The Bannen Way: Season 1 Review

The Bannen Way won Best Drama at the 2010 Streamys. But drama at the Streamys is kind of like comedy at the Oscars. It's not the main event. So, how well does The Bannen Way compete on the grander scale of potential things to watch?

Well, it certainly makes a strong visual pitch. The Bannen Way has been compared to Ocean's 11 and Smoking Aces for its sexy visual style. This flashy look allows director Jesse Warren to create a fun mood that works both as a web series and a feature film.

The main character, Neil Bannen (Mark Gantt), is a thief who dislikes guns. He's not a bad guy, but he simply can't resist playing ball with bad people. Naturally enough, he's indebted to a crime boss 150 grand. He wants to pay off his debt and quit the game, but he doesn't know whether he should turn to his his police chief father or his crime boss uncle for help.

While everyone loves a mischievous anti-hero, it has been done many times. In fact, the "attempting a heist to repay debt" storyline has been done many times. But for fans of the genre, The Bannen Way probably gets away with it by switching up just enough.

Part of the fun of a series like The Bannen Way is seeing how they are going to cleverly give us what we want. The series introduces a beautiful assassin who is known for killing her victims in the throes of passion. She meets Bannen and they begin to get intimate. Previously, Bannen's technical friends installed a camera in Bannen's glasses for heist purposes. Now, they accidentally tune into the unexpected show. Suddenly, they realize who the woman is and rush to warn Bannen before it is too late. It's a unique moment that also advances the plot.

The Bannen Way is good at creating interesting story arcs in just a few minutes. If it were solely a feature film, it would be less memorable. While The Bannen Way offers some twists to stay fresh, it doesn't topple the classics in its genre like Snatch.

Watch The Bannen Way.

From Crackle: The Criminal Lifestyle

Byte-Sized Television Book Review

Written by Ross Brown, Byte-Sized Television is a book intended to guide the aspiring web series creator to success. Brown suggests that, "Webisodes are the Wild West of Hollywood, a vast expanse of territory with unlimited potential just begging to be explored and mined." This book helps us set-up our mining operation by providing an all-inclusive guide to writing, marketing, producing, and distributing a web series.

In 14 chapters, Byte-Sized Television takes us from "What Is A Webisode?" to how to distribute our finished web series. However, it is in the first 5 chapters that Byte-Sized Television really distinguishes itself.

Brown suggests it is vitally important that a web series incorporate marketing as early as possible in the development process. For instance, he emphasizes coming up with a killer title like Web Therapy, which "tells and sells." He also stresses coming up with character types that your audience will recognize from their own experience. The Guild succeeds because it presents recognizable gamer personalities. These tips are straightforward, but memorable.

Reading Byte-Sized Television is as easy as watching a good web series. Brown writes with clarity and humor. However, his jack-of-all-trades approach falls a little short when it comes to explaining the actual production of a web series. A large portion of these chapters is common sense intended for the complete beginner. Yet the information is probably not comprehensive enough to get a beginner started without some additional guidance.

Still, Byte-Sized Television is a welcome contribution to the web series conversation.

00:24 (24 minutes): First 6 Episodes Review

I admit it. I was drawn in by the catchy title. I've only seen bits and pieces of 24, but I was curious to see how a web series might parody it.

So far, 00:24 does not disappoint. The series starts with a bang, immediately showing off its visual style and pace. The episodes are usually under 3 minutes, yet they always advance the story.

Stack Power, played by Ben Begley, performs convincingly as a parody of Jack Bauer from 24. Because the series tries to maintain a tone, hysterical moments are rarer than moderately funny ones. However, my favorite moments were when the tone, pace and acting combined to justify a ridiculous situation.

In episode 6, Stack Power enters a family's house during a chase. He needlessly pummels a man in the arm to shoo him into a room. He then bars the door with a chair before continuing his pursuit. It sounds strange, but it's funny and it works in the context of the show.

One slightly distracting element is the addition of credits over the show. Episode 6 has credits through the first 47 seconds of a 104 second episode. That's in addition to the normal 24 seconds of credits at the end. Regardless, I'm definitely curious to see if this web series can keep up the pace it has established.

Watch 00:24.

Web Therapy: Season 1 Review

Web Therapy is a dark comedy starring Lisa Kudrow as Fiona Wallice, a business minded therapist. She has devised a new "modality" of therapy, which discards traditional 50 minute in-person sessions in favor of roughly 3 minute online sessions.

Web Therapy rests on a great, cheap premise. Fiona and a patient, in two different rooms, talk over web cameras for 3 to 7 minutes. Their conversation explores humorous situations that occurred in the past, while Fiona inevitably falls into childish conflict with her patients. The series gives each set of patients three episodes, allowing the excellent cast to create great character comedy.

Fiona's character drives the show. She's a therapist who does not want to hear about dreams or feelings. If her patients are insecure, Fiona impatiently talks down to them. If her patients are confident, Fiona inappropriately competes with them. Her tone is intellectual and condescending, yet her advice suggests that she is deeply flawed. By laughing at Fiona's emotional immaturity, the show narrowly steers clear of an elitist vibe.

The Achilles heel of Season 1 is that it starts to feel a bit constricted. If important events happen to the characters, they always happen off camera. We don't get to see Fiona in any environment other than in front of her web cam. Additionally, her character arc is limited. Nevertheless, Web Therapy starts with a clever premise and executes it well.

Watch Web Therapy.

The Handlers Review

The Handlers is an eight episode web series distributed by Atom.com. The series follows Jack Power, an earnest everyman politician, as he interacts with his team of incompetent political consultants.

One of the biggest draws is sure to be Bryan Cranston, of Breaking Bad fame, who plays Jack Power. Unfortunately, the show requires him to play straight man versus the zany handlers, limiting his comedic potential. The notable exception is my favorite episode, episode 6, where he goofs off in front of a web camera unaware that he's being broadcast.

The chemistry between the actors seems strong, but the writing could be a bit more original. The political humor comes from subjects like sex scandals, bribes, and slips of the tongue. While not innately a negative, it would have been nice if the series had explored these subjects with a little more nuance or creativity.

Watch The Handlers.
 

The Handlers Channel
Tags: Atom.com | Funny Videos | Tournament | Upload

Trailer Trash: First 3 Episodes Review

Lionsgate just launched Trailer Trash, its first original content web series. The title explains the premise of the series pretty well. Trailer Trash follows a family of four dysfunctional rednecks as they get into all kinds of low rent trouble.

Was this the best that Lionsgate could come up with? Not only is this territory that Adult Swim has already covered, but they did a better job of it. Trailer Trash goes for shock value and that's about it.

The show mirrors the Beavis and Butthead technique of organizing episodes around a music video. Only instead of music videos, Trailer Trash uses clips from movies. The gimmick could be a great way to introduce more creative storylines, but so far it has only been used to explore worn-out jokes - a Muslim terrorist, bondage, incest, etc.

Unless Trailer Trash improves, or you can't find enough quality low brow humor elsewhere, I'd skip it.

Watch Trailer Trash.

Full Benefits: Season 1 Review

In the fall of 2010, College Humor launched Full Benefits, along with Hello My Name Is and Very Mary Kate, to expand their episodic production. Full Benefits is the story of two College Humor co-workers who begin hooking up. They try to keep their affair a secret, which naturally leads to many awkward and humorous social situations.

The series feels snappy and well-paced. The webisodes are short, about 3 minutes, and focus heavily on the two lead characters. The production values, acting, and editing are all strong. But the biggest draw will undoubtedly be College Humor's brand of hip, cliche-riffing humor.

My favorite moment is when Sarah Schneider explains her relationship problems to a Hispanic bartender. He replies, "yo no se ingles." She accepts this, "of course, sorry." Then proceeds to re-explain the situation in Spanish, causing him to exclaim, "would you please shut up?"

However, the show is a bit hamstrung by its premise. Not only is the basis of the show a precarious relationship, but the humor relies on laughing at sentimentality. This makes deeper emotional involvement difficult. It's hard not to ask, what can this series develop into?

This season has a few great jokes and a lot of decent jokes, but we'll have to see if the premise has legs.

Watch Full Benefits.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

The Guild: Season 1 Review

Logline:

Cyd Sherman, a.k.a. Codex (Felicia Day) has hit bottom. Dumped by her boyfriend, her employer and her therapist, she drowns her sorrows the way any modern girl would: in the world of online gaming. But after a fellow player mistakes their in-game rapport for real-world romance and shows up on her doorstep, Codex brings all of the members of her online guild face-to-face…with very awkward results.
-Amazon product description

Review:

Reviewing The Guild is like trying to review Abraham Lincoln's presidency (okay, not quite): The historical significance tends to eclipse the details. The Guild was part of a revolutionary wave that established web series as serious business. It made Felicia Day into one of the first genuine web series celebrities. And it managed to attract a Microsoft distribution deal. But how well does Season 1 do as 3 to 6 minutes of entertainment?

Pretty well. The Guild shines by targeting a core audience of gamers. While the jokes are usually easily understood, a gamer will probably get a little extra enjoyment out of phrases like "+5 sexterity." The cast captures the humor in a variety of gamer stereotypes, but Felicia Day stands out by also capturing our heart. Her struggles with confidence, responsibility, and happiness feel universal.

At the start of episode 5, she tells us that all the conflicts of the last episode have been resolved. But this instantly proves to be false and she endearingly admits, "I was lying... lied to my own webcam." It's a challenge for any gamer to not fall in love with her.

However, the episodes can feel a bit short for the content in this season. 3 minutes doesn't seem like enough time to really handle 6 characters. This drawback is addressed in later seasons, which range from about 5 to 9 minutes.

The writing is occasionally a bit on the nose or cheesy, but The Guild offers a compelling and addictive first season.

Watch The Guild: Season 1.