some of the movie clips that Jordan shows, we also see people get hurt or killed in some bloody ways.

Recurring jokes include Jordan playing a clip of a man profusely vomiting in response to poor directorial decisions as well as using a flatulent noise for similar reasons. He also sometimes plays a clip of Nicholas Cage in his underwear or She-Hulk twerking. We hear a couple sexual quips, too.

And on a similar note, some of Jordan’s rants insult the directors and actors behind the films directly. While he often criticizes stories based on merit, he has also makes occasional jokes or comments that comes off as sexist.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

Sometimes, movie critics can be quite harsh. I’ve read not a few movie reviews where I’ve thought, in full Marty McFly fashion “Wow, this is heavy.” I’m not immune to the irony that Plugged In ’s reviewers(myself included) have probably written things that have elicited similar responses from our readers, too.

And, in true fashion, The Critical Drinker is harsh, too. Harsher than most, in fact, to the point of callous insult.

To Jordan’s credit, many of the points he makes have merit. Furthermore, he does a pretty good job explaining where he’s coming from and why he dislikes a particular element of the film. But let’s just say that when Plugged In dislikes something in a movie, we’re much more likely to express our perspective with careful tact. Not so for Jordan.

And that includes the content issues here. With frequent swearing and many crude jokes, The Critical Drinker probably isn’t the kind of sarcastic movie critic you’d gather your kids in the living room to listen to.

kennedy-unthank

Kennedy Unthank

Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He doesn’t think the ending of Lost was “that bad.”

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  • Book-narrating YouTubers
  • Review YouTubers
  • Scottish YouTubers
  • Users who joined in 2006
  • One million subscribers

The Critical Drinker

  • View history

William "Will" Jordan (born: April 30, 1983 ( 1983-04-30 ) [age 40] ) is a Scottish YouTuber and a professional writer known for the Ryan Drake series, who since 2019 has emerged under the persona of an intelligent drunkard, The Critical Drinker .

  • 1.1 Critical Drinker After Hours
  • 2.1 Reviews
  • 2.2 The Drinker Recommends
  • 2.3 The Drinker Fixes
  • 2.4 Production Hell
  • 2.5 Editorials
  • 2.6 Why Modern Movies Suck
  • 2.7 Analogies
  • 3.2 Running Gags
  • 3.3 Other Elements

Content [ ]

The Critical Drinker is a Scottish drunkard with a crude attitude, a penchant for black comedy, speaks in biting sarcasm and snark, and frequently uses running gags and catchphrases. His snide demeanor is juxtaposed by his intelligent critique of the art of filmmaking and storytelling, which was intended to be a neat contrast.

As the Drinker, he mainly covers movies and television, and occasionally video games and comic books. He often focuses on what he views in a negative light as the 'political correctness' of entertainment in recent products. To him they suffer from forced and poorly inserted political correctness, hamfisted messaging born out of "Trump Derangement Syndrome". According to him, the current mega media industry sees identity politics being valued over story and characters, excessive uses of virtue signaling, alongside unqualified and unlikable creators and actors. He also loathes the way beloved IPs of the past are, in his eyes, retooled into being vehicles for present day ‘woke’ politics, such as Star Wars , Doctor Who , Star Trek and Marvel . He believes that as a result, the stories themselves are often poorly written on a fundamental level.

He also has the belief and makes the argument that all this does is hurt the value of entertainment itself and cause a divide where they would previously unite. Stories of the past featured timeless and universal themes and had applicability to everyone, yet today's stories will inevitably become dated to the period that it's in. The Drinker has set out to help save entertainment, in his own way, by drawing more attention to the failings, and successes, of Hollywood.

However, even without the politics, the Drinker criticizes the excessive amounts of remakes of lower quality, diluting what made the originals great and adding nothing good to the IP, such as Cruella and Mulan .

Critical Drinker After Hours [ ]

Critical Drinker After Hours is a companion channel, with a variety of different styles of content. This includes:

  • Drinker Does Gaming -- Livestreams of video games, such as the Resident Evil series, Ghost of Tsushima and Call of Duty .
  • Happy Hour -- Live discussions of movies with guest YouTubers, often going on for hours.
  • Drinker's Extra Shots -- Additional movie reviews, usually of works the Drinker doesn't have the time to cover on his main channel. All positive, akin to The Drinker Recommends , but relatively brief.
  • Drinker's Open Bar -- An open forum where The Drinker discusses recent events and developments in the pop culture landscape with guest YouTubers and the chat. This was introduced in September 2021. Originally, he hosted it by himself, but his longtime friend MauLer was later made into an official co-host.
  • Drinker's VIP Lounge -- The Drinker interviews creators and actors who've worked in Hollywood itself, from movies, TV and comics. This includes: Neil Marshall, Sam J. Jones, Mark Rolston, Marc Zicree, Adil & Bilall, and Mark Millar. This was introduced in March 2022.
  • Drinker's Chasers -- Excerpts from Open Bar and VIP Lounge streams, about a particular subject that was discussed, such as subverting expectations, the death of Hollywood, superhero fatigue etc.

Additionally, miscellaneous content is featured, such as one video about testing alcoholic beer, another being a dramatic reading of Ryan Drake in-character as The Drinker, and two instruction videos on how to become a writer and how to become a YouTuber.

Formats [ ]

There are several different types of videos ranging from reviews, commentary on the industry, editorials, or news.

Reviews [ ]

The standard review, usually of movies and TV shows. Most reviews focus on modern movies/TV, often those that were recently released, though there are numerous throwbacks from older properties as well such as Demolition Man , Highlander , Independence Day , Die Hard , The Chronicles of Riddick , Starship Troopers and Avatar .

Most of these reviews tend to be negative, such as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker , Ghostbusters (2016) , Star Trek: Picard , Birds of Prey , The Predator , and Alien: Covenant . Some reviews are good just because it was "dumb fun", such as Tomorrow War , Godzilla vs Kong and The Suicide Squad (the second movie).

But there are also all-around positive reviews as well, such as for Joker , Logan , Dune , Nobody , Squid Game , All of Us Are Dead , Reacher , The Terminal List , John Wick: Chapter 4 , Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning , Gran Turismo and One Piece where he highly praises the stories and usually only has some small criticisms on the side.

The Drinker also reviews trailers for upcoming movies and TV shows as they come up, showcasing his reaction and analysis of them whether good, bad, or all-around curious.

The Drinker Recommends [ ]

The Drinker recommends series are Movies and TV that the Drinker likes that are recommended to the audience as something to enjoy with the Drinker explaining how the media being covered warrants a recommendation from him.

These fall under two categories. The first is modern works that he believes buck the, to him negative, trend of woke and progressive movements such as The Boys , Chernobyl , 1917 , Ford v Ferrari , Cobra Kai , The Expanse , Invincible , Arcane , Spider-Man: No Way Home , Everything Everywhere All at Once , and Top Gun: Maverick , which in his opinion, should be used as an example of what modern entertainment should be in contrast to many of today's stories.

The second consists of movies from the past that hold up to the test of time, setting the standard for movies to aspire to, such as Event Horizon , Predator , Falling Down , Jaws , Unforgiven , Blade Runner , Fight Club , and 2010: The Year We Made Contact .

A middle ground also exists for works slightly older than recent (pre-dating what he thinks of as the "woke") era of the former but aren't quite as old and classic as the latter, such as with Dredd and Whiplash .

The Drinker Fixes [ ]

The Drinker Fixes series shows how it is possible to keep the same themes, characters and most of the plot while dramatically improving the writing. This is to exemplify rather how poor the director and/or writer has handled its movie.

In other words, The Drinker takes a character that's considered broken, and "fixes" that character in the context of the story itself to make the character more in line with how the character should be portrayed, either consistent with their past portrayal or to make an already bland character interesting. First, the Drinker assesses the flaws of the character, and then analyzes what established traits can be used as the basis to repair them, before presenting his new and improved version of the character in a rewrite of the story they're in. It's a creative exercise to show how much better these characters could be done in competent hands. Episodes thus far include Fat Thor ( Avengers: Endgame ), Luke Skywalker ( Star Wars: The Last Jedi ), Captain Marvel ( Captain Marvel ), Rey ( Star Wars: The Force Awakens ), and Finn ( Star Wars: The Last Jedi ).

Another variation is to fix an entire storyline, rather than a specific character. In this version, a general fix is made on various plot points and story arcs, into something that makes more sense and works better as a storyline, while still keeping true to the general idea of the original. This variation was introduced with Season 8 of Game of Thrones and utilized again with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness .

Production Hell [ ]

The Drinker analyzes the nightmarish development process of certain movies and TV shows, as they often make for great entertainment in and of itself. Episodes so far include The Island of Dr. Moreau , Apocalypse Now , The Abyss , Superman Lives , Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , Batwoman , Justice League , the entire DC Extended Universe , and Waterworld .

Editorials [ ]

Videos that discuss various topics, like storytelling, character development and history, such as Is Anakin a Mary Sue? , Shocking News - People Like Good Characters , Why the Past Matters , What Happened to Our Villains? , Why Canon Matters , The Importance of Ambiguity , Hollywood vs. Fans - Everybody Loses , and Defeminizing Female Characters .

Why Modern Movies Suck [ ]

Videos detailing why movies today are bad in various ways, focusing on varying topics, and comparing them to movies from the past in an unfavorable light. He also explains why it's so, and often detailing both the incompetency of the creators, and the actual sinister intent behind it.

Episodes thus far include Setup and Payoff , They're Written by Children , They're Destroying Our Heroes , The Soft Reboot , They Teach Us Awful Lessons , Modern Actors , CGI Overload , They Hate Their Own Fans , The Myth of the "Modern Audience" , They Hate Men , The Strong Female Character , and They're Too Expensive .

Analogies [ ]

This is where The Drinker creates a strawman (which could include the viewer) to do decisions based on a real-life story, but without any names of real people mentioned. This has been done on Kathleen Kennedy Saves Star Wars (Again) (on his opinion of Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy's horrific mismanagement of Star Wars ), How to be an Awesome Game Developer (on how he thought Neil Druckman destroyed The Last of Us: Part 2 with identity politics), and The Girl Who Wouldn't Back Down (on Gina Carano after being fired from The Mandalorian following backlash online).

The Drinker sarcastically supports content he dislikes with visual imagery often portraying the said movie negatively. This often could be mistaken as a support to the movie, including the YouTube algorithm. Said videos often feature The Drinker ripping into how bad they are, with a sarcastic veil of praise, alongside antithetical footage and images of what he's saying. Often, these videos are even more damning to the products than an unironic review, as it paints the target as nothing more than a laughable joke.

Examples of this include I was SO WRONG about Captain Marvel , Remakes Are Awesome , The Genius of The Last Jedi , Female Thor - At last, Marvel gives fans what they ALWAYS WANTED! , Finally, a James Bond for the Modern Era! , Social Justice Is Great For Videogames , Batwoman in Trouble - Ruby Rose Quits , Marvel's New Warriors Looks AMAZING! , Gotham High is EXACTLY What the Comic Industry Needs , How to Be the Bestest Journalism Evar , and The Falcon And The Winter Soldier - It's The Best Show Ever Made .

Recurring Elements [ ]

The Critical Drinker employs numerous gags, catchphrases and elements common throughout his reviews.

  • "Nah, it'll be fine!" -- Used to describe idiotic decisions made in-universe.
  • "Fuck off film!" -- Said when the Drinker gets frustrated. Sometimes swapped with "trailer", "show", "game", or an individual like Brie Larson or Rian Johnson.
  • "Why? Don't know!" -- For picking apart major plot holes and leaps of logic in the writing. This is accompanied by two pictures, one in a curious thinking pose ("Why?") and one doing a major shrug ("Don't know!").
  • "You know..." -- How he starts some videos, often leading to an anecdote or analogy.
  • "What. The. FUCK!" -- Often said after compiling a list of nonsensical plot threads, or a poorly thought-out twist, that leaves the Drinker dumbfounded. It also features an echo for effect.
  • Examples in full include "But, Drinker, you bastion of intersectional feminism I hear you say." or "But, Drinker, you charming but handsome rogue I hear you say."
  • " THE MESSAGE " -- Referring to corporate activism that plagues modern entertainment, accompanied with images of stereotypically far left material like Black Lives Matter, Planned Parenthood, Third Wave Feminism, Critical Race Theory, Antifa and Gay Pride. It's said with a booming echo for effect.
  • "So the rest of the plot can happen." -- Said when covering a badly written story element that is only there out of lazy writing to continue the story.
  • "Unspecified virus of unknown origin." -- When referring to COVID-19 due to YouTube's demonetization policy. Often accompanied by a picture of a Chinese flag, Winnie the Pooh and a black bar over it saying CENSORED .
  • Example: "Spider-Man films have been pretty successful. They've been perfectly well made, well written, and MOSTLY... [shows an image of Zendaya] well cast."
  • "Keep that one in mind because it'll be important later." -- Foreshadowing a badly written element of a movie that will be dissected in full later on in the review when it comes to prominence.
  • "Believe that!" -- The Drinker makes a proud boast or proclamation of something, followed by the yelling "Believe that!".
  • "To reflect the world we live in today." -- Said after pointing out nonsensical modern, politically correct sensibilities and the injection of identity politics into settings where it makes no sense for them to be present. This is based on a quote paraphrased from an interview promoting Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power .
  • " MODERN AUDIENCES! " -- When lampooning woke modern reboots, sequels, reimaginings etc., referencing the term "updated for modern audiences", an oft-repeated corporate buzzword with little to no substance, that suggests that "modern audiences" consists entirely of easily-offended career activists. Said with a booming echo, and often paired with an clip of Luke Crywalker for further effect.
  • "That's all I've got for today... go away now!" -- The outro to almost every video. The tone of the message changes depending on the subject, from happiness, sadness, apathy, irritation or anger.

Running Gags [ ]

  • "Hahaha, *fart*" (from Not Another Teen Movie ), paired with an idiotic scene, often followed by the aforementioned "Fuck off film!".
  • "Yes, I can definitely smell shite!" and "Shiiiite!" (from Chewin' the Fat ), used after a sarcastic compliment.
  • Tyrion throwing up (from Game of Thrones ), expressing the Drinker's disgust at the thought of something.
  • "No way!" (from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure ), after the Drinker makes a painfully obvious statement, usually in answer to someone else.
  • "Sheer. Fucking. Hubris." (from Star Trek: Picard ), describing the arrogance of the creative team.
  • "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" (from Event Horizon ), when he finds something hideous or frustrating.
  • Luke Crywalker (the viral clip of Jessica Starr, the infamous Trump inauguration screamer), often used when making fun of the far left.
  • "Hallelujah!", a choir played along an image of alcoholic drinks like whiskey to express his love for drinking.
  • "Not a great plan." (from The Avengers ), used for highlighting the idiocy of someone's plan or thinking, either of an in-universe character or a real-world creator/company.
  • "Ahahahahah... HAHAHAHA!... you serious?" (from Spider-Man 2 ), to highlight a particularly ridiculous statement or idea.
  • "HaHaHaHaHaHa" (from The Fifth Element ), used for comedic moments like a troll move or highlighting a product's comedic failure.

Other Elements [ ]

  • Potshots at (in)famous Hollywood figures. The most common targets are Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, Rian Johnson, Brie Larson, Tessa Thompson, Alex Kurtzman, Kevin Smith, Paul Feig, Chris Chibnall, Jodie Whittaker, Seth Rogen and Zendaya.
  • Potshots at the mainstream press, often viewed as bias, corrupt, and doing anything in a desperate attempt to shill, elevate the voices of social justice warriors, and reverse their inevitable collapse. The most common individual target by far is infamous Forbes shill Scott Mendelson.
  • Beginning with highly contrived or barely related anecdotes that connect to the main review in some weird way, often with the Drinker acknowledging the ridiculousness of it.
  • Laughing in his distinct tone, often with his picture onscreen, in response to something ridiculous.
  • Jokes at the expense of political correctness, including the Twitter community, gender studies programs, body positivity, identity politics, third wave feminism, and what he describes as a culture of "perpetually offended serial complainers".
  • References to a fictional prostitute called "Tatiana", who the Drinker is said to live out many of his most perverted desires with.
  • References to excessive drinking and reckless abandon, often portraying the Drinker as a bit psychopathic.
  • Potshots at China, usually calling the coronavirus "unspecified virus of unknown origin".
  • Referring to characters by a nickname, usually insulting, if he doesn't like said character (especially if played by a hated actor). Examples include: "Diverse Female Space Jesus" (Michael Burnham in Star Trek: Discovery ), "The Doctor Impersonator" (Jodie Whittaker's Doctor in Doctor Who ), "Super Rex" (the Indominus Rex in Jurassic World ), "Obscure Actress #1 and Obscure Actress #2" (Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska's characters in Charlie's Angels ), and "Plank of Wood" as a general term for boring actors.

Origins [ ]

In 2006, jacktaylor83, the channel that would become The Critical Drinker, was created. It wasn't until 2012 when the first three videos were uploaded, after which the channel didn't post any more until 2018, where he began to make videos semi-regularly. These videos were low-profile, and the premise hadn't yet fully formed, but did provide the basis for what would become The Critical Drinker (that is rants and reviews with a heavy dose of sarcasm).

In 2019, Captain Marvel was about to be released and had been very controversial among audiences as a centerpiece of the present day culture war. Jordan, having had his own gripes with the movie and the leading actress Brie Larson, yet noticed how seriously everyone was taking the situation, created The Critical Drinker persona as a means to poke fun at it through a comedic lens.

Afterwards, the channel grew in popularity as more tuned in, gaining over 500,000 subscribers by September 2020, and reaching 1,000,000 subscribers on December 6, 2021.

"I started this channel first and foremost because I'm passionate about storytelling in any form, and I appreciate the simple joy of experiencing a work of art for the first time, and that's what entertainment really is when you get right down to it. From the humble to extravagant, the derivative to the inspired, whether we love them or hate them. And when they're at their best, they're quite simply remarkable. They have the power to tell stories that uplift our spirits, captivate our imaginations, stir the sense of adventure, or test the limits of our fears. They give us glimpses of fantastical worlds beyond our own existence, presenting ideas that question our assumptions or broaden our horizons.

They give us heroes who inspire us to try harder than we thought necessary, reach further than we thought possible, or risk more than we thought safe. And they give us villains who explore our deepest fears, challenge our insecurities, and question our deepest held convictions. Stories can do all these things and more. They explore the universal experiences of our lives, they stir emotions regardless of our race, color or creed, they help to bring us together through our shared experiences, and passions, and fears, and help remind us that we have more in common with each other than we think.

In short, they represent the best of what it means to be human.

But all is not well. Like a lot of you, I've noticed a change in recent years. Our entertainment industries have been under attack, our stories are being sanitized and twisted to serve political agendas, our heroes are being neutered and marginalized, as Hollywood studios try in vain to dance to the everchanging tune of social media activists and perpetually offended serial complainers. Old classics are being remade and repackaged by creatively bankrupt studios trying in vain to cash in on nostalgia and name recognition. Our childhood heroes are being wheeled out only to be humiliated and downtrodden to elevate the success of cheap, inferior copies. And this change has only been accelerated by a dying mainstream media, desperate for views and attention at any cost, to jump on any bandwagon it can find, to delay their inevitable collapse.

And the result of all of this is a gradual erosion of narrative quality, thematic depth, artistic meaning, and, well, actual fun in entertainment. The stories we tell are no longer universal and timeless. They've become vapid and shallow, mired in present day cultural angst, and weighed down by clumsy attempts to pander to politics embraced only by a vocal few. The stories which used to unite us now serve to stoke the fires to division, resentment and petty bickering.

In short, every facet of entertainment we consume today is under threat.

And this worries me, because I'm old enough to remember when things were different. I can appreciate the quality of the stories we used to tell, and I can see what damage we're doing to our artists of today. The next generation of moviegoers and filmmakers is going to grow up in a world where this ridiculous state of affairs is the norm. They won't have that experience needed to strive for something better, and I think we'll all suffer as a result.

But I don't think it has to be this way.

We don't have to lie down and accept the gradual erosion of our art, entertainment and culture. The decline can be reversed through the most fundamental mechanism of all: Money. You can have all the political ideology you want, but ultimately the market wants what the market wants. If enough people refuse to support products like this, and instead give their money to studios and developers and artists whose only goal is to tell good stories, then Hollywood will have a simple choice: Listen to your market or go out of business.

So I guess that's what this channel is really about. In my own small, heavily intoxicated way, it's about calling out these failings when I see them. It's about encouraging people to see through the fancy special effects and big budgets to understand the flawed, derivative, meaningless stories that lie beneath. To understand the real mechanics of storytelling. And where possible, it's about recognizing movies, TV shows and video games, that buck this trend and dare to focus on what's actually important."

Will Jordan is a published author who has sold over 2 million copies of his spy thriller series Ryan Drake , a throwback to Cold War era techno-thriller/spy fiction novels of the likes of James Bond and the works of Tom Clancy, which spans 9 books.

In 2022, Will wrote a new book called Dark Harvest , a conspiracy thriller/science fiction novel about bioterrorism and zombies. Will has also stated he's working on a comic book project, still unrevealed.

He resides in Scotland, United Kingdom, and has a wife, two sons, and a greyhound named Lara (who he affectionately calls "The Critical Doggo"). Will stated that his Drinker persona essentially represents him but with all traits magnified by ten.

  • When depicted onscreen, The Drinker is usually seen with dark aviator shades which is considered the icon of the persona.
  • According to his writer's profile, his major interests include military history, mountain climbing, fitness training, boxing and reading, in addition to writing and entertainment.
  • Jordan has made visits to both the United States and Eastern Europe, for research on his Ryan Drake series.
  • He once played small extra roles in local British TV series, as soldiers. He was put through military boot camp in preparation for the role.
  • Furthermore, Will stated that he used to work in London as a telemarketer in an interview, and during this time he had to tone down his Scottish accent for the English customers he was working with. To this day, he says that experience made his Scottish accent less pronounced.
  • The audio quality of Will's voice wasn't as clear (as he admits, back then he was using a "work com" for budget reasons and upgraded to a full-blown studio once he became a professional).
  • He didn't end with his signature "That's all I've got for today... go away now!" but instead thanked the viewers for watching and asked them to subscribe (the more standard ending, which he didn't like even then and only said it because he thought that's what you're supposed to do).
  • While there was humor, the overall way the reviews were presented were more "matter of fact" and serious. At the time, The Drinker persona didn't really exist, and reviews were made under his old name jacktaylor83.
  • Will spoke using his normal voice, where his Scottish accent isn't as exaggerated and made to sound drunken.
  • Will also more commonly reviewed specific things that interested him back then, as he hadn't focused on reviews full time. As such, he reviewed more video games like Final Fantasy and Resident Evil , and oddly enough, he did book reviews (which he hasn't done yet since The Critical Drinker was established).
  • An episode of Production Hell covering Fantastic Four (2015) was made but was deleted due to a Cease and Desist order, and is currently unavailable to be viewed anywhere.
  • In addition to writing the Ryan Drake series, Will Jordan co-write the 2017 book Deadly Cargo with James Patterson.
  • Will Jordan made an Ask Me Anything on Reddit in regard to the Ryan Drake series on August 5, 2016, three years before becoming The Critical Drinker.
  • 3 IamEverything

Cinemaphile

Cinemaphile

Critical Drinker's top 10 favorite movies of all time

the critical drinker movie reviews

>The Turin Horse >The Tragedy of Man >On the Silver Globe >The Dancing Hawk >Faust (1926) >Lamentations: A Monument for the Dead World >Ta’ang >The Deserter and the Nomads >Ashes of Time >Méditerranée

Try hard list

That's some gay shit

I love how just the mere sight of this guy triggers Cinemaphile so much. Anything that triggers Cinemaphile is good. Post these threads everyday, OP

he's best friends with a dog fricker

that's enough reason to discard everything he says

>Are you impressed yet, internet users?

No one believes that a silent film would be on anyone's "favorite" movie list. There's a difference between your favorite movies and the movies you think are the best. I'm going to assume you're a pretentious gay if you put a movie from the 20s on your "favorite" list.

lmao imagine being this insecure

but yeah the OP is homosexualry

noooooooooo you can only like le heckin recently made genre trash!

pretty sure a guy who gets drunk watching capeshit for a living and raving about the sjws like it's still 2014 does not have a refined taste in antiquity cinema

The oldest movie I’d consider my favorite is Seventh Seal, it’s just actually very fricking good

Moronic post. Congrats, anon

>There's a difference between your favorite movies and the movies you think are the best Imagine being such an insecure homosexual that you don't consider your favorite movies to be the best.

>DUDE MY FAVOURITE MOVIES ARE THESE ARTSY IMDB 250 PICKS THIS IS WHY I EXCLUSIVELY WATCH CAPESHIT AND ACTION MOVIES

My favourite capeshit kino is charles dera and gia derza toughlove

I know this is a meme but The Tragedy of Man and Faust are genuinely kino Turin Horse fricking BLOWS tho

The Tragedy of Man is a genuine kino. I am still surprised how it's so under-known. Maybe because of Americans, people now can think of comics and animated movies as capeshit and kiddy stories only I suppose.

soo fricking pretentious.

My favorite is Jang Ji Jan Mi La Xin Hua (1926)

Why doesn't he review any of these films then? He just rants about capeshit like a manchild. His books are also trash

Any movie from pre-2000 is poorly-paced garbage.

I am glad I am not the kind of pathetic loser who makes up fake lists with shitty movies to impress other people. This is such a pathetic thing to lie about. >Oh yeah, Faust 1926 it totally in my top 10 greatest movies! >yeah dude, when I am alone I totally put on some Faust 1926 and watch it for fun dude! I am baffled that someone would lie about something about this and I am even more baffled why someone would lie about this with the intent of showing off how smart or cultured they are. There is no way that some low test gay who wears shades and flexes his non-existent muscles for a selfie watches shitty 100 year old silent movies for fun. This guy 100% watches Marvel movies. His real top 10 would feature Infinity Wars, Fight Club, Driver and Shrek.

>the message >cancel culture >subverted my expectations >new star wars ruined my childhood >frick Kathleen Kennedy >gay drunk accent voice >something something Anakin Skywalker Saved you gays the trouble. This is basically his every video.

the critical drinker movie reviews

i've not heard of any of these

The Turin horse is a piece of shit. Absolutely indefensible trash

All those suck and that guy looks like he sucks dick for protein powder

Damn. He's a Mubi gay?

the critical drinker movie reviews

LOOK. AT. THE TOP OF. HIS HEAD

OH NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

Heres my list: 1. Starship Troopers 2-10. dont care

>nice shoulder genetics >ruined by having 0 delts ?

>exclusively reviews Marvel movies >expects me to believe this is his actual top 10

The worst part is that 90% of his fans believe him. I am so tired of professional grifters it's unreal

Anon it's a pasta

It's not even grifting. It's pure insecurity. It's not like he will get more subs and more money if he says he likes Méditerranée. As if his Marvel watching fanbase even knows what that is

He doesn't either because it's a made up list

It's a real list, moron

the critical drinker movie reviews

Why did you link that? Was it just to gaslight me or are you some blind, deaf, dumb homosexual?

>gaslight redditor detected

the critical drinker movie reviews

It's hardly gaslighting when even the thumbnail disproves him. That's just lying. Hell, even the number of movies in the title disproves him Maybe it's bad gaslighting

the critical drinker movie reviews

>gaslighting

more like critical stinker

the critical drinker movie reviews

I've never watched this guy, but I'm guessing his whole schtick is getting drunk and ranting about movies on youtube. If I want to relax after work with kino and a beer, then I'm probably not going to pop in some depressing soviet-era shit or a silent melodrama from 100 years ago, but that's just me.

Same, I'd rather see someone tell me that Goon is one of their favorite drinking movies because it rules. And I cannot take anybody seriously who calls themselves a smart drunk, especially when their beard looks like it's applied with a stencil each morning.

>getting drunk Dude is fitness freak, no way in fricking hell he drinks thousands of empty calories.

Whats the Infinite Jest of movies?

Citizen Bane/Problem Child 2

Save some chicks for the rest of us bro

the critical drinker movie reviews

>The Tragedy of Man kino taste

This is the gayest, most pretentious shit I've ever seen and I used to lurk in /film/

the critical drinker movie reviews

Remember, if Gattaca isn't in your top 10, you are not allowed to have an opinion on film.

I can't watch Ethan Hawke movies cause he looks exactly like that one pornstar

>eugenics bad Shit movie.

it is bad, people are killed for the crime of being poor when most people have been poor for all of human history, it's dumb

You would be the first one pruned

All shit. What a fricking queer.

On the Silver Globe is close to a masterpiece

Here's the real list

>Dark Knight >Muppets (2011) >Skyfall >Forrest Gump >Saving Silverman >Lord of The Rings Trilogy >Lego Movie >Deadpool 2 >Happy Gilmore >South Park Bigger Longer Uncut >AVGN season 1 DVD >Titanic

>Deadpool 2

Nikocado hair

>AM I MANLY YET? I TOOK THE COURSE ONLINE! cringe at best

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Movie Review – Napoleon

Dan Gardner Avatar

Boring. I  never fall asleep during movies, but I almost nodded off twice during this one. It was a slog to get through.  Gladiator  is one of my all-time favorite movies and I really hoped this movie would tap into some of that, but wow. Not even close.

Joaquin Phoenix is a generational talent, and at first glance seems like an ideal choice to play Napoleon, but as it turns out it feels like Joaquin fell back on other characters he has played because all I could see is Joaquin playing Napoleon instead of Napoleon. I know this is a particularly hard role to perform because obviously, there’s no film footage of Napoleon to go on. But I’ll bet Gary Oldman could have melted into the role.

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I was really thrown by Vanessa Kirby’s accent as she played Josephine. She made no attempt to hide her British accent, so I was really confused. My French history is pretty spotty, but I was almost certain Josephine wasn’t British—if you’re wondering she’s Italian. Maybe make a little effort to have a French accent? The same can be said for Joaquin. He makes no attempt at a French accent. I’m sure the actors and director thought about how to play this and decided it would be too distracting to try and do French accents, but it was distracting to me. I would have preferred that they use AI to convert everyone’s lines to French and match their mouth to the sounds—we can do that now. And then provide English subtitles. But whatever.

The characters never seemed to age, but the story spans 25-30 years in time. The story would jump from event to event and sometimes skip forward a handful of years at a time.

If there’s one thing that I feel is completely lacking in the movie it’s that they don’t satisfactorily illustrate the passion that Napoleon’s soldiers had for him. Of course there’s the scene where his 5th Army defects to him, but that’s just telling us something. I don’t  see it . That’s mainly because all of his soldiers are nameless faces that never speak. Some of the soldiers should have had scenes where they talk about Napoleon and we can learn what they think about him and how much their willing to sacrifice for him. Instead, everything is from Napoleon’s perspective.

Battle Scenes

I found the battle scenes to be too long and visually confusing to be interesting. There wasn’t a single battle scene, or even a moment, that was gripping. I just wanted them to be over. Again, this is from the director who gave us  Gladiator and that had epic battle scenes. I have no idea why Ridley Scott made this movie, but it feels like everyone lost interest in it as they were filming.

The music was entirely forgettable. I guess Hans Zimmer is on vacation or something and they couldn’t get him to do the soundtrack. Wait a moment. Hans is German. Yeah, he’s not doing the soundtrack for Napolean. Not if he wants to show his face in Germany ever again. 🙂

The Critical Drinker (YouTube Channel) has pretty much the same thing to say as I do, only much better.

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My bladder thanks you so much!! App works great for telling u when and for how long you have a pee break! I didn’t use the timer function so the dialog in the movie was a great clue as to when to go. I also liked the info about each movie to know whether there was any extra scenes during or after the credits. Nothing worse than waiting for all the credits and then no extra scene.

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About The Peetimes :   This is a long movie with many slow-developing scenes. It wasn’t hard to find five Peetimes. The only Peetime I would avoid is the 3rd. I only added it because otherwise, there would be an hour gap between the 2nd and 4th Peetimes. The last two Peetimes are the best. They are both long scenes of marching and battle preparation.

There  are no  extra scenes during, or after, the end credits of  Napoleon .

Plot An epic that details the checkered rise and fall of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his wife, Josephine.

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4 responses to “movie review – napoleon”.

Ken Clark Avatar

I completely disagree with almost everything said in this review.

Dan Gardner Avatar

That’s cool. At least we agreed on something, just not sure what. 🙂

 Avatar

critical drinker is an absolute ####. trash review.

I agree with the majority of his reviews, but sometimes I’m 100% opposite. That’s fine. Disagreement isn’t the end of the world. And we’re in complete agreement on this movie.

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Following the pulse

The Critical Drinker Announces He’s Produced Two Short Films and Teases Full-Length Feature At Geeks + Gamers Megacon Panel

February 4, 2024 by Jon Del Arroz 3 Comments

The Critical Drinker, YouTube

Already a popular film critic and novelist, Will Jordan, better known as The Critical Drinker, attended Megacon in Orlando, sitting on a star-studded panel with Nerdrotic, Eric July, Ryan Kinel, and Jeremy Griggs from Geeks + Gamers. The panel hit a lot of topics about the changing landscape of pop culture and anti-wokeism, but Critical Drinker announced to cheers from the crowd about taking back the culture by making films of his own.

The Critical Drinker is one of the most successful pop culture discussion channels, with nearly two million subscribers. His hot takes on pop culture phenomena from Disney Marvel to the Barbie movie have resonated with millions of views per video, making him one of the most powerful influencers on YouTube.

Even though his main content is telling viewers “Why modern movies suck,” he’s also hosted great writers like Mark Millar for one on one interviews about how to write quality stories. The ability to transition to constructive thoughts on culture is a large part of his success.

The Critical Drinker, YouTube

RELATED: Woke Petition Calls For Fan Expo Calgary To Cancel Gina Carano While The Mandalorian Star Praises Carl Weathers

His novel, Dark Harvest, has also done very well on Amazon, boasting 4.5 stars from over 600 ratings. It’s billed as “For fans of World War Z, a chilling mystery, an ancient threat, and a race against time to save humanity.”

With successful storytelling under his belt, The Critical Drinker is now delving into his main passion—film.

At the Orlando Megacon Geeks and Gamers panel, he stayed quieter than many of the other panelists for most of the time, but over halfway in, he leaned into the microphone to make an announcement.

“I think, as far as my channel goes,” The Critical Drinker said, “I thought I’d take a crack at making movies of my own, why not?”

He continued, “We’ve got our first short film coming out in a month or two, and we’re gonna see where we can go after that, but we’ve got a lot of plans.”

RELATED: Alex Jones Interviews The Quartering, Praises Friday Night Tights, and Talks Hollywood Failures, Social Media Censorship

The crowd erupted into applause as The Critical Drinker proclaimed what people had been hoping from the anti-woke critic community, “If Hollywood won’t make good stuff by themselves, fine, I’ll do it myself.”

Geeks + Gamers Megacon Panel

Fans in these spaces have been wondering when cultural commentators would get into the film-making business. With novels and comics, it has been a low barrier to entry for cost, and people like Razorfist and Eric July have made tremendous success in those spaces so far, but film has been an animal that seems out of reach of most people.

With The Critical Drinker having two million subscribers, he has a base where he might have enough of a fandom to successfully crowdfund a full feature-length film. If this comes to fruition, it will change the game forever, as mainstream culture will have a fully operational alternative in almost every media.

What do you think of The Critical Drinker announcing on the Geeks + Gamers panel at Megacon that he will be working on a feature film? Leave a comment and let us know.

NEXT: Eric July Announces New Chuck Dixon and Joe Bennett Project, Horseman, at Megacon Rippaverse Panel

Reader Interactions

' src=

February 4, 2024 at 3:42 pm

I would like to see The Critical Drinker’s film be distributed by The Daily Wire.

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February 5, 2024 at 1:11 am

“The black Stan Lee”.

Poor Stan Lee… He was taken advantage of a lot. Especially towards the end. And now Eric July is being compared to him when he cant defend himself. Poor guy. EJ has a lot to learn before he can be called a “writer”.

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February 5, 2024 at 1:54 am

I can’t help thinking that Drinker’s films will still be as diverse as Hollywood films, and still push elements of “THE MESSAGE”, but with a less heavy hand and more emphasis on storytelling.

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nathan timmel

The Positivity Paradox

by nathan timmel | Jan 19, 2021 | Hollywood

The Critical Drinker

In August, 2020, my good friend Robert introduced me to The Critical Drinker.

I’d just seen Christopher Nolan’s latest release, Tenet , and posted a status full of contempt for the film. Reading my complaint, Robert linked me to a YouTube review by The Drinker, who exorciated the movie. The review was thoughtful, funny, and intelligent.

I did a little browsing, and ended up watching several more Drinker videos. His take on Avatar made me laugh out loud, and more importantly, was everything I’d always thought about the movie but was too inelegant to put into words myself.

In short order, I became a fan of The Drinker.

The Drinker reminds me of Oscar Wilde in that he’s an artist, and a critic. These days—or maybe it’s always been this way—you’re either one or the other. Artists cannot be critics, because they cannot be honest with their peers. When was the last time you heard anyone in Hollywood criticize a colleague’s product?  If you criticize their movie, they’ll criticize yours, and that would make you a sad panda. Hollywood egos are too fragile to withstand truth.

Conversely, critics cannot be artists. When they try, they become Roger Ebert writing Beyond the Valley of the Dolls . Yes, it’s now “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, but that’s only because modern reviews have delighted in its “camp.” At the time (and in reality), it was (is) a critical failure.

Returning to the point at hand: The Drinker is an author. He’s someone who writes for a living, and therefore understands narrative structure and the importance of good storytelling. Thus, his biggest criticisms are leveled at contrived plot devices; moments where something happens not because it’s logical, but because the story needs to move forward. The Drinker isn’t simply a fanboy either cheering for or crowing about movies, he’s a logical thinker who enjoys quality work.

I subscribed to The Drinker’s channel, and now devour his releases when they arrive.

Over time, I’ve discovered something about his fan base. Since The Drinker is a stalwart champion of good storytelling, he doesn’t get distracted by identity politics or current trends. Therefore, he doesn’t forgive a movie for being horrible just because it’s politically correct. In fact, The Drinker’s vocal contempt for those who pander to current political trends at the expense of good filmmaking is a breath of fresh air in today’s climate.

Unfortunately, that also tends to draw a crowd that’s just there for the “anti-PC” elements of his rants. Which is sad. The Drinker shouldn’t be defined by one aspect of his personality, but I worry that’s what’s happening. I worry that there’s a segment of his fanbase that only tunes in for takedowns of the woke filmmakers.

Observe his views.

When The Drinker goes all in on a rant against an inferior product— Wonder Woman 1984 , or the 13th season of Dr. Who—the count explodes. But one of his lowest rated reviews is also his best: It’s A Wonderful Life . The Drinker praises the hell out of It’s A Wonderful Life , and does so with all the scrutiny and wit with which he demolishes a bad film. Despite this, the video is one of his least watched reviews.

I don’t know if this is a sign of “If it bleeds, it leads,” where anything scandalous is more exciting than something benign, but there is a pattern on The Drinker’s page: his recommendations— Die Hard, The Thing, Jaws, Dredd —all rank lower than his scathing takes. The Drinker doesn’t put less effort into his recommendations, but people just aren’t as interested in them.  

The reason I’ve titled this “The Positivity Paradox,” then, is because we as a species enjoy positivity.

We feel better when our lives are going well. So why do we seek out and enjoy negativity? Not that The Drinker is negative, but his examinations of films he doesn’t like… are they inherently more compelling than his praise of films he does like? I don’t have answers for these questions, I’m hoping a comment or two will explain things to me.

If I were to make one guess, it would be the idea that everyone enjoys a real, live, “emperor has no clothes” moment.

When Hollywood spends north of $200 million in order to dress up something like Star Wars: The Last Jedi , having someone like The Drinker point out the film isn’t wearing anything at all makes us feel better. Like we’re not crazy. Hollywood spends so much money trying to sell us complete garbage, it’s nice to know that there are others out there not buying it. The Drinker has created a sort of community; a band of folk who realize, “Hey, we’re not so alone in the world.”

The Drinker is intelligent, and there’s no doubt he’s made note of what gets the most hits on his channel.

I hope that doesn’t mean he forgoes his critical takes of praise, even if he knows they won’t get as many hits as a video where he picks apart a bad movie.

And if he would do an in depth analysis of the best movie of 2020, Money Plane ? That would be amazing.

Want to read more of my nonsense? Give my Amazon Author Page a gander.

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  4. Drinker's Chasers

  5. Drinker's Chasers

  6. Critical Drinker vs. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer

COMMENTS

  1. The Critical Drinker

    I drink and I say things. I'm here to deliver reviews, breakdowns and analysis on modern entertainment media. Expect a healthy dose of sarcasm, biting criticism and low-functioning alcoholism. See ...

  2. Critical drinker review of Barbie is the funniest thing i ever heard

    I actually have a theory critical drinker isn't a wannabe macho idiot. I personally think it's just an act. His videos are too detailed sometimes on subjects he claims to have hated and avoided. However, look at the numbers. His review here as of this time is at 1.1M views vs 655k views on this a review by Chris stuck man. His video likes it ...

  3. Interview: The Critical Drinker Tops Woke Hollywood With His Own Novels

    Many YouTubers take on Hollywood's woke content, with The Critical Drinker being one of the standouts among them. One of the reasons for that is because, as Will Jordan, he also creates stories. And he spoke about the novels he writes, the movie he is crowdfunding, and more in an exclusive interview with Bounding into Comics.

  4. The Critical Drinker

    POSITIVE CONTENT. The Critical Drinker provides valid points and commentary on many films and TV shows. For instance, Jordan often explains that movies that value universal messages will inherently relate to more people than those made to make a statement for the zeitgeist. He notes that movies with messages about family, the value of life and ...

  5. The Critical Drinker (TV Series 2012- )

    The Critical Drinker: With Will Jordan, MauLer, Gary Buechler, The Little Platoon. The Critical Drinker reviews, analyzes and commentates on various forms of entertainment.

  6. The Critical Drinker (TV Series 2012- )

    The Critical Drinker has got to be the most, how shall I put it, PETTY internet movie reviewers I've ever come across while browsing through the online community of constructive film criticism. From what I've seen of his content, this guy simply isn't a good film critic (he's enough to make the honourable duo of Siskel & Ebert turn in their ...

  7. "The Critical Drinker" RRR

    RRR - The Best Movie You've Never Seen: With Will Jordan. The Critical Drinker reviews and highly recommends 2022's gloriously vibrant and violent Indian epic action-drama film RRR, about a fictional account of real-life Indian revolutionaries set in the 1920's during British Empire Rule, directed by S. Rajamouli, and co-written by Rajamouli and V. Vijayendra Prasad.

  8. I don't know about you guys, but Critical Drinker is slowly ...

    The hand drawn Disney films, Watership Down, The Plague Dogs, Balto, The Secret of Nimh, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Isle of Dogs, Animal Farm, Felidae, The Last Unicorn, Fantastic Planet, and the list just goes on. He's also very vague about a lot of the things he says. He makes a lot of assertions but doesn't usually back them up very thoroughly (even ...

  9. Reviews of Critical Drinker's book calling it woke. The ...

    Critical Drinker is Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors and the audience he cultivated is Audrey II. He's about to be eaten by his own creation. ... If he was just a chill guy who made movie reviews and sometimes got a little aggressive towards the filmmakers but did it all in good fun with self awareness and he made this movie, then I wouldn ...

  10. The Critical Drinker Successful Kickstarter for Ryan Drake Film

    After posting 3 early videos in 2012, the channel went dormant until Jordan revived it in 2018 by uploading more review-style commentary. But it wasn't until 2019, with the controversy leading up to the Captain Marvel movie release, that Jordan fully formulated The Critical Drinker character.

  11. The Critical Drinker

    William "Will" Jordan (born: April 30, 1983 (1983-04-30) [age 40]) is a Scottish YouTuber and a professional writer known for the Ryan Drake series, who since 2019 has emerged under the persona of an intelligent drunkard, The Critical Drinker. The Critical Drinker is a Scottish drunkard with a crude attitude, a penchant for black comedy, speaks in biting sarcasm and snark, and frequently uses ...

  12. Why Critical Drinker Avoids the Word 'Woke' (When Possible)

    And that's always been my opinion on movie reviewing or media consumption or anything like that," he says. "I'm not interested in the politics blinders. I just want to review on its own merits." The Critical Drinker, much like The Quartering, Pop Culture Crisis and Nerdrotic, appears to be right-leaning in nature. That's hardly the ...

  13. Critical Drinker's top 10 favorite movies of all time

    Critical Drinker's top 10 favorite movies of all time. Posted on October 19, 2022 by Anonymous. >The Turin Horse. >The Tragedy of Man. >On the Silver Globe. >The Dancing Hawk. >Faust (1926) >Lamentations: A Monument for the Dead World. >Ta'ang.

  14. Movie Review

    The Critical Drinker (YouTube Channel) has pretty much the same thing to say as I do, ... about the RunPee app. Kathmandu890, 08/09/2021. Water drinkers unite. ... You can also keep up with movie news and reviews on our blog, or by following us on Twitter @RunPee. If there's a new film out there, we've got your bladder covered.

  15. The Critical Drinker Reveals Film Plans At Geeks + Gamers Panel

    The Critical Drinker, YouTube. Already a popular film critic and novelist, Will Jordan, better known as The Critical Drinker, attended Megacon in Orlando, sitting on a star-studded panel with Nerdrotic, Eric July, Ryan Kinel, and Jeremy Griggs from Geeks + Gamers. The panel hit a lot of topics about the changing landscape of pop culture and anti-wokeism, but Critical Drinker announced to ...

  16. Why is the Critical Drinker a popular movie reviewer?

    pickle-ickle. •. the drinker highlights a main issue in terms of youtube film criticism: very few nowadays are fueled by a love of movies. it's either incels and racists finding a medium to spread their bigoted narrative, or obsessive fanboys affirming their love for multi-billion dollar franchises. pretty sad.

  17. The Critical Drinker (TV Series 2012- )

    Tomb Raider - The Movie Everybody Forogt. Tue, Mar 16, 2021. For an action-adventure film, 2018's Tomb Raider is bland and forgettable. The Critical Drinker provides a fast-paced, intelligent review of the plot, characters and Alicia Vikander's portrayal of Lara Croft. 5.9/10 (16)

  18. The Positivity Paradox

    In August, 2020, my good friend Robert introduced me to The Critical Drinker. I'd just seen Christopher Nolan's latest release, Tenet, and posted a status full of contempt for the film. Reading my complaint, Robert linked me to a YouTube review by The Drinker, who exorciated the movie. The review was thoughtful, funny, and intelligent.

  19. The Critical Drinker (TV Series 2012- )

    Drinker's Extra Shots - Oblivion. Fri, Jun 17, 2022. Oblivion is a 2013 scfi action thriller starring Tom Cruise, about one of the last men left on Earth who struggles to piece together his true identity. It's also a really good movie that puts most films of today to shame.

  20. "The Critical Drinker" Open Bar #89

    Open Bar #89 - Ghostbusters Frozen Empire, The War For Gaming, Acolyte Season 2 Cancelled?: With Endymion, George the Giant Slayer, Jeremy Griggs, Will Jordan.