The Cinemassacre & Screenwave Iceberg Explained

big thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions
and especially thank you to: ‪@waddlebandito‬/‪@LowTierKirby‬ for helping out with some scripts and footage
timestamps:
0:00 - INTRO
0:02 - LEVEL 1
2:37 - LEVEL 2
6:05 - LEVEL 3
11:51 - LEVEL 4
17:17 - LEVEL 5
21:03 - LEVEL 6
23:40 - LEVEL 7
26:15 - OUTRO

[@scaseTCT]

i don’t wanna keep repeating this so i’ll just write it here: the voice is an AI (elevenlabs) not the actual james or an impression sorry for some of the mike elmo clips being gone, someone at screenwave wanted to fuck with the video and tried taking it down and i could either appeal or just take the easy way and cut them out so that's what i did, if anything like this happens again i'll see if i can do anything else

[@mehlessmidori602]

Jesus Christ, a minute into this video and I was wondering "you kinda sound like James". Well, thanks for clearing that up.

[@SSJ4LEWY]

That's fucking terrifying.

[@Mr.SpicyIce]

@@SSJ4LEWY it's really easy and fun. I myself you RVC which allows me to use a recording of my voice as a base for the trained voice model to be overlayed ontop of. Much better for emotion.

[@biggiestos2361]

i thought u just sounded a lot like james for a second there lol

[@RuneTrips]

Thats creepy man glad its not me...

[@the-np4mr]

Honestly Mike's miiverse drawings are insanely impressive

[@coledakers6127]

21:08

[@subtledemisefox]

The AI James Rolfe voice sounds like it's from an alternate universe where James did creepypasta videos instead of AVGN

[@popculturedad8128]

The AI James Rolfe narrating this entire video is actually really cool, really threw me for a loop until I went into the comments here

[@Tymeggs]

my train of thought after hearing that voice went like: >HOLLY SHIT IT'S JAMES >wait no, it's an AI? >no, it's just that the guy really sounds like him >no wait, it is actually AI

[@jeff-ds2pr]

Spoiler alert: It's actually the Irate Gamer streaming from his trailer park.

[@hermitcard4494]

Not cool. This feels like this guy is profiting of someone else's voice. Also be EASILY use to create fake evidence. AI will make the world creepy by confusing what's real and fake anymore... and we are at the brink of ww3 because of Israel and Palestine.

[@DojoVII]

Oh, it's AI generated? Fuck this video then.

[@TheArchfiend]

Finally one of these videos that mentions the Cheetahmen 2 scam. I never understood why this barely gets mentioned in any retrospective on James.

[@Leo-kx2eg]

Luv u fiend

[@sluice2015]

i actually didnt know it was a scam. i was active when the kickstarter began ,never knew the outcome of it

[@foof811]

when are you making more IGSRJ videos? Don't tell me it's 5:40 in your head constantly too. We need more than just one a year. I can only rewatch the old ones on loop so many times.

[@thweetiebird]

Pat Contri fans also deny Cheetamen2 was a scam. Probably because it's hypocritical to call out people as "shills" for Amico when pat and James were behind that crappy scam cartridge

[@harveyradius]

Holy shit. Did NOT expect to see Archfiend here.

[@holdingpattern245]

If I recall correctly, James explained the "nerd face" in an old James & Mike Mondays video, he invented it as a kid and would practice it sometimes when he was bored, it's supposed to look like a cartoon character, and there are actually two of these faces, a shocked one with mouth open and an angry one with mouth closed. At some point he simply stopped caring if these faces make any sense in the situation, which drew a lot of negative attention towards them.

[@YujiNakaSonic]

Holy hell AIT James narrating this is nothing short of genius

[@maxx951]

Ok I thought I was crazy.

[@courve]

@@maxx951 it’s messing with you cuz it’s his voice, but doesn’t have his accent

[@thefdvproduction]

@@courveYou’re fucking right! That’s so uncanny.

[@WitherVideos]

Watching this video was almost as fun as building brown bricks with minecrap

[@taterboob]

You can shut up now.

[@zendogmultimedia]

It's weird to hear James talking in 3rd person

[@Just_Daze]

Finally, an iceberg for Cinemassacre. Great stuff!

[@hpswagcraft]

13:05 the reason that we're all here

[@bingobongo8952]

Oof.

[@patrinizer346]

Mike'z Peenus.

[@markus7166]

James is an enigma. He simultaneously has no time to do anything, but is also able to participate in podcasts with no name KZbin channels that get less than a thousand views.

[@walmart_ar1567]

no time to do his job because hes too busy with his job

[@AstralWolf86]

@@walmart_ar1567 it’s because it’s always 5:40 in James head

[@SleeepyJohn]

He has KIDS

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

Probably because podcast's are like the cheapest and quickest content, and require no effort, they can count as a break While content takes time and/or money to eddit

[@shriderrad4123]

I mean recording a podcast is honestly pretty easy and fairly quick to do, it was probably something he did just to chill out but who know.

[@Jay-uu5lu]

Technically the mike with inspector gadget video is the first minecraft vtuber video

[@NiFeGetsTubey]

In terms of the "muh kids" part, I actually agree with James. I'm a father to two girls. And even though he does work from home, I'm sure his wife would like a break after he's done working. I don't know anything about her, let alone what she does for a living, but when it comes to kids I will always cut anyone slack.

[@triceratroytv2292]

"Sorry boss I can't come to work today, I've come down with a case of the kids"

[@GerardPerry]

​@@triceratroytv2292lol

[@popculturedad8128]

I completely agree too, especially after reading James's book and how he talks with such pride about his daughters, you gotta cut the guy some slack every now and then

[@jeremyfisher6824]

That picture of Mike with the eye bags always makes me giggle. Also baseball is pretty cool.

[@SiccDeville]

i like turtles.

[@jmatt781]

The Rex Viper live shows were bad, but just getting out there and performing in front of a crowd earns my respect. It's not an easy thing to do. If you've ever played in a band, or had to give a speech in front of a crowd, the first few times you are almost guaranteed to suck. You build up the guts, get out there, do it, work on it, and get better, just like anything in life.

[@redacted2275]

There was no rehearsal and preparation before their first show. Guitars were out of tune. Singer was way out of his depth. Having courage is different from being on a Kamikaze mission (or being stupid). If you had a band you would know how disrespectful it is to call that thing on stage "a band", to see all of that great equipment being used to do that and still get some kind of praise. No, Rex Viper had no excuse to suck that much live.

[@jmatt781]

@@redacted2275 Hahahaha! "If I had a band". Dude, you have no fucking idea how long that I've been playing music. Fuck off, you don't know what you're even talking about.

[@johnmurdoch8534]

Yeah i dont hate their stuff tbh. The fanbase for avgn are alot of manchildren and retards

[@BeersAndBeatsPDX]

​@@redacted2275every band is shit their first few shows

[@Channeleven2345789]

@@redacted2275 Pay no mind, some people are just afraid to point out one point of James' history was quite frankly terrible.

[@james_daniels]

It’s so creepy but amazing how AI can make it sound just like James Rolfe. Never would have known otherwise.

[@RMosher11]

Sounded eerily weird and off to me. Distinctly inhuman

[@james_daniels]

​@@RMosher11 there are moments I could tell it wasn’t him. Like it sounds like him but certain characteristics in the way he talks are not the same. Little inflections of the way the words are said are different from the real James.

[@sarcasticdude2320]

Not enough mowdten

[@Timic83tc]

i think it's because there's so much audio of james

[@technodumpsterinc]

Tbh, Joueur Du Grenier is still pretty relevant and going strong. Especially (but, of course mostly) in French part of KZbin

[@EsmeMarion]

I laughed way too hard at the Chicken Dance being played over Rex Viper

[@JLRNeroSan]

even though I've been subbed to cinemassacre since like 2010, a lot of this I didn't know, mainly because I tend to only focus on the AVGN aspect, great video, love it

[@isaiah4820]

Great video! It really brought back nothing but good memories from the past few years. Big scase fan btw.

[@alanensalanens]

Do people love or hate James?! He seems like a fine normal dude. The hate is strange.

[@erebus015]

Same.. I see this weird obsessive fandom hate (and adoration on the flip side) with any person somewhat popular and in the public spotlight. What gets me is why watch content you don't enjoy, especially just to hate on it. Personally I don't like his newer content as much, but to me that's almost expected after doing a show/character like this for so many years.

[@queencancerous5332]

It's people who feel they are owed something when they've done literally nothing themselves and sit on their asses and complain about a show where a guy rants about video games.

[@Chatetris]

The Bob Magrann rabbithole is the weirdest fucking thing you can go down

[@narm_greyrunner]

I thought this whole video was going to be a shitpost. I became amazed at how informative and well done it is.

[@scaseTCT]

yeah i wanted to make something a little less shitpost-y for once, i'm into making all kinds of videos and it just so happens that the topic of cinemassacre lends itself well to a variety of content styles i might even make a part 2 to this video in the future, i left out a very large amount of things i could've talked about, but i just didn't wanna make this too long so i just wrote in the essential topics

[@fabjtown1]

It’s just another hit piece. It’s awkward and sad people have to hate sh** this much.

[@forregom]

​@@fabjtown1 It's kinda funny tho

[@DiscernedEyes]

Finally a full breakdown! This is great, thanks for the effort you put into this! 5:40

[@Slothclawcolseslaw]

Honestly I don’t mind james resting in his laurels, and putting out low effort content. He provided hundreds of hours of entertainment that I bonded with friends over and watched fanatically in my teen years.

[@Brettskei]

I mean, he was an early internet video pioneer. Who’s old now. Like can’t expect him to be doing it forever. Especially now that short form content is king and he makes long form.

[@SquadPoop]

He's just an old man who seems more interested in his movies now. I can't blame him, he's been doing internet content for nearly 20 years now. Also, I don't know why "muh kids" is on this iceberg and why whoever wrote the video is such an asshole about it. He wants to spend time with his kids instead of work. Fucking let him.

[@Brettskei]

@@SquadPoop exactly

[@runnersdialzero1244]

Here's the thing: even if James wanted to retire _The Angry Video Game Nerd_ now or ten years ago, he couldn't because it's his main source of income. He's only 43. No doubt he's proud of his work, feels extremely fortunate to have had the success he's had, and loves his fans, but I imagine being locked into what was once a hobby can occasionally wear on you a bit. But yes, I'm very forgiving with the occasional newer, subpar episode because, like OP said, he's given us hundreds of hours of content (many of which I find myself going back to repeatedly over the years) for free. Also, there are still good episodes and moments, and I've never, like, found any of the episodes detestable or something. I don't know him or what his life is like or what his schedule's like (it's none of our business!), but I believe him 100% when he basically says he does all he can. Every person is different, but maybe some of you will get it a little later in life. I don't even have kids or a wife and my downtime is pretty damn scarce and precious. Again, hours and hours of free content. So many laughs, often when I really needed them. I wish him nothing but the best.

[@funkymonkey2k425]

@@SquadPoop yeah that "muh kids" part felt really mean-spirited

[@decker528]

I still like the avgn stuff. We are close to the same age and i can understand how changes in life make your priorities change and you dont have the same goofy sense of humor you once had

[@TrashQueenAndKing]

People act like Mike made jokes about actual kids and not a bunch of furry sock puppets lol

[@RockandrollNegro]

Most kids that grew up with Elmo saw him as a surrogate kid friend, and he's going to always be a perpetual child to them. Mike is a little older than kids who grew up with Elmo and thus sees him as just a sock puppet. I guess the equivalent would be if he made a bunch of Muppet Baby jokes of that variety.

[@dary0097]

I always found that Elmo episode Hilarious 😂 I don't know why people get their Panties in a bunch and exaggerate just to try cancel people

[@mr.awesome6011]

It was contextual and as long as his thoughts don't deviate beyond that, then it's really not a big deal

[@mattjindrak]

Dude joking about puppets is like Hitler

[@taterboob]

@@RockandrollNegro I'm about two or three years younger than Mike or James, but yeah, Elmo's after our time. Cookie Monster and Oscar were my guys, and Grover when he was doing the waiter routine.

[@FilmTrekk]

This was friggin beautiful! Great work 😄

[@hypertensionfilms5439]

Listening to AI-James narrate his own descent into mediocrity was unsettling.

[@mitchelltheawesome1]

I've been a huge Cinemassacre fan since I was 9, and I still love James. It was pretty interesting learning more about the Screenwave era though, as I usually tend to avoid drama related content on creators that I genuinely enjoy. Having AI James narrate the video was a nice touch, made some of the less savory entries a little easier to swallow.

[@brandontehfugola5055]

I'm curious if anyone else has made a video covering on the whole Cheetaman II kickstarter scandal from back then, I'd love to here this with the AI James voice.

[@scaseTCT]

TheArchfiend made a video about it 10 years ago, that's where i got the screenshots of mike's comments

[@Jeremy-xh4yv]

This video is really well made! Good Job!

[@someshyguy]

I notice there was one entry not on here. That tweet where Mike Matei raged at people for using save states and telling them that if they used them, they didn't beat the damn game.

[@thentheychopped]

He's not wrong though

[@sheridan140]

Curious if many of those who complain abt people wanting to spend more time with their families actually have their own. Love james' content for the most part, and I appreciate that those in creative arts have an increasing uphill battle to keep coming up with new material, especially with so much competition, many others out doing the same. Does an artist *owe* fans new/fresh material? People that enter into agreement for compensation for their work, absolutely are owed that.

[@VahanNisanian]

"Curious if many of those who complain abt people wanting to spend more time with their families actually have their own." Doubtful.

[@redacted2275]

If you use your kids as a scapegoat, a burden that takes all of your time away from life, I pity your kids... if you make your wife look like someone who doesn't do anything to help you out on that, I pity your wife... For having such a simpIeton dad/husband that got everything wrong about people's complaints about this. You understood everything like a toddIer would.

[@Hobojoe4464]

​@@redacted2275That's the hilarious part of people always defend the "muh kidz" excuse. He isn't one of those people who work a normal full time job and do KZbin on the side, this is his main source of income. If James wants to be semi retired/focus on his kids formative years then he should just come out and say it and that would be the end of it, we would have a proper answer. Instead he keeps using them and no time as a excuse and was combative of such questions in the 2021 behind the scenes video. He is lucky he has a cushy job now (with lots of behind the scenes help more then ever, including the writing) and all this passive income from all the legacy views. If he didn't use these excuses and actually used direct language, without treating fans with legitimate questions and criticisms like assholes it would be a non isssue.

[@BrennanBarrier]

@@Hobojoe4464agreed. I completely understand as I have 3 kids and used to work a job that had me far away from home 6 months of the year altogether. I get it, but it also irks me when someone like James, who has made a very good living doing something he LOVES acts like the rest of us don’t understand. It’s way worse when you’re stuck at a job you absolutely hate just to provide and never have time to do things you love.

[@RootDRThorne]

THANK YOU for making this!

[@scaseTCT]

thank you for watching! (btw thanks a lot for the cyrax youtube channel updates, i love keeping track of the goblin of akron lol)

[@GodOfFuck]

hell yea u got the doc in the building

[@Sly88Frye]

Whoa! A whole lot I didn't expect for sure.

[@etasjo]

23:18 HOW DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING

[@YETTheShow]

This is my first iceberg video. Well done.

[@waddlebandito]

nice video 5 of us laughed 40 of us cried

[@DavidA-uu7mg]

Five of em!

[@fatcat1]

What's messed up is that Bob Magrann was the only funny member of Silvermania! It's still not saying a lot though.

[@VahanNisanian]

Both Janice Dickinson and Justin Silverman were/are very good friends with pedophile rapists.

[@taterboob]

2014 was the last genunely good year of Monster Madness. Luckly, he had hit all the major horror series before then, and then gave Friday the 13th its own series. Oh, and if you ever wanted to update this, you should add the Opie and Anthony interview that James did way back when. If you're not familiar, there was a time when they were the #2 biggest radio show in the country after Howard Stern. Anyway, Anthony Cumia (the titular "Anthony" of the show) is into gaming, and discovered AVGN, and thought it was hilarious, so they invited James to do an interview. He ended up doing a call-in interview, and basically spilled his spaghetti the entire time.

[@frankf684]

To quote James from opie and Anthony “yeah”

[@mpf7371]

😂😂😂 why was he crying during the Rocky part?? Cringe isn’t even close to how to describe that 😂😂😂

[@TalkSickMass]

​@@mpf7371he missed his daughters but they're already or almost 10

[@addambelmont3050]

I love the Elmo in Grruchland review! It was hilarious.

[@unimportantcommenter4356]

I like how this vid stands out compared to other icebergs vids by using a TTS. The program managed to make the audio experience enjoyable, tho it couldn't capture James' intonation. I also liked the vulgarities dropped in the script because it's appropiate when one talks about the Nerd. Btw, which TTS did you use to replicate James' voice?

[@scaseTCT]

elevenlabs.io, and yeah it's definetly the best one out there right now as far as i'm aware, before that the best we had was the uberduck voice which was 100x worse

[@unimportantcommenter4356]

@@scaseTCT Isn't uberduck the one used by AI_spongebob? If it is, no wonder it is far worse!

[@scaseTCT]

i'm not sure which one AI_sponge is using, if it's uberduck it doesn't sound as bad as the nerd one did, if you wanna get a sample of how it sounded check out last year's monster madness of the asshole-ish variety or 12 days of bimsmas done by TheCinemassacreTruth (either on the sub or on FilmTrek's channel, he's got full compilations of both uploaded)

[@MacenW]

James isn't a bad person. I just wish he would treat his Nerd character that brought him success with more passion rather than brand. It's unfortunate Doug Walker beat him at doing what he would love, since he's more of a movie guy now

[@DankAssPicklePop]

Great video. Big Ryan fan btw

[@KetwunsGamingPad]

The reality of all this is that clearly James is somewhat content with what he has now, having work life balance thanks to Screenwave. He’s gotten older and has a family, and clearly this was the only way to keep paying the bills whilst still somewhat doing what he enjoys, albeit cutting out the hours he used to need to do hardcore video editing or self made productions. But also yes, the cliche “avoid mental health and burnout problems” wave that has happened with Many content creators, this was a blessing in disguise now if you really think about it. Now he’s got a crew helping him out and he’s purely the actor now. I don’t think it’s a bad thing but I think where it falls sadly in the end was his friends on the journey. The only series that seems to retain this feeling is Neighbour Nerds, but it’s sad how this practically took over James and Mike Mondays. They are still quite entertaining, thank god his childhood friend and neighbour has such a funny personality and memorable voice but at what expense, so many others.

[@redacted2275]

A cope without paragraphs... are you James' PR? You sound weirdly apologetic for some guy you probably don't know in real life. Very creepy.

[@KetwunsGamingPad]

@@redacted2275 gee it’s almost as if you can’t handle other opinions and feelings and just want people to only believe what they hear.

[@Imorajna]

James Rolfe AI. Interesting

[@greyfox4577]

Find it really dumb the video criticizes James because he doesn't have time to make videos due to his kids and then goes on to say he is working from home and doesn't have to leave. I mean kids need way more attention than to just be sitting at home while you sit behind a computer so James has every right to focus more on his kids and not make any videos at all.

[@VahanNisanian]

Half the time, I legit question if the people who make fun of him for having "No time" even remotely know what they're talking about.

[@justlikethesimulations9213]

⁠​⁠I think it more has to do with how its his “go to excuse”. To explain why he can’t or hasn’t done things.

[@_zigger_]

I wonder how most of us mere mortals even manage to find time to work at 9 to 5 jobs, because bimmy, who is a freelancer and works from home, clearly has none (by having an astronomical amount of 2 (two!) kids)

[@danielkeslerjr4407]

@@_zigger_ exactly

[@MacenW]

16:09 love your choice in music, Hotline Miami is a classic.

[@squick1842]

I cannot understand how Mike hanging out at James place in a pajamas has not become a meme

[@jersmont1309]

Mate, the ai voice is spot on well done

[@RrraverCrow]

Some would say that this is a James Rolfe ai voice, but I'd like to think that this is an alt account for the AVGN.

[@Gator159]

I mean I can understand James making time for sidesScrollers because it's stuttering Craig. They go back a long time even if Craig's content is an extreme contrast to anything he's done in the 2000s/2010s. I like to believe they are friends

[@SoloAlbumProductions]

Thank you my friend are justice.

[@anth636]

I’m surprised out of all the channels dedicated to Cinemassacre, there’s no “Angry ‘Angry Video Game Nerd’ Nerd”

[@tonymag28]

you are a gentleman and a full time scholar

[@donnaangel6694]

Loved it!!!

[@ufclasvegas2011]

AVGN room is his basement, not garage…he’s done room tours walking down his stairs

[@odststalker5117]

I actually really liked the rental reviews

[@austinsmith7731]

Im one of those guys that has a lot of admiration for what james has done and look up to his work ethic from when he was in his prime. Times change and he hasnt been producing as much quality stuff lately, but i think he is still making good videos. Im not saying he doesnt deserve critisism, far from it, but some are way too harsh on him.

[@scaseTCT]

i respect that, nothing wrong with admiration as long as it doesn’t cross the line of delusion

[@TrentReject]

crazy how angry this video is

[@ZoeyDeLeonVA]

Great video! Of all the drama things James have been gone through, he's still just as good and contagious especially his sitting down and talk videos. I wished some people just cut him some slack for the lesser uploads, I mean being a parent is a valid excuse.

[@redacted2275]

You never use your kids as a scapegoat like James does it. If he does, that's his problem, but it is a fiIthy thing to do. They didn't ask to be born, parents decide to have them so deal with it as best as you can... don't use them every single time to uncover your crap.

[@queencancerous5332]

​@@redacted2275then stop watching his content? You're not being forced to?

[@Mr.Maybel]

i thought this was going to be a joke video were James talks in the first person defending himself from all the claims about the subjects made by the "assholish variety" that are on the iceberg. but still tho, this was a pretty interesting video. good job

[@mrskullduggery2247]

I've never understood the fascination of grown men over Mike DIC pic plus the whole 5:40 thing , the guy has kids and wants to be present in their lives which is what a dad should do

[@tickleson8661]

lmao, that Wario Land 4 pinball zone music is so depressing, perfect choice

[@Gogettor]

I see what you did there with the James AI. AMAZING

[@emobassist]

James is arguably responsible for making youtube the way it i today

[@redacted2275]

Censored and sanitized? Crowded and full of gaming leechers?

[@vampiricpig1392]

Level 3 having that amazing Bomberman hero music ❤ love that track

[@scaseTCT]

90s video game dnb was something else

[@vampiricpig1392]

@@scaseTCT great music era for real, I loved the jazz/hip hop style ost from the 90s to early 2000s too , especially from Capcoms games

[@scaseTCT]

@@vampiricpig1392 same here, street fighter 3 third strike comes to mind when you mention that, love every track from that game

[@vampiricpig1392]

@@scaseTCT Capcom was killing it back then with their games 🫨 Third strike, Capcom vs snk, mvc, X-Men vs street fighter,dark stalker, that one about Mecha , fighting evolution, they were genius at art, music, and gameplay. Overall their stuff just oozed style and coolness.

[@foof811]

Are you going to remaster the old OTAV episodes with the new clearer AI James?

[@scaseTCT]

if any i’d only do inspector gadget, that was my best one i think

[@BrownElectrons]

The bawls on the berg!

[@buddhull]

mike’s looking fairly cadaverous these days according to that mugshot in the intro

[@InsidiousOne]

Dude, can you please provide the source of the music tracks you used

[@KameariKillScreen]

I don't like all of the gleeful hatred that these r/TCT dipshits like to spew. James created something that brought joy to millions and inspired an entire genre. Did things keep on rocking forever? Maybe not. Are screenwave unlikeable? Yes. Are we sad about the rift between the ogs? Undoubtedly. Was the movie terrible? Yeah. But that doesn't mean we've got to drown ourselves in hatorade. I for one remain a fan for life.

[@sikkableeat5614]

Amazing film!

[@eviljigglypuff2254]

He's sounds like if James and Gruz had a baby

[@donaldthescotishtwin]

Wasn’t expecting the voices that really lends to it. Almost comedic.

[@pirategirljess]

No time, its 5:40 muh kids

[@TooBokoo]

It's truly sad what Cinemassacre has become. I, along with most people, used to think James was one of the few really genuine content creators out there. No drama, no scandals, just good, quality content, and an all-around good dude. Well, I hate to say it, but it seems like that might be a little off. The way he did Kyle and Bootsy is pretty sad. We, obviously, don't know all the details, but it's telling that both of them bailed not too far apart from one and the other. Clearly, something shady was going on and drove them off. I wish Kyle and Bootsy would expand on it more, but both of them seem too nice to really say anything negative, even if it is deserved. I think James' biggest problem is that it doesn't seem like he has a backbone. I feel like he probably bases most of his decisions on what his wife says. It's likely why he's not allowed to be more involved in his own content and had to hand it off to Screenwave. And speaking of them, it seems like James lets them do whatever they want, even if he doesn't necessarily agree with it. He signed away his brand and just collects the paycheck. They write everything, and he shows up to go through the motions and read his lines. When they're all together for a podcast, interview, or other spinoff video, James just sits there and nods or says "Mmhmm" while the others steer the ship. They have zero chemistry! I guess this shouldn't be too much of a surprise. James was never that into video games, and if it hadn't been for Mike, he'd have bailed on the AVGN character after his first 3 videos. He wanted to be a real filmmaker, not a content creator on the net stuck making video game shorts. Unfortunately, that pays the bills now, and he's stuck having to keep it going. Nobody cares about his filmmaking. He's fairly incompetent as a director, as noted by his ridiculous methods of filming the nerd and his God awful movie that was just a jumbled mess. Instead of making a nerd movie, he tried to jam everything he liked about film into the movie and turned it into a slog. Sadly, we've seen the best AVGN has to offer. All that's left now is mediocre Screenwave content, and his mindless fans that white knight for him at every turn and refuse to acknowledge his content just isn't good anymore. It's kind of like the Simpsons. Any level-headed person will tell you that the show should've ended 20 years ago, but there's still those millions of people who will claim it's as good as ever. (Edited for clarity)

[@BrandonVoiceGuy]

just because we still like james' content doesn't make us mindless. all your block of text just looks like a bitter twitter post about how james' isn't making content to Your liking. He isn't focusing all his time into this as he did in the past, get over it. let us enjoy what we want and you go enjoy what you want. see, i didn't need to type a block of text to convey that...

[@GribbleGob]

@@BrandonVoiceGuy Cinemassacre sucks now, James should have stopped years ago but never did.

[@scaseTCT]

@BrandonVoiceGuy it's okay, some people just have a pretty unhealthy obsession with james (look who's saying that lol) but the utter ignorance some people have to all the shittier things him and his buddies have done is ridiculous, i guess it's fine for everyone to have an idol of sorts but they gotta realize it's not all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to bamesy. arguing with them's a waste of time, you can't change their mind or get them to consider a differing opinion, literally as if they're bots, it's always "HE GOTTA WATCH MUH KIDZ IT ONLY MAKES SENSE HE'S GOT NO TIME!!" when there are many arguments countering that and i've never seen a single one of james' diehard defenders even consider that there might be some merit to them, it's just a stupid back and forth

[@TooBokoo]

@@BrandonVoiceGuy No hate toward anyone who still enjoys his content. I just know that it's nearly impossible to even leave constructive criticism on any of his videos because the white knights show up en masse to defend their hero. It's like they can't possibly bring themselves to admit that quality has suffered over the last few years. Most of the AVGN episodes don't even feel like James anymore. You can tell the writing style and production, in general, has changed drastically. That's because Screenwave is doing 95% of the heavy lifting. And if people still enjoy that, more power to them, but it's clear when his defenders show up that many are mindless. That doesn't necessarily mean you are. I've just noticed that there seem to be quite a few who have a hard time accepting any criticism thrown his way.

[@jinkino]

Wow! I would watch this but I don’t quite have the time

[@joexellerate]

Nice! big ryan fan btw

[@pengking9725]

Wait Kyle left because James didn't pay him? Is there any source of this?

[@bonistik]

Thumbs up for the Sun Araw music

[@user1point0]

4:49 "yeah, that was great" I lost it at that delivery

[@mandatorial]

7:00 what's the name of this song? I've heard it many places but never knew where it was from.

[@scaseTCT]

redial from bomberman hero on n64

[@SensitiveShellCollector]

We’ll get into that later

[@chipwilliams5854]

The robut ai version of james has a lot more energy than regular james rolfe... screenwave could learn something from this

[@SpyYoshi]

Hey wanted to Ask what is the music at 6:07 ?

[@scaseTCT]

bomberman hero redial

[@nicolasjonasson4820]

This IS James taking, isn't it? Tone, timing, sounds just like James. :)

[@VengefulNonsense]

AI James

[@thetanz8111]

💯💯💯💯💯 I thought the same lolz

[@UnCreativeDeconstructionism]

0:52 lmfaooo hearing James voice saying this with the emoji 💀💀

[@fergalstackstreams]

I kind of checked out after James & Mike Mondays and Rental Reviews were canceled. AVGN is fine and all, but it's no longer a fresh, groundbreaking DIY series that can prop up a channel on its own.

[@udechile2497]

Great film.

[@jersydvl]

Ngl, rex viper looks like a fun time. Amateur or not.

[@Jameswilliam1982]

well done sir.

[@KetherAinej]

Even as a kid i never liked Mike, he never was funny for me...

[@ffejgib]

AI James would be great for an audiobook reading of James Rolfe's "Movie Making Nerd" autobiography.

[@bsdims]

I remember watching "TheREALCinemassacre" parody account and thinking (still do) his vids were quite good for a parody, even a friend of mine wished he continued when I showed him some vids. Not sure if this is lost media, but I remember watching a vid in 2013 regarding James's top 10 Godzilla monsters. Shame ya didn't mention an old vid where I assume James threatens to "spit Jimmy's nuts from atop a tree" or some shit like that. :D You're a meanie for the River Twigz Bed music btw :P Edit: I forgot to mention, on the topic of possible lost media, I remember watching these vids where James recounts old memories about certain games, Super Mario Kart and Contra being the ones I remember watching back between 2013-2015.

[@pigfaced9985]

Yeah I remember those videos too, especially the Contra one! Were they deleted?

[@bsdims]

@@pigfaced9985 As far as I'm aware, they're gone, I'm sure the web-archive cna help us out. The nerd did do a revision vid called "Contra - How I Remember it," but it just isn't the same as compared to him standing in front of a black background with him recounting things off the top of his head like a live interview. I remember in his Super Mario Kart recollection vid there was an ending-ad for the official app.

[@red7078]

What’s the music for the first entry of Level 2?

[@VahanNisanian]

I have no idea what it is. It's been used by the AVGN himself in recent episodes, too.

[@chasetokutaro9850]

Incredible work on this iceberg video scase! The exhaustive research and exploration into the Cinemassacre/Screenwave history just made me simultaneously nostalgic for my middle school days and sad for where everything would eventually end up beginning around the time of the AVGN movie. The bigger the whole entity of Cinemassacre became expanding outside of its basement born origins, the less endearing the channel became to me. I remember frequently swinging by my nearby Borders actively seeking out older horror films on DVD because of all the initial Monster Madness videos that got me interested in exploring classic cinema as a kid. James could definitely get you invested in something he truly loved and was passionate about so atleast I thank him for that if anything else. Ironically I'm way more of a Joueur Du Grenier fan than an AVGN fan nowadays. So much better as a series overall in every aspect, and way funnier too!

[@beanzs204]

You should have added a entry on how James says "bury"