Gags used by The Nostalgia Critic in various episodes.
One-Use Gags
The Nostalgia Critic tends to use running gags throughout his reviews. However, most are often self-contained to the one video. These include (but are not limited to)...
- Various parodies of Nintendo's "Now you're playing with power" slogan in response to questionable behavior (including "incest", "vehicular manslaughter", and "pedophilia...and that's just wrong") in The Wizard.
- The "Ambiguously Gay Duo" theme used to describe homo-erotic themes and making escape and suicide attempts throughout the entire review in Batman & Robin.
- The ruler hitting him over the head in Captain Planet every time he says "ruler" as a response to Wheeler saying "fire" to make fire appear.
- Erotic overtones and comparisons to John McCain in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
- The repeated use of the word 'Genius!' to describe cheesy scenes and dialogue in Surf Ninjas.
- Continually mispronouncing Nick Tatopoulos' last name only to have a clip of him saying his actual last name.
- He did a variation of this in his He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special review which he constantly pronounces Hordak's name wrong, only to have a clip of him saying his actual name.
- "Duck-Tits Woo Hoo!" in his Howard the Duck review, a callback to "Duck-Tales Woo Hoo!" which was first featured in The Top 11 Catchiest Theme Songs.
- A tumbleweed flying across the screen after bad jokes on Good Burger.
- Playing the Imperial March and screaming "Jonas!" every time Jonas and his crew drive past in the Twister review, also promoting random products to reflect Jonas selling out.
- Playing the Friday the 13th theme for certain appearances of Macaulay Culkin's character in The Good Son.
- "Why? Jackson wills it!" from Moonwalker.
- Making many imitations of Number 5/Johnny 5 in his Short Circuit 1 & 2 reviews, which are mostly done by jerkily moving his arms and saying synonyms of his opinion on a scene.
- Different examples of what Willy's whale sounds sound like ("It sounds like Jar-Jar Binks in a blender!") in Free Willy.
- Shooting Mother Brain from Captain N: The Game Master, saying "I'm awesome." and having the screen flash 'End of Series' while the Captain N announcer says the intro.
- Linkara & Spoony saying people "Had just two days left until retirement" when they're about to die in Alone in the Dark.
- The Nostalgia Critic did a variation of this in his Hook review, saying that the coconut sliced by Robin Williams had just two days left until retirement.
- The way nobody in Judge Dredd can say the word "law" like a normal person.
- In the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special review, a counter was used to tally the gay jokes he could have made.
- A Manchine puppy advertisement in the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special.
- Mocking Vanilla Ice's whiteness (complete with a "white-o-meter") in Cool As Ice.
- The Nostalgia Critic barfing after seeing Arnold's "baby" from Junior.
- "EXTREME!" from Airbourne.
- In Blank Check, describing clichéd moments as "Bland Shit 101" (two times with animated feces falling down the screen).
- Nostalgia Critic questions a scene in a movie that makes no sense of why it's in there and says "Cheese." A picture of Cheese comes up as it says 'CHEESE! It's as good as any other answer." Also, Da-Jodel-Rudel plays when that happens.
- The Nostalgia Critic impersonating multiple voices from The Care Bears Movie when the Care Bears' ship came from behind a rock attacking a specter crow with a united Care Bears Stare, saying "Taste the Rainbow, mothafucka!"
- STUFF! when contraptions work in Waterworld.
- Following Jack Black's quotes with phrases by Khan from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in NeverEnding Story III.
- Following Marlon Wayans' buzzing sounds with Chris Tucker as Ruby Rhod from The Fifth Element in Dungeons and Dragons.
- Also, many jokes regarding a villain with blue lips ("You got something on your lips...").
- Scene transition with the Critic in front of a psychedelic background (parodying the one from Austin Powers) in Inspector Gadget.
- Screenwriting Cliché #x in Milk Money.
- A hand slapping the Critic every time he makes a sexual joke about Catherine Zeta-Jones in the review of The Haunting.
- A clip from A Few Good Men of Jack Nicholson saying, "You fucking people," in the review if Doug's First Movie.
- The 'Be Disturbed' button that was pressed during moments in The Cell that were meant to be disturbing (e.g. The Horse scene), which makes a voice say 'BE DISTURBED' along with screaming and a caricature of director Tarsem hopping across the screen and shouting 'Ask me what it means! Ask me what it means! HOO-HOO! HOO-HOO!' The former is parodied when Vince Vaughn's character is being tortured with 'Be Disturbed. Now Turned on. Now confused. Now Disturbed Again'.
- The 'Ask me what it means!' gag was also used at the end of Devil and in Moulin Rouge.
- Variations of "Turtles, fight with honor!" (Like: Turtles, fight with cement!) in the The First Couple: TMNT review.
- In the review for Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Critic says/yells "It's Thomas The Fucking Tank Engine!!!" whenever Peter Fonda's character acts depressed when the film is supposed to be light-hearted and fun.
- In The King and I, the Critic had title card "on stand-by" that said, "You heard right" when the most impractical thing happens in the movie (i.e. the dragon is defeated by whistling and twirling).
- In Alone in the Dark when Christian Slater's character would monologue, he'd say: "Why the hell was I in Star Trek VI?" in reference to his cameo in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as a minor character with no use.
- In Dawn of the Commercials when the Wicked Witch of the West sexually harassing men, with the men being confused.
- During the Man of Steel review, Angry Joe having a traumatic childhood involving a lobster suit, nipple tasers, nitroglycerine and venomous ferrets.
- In the 8 Crazy Nights review, when the Happy Madison audience laughs at the grossest thing possible.
- In Face/Off when Nostalgia Critic wants to add doves to emotional scenes.
- In After Earth, the Critic uses "THE FUTURE" as an excuse for weird technology.
- In Child's Play 2, Nostalgia Critic made it seem like Phil Simpson was a killer when in the film, he was just one of Chucky's victims.
- A shot of Stephen King in front of the truck saying, "Because somebody had to do Stephen King right", which is played after every plot hole in Maximum Overdrive.
- Summarizing and skipping over the many rambling philosophical speeches in Matrix Reloaded.
Running Gags
Gag | Description | Uses |
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HAW HAW! | Nelson from The Simpsons said HAW HAW whenever something bad happens. | |
Or do they?! | Whenever the Nostalgia Critic explains that the film's heroes "live happily ever after, or do they?!" This suggests the film is going to end in a cliffhanger. | |
60's Batman theme |
This joke uses various camp elements from the 60's Batman TV Series to make fun of certain parts of the movie. | |
"Y'know, for kids!" | "Y'know, for kids" or something similar stated below often describes something violent, disturbing or suggestive found in a children's film. The phrase is derived from the Coen Brothers film The Hudsucker Proxy. |
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The 9mm pistol | This centers on the Critic producing a pistol and either threatening something (or someone) annoying him, actually shooting them dead, or in preparation for a suicide attempt. |
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Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba! | Used as a sarcastic exclamation to something obvious which is supposed to be surprising. |
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"Adventure HO!" | This running gag started in January 2009's "Nickelodeon Month" and featured Nostalgia Critic posing in front of an action scene as if an adventure was starting. Before making the pose, he usually points out the show he will discuss has a very simple premise, such as focusing on babies or depicting a kid living in the Bronx. The Critic's enthusiasm in the delivery and pose are proportional to the level of excitement he felt while watching the show. | |
"Bad Touch!" | The Critic would shout this when an adult touched a child in what he believed to be an inappropriate way. When such an event occurs, the Critic would shout "Bad Touch!" or call the police on his cell phone. |
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"ELEPHANT!" | This word seems to be the Nostalgia Critic's "safe word" that would bring him back to reality when he sees something totally bizarre. The Critic shouts the word 'elephant', causing the image of "The Burger King" to appear and bring himself back to sanity. | |
Good actor forced into bad movie. | The Critic complains about a good actor being in a lame movie. |
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Bat-Credit Card | The Critic goes into a rage and shouts death threats and sometimes starts shooting things with his pistol when he sees or hears the words "Bat-Credit Card" |
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The Arnold Schwarzenegger Impression | NC does an impression of Arnie. |
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"Put That Cookie Down!" | Also originally from Jingle All the Way, this is a sub gag of the above that is used when Arnold is first introduced in movies. It is a mash-up of Arnold Schwarzenegger's line from Jingle All the Way. |
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Boner Finger | Sometimes, when the Nostalgia Critic gets aroused, he points his left index finger in a manner that suggests he is getting an erection. |
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Zuul, Motherfucker, ZUUL! | The gag refers to The Gatekeeper Zuul, a Terror Dog from the Ghostbusters movie franchise. Each time a demonic monster showed up, Doug would say the line, echoing the monster from the movie. |
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Acting Like Commercials | If the Critic points out an actor who acts more like he or she is in a commercial than a movie, he will superimpose various logos over clips of the actor. |
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Pee-wee Herman's Anti-Crack PSA | Pee-wee Herman teaching children about crack ranked #1 in the Critic's Top 11 Drug PSAs video because he found it absurd to hire an actor who hosted a crazy show, played a drug peddler in a movie, and masturbated in public to promote avoiding drugs, especially to teach it in character. Later it's used to show how wrong it is to use drugs. | |
Sonic Says | This joke uses the viral PSA from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog about being touched inappropriately. The Critic will often suggest showing it after viewing a scene where an adult character acts impulsively creepy towards a child character. |
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The Elephant in the Room | In literal reference to the old adage, the elephant in the room will appear (as a drawing by Doug) whenever the Nostalgia Critic is blatantly skipping over a touchy subject that he knows will be brought up. The elephant has also appeared along with the Nostalgia Critic in an episode of Familiar Faces It seems the elephant will always appear at the mere mention of the words "Jonathan Brandis". |
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"Chuck Norris!" | Sometimes, after someone in a movie attempts something seemingly impossible, the Critic will proclaim that only Chuck Norris can pull it off. Usually, this is followed by the appearance of a photograph of Chuck Norris against a firework background and someone exclaiming his name in a high-pitched voice. |
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The Gollum Impression | If a character undergoes a sudden change in personality and behavior, the Critic will mimic the change by acting out an argument between Smeagol from "The Lord of the Rings" and his Gollum half. |
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TIMING! | One of the Critic's most proudly annoying gags- Introduced in Casper, the cartoon ghost jumps at the screen and says "TIMING!". | |
The Exposition Song |
A song that is sung by Casper and the Critic when an excessive exposition (revealing a major plot point through an otherwise inconsequential bit of dialogue) is made in a movie. |
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The Classic Morning Machine Gag | Introduced in Casper, A Morning or Breakfast machine gag is used and Nostalgia Critic says it was never used in a movie before and then mentions a bunch of movies it was used in. The most notably one he uses is "Several Wile E. Coyote cartoons". |
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I WAS FROZEN TODAY! | Originally a one use gag that suddenly became a running gag. He uses it whenever a character is frozen. The origin comes from the Suburban Commando review when Christopher Lloyd's character was arguing with Hulk Hogan. |
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Tickle Me Amy | The original use for the gag was having a gorilla doll called the "Tickle Me Amy" say some inappropriate words and phrases throughout the whole tickling. | |
MAN! | When a film shows humans harming animals or the environment, the Critic dramatically says "MAN!" then dramatic music is played and the word "MAN!" is shown next to a picture of a cute or endangered animal with a single tear running down their face. Sometimes an 1930's style announcer will speak about how man is bad while they show clips from the movie in black and white. |
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Ha-Bullshit | Critic used this to show obvious remakes. |
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DOUCHE! | If a character, particularly a male character acts like, well, a douche, the word is stamped over that character with a voice saying it. |
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Bond Theme | The playing of the theme from James Bond. |
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"Explain, movie! Explain!" | Used when movies fail to explain the plot. |
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Mako Worship | In the TMNT review, the Critic took a moment to criticize the voice actor for Splinter (Mako). Fans of Mako were outraged and he quickly apologized. Ever since, when Mako is mentioned in a review, the Critic smiles innocently and reaches for an angelic picture of Mako's face in the top right corner of the screen. |
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Scary Slo-Mo | The Nostalgia Critic uses this for scenes that are (possibly) supposed to be funny, but just come off as either creepy, disturbing, or just plain damn weird. |
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Goofy Holler | Goofy's yelling "YAAAAAAA-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOOEEEYYYY!!!" from the Disney cartoons is added to people falling. |
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"CAT!" | Introduced in End of Days, The Nostalgia Critic screams "CAT!" whenever a failed jump scare appears, like a cat jumping out. |
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Dr. Smith | Introduced in Lost in Space, Dr. Spider Smith (played by Doug Walker) appears and talks about his plans of world domination and spiders, which annoys The Nostalgia Critic. |
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"That's a Lot of Fish" | This running gag from Godzilla is done whenever there is, indeed, a lot of fish or whenever something involves Matthew Broderick. | |
THE END | This running gag from Rover Dangerfield is used when the characters in an animated movie appear to be caught in an inescapable death, followed by a title card saying "THE END" and accompanied by the Looney Tunes theme. |
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Musical Number | The Critic occasionally sings a musical number in a few videos, either ones written from scratch or parodies of other songs. |
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Psyche Hitler | Either showing the clip from "Captain America" where a man shouts "Heil Hitler!" and shoots a scientist, or the Critic saying "Psyche! Heil Hitler!" |
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"Fucking Bubbles!" | Showing a clip from the Return of the Nostalgic Commercials review showing the product "Bubble Thing". |
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The Wonder Boner | Showing a clip from the second Nostalgia Critic Commercial review advertising "The Wonder Boner". | |
"That's...That's Chaos Theory" | Showing a clip from Jurassic Park of Jeff Goldblum's character in the Jeep going "That's, that's chaos theory." Used when referencing Jeff Goldblum's acting or Jurassic Park in general. |
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Convertible "wow" | When a convertible is shown, cuts to the girl in the Barbie commercial saying "wow." |
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"What?!? Pumpkin?!?" | Whenever something random involving a pumpkin appears. |
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Mindfuck | When a strange chase scene occurs and the song "Flagpole Sitta" is played. |
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Sweet Transvestite | Done when Tim Curry appears sometimes. |
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"Drat! I've been foiled by the power of love" | Done when a villain is defeated by love. |
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Entirely Pointless/This has been another pointless moment | When a pointless scene occurs. |
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"Circle of Life Parody" | When a movie opens with a sunrise, a Circle of Life parody is sung. |
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"Monkey!" | When Dennis Hopper appears or when a monkey is involved. |
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"It's Not Pop Tarts!" | Used when someone asks, "What's so cool it's hot and so hot it's cool?" Based on the confusing tag line of an early Pop Tarts commercial. | |
Scary Care Bears Face | When Mickey Rooney appears. | |
FAIL! | When a character fails or the Critic pans an actor's performance, the word FAIL appears. |
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Drinking out of skull and firing gun | When a child is messed up, he compares it to his childhood and his need to do that every once in a while. |
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"IT'S AFTERBURNER!" | When the game Afterburner is shown, but the people in the movie call it something else. |
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Awkward Levels Rising | When a scene should be awkward, he notes "Awkward Levels Rising". | |
Rapping Dog | From Titanic - The Legend Goes On and is used when an animal raps. |
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"Rrrheumatism!" | When a character trrrills an r, the prrrofessorrr from Once Upon a Forest appears, saying "Rrrheumatism". |
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"Boomer Will Live!" | A phrase exclaimed whenever a dog falls into or barely out of harm's way. |
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"Did someone say, 'care'?" | The Critic says, "I don't care," and unintentionally summons a Care Bear. |
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Ducktales Theme | The catchiest theme song ever will never leave! Shows up randomly. |
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"Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should!" | The Critic talks about smoking, then shows a clip of Fred and Wilma Flintstone endorsing Winston Cigarettes. |
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The Stephen King Drinking game | The Critic plays a drinking game when watching Stephen King movie adaptations. He drinks whenever a Stephen King cliche (Such as flashbacks) is shown. |
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"BEAR!" | Clip of Charleston Heston saying "I want that BEAR!" or the Critic just saying "BEAR". |
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Sky-gina | The main characters in the film approach and/or enter a cosmic worm hole that kind of looks like a cosmic vagina. |
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"Time for a game of disappearing bears" | Care Bears clip showing bears vanishing. |
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Critic's quote on the DVD | Critic quotes something on the DVD. |
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Queenly Princesses | The Critic asks if a princess who rules over a country in absence of her parents, the king and the queen, does not call herself a queen because the title "princess" sounds prettier. |
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"Scaring the little GIRL?!" | A clip of Mr. Toomey from The Langoliers saying this. | |
"ABBOT!" | The Critic says this word in a high voice, apparently whenever a character in a movie experiences something scary. | |
"I'm acting!" | The Critic says this in imitation of whatever actor was talking in the film, mocking their acting. | |
Alan Smithee | The Critic mentions this name, a fake name actually used by many film directors when they wish to disown a film |
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Catherine ZEETA Jones! | Whenever Catherine Zeta Jones appears in a movie, the Critic exclaims "Oh Snap!" as porno music begins to play over her clips. He says her name in a loosely Mexican accent putting much emphasis on her middle name. The Critic shows extreme infatuation for her. He then says "I don't care if you - something humiliating toward her career-. ONE DAY, YOU WILL BE MINE!" |
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Robin whining | When someone in a movie sounds too whiny, the Critic plays some clips of Robin griping in gibberish. |
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"This is most unorthodox!" | When in a movie an elder person or a group with laws that last from centuries are contradicted or outraged, Doug will speak this phrase with a British accent. Usually this joke is accompanied by a gibberish sound which represent elder people grumble as though flabbergasted. |
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Randy Newman Song | When there is a pointless song or pointless music playing in the film, the Critic mockingly imitates Randy Newman singing a song about the thing said pointless song/music is focused on. |
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"Bend your knees! Use your arms!" | A reference from Surf Ninjas, when Johnny teaches an army of ninjas how to surf. |
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It Happens | When something weird occurs and NC responds with "It Happens" with subtitles appearing at the bottom |
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"Fuck YOU, Asshole!" |
This is a more recent gag. This comes from a line uttered by John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in Commando a hit-man holds a gun at Arnold and says "Fuck you, Asshole." The gun is jammed, and Arnold replies with the same line, annunciation the word "you".
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Pulling the "NOT!" card | When a character/characters (most specifically kids) look like they are reasoning with the other side, or apologizing, they immediately say "NOT!" to contradict what they previously said. Comically, Nostalgia Critic acts defenseless as a victim of the NOT line, as well as noting how childish the card is. |
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Doug Theme |
The Nostalgia Critic has huge hatrid for the 90's TV Nicktoon Doug. Could it be because the show was so entirely "bland and boring" to comprehend, or could it be his torturous curse of coincidentally sharing the same name as the titled character? Still not convinced? See how long he lasts once he hears that iconic theme song?
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Cut! | When the camera is held on a particular shot for a long time, or if a scene drags out longer than it should. |
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THINK! | When a film has forced dialogue or if the plot conveniently bites the characters in the ass and they didn't, well, "think" about it. |
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"You dirty little kitty." |
When a character acts seductive. It was first introduced by Bhargov in the Mortal Kombat: Annihilation review as he, Critic, and two other friends watch the "cat fight in the mud". |
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OF COURSE! | Used from the Street Fighter movie when M. Bison yells "OF COURSE!", The Critic uses it whenever a villain's plans are "to, you guessed it, take over the world." |
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SPOTLIGHT FETISH |
Makes fun of Spielberg's over-use of background lighting. | |
T-Rex Song | I'm a motherfuckin' T-Rex!! Used whenever something awesome yet implausible happens. |
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Pig Power in the House |
An upbeat rap song that appears in the film "Gordy". Used occasionally in moments of celebration. |
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Disney Logo |
The Disney Logo is used whenever a inappropriate for children moment happens in a Disney movie |
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Foaming mouth guy |
The foaming mouth guy from Avatar: The Last Airbender appears, screaming and then foaming from his mouth before passing out. Used whenever something not actually exciting is conveyed as exciting. |
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My cabbages! |
The cabbage merchant from Avatar: The Last Airbender's voice is heard in the background shouting "My cabbages!" Used as a Wilhelm Scream. |
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Cartoon Sound Effects | Various cartoon sound effects are playing while somebody in a movie or TV show are getting hurt in a humorous way and the last sound effect (that's not cartoony) Colm Wilkinson from Les Miserables singing "Home." |
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Balls Dropping |
Sometimes the Critic's balls drop all the way to the ground. |
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Web Sites | Sometimes the Critic's review is interrupted by a mouse opening up a website. |
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Hallelujah | Plays when Nicolas Cage appears in a move |
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CHRISTMAS!!! | The Critic yells out this particular word loudly with glee at the start of every holiday season. He LOVES Christmas, the absolute best time of the year! |
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Demented Looney Tunes |
The Looney Tunes theme plays over footage of Nick Cage |
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"Top 10" gags |
Whenever a scene occurs that's so odd that one joke isn't enough to sum it up, the Critic does a quick list of the top 10 jokes that could be made, culminating in him pointing off screen, shouting "Play me off, Paul!" and dancing to a clip of Paul Schaffer playing "The Joker and the Thief". |
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A FAMILY picture |
Whenever a gross/disturbing/unappealing to kids... scene happens in a family film, green text saying A FAMILY PICTURE pops up, and NC says "A FAMILY PICTURE" in his "idiot" voice. On special occasions he says A DISNEY PICTURE. |
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Crazy Taxi |
Whenever the main character is in a taxi. A parody of the Sega game Crazy Taxi appears. |
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Firing Squad |
This happens when the Nostalgia Critic has the opposite opinion of everyone else in the world. |
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Business Execs |
These are the people that own the rights to Dr. Seuss movies and make them suck. They have a running gag where the Critic interrupt them as they say "Well, the chart says..." |
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Citizen Kane |
The Nostalgia Critic frequently mockingly compares bad movies to Citizen Kane. |
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FET-ISH MOV-IE |
Whenever in a children film shows suggestive things and it seems that its a fetish for something that the director or writer has. |
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ALAN |
Whenever a character is named Alan, the Raptor from Jurassic Park 3 pops up and says Alan. |
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Big Lipped Alligator Moment |
The Nostalgia Chick coined this phrase to describe a random surreal moment which occurs during the course of a movie and is never brought up during the rest of the movie in question. It refers to the alligator in the movie All Dogs Go to Heaven, who had a huge lower jaw and was in an odd musical number. To quote Lindsay, "The scene comes right the fuck out of nowhere, bears little to no impact on the plot and once it's finished, no one ever speaks of it again." |
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YOU CANNOT BEAT US! |
Originated from a Nintendo commercial, this line is spoken by an evil, demented animated character on the show. |
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Arnold-baby from the Junior review ("MAMA!!") |
Originated from the Junior, the scene with the CG Arnold-baby is used to freak out the Critic. |
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