The Rabbit Hole
The joys of technology: people can communicate instantly with loved ones across the world, information can be exchanged at the speed of light, and any idiot in his basement can take a video, bastardize and upload it to youtube for the world to see.
Luckily, there are some people who use this technology for good, and create clever and often humorous videos. Some of the most ingenious are the trailer remixes.
Basically someone takes a movie, edits the footage, dialogue, slaps on a little music, and then can completely change the movie’s plot or genre. Sometimes they’re crap, sometimes they’re okay, and sometimes they’re absolutely brilliant.
Here are the five best trailer remixes:
One of the essential, classic rom coms, what if it were a thriller with an obsessed Meg Ryan stalking the lovable Tom Hanks? This trailer dares to wonder…
Now what would happen if something did the opposite: took a scary film and turned it into a tear-jerker? Then you’d end up with a heartwarming version of The Ring.
Using the Back to the Future films, this trailer teases the touching story of a forbidden love that crosses decades.
(I promised myself I would only feature one Brokeback Mountain parody on this list, but I just have to link to Star Wars: The Empire Brokeback–the story of forbidden love between two droids, R2-D2 & 3-CPO.)
Did you ever wonder what the Charlton Heston Classic The 10 Commandments would be like if it were a teen comedy? I didn’t either, but I’m glad someone did. This remix is absolutely brilliant!
This is hands down, the best movie trailer remix I have ever seen. I have only ever seen The Shining once, and it was so disturbing that I will never watch it again. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be possible for The Shining to be a feel good movie. This video proves that anything is possible.
Now that the election is over and we’re no longer treated to Tina Fey’s spot on impersonation of Sarah Palin, the Digital Shorts are my favorite part of Saturday Night Live.
Sometimes they don’t quite make sense, but most of the time they’re hilarious, especially the shorts featuring songs created by the group The Lonely Island.
Their first studio album, Incredibad
This is the short that started it all. Although this was the second of the Digital Shorts to air on SNL, this song swept the internet like a plague in December of 2005. Enjoy the hilarity of Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell rapping about such hardcore topics as cupcakes and the Chronic (what) cles of Narnia.
Proving she’s a million times cooler than we already thought, Natalie Portman pairs up with Chris Parnell to mock her perfect and clean image in this profanity-laced rap.
(this is the uncensored version)
The next year, Andy Samberg paired up with Justin Timberlake to present this R&B parody. It was also a huge hit online after NBC posted the uncensored version on Youtube, and it went on to win the Emmy for Outstanding Original Lyrics and Music
I know some of the reactions to this short have been mixed, but I think it’s absolutely hilarious. I know premature ejaculation is a serious matter, but the heightening of the ridiculous causes builds up to the perfect crescendo of jizzing. Yeah, it’s a little immature, but it’s still funny.
(That’s the explicit version. You can watch the clean version here)
This is the latest of the shorts, which premiered this past Saturday. In this parody, the guys are joined by T-Pain to rap about their experiences on a boat. They’ve got their swim trunks and their flippy-floppies, and you just have to watch it to really experience the magnificence.
As the world anxiously awaits the historic moment of Barrack Obama’s Inauguration this Tuesday, it’s good to take a few moments to take a look back at the inaugurations of previous presidents.
Though their elections may not seem as significant as that of our nations first African American president, their entry into the White House marked the beginning of significant shifts–both good and bad–in the future of the country.
Take some time to review the speeches of our last five presidents, and then appreciate the hope and optimism for the future of our country that comes with Obama’s highly anticipated Presidency.
View the full speech here.
Edit 1/21/09:
As a bonus, here’s the video of Barack Obama’s 2009 Inaugural Address:
Educational shorts from the 1940s & 1950s are best known for being hilariously skewed portrayals of an unrealistic, ideal way of life.
Even though they’re funny on their own, the hilarious commentary by the folks at Mystery Science Theater 3000 takes the laughter to a whole new level.
Take some time to watch five choice clips.
This short focuses on the importance of good posture set in a class room where a teacher obsessively instructs four students on the importance of standing up straight for health and overall well being.
Here, young Tommy realizes that the house isn’t cleaned and maintained by magic but instead by his mother and father, by sneaking out of bed and spying on his parents. In the end, he learns to be a part of the “family team” and not be such a lazy, ungrateful child.
This short features a bizarrely unrealistic portrayal of a “happy” family who sets aside their opinions, emotions, and real selves for a “date” with the family. Note the strange relationship between Brother and Junior.
Part of the famous “Health Education Series” this short begins by brutally tearing down the appearance of an unkempt woman (horridly uneven socks, untucked blouse, and un-styled hair–what was she thinking?) and continues detailing an obsessive hygiene routine.
This how-to video teaches everything you need to know to be a fully competent public speaker who is “heard, understood, and pleasing.”
With the economy the way it is, everyone’s cutting back on the non-necessities. One of the little luxuries that has become a necessity in modern times in television. Cable and satellite prices are outrageous, and usually you’re paying for channels you don’t even watch, just to get the few that have your favorite shows. And don’t even get me started on the premium channels like HBO and Showtime.
Thankfully there are alternatives available on the internet, and there are countless websites where you can watch your favorite shows anytime day or night, for free.
I love Hulu–I’ve been using it since it launched. It has a clean, simple design and features full length episodes of many of the shows I love (The Office, The Daily Show, & Heroes) plus older TV shows (like Alfred Hitchcock Presents), and even movies. New episodes are usually posted the day after they air on TV. You can browse by popular episodes or shows, and also genre, network, and recently added shows. The site also features a queue, so you can add several episodes (or clips) and then sit back and watch them back to back without having to pull up each one separately.
Similar to Hulu, Joost features a variety of TV shows, including Adult Swim shows, How I Met Your Mother, and others. The site also features movies, and unique from Hulu, has a music section with collections of music videos by popular artists.
If there’s a specific show you like, try checking the network website. Many sites feature full streaming episodes. Some have all the episodes up all the time, other feature episodes for certain periods. Some places to check include ABC, NBC, TBS, Discover Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, VH1, & MTV.
Yes, even Youtube has full episodes of TV shows. These are usually lower quality and split up into chunks since they’re uploaded by users, but you’ll be surprised what you can find on there. I often watch Daria, The Soup, and MST3K on Youtube, and with the quicklist, I just put all the parts on there in order and it will automatically play each clip in order.
Though you can’t actually watch the episodes at Sidereel, it is the ultimate reference for finding TV (and movies) streaming online. Unless I know I can find a specific show on Hulu or Youtube, Sidereel is the first place I go to find online episodes. Just search for the show you’re interested in and you can find links to watch specific episodes online. Often there will be links to buy the episodes on iTunes or Amazon, but a lot of the time there will be links to other random sites to stream the videos.