The Reel Rejects - We Are "Paid To Give Positive Movie Reviews?"

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Starting point is 00:01:05 You have to disclose if you are paid for an ad. Oh, God, yeah, I've been putting that out there so often. You have to. You have to. You have to hashtag ad, hashtag sponsorship. There's very specific language that you have to use. You cannot be paid for an ad for a movie and not disclose that. It's illegal.

Starting point is 00:01:22 It's illegal. It's illegal. It's illegal. FTC guidelines, man. So I think that, again, we've talked about all of our feelings on all this, but even if you don't believe our feelings or our thoughts or anything, it is illegal to be paid. Do you think that Warner Brothers would risk having a bunch of critics and influencers without hashtag ad, hashtag sponsorship, review positively their movie at risk of being sued for millions and millions

Starting point is 00:01:48 of dollars and doing something illegal? Like that to me is the, that is fact. It's not opinion. So if that's the one thing you didn't know that you take away from this, you can't do thank you to shopify for sponsoring this video more on them in just bill hello there citizens of the reject nation this is an impromptu video that we are doing roxy showed up in the parking lot i'm like hey you want to talk about this she's like yeah sure let's talk about this guys it's time to confess we're all paid critics wait that's true here's evidence wait I don't have any evidence

Starting point is 00:02:29 because it's not freaking real god dang so it's weird okay so this weekend as expected uh the superman embargo lifted and people who like it are being accused of being shills or paid uh individuals and that's really nothing new right but

Starting point is 00:02:49 I feel like it's stronger than usual. Definitely. And no doubt. Yeah, right? It's so odd. And I'm like, I was just going to ignore it. And I'm not really coming from a strongly emotional place today.

Starting point is 00:03:05 I was kind of taken it back, though, by seeing so many people that we know who are getting lumped into this. How dare you? We just started the damn video. I felt it coming. We just started. No. The devil came out of me. No.

Starting point is 00:03:20 You're making a good point. back to you in the studio, Greg. I kind of want to do this video for everyone in our field, for those who did like Superman and didn't like Superman who are critics or influencers or whatever and kind of go through facts, actual reality of things. Absolutely. And this is something that I've been getting asked

Starting point is 00:03:42 because I think that there are the people that are being vicious who are just making accusations and those are the people that I don't really care to address. You believe what you believe, nothing I'm going to say is going to change your mind. But there's a lot of people who are asking questions. How does it work? Are you guys paid? Why did so many people see this two weeks ago? And they all waited till the same moment to post these glowing reviews. Is that something that's a marketing strategy from them? So I think it's valid that people who aren't in the industry

Starting point is 00:04:12 don't do what we do wouldn't understand why everybody all at once was saying great things about Superman. And I think that's a fair question. That actually has an answer. So I'm happy we're talking about it. Yeah. The line between critics and influencers seems to be getting incredibly blurred right now. It's like it seems like studios want, they have two different events often, right? Like they have the influencer event, then they have the critics event. And usually they do generate different vibes when you do go to either one of those. Oftentimes a critic event will be really straightforward early screening maybe they'll give you like popcorn and a drink if they're not feeling confident about the movie sometimes they will hook you up with some

Starting point is 00:04:57 alcohol like i've definitely yeah yeah cats at an open bar i'll never forget it oh man god that the one with the um the r rated rontas that was the first one i went to the like no no is that is it's an r rated muppin woman unless um lissa mccarthy totally forgot what it's called but when we went it was like you get access to all the concessions they're trying to spruce you up they're trying to make you just walk out with a very positive opinion so yes they will try their things where they are wanting to prime you where you will have a more positive experience in hopes that you will walk out saying more positive things so i don't want to completely deny that that is something that they will orchestrate in their events to try to make you have the best outcome and hopefully you will walk out positive. I got a question for you. Have you ever been influenced by that yourself? Like, have you ever found yourself personally influenced by the tactic of that? Would one be able to answer that question? I have. Yeah, I can answer that question. Oh, I guess if you know the answer is yes and you can. I can't think of a time that I have. Although, to a certain extent,

Starting point is 00:06:05 Greg, watching a movie alone on my couch feels different than watching a movie in the theaters in general or watching a movie with my friends. So I think I'm influenced by my environment. wherever I am, whether that's because of popcorn and candy that's free, or whether it's because I like the people I'm seeing a movie with or not. So yes, but just as much for being a critic or an influencer as being a human being who your environment matters. Yeah. I'll make this abundantly clear from the first publicist I ever became actual friends with. Marshall. Marshall Weinbaum. He's arguably the best publicist. And he's so well regarded. as like top at the top.

Starting point is 00:06:45 And I had a lunch with him for something else entirely. And at that point, I wouldn't have called, I'm like, we have a working relationship, but I wouldn't have called him a friend. And I just wanted to ask him out, like, write crystal clear. I'm like, hey, man, sometimes I give negative reviews at the time when he was at Disney. Sometimes I give negative reviews to Disney. That doesn't actually impact me, right? And he's like, no, it doesn't.

Starting point is 00:07:04 All they care, and he made it really clear to me, all the studios really care about is that you don't spoil the movie before it's released. it's all they really keep. Don't put out leaks and stuff like that. And I was willing to abide by that for the prospect of getting early screenings and stuff because I used to cover more leaks. And then I went, you know what? That actually makes a lot of sense. I will just avoid the leaks then. And as the one fair compensation for it. But that he made it really clearly he doesn't give a shit whether or not you give a positive or a negative review. And that's been my experience with every agency or publicist that we've ever worked with constantly.

Starting point is 00:07:45 I mean, would you agree with that? The thing is, Greg, yes, except for I don't think they don't give a shit. I mean, yeah, they don't. They want their movies to do well, but they don't want you to lie. Because then what happens is the audience doesn't believe you anymore. If you are positively reviewing a bad movie and somebody takes your word for it and then they go see the movie and they don't like it, then the next time you say that something is good, they're not going to go see it.

Starting point is 00:08:10 And studios know this. They're not stupid. They don't want everybody to just say every movie is great. Otherwise, their audiences won't respect their opinion and won't listen to their opinion. So it wouldn't actually work. It's not beneficial for them. So, of course, I think that not only does Marshall want the movies to do well, but every publicist is hoping they're working on a good property. Of course, yeah.

Starting point is 00:08:28 Every person, every artist, everybody wants their things to be well received. But they don't want you to lie about it because it would actually be detrimental to their next movie. They're not on one property. They're on an entire slate of movies for a whole year, five years. So they have to think about the big picture here. They can't just think about, I want you to review this movie positively. I saw something going around. I wanted to get your thoughts on because I keep hearing, you guys are all paid, you're all paid.

Starting point is 00:08:57 They want you to do positive reviews. And I keep saying, no, no, no. But somebody sent me from, I believe it was a real 3D screening. Do you know what that is? Yeah. So there are screenings that are put on. on by the studios for the people who don't know. And then there are screenings that are put on, not by the studios, but that are studio approved, right? Like, Real 3D is a company that puts on

Starting point is 00:09:19 for influencers. They have people come to their 3D screenings, and then that's been approved by Disney, Warner Brothers, whatever, to show it in advance, right? Yeah. And Real 3D sent out an email saying to people, and I can read it for you exactly, actually, so that I don't butcher this. But essentially what they said was we want you to review this so that you have a better chance of getting asked back in the future. Wow, did they really say that? Yes, they did. And I have thoughts on this because I think this is why a lot of people... But they didn't say you have to be positive. They didn't say you have to be positive. But they said, we would like you to social media this out, this screening out. But if you look at the fine print, it's interesting what actually

Starting point is 00:10:02 they want you to tag in that is about real 3D. Yeah. Because they're promoting their company, not promoting the movie as much. So this is the exact words. This is something, somebody named Tyler G. This was a letter to Tyler G that he put out, said, got invited to a Superman screening, basically told, I need to write a good review if I want further opportunities, is what he said. I saw this, yeah. You saw this. Okay. So what the actual line that people are talking about is social posts are not required, but greatly appreciated as they help us prioritize you for future opportunities and events. So I've actually never received something like that. I've never received from Disney or Warner Brothers or Paramount

Starting point is 00:10:44 or Sony. I've never received anybody saying you, if you don't put this out on social, you're less likely to be invited in the future. That's never happened to me. But if this email is real, which it might be, because again, it's not from Warner Brothers. This is coming from Real 3D. One of the things I thought was interesting that nobody was talking about and wasn't in the highlights was they said that what they would like you to post or text. if you are posting is, thank you real 3D for inviting me to the screening event of Superman. And that's interesting that the first thing is, thank you real 3D. It's more about promoting their company and less about, they just want the word out about their

Starting point is 00:11:25 company, social posts about it. What do you think about that? And have you ever received anything like that? I could see how if someone is not reading clearly that they might feel like it's, they're receiving in a way where they feel like they have to be positive about it. I don't think there's anything wrong with what they're saying. If they're going to invite you to an event, the least you can do is fulfill doing a review about it. That makes perfect sense to me, especially because there are people who will go to press screening sometimes and do these things, but they won't ever talk

Starting point is 00:11:58 about it. They won't ever review it. And I can imagine that on the person's end who is inviting people to this, the one requirement that they're, or the one ask that they really have is just put your opinion out about it. And to kind of piggyback off of what you're talking about there, when I, when I, when I'm hearing this thing about like early screening access to of what people are saying with, if you get, like, we saw this a lot on our socials. Because you went to an early screening, you're a shill, which is the weirdest thing to me to hear. Because there's people, I'm okay with people generalizing us as you guys seem like you're often optimistic or more positive leaning. I'm like, that's not a bad thing. Sure. But there's also

Starting point is 00:12:44 the opposite people who people are very familiar with. There's a critic, and I think you've worked to him before. And I love his videos. I watch them every single week, Jeremy Johns. Yeah. Yeah, we started Screen Junkies Plus together. That's right. I like Jeremy a lot. Yeah, you have a history with him. And Jeremy is someone I watch every week again. I love his videos. He is often not positive on a lot of movies, a lot of Disney movies. Yet he's constantly going to early screenings. So if this rhetoric that going to an early screening makes them telling you you have to be positive and like, then why are the people who are usually negative leaning beyond Jeremy Johns still always going back. Jeff Snyder would be another one. There's a billion other names we could think of.

Starting point is 00:13:32 Even John Roker for specifically Superman said he couldn't stand the Superman marketing. He was not excited about the movie because of how much he didn't like what it looked like going into it, didn't like the trailers. And they still invited him. Yeah. To the movie. Yeah. Well, we were talking before. Like, I can think of several things. There are several movies I could think of from Warner Brothers that I went to the Shazam Fury of the God's movie. premiere. Took a photo with Zach Levi. That James Gunn and Peter Saffron were in attendance. I really did not like that movie. There's a whole review on here. You could just see the thumbnail. It's like, they clearly did not like this movie. And yet Warner Brothers still keeps inviting us back to

Starting point is 00:14:13 go to early screenings or certain events. At Godzilla X. Kong, I was telling you about before in another Warner Brothers movie where John and I were privileged to hang out with the director before the screening, show us this cool behind the scenes. They did a whole thing. Again, of course they want you to, you know, pepper you up to make you like, uh, like it more. To make you in a good mood. To put you in a good mood. Yeah, it makes sense from the business side, but we still gave a not glory review. I was not positive about that film.

Starting point is 00:14:41 And we still get invited back. So that to me is already like an indication that all that is bullshit of what these accusations are of what they're saying. And I think people will use something like, well, you're, well, you were pointing out that screenshot because they've already made it up in their minds that this is the reality. So they're manipulating words and text when really like, dude, just read the text. They're just saying they want you to do a review of it. For a company, they were just saying, can you post that you were here at a real 3D screening?

Starting point is 00:15:12 IMAX wants the same thing from us. IMAX just wants you to hashtag IMAX say, and I've said it many times. If there's one thing I show for, it's the format of IMAX. Because it promotes their format. That's what these people want. So it's so unfair to Warner Brothers to say that they are trying to get people to only do positive reviews about Superman when that was the one piece of quote unquote evidence I even saw online that they were even asking people to post about it and it wasn't coming from Warner Brothers. It was coming from Real 3D. No shade on Real 3D. I think it's totally fair that they asked people to do that. But that wasn't even a Warner Brothers email. So it made me very frustrated. But I had to take a step back and realize it's because people don't know. They don't know the difference. don't know that there are different screenings like you said for influencers versus critics some are run through the studio some are not run through the studio so instead of being frustrated i'm really

Starting point is 00:16:03 glad we're taking a minute to explain uh and hopefully there are some reasonable people out there who realize that this is not the same thing as being paid for to be positive yeah which i if i was paid to be positive i wouldn't be renting my little apartment struggling to pay my bills sometimes like And also, morally, I wouldn't do that. I have been paid to promote that a movie exists that I haven't seen yet. I've been paid to say like, hey, check this thing out when it comes out. I've never been paid to review a movie positively. I've never been paid for that.

Starting point is 00:16:40 And I wouldn't be paid for that because I wouldn't do that. That's bonkers to me. And now, do they sometimes offer? There's one studio I can think of in particular. I won't call them out. We actually just got an invite from them. They offered the whole thing. They did not say if they have a positive view, but they're like, we're going to send a limo.

Starting point is 00:17:01 We'll do the whole freaking offer. And I was like, wow, that does sound fun for a movie. I have zero interest in watching. And I just didn't reply, even though like it sounds like great. Maybe I'll do it just for the free shit, but I'm not going to, I love the free stuff. Don't get me wrong. I love getting, I love going to the events, getting the free, free merch and whatever. I love it, but I think, I do think, though, to be fair, I can totally fathom that there are people who do think they have to be positive in order to keep getting the invites back.

Starting point is 00:17:35 I completely believe that is a reality that some people feel they have to live in. And maybe there's some truth to that that I am totally unaware of that maybe if you are, again, I don't want to say any names, but there's like some people I can think of who are like constantly the hype machine. Maybe they do that so they can keep working with that. But, okay, let me address that for a second because I think of anybody on this channel, I am accused of being the most positive person. Really? Oh, my gosh. You? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:18:06 Are you sure? Yeah. John, would you second this? How'd you feel about the happy time murder? I don't remember. I don't think I would necessarily peg you as the person who would reliably love anything we put in front of you. That is so interesting. It's the one, like, consistent piece of comments that I get nonstop.

Starting point is 00:18:27 That you like everything or something? That I like everything. Got it. Including interview with a vampire. Yeah, I think that's why people were so upset. But I think I'm mostly talking about for movies that I review. Here's why. And you guys might not know this about me because we are doing watch-alongs here, which is different.

Starting point is 00:18:45 And reactions, live reactions where I'm seeing something and I'm speaking on it. I don't review anything I don't like. that's my policy. When I go to these screenings, I don't do on my own personal page, I don't review a movie I don't like. Why? Because I'm an artist and I think it's an absolute waste of my time to crap on somebody else's art because I am not a critic. That's not what I do for a living. I'm not here to tell you these are the good movies, these are the bad movies, that's my opinion on them. I'm here to hype up art that I love when I love it. And there is absolutely zero requirement. meant for me for any of these studios to do a review for them.

Starting point is 00:19:25 Do you ever feel like you over-hype for the intention of the... I mean, I'm asking you the question. I'm setting you up, but I really know the answer. I really don't ever because I just won't do a review for something I don't like, because I'm allowed to do that. I don't work for a company that forces me to do reviews for movies that I don't like. So I don't. It's just not fun for me.

Starting point is 00:19:49 I think that it's completely useful for other people. I'm not saying that nobody else should review movies poorly. If you're a critic, if you're an influencer with this is what you're doing, and you want to review every movie you see positively or negatively, I think there's so much merit to that. That's not me. I'm an artist. And I am not saying critics aren't artists,

Starting point is 00:20:06 but the kind of artist I am is I want to spread love and joy and I want to positively talk about the things I love and things I don't like, I just want to forget about and leave them at the door. And so I have told everybody, if I tell you I'm going to see something and then you don't see me review it, you know what happened. It's a Chris Duckman approach. You know what happened. I just, I didn't end up liking it. And it's a waste of my time personally to sit there and create content about why I didn't like something.

Starting point is 00:20:35 Unless something made me mad, unless something was bigoted and I wanted to talk about like this was inappropriate and they shouldn't have made this. This is not art. This is something else. If I just don't like a movie, if it just didn't work for me, I just don't talk about it. And so, because of that, here's how you know they don't just invite positive people. Every review I do is positive because I don't review the movies that I don't want to see. And yet, I was taken to Superman by you as a plus one. I wasn't invited.

Starting point is 00:21:08 And I am so positive about D.C. in general, but I wasn't invited. So just doing positive reviews, which is all I do, doesn't get you invited to things. So I know that approach doesn't work. It's not why I do that approach. That would be a bummer if it was why I did it because I know it doesn't work. It doesn't work to be positive and then expect to be invited. That's not what gets you invited for things. When I used to do DC Movie News back in the day, and I used to talk about every one of the movies,

Starting point is 00:21:40 Man of Steel came out. We then started DC Movie News. and for an entire year I talked every day about how much I did not like that movie I was very upset about the dog and the dad

Starting point is 00:21:51 I'll leave it at that it just was not it didn't work for me I ended up really liking a lot of DC movies in the future but for a whole year I every day said

Starting point is 00:21:59 this movie does not work for me and you know what Warner Brothers then started inviting me to the lot to see the DC movies after I had said this movie did not work for me now I'm positive about everything

Starting point is 00:22:10 and sometimes I don't get invited so they're there isn't a direct correlation between those things, like people assume there is. You hit the, I was wondering where you were going with all that. And I was like, damn, you really looped that in really well. You're like, why is she noveling? What is this monologue about? I'm so sorry, it took me so long to get there.

Starting point is 00:22:29 I like the tethering that it eventually got back to. That was really well done. And you are 100% correct. Reject Nation, when we started our Reject Nation shop, I honestly thought that we would only sell to like a handful of people who liked our channel. But thanks to you guys, it's grown into something way bigger. We've now recently been able to hire new artists, expand our designs, and reinvest back into the business. And none of that would have been possible without Shopify. Always great to repartner with a brand who's product we've already been using before we have a partner with them. Shopify is the

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Starting point is 00:24:00 Like, this narrative just feels, it's so conspiracy theory-like, and I know our world seems to really feed off of conspiracy theory type of thinking these days as facts. Okay, I have a conspiracy theory about what it might be. Yeah, why? Well, I have a question for you, I guess. Do you think, because you said it's most specifically about this movie is more intense? I think it, like, yes, slingshotted it to a new direction, yeah. Is this about previous iterations of Superman and who they were done by and who D.C. was done by versus now where we are. Is this a Snyder versus gun battle?

Starting point is 00:24:35 And is that why the internet is so hell-bent on proving that this is because people are being paid and it's not actually a good movie? yes i think that is a hundred percent of fact i mean that's a very obvious factor to why it's happening with superman because we mainly see this correlation with fandom related stuff whether it be marvel dc john and i like loved the latest doctor who iteration even though we didn't love all of it we loved it for the most part but we saw it with the doctor who fandom it's usually within fandums where this shit's happening and of course the dc fandom has such a divide already because normally it's like kind of binary. You know, you either like Doctor Who or you don't like Doctor Who.

Starting point is 00:25:15 But in D.C., it's a weird thing with Zach Snyder and James Gunn specifically, not so much about the characters, you know. And I think that's why it's probably like gone into that point. But I'm kind of vexed for, I'm vexed for everyone in this field. Even the influencers, honestly, because the influencers maybe did do feel the pressure. Like, I can attest to when I had felt the pressures to like something. I had to learn to separate myself from movie premieres. It was weird.

Starting point is 00:25:48 Like, I saw the Eternals at the movie premiere, and I really didn't like the movie, and I was very honest about it. I love that movie. I know a lot of people do, and a lot people come around on that. Thor Love and Thunder is a prime example of when I definitely let myself get influenced, where I felt the pressure to like it, and then the crowd was laughing a lot, and I wasn't really laughing, but the crowd was laughing a lot. And now I like the movie. I'm not going to act. I'm not going to sit here. Be like, actually, guys, I hate this movie. But I definitely

Starting point is 00:26:15 thought I liked it way more than I actually did because I was at the premiere and I let the reaction of others seep into my brain. So I had to get good at separating myself and having my own individual experience with stuff like that. I think there's a really fair point. Greg, premieres are different than press screenings. They feel very different. They're hyped. I felt similarly about going to see the Venom movies, I went to the premieres of those, and it was the most fun experience ever. And I walked out saying that was the greatest time. And even now when I watch back the Venom movies, I have such a place in my heart for them because I had the greatest time watching them. At the premiere. Right. But do I think that those are elite movies? Maybe not.

Starting point is 00:26:56 Perhaps not. But that's why it's just an opinion. It's just an opinion. That's what critics, influencers, it's all just an opinion. Make up your mind for yourself, of course. You're allowed to feel how you're feeling in a moment. You're not married to that. You're allowed to change your mind. And that's something that we are seemingly not allowed to do on the internet. You're allowed to go and see love and thunder, have a great experience, talk about it. And then a year later, it's allowed to hit you differently and you to feel differently about it because of how you watched it or who you are. Or like a week later when you go and you're like, wait a minute, wait, And now that there's not a big crowd, now watching this, I don't really like this as much

Starting point is 00:27:33 as I thought I did. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. No, but that's, that's the part of art that, especially with movies that I feel like people are forgetting. When I went to the premiere of Superman, which weird, and I texted you about it, I was like, I kind of get the vibe here that like half the people don't like it from the crowd's reaction during the film.

Starting point is 00:27:52 Because like the screening we went to the first time, it wasn't a hype crowd. It really wasn't. It wasn't a full theater. And people weren't like cheering. the whole time. They only, like, clapped at one moment. And the same thing happened to the premiere. They only clapped at one moment, uh, the fight scene of terrific. I felt differently than you did at the, at the screening that we went to. You thought it was like a hype screening in the, uh, in the crowd when we were watching it? I felt there was a lot of like skeptics. I felt I,

Starting point is 00:28:16 I, that the people around me were extremely emotionally invested in the movie. Oh, oh, 100%. Yeah. A hype crowd. If you mean rah, raw, raw. I mean like, yeah, we laugh at everything and clap at everything. I don't feel like that was, I think, but we were all definitely, I saw tears everywhere. Right. I just felt like I could tell everybody was loving this. They were taking it seriously. Yeah. Exactly. That's very different than a premiere crowd, which is like, oh, a name, you know, like everyone's just clapping all the time. And what Greg is referencing for anybody who's never been to a premiere is literally anytime somebody's name appears on the screen, people start like, yeah, John. John, you rock. Like, it's a crazy thing that I've only ever been.

Starting point is 00:28:58 seen happy yeah and no one ever thinks of john rocks people hate johns all the time i didn't even mean our john sorry john john is out of the recording i do think jasmine i can't hear it jasmine's in the room there was a wow wow wow wow but but when i was next when i was in the theater uh for the premiere i was talking a couple individuals and again i don't want to like put anyone else's opinions out there and they had seen it before and they were like yeah i liked it. I didn't love it. And I was talking with them and I was going, look, I can 100% see the flaws in this movie, but I'm walking away with my emotional experience of the film. Yes, I can logically see things and maybe the logic can sometimes affect the emotional takeaway, but sometimes

Starting point is 00:29:47 the emotional takeaway is just so strong that it's not really interfering with the logical side. And to that point, I'm like, and sometimes a premiere can have that effect. I'm like, there's nothing really wrong with being enveloped in the enthusiasm of excitement of seeing this be brought to life. There's actually, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I do think, though, if you are a critic or someone who is on the internet where people rely on you for reviews, I think you have to make that very clear, like, as an ethic thing that, like, I was part of this and at least even bringing it into question, like, Was my experience maybe influenced?

Starting point is 00:30:28 Maybe, but here's how I feel right now. Are you a critic? I'm on press list, so I feel like I'm a critic. I'm trying to get on Rotten Tomatoes. Are you an influencer? I don't know. We had this talk at Superman. This is why I don't really get invited to stuff,

Starting point is 00:30:43 and then studios often get confused on where to put me. Like, sometimes I'm invited to the influencer thing. I've had things where I heard about this event. Oh, we consider you a critic, so you can't go from the same studios. And then sometimes the same studio will go, Oh, we consider you an influencer, so you can't go to the critic thing. I'm like, this is the same studio. So they don't really know where to put me.

Starting point is 00:31:03 I've always just called myself a YouTuber. That's all I've ever really been to me. Yeah, I guess I feel very similarly to you where I'm not exactly sure where I lie. And I know that they kind of have different responsibilities when it comes to movies. Exactly. And if you're a critic, I think you've got to make it abundantly clear of that type of experience. But if you're someone like us, I'm like just make it clear what your experience is. Because who's to say that an emotional.

Starting point is 00:31:26 emotional response isn't as important as a mental, intellectual, right. Like, I'm, as I keep saying, I'm an artist. I'm an artist. And I care how something makes you feel more than what you think about it sometimes. A thousand percent. And so when I, when I go to see, do I want to see this movie and I look online for people's responses? If somebody had an emotional thought on it, if it impacted them, it's very much in a way that made them happy, sad, whatever it is, I, that's what makes me want to go see a movie. I don't really care as much about when people are reviewing things and they're like, well, the way that the third act came too late, the pacing felt that, and I know people do care about that stuff. And it's not that I never care about it. It's just that doesn't

Starting point is 00:32:10 make me want to or not want to go to a movie as much. I want to know how it made you feel. How do you feel? Yeah. I mean, that's our stances on stuff. I personally do not do paid reviews. I can recall a very specific time when this channel was not doing well, barely making rent. And one time, I won't say what the movie is, we got offered,

Starting point is 00:32:35 our rent at the time was $1,800. We got offered $3,000 to do a review for this. Do you remember this movie time? It was like a ride share horror movie. I don't even remember what it's, I honestly don't remember the name of it. And I asked like, Can we watch it first?

Starting point is 00:32:53 And we really did not like this movie a lot. And we needed that money, but we just could. And this is when we were broke. And we were like, sorry. We just really don't like this movie. And we cannot agree to do this. Because once you cross that line, you can't really uncross it. I also, we haven't spoken on this, Greg.

Starting point is 00:33:14 And I just want to make this abundantly clear. You and I talk about this. We know this. Jasmine knows this. John knows this. Everybody who is in our industry knows this, but apparently some people don't know this. You have to disclose if you are paid for an ad. Oh, God.

Starting point is 00:33:27 Yeah, I've been putting that out there so often. You have to. You have to. You have to hashtag ad, hashtag sponsorship. There's very specific language that you have to use. You cannot be paid for an ad for a movie and not disclose that. It's illegal. It's illegal.

Starting point is 00:33:41 It's illegal. It's illegal. It's illegal. So I think that, again, we've talked about all of our feelings on all this, but even if you don't believe our feelings. or our thoughts or anything, it is illegal to be paid. Do you think that Warner Brothers would risk having a bunch of critics and influencers without hashtag ad, hashtag sponsorship, review positively their movie at risk of being sued

Starting point is 00:34:05 for millions and millions of dollars and doing something illegal? Like that, that to me is the, that is fact. It's not opinion. So if that's the one thing you didn't know that you take away from this, you can't do that. Yeah, see, like I've put that opinion out there. there. And what I was addressing first was all the things that people follow that up with. But like, but what about this? What about this? So I wanted to, because yeah, maybe we should have started with that. But I wanted to talk about the persuasion element that some people maybe not,

Starting point is 00:34:33 maybe not be aware of. And yeah, and absolutely shine a light on the fact that maybe some people do feel pressured, but really you don't need to. Like any critic or influencer watching this, you really don't need to feel pressured unless they're fucking saying some shit to you where they are making you feel pressured. Which has never happened to me. Never happened to you. There was one time it happened to me and I hated it, hated the experience. And I've never done it again. It was so many years ago. Can you tell us what happened? Not who? Absolutely. It was a, it was some movie from a famous director's son is what I'll say. And we went to the event and there's a bunch of big people there. Logan Paul was there. It was this huge event. And it was they were like, go to the thing and promote the event and promote they're going to go see the movie. And they're going to go see the movie. then do a review on it. And, uh, I loathe this experience. I hated the film so much. And then they did, they said something to me that wasn't directly, you have to be positive, but it was so

Starting point is 00:35:35 implied. And this was so many years ago. This was before that even story I just told you about the other one. Did they write it to you or did they verbalize this to you? They emailed. Yeah. Okay. And then, but I was like, uh, and it was like, uh, it paid us like, like, 1K to attend the thing, right? And we just danced around our words, you know, like, hey, if you like this kind of movie, you will probably, like, having to do that was like never again, never again. And then later on, we got an offer for $3,000 for that other one where we didn't even have to go to an event. But we were like, no, we just, no, it was a big learning experience. Even though it wasn't direct, I hated the pressure of even feeling the implication that I have to be, I have to think and feel a certain way. I hated it so much. That's the one and only time that that's happened to you where they- One and only time. I'm sure it does happen to some people. I'm sure it does. I've been doing this for 15 years and it's never happened to me. You've been doing this for over a decade. It happened to you one time. So I'm not saying it never happens, but it seems pretty rare.

Starting point is 00:36:43 What was that Jim Caviesel movie from Angel Studios, Sound of Freedom, Sound of Freedom. A lot of people were getting paid review offers for that. I know someone who, I know someone personally who got an email offered and he was, it was a lot of money. And he was tempted because of how much money. But then they had to disclose that it was paid. Exactly. Like I'm even from the side of even if they're saying you don't have, even if they put in your email, you don't have to be positive, we just want you to review it. The fact that they're paying you, I feel like immediately

Starting point is 00:37:18 creates, discredits your credibility automatically. I think people would right away distrust you that, well, how can we really trust you? Even if you're told you can be positive or negative, you were paid so you probably feel like you have to be positive. So even in that sense, I would never take a payment. I think that's totally fair. I don't believe I would either. However, I don't even think it matters because the point is you have to disclose it. You have to disclose it. So if you, as a viewer at home, if you see somebody it says ad or sponsorship and you know that they were paid, you can take it however you want.

Starting point is 00:37:54 But I don't think that there's anything morally corrupt about that, the person who's taking that, everybody's got to eat. And if that's what you've got to do, there's a reason why you have to disclose if you're being paid. And so those are the rules to protect people so that you then don't go out and spend your hard-earned money on that movie because you were influenced by somebody who was being paid. So they have to say that they were paid. So if you don't want to follow those people's reviews, that makes perfect sense to me. But those people doing the reviews, I still,

Starting point is 00:38:21 I totally understand where they're coming from. If you had taken the $3,000 to pay rent, I wouldn't have judged you for it. Work is work. You have to say you're paid, and that's how that goes. Well, there you have it. There you have it. I can go through the gambit and you can go through the gamut of the countless early screenings that we have been to where we did not like a movie, but I feel like we've made our points pretty clear. Thanks for doing this for me, Roxy.

Starting point is 00:38:45 Yeah. It was cathartic. How do you think the comments are going to be? Kind and friendly. There'll be some who are like, don't listen to the haters, Ed. We love you guys. We know the truth. And there'll be others who are like,

Starting point is 00:39:00 yeah, you're still chills. And it doesn't matter. React to sound of freedom. I'd rather be the, I'd rather be the, I'd rather be a voice for, let's the phrase, I'd rather light one candle in the room, is what I'd rather do. I've never heard that expression.

Starting point is 00:39:13 I like it. Yeah, yeah, I've heard that. Sometimes I think, sometimes I think that way of like, I'm going to be honest about something, and I hope it lights one candle in the room, and that's all that matters to me. Save one life, just as the other. All right, guys, well, that's it.

Starting point is 00:39:31 Thanks for being here, Roxy. Now let's go watch a poop-filled movie. He really means it. Thank you.

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