Broken Base / The Nostalgia Critic

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• Are you invested in the character stuff or do you just watch for the movie riffing? He tries his best to incorporate the two sides into every episode (especially in 2012), but either way, people are going to complain about one being more or less prominent than the other.
• "Raiders Of The Story Arc: Transformers". Was it a really amusing Formula-Breaking Episode, with a heartwarming ending? Or was it an Overly Long Gag Author Tract by Doug where the Critic's energy became sorely missed?
• His big speech at the end of The Cat in the Hat is almost universally thought as having a good message — studios shouldn't try to "improve" source material, because it's disrespectful to both creator and fans, and the attempts date a film instantly. However, the execution is a point of contention. One section of the fanbase believes that it was awesome, needing to be said louder, and that the heartfelt emotion in Doug's voice makes the speech work even better. The other section believes that the message itself is fine, but think the acting and camera work during the aforesaid speech is unintentionally awkward, and that it undermines the point as a result.
• The "Are Video Games Art?" Video. Some people liked the points made but quite a few, mostly gamers, didn't. The Critic/Doug are at best casual gamers and in some places it shows. The main problem is that Critic stated video games are in many way movie-lite/are trying in many ways to be like interactive movies and seemed to imply that, as of right now, video games have not reached the point that the story can be art by itself, though he did say it might be out there already, and currently the only thing "art" about video games are the choices that can be made in the game. Needless to say A LOT of people disagree and don't like that a casual fan of a medium is commenting on its validity as art. And while Critic did make arguments to support video games as art and stated that he is certainly no expert his unfamiliarity is obvious in some places and made people ask why he is even commenting on it in the first place when they feel the answer is obvious.
• His Man of Steel review. Some enjoyed it, including the movie's detractors, but many fans of the movie didn't and thought Walker was being biased about it. To help with the latter side, Doug gleefully predicted he would get backlash at Alcon (with “I'm going to piss you all off with this review and I'll love it”). Doug also made the review a sort of debate with Angry Joe, since Joe loved the movie; when Joe came across as a Straw Character who overpraises the film for being deep and meaningful, Doug offered an apology in the episode's commentary.
• The Matrix Month reviews as a whole. The split tends to be that if you're interested in story/character interactions/continuity (or just Self-Deprecation overload) then you enjoyed it, but if you just want reviews or didn't like what he was saying about the movies then you had a bad time. He even goes as far as to speak on behalf of a fanbase he doesn't belong to. Not helping is the Critic moaning when the movies actually give important exposition and then bitching whenever something unexplained isn't spelled out for him.
• “Nostalgia Critic Talks Transformers 4”. People who hate the franchise and Michael Bay - and love a good demented rant - enjoy it. Others think he's being excessively elitist and portraying large swaths of the moviegoing public as having formed their identities around it and have no interest in seeing better films. This might even justify the It's Not Supposed to Win Oscars excuse. And for people who liked Transformers: Age of Extinction, the whole "Michael Bay is stealing your dicks" line felt needlessly cruel- so much so that Doug had to do a "Re-review" (When it was obvious that Doug was voicing his opinions through the Critic as a soapbox - again - and this was just to cover face after the backlash) as himself.
• The Jurassic World review. There are those who liked it (and those who dislike the movie itself) and thought it was a clever way to review a movie that was still in theaters, while there are those who felt that it was a spiteful Take That! towards Hollywood after a few of Doug's videos got pulled from YouTube and more than a little success shaming given how well the film was doing, especially since Doug had mentioned on both Sibling Rivalry and social media that he disliked the film and he broke the rule he established of not reviewing a movie that was still in theaters. There is also the camp that appreciates how much work Tamara and Malcolm (others as well, but they had the most to do) put in to act out the film, but still think the review mostly just existed as a self-righteous jab to get views. Which even Doug mentioned, saying No Such Thing as Bad Publicity.
• The opening sketch in Jupiter Ascending. Some think it was entertaining and harmless, while others think it was less trying and more just using a trans woman who had tried to commit suicide as an excuse to complain at people who try and tell him if he's been offensive about something. There are also those who feel like it could have been cut out, would have lost nothing, and the later speech about transitioning was all that was needed.
• The Eight Crazy Nights review. Some, like the director and the Walkers, think it's a good cathartic fair review where he treated Sandler nicely, others hate it for the Fan Hater portion where he straws people who like it and then kills them, the Overly Long Gag where he has a screaming phone call, and the picture of Jewish Sandler flaming on a menorah that makes (gentile) Critic happy.
• The Lorax (2012). Even excepting Hyper, some thought it was sweet after a fair few episodes in a row were pretty dark, had good speeches, was different enough from Chick's review and Black Willy Wonka is popular. Others thought it was preachy, full of straw characters and cloying glurge after those darkly self-aware episodes, and that Chick's review was better.
• The clipless episodes, between those who argue that this allows for more creative freedom for Doug and Co., that they have fun doing them (Tamara in particular is always excited to get to do more stuff than usual, Joe thinks they're better than footage reviews, and Beth always liked being included in them), that they don't have to fear the copyright hounds, they put a lot of effort into them (Fury Road took three weeks to do, and Hocus Pocus filming was so long it exacerbated illnesses) and that they can ameliorate their special effects this way. The other side argues that the clipless reviews are parodies of the original films, thus unfit for reviewing since the actual footage is required; that, by Rob's own admission, the base is broken about those but they bring the most views; that with the Hocus Pocus review, now there is no way to tell which reviews will be clipless; that you often have to watch the film to get all the jokes; and it makes the situation worse for those who didn't like sketches.
• Christmas with the Kranks is loved by some who feel that it has a heartwarming message about how Critic has the right to review in the style he chooses since that's what makes him happy and also gets the views, as well as being a Continuity Porn and Character Focus episode, and hated by others who feel it's Critic being a hypocrite who ironically enough Can't Take Criticism and shooting down anyone who has legitimate problems with the retooled style by painting them as strawmen through his past self.
• Where's The Fair Use? has managed to surprisingly split the fandom all over the place. While nobody is willing to defend YouTube's practices, the base is split on just how genuine Doug's motivations are; whether he's sticking up for everyone, or solely doing it because it's been affecting his own monetary issues. Oddly enough, it might be both with how they've talked about the movement.
• The political jokes he's started putting in with more frequency. Even ignoring the obvious political divide, some respect him for standing by his opinions, others feel it's starting to get old and more annoying than funny even if they agree with them.

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