B-Side acquired by Stella Artois

If you're reading this it's almost certainly because you're interested in the film industry – in particular film festivals – and you clicked on a Twitter link with the headline above. I'm not even going to pretend that it's anything but a lame April Fool's Day gag, and one that I thought of in the evening hours of the day in question, so you may even be reading this on April 2nd.

However, if you do know anything about film festivals, you probably also know about the ridiculously ubiquitous alcohol sponsorship that Stella provides to film festivals large and small. Heck, they're even sending some lucky schmuck to Cannes. So you probably appreciate the inside-baseball nature of the joke, and you probably recognized it instantly as a put-on – though you might have hesitated just a second. If Stella really wanted to own the film festival market, wouldn't taking over Festival Genius be a pretty good way to start?

I'm sorry I don't have any actual news regarding the future of Festival Genius just yet, but be patient. There should be something soon. Until then, please enjoy being Rickrolled.

Taiwan's NMA News breaks down the Conan/Leno drama

Even though it's in a language I don't speak, this is the best explanation of the NBC situation I've yet to see.

(tip o' the hat to @hyams and @jmerriman)

Al Yankovic. Once again my hero.

Grammar, people!

Ihnatko's handy tips for solar panels for peanuts.

It reminds me of those "Get rich quick with your own home business!" things that used to be advertised in magazines. You'd send in your $10 and get a sheet of paper saying "Take out an ad in a magazine advertising a get-rich-quick home business. Fill incoming orders with photocopies of this same sheet of paper.

via blogs.suntimes.com

Andy Ihnatko (by way of Roger Ebert) expresses his outrage at overpriced instructions for solar-powering your home. I need to think up one of these get-rich-quick schemes. Anyone wanna buy instructions on how to make a cult movie?

Posted via web from Blue Glow

Avoid the Star Wars Holiday Special

In case you've never encountered it: the Stomp Tokyo review of The Star Wars Holiday Special, complete with photo gallery.

TED talk: Motivation and incentives. Dan Pink on what science knows and what business does

Yet another insanely great talk from TED. A must-watch for just about anyone who solves problems creatively in their work.

Do You Wanna Date My Avatar?

Felicia Day doesn't need my help getting attention, but I'm embedding anyway.

2012: Disasterrific!

Best movie trailer. Ever.



For those interested, the significance of the year 2012 is that it is the grossly oversimplified interpretation of the end of the Mayan calendar.

Ghostbusters 1954 trailer

"Basil Rathbone must be giving a party."

Michael Bay. Eating a Bowl of Cereal. In HD.

Twitter in plain English

So when your grandma asks you "What's Twitter?" you'll know how to explain it to her.

How to Make a Baby

Yup, yup, that's exactly how it works.

Have you ever wanted superpowers?

Pulp Fiction as re-enacted by kids.

Brilliant.

Sarah Silverman's Farewell to Bush

Sarah Palin Jack o'Lantern

GJ Echternkamp just makes me love him some more with his latest creation.

What Oscar the Grouch likes about public television

From the 1988 pledge drive season.

How to Be the Perfect Girlfriend

How To Be The Perfect Girlfriend

Where has VideoJug been all my life?

Retarded Policeman #14 - Bribes

He's got a pager!

Ode to (Musical, Sarcastic, Ultraviolent) Joy

My wife Christina and I have an ongoing conversation about the Muppets. We're watching a lot of Sesame Street these days (during our 2 year-old daughter's asthma nebulizer sessions) and we've noticed that the Muppets on Sesame Street aren't as funny as they used to be -- at least not in that sarcastic, subversive way. I still think Sesame Street is a great show, but its creators have moved in a fuzzier, gentler direction than in the early days. (Just watch the classic "Subway" musical number for proof of that -- can you imagine these lyrics being approved for broadcast today?) There are still some great bits being done: witness the new Feist video on the upcoming season of Sesame Street -- you might recognize the tune.



Fortunately, it seems the subversive spirit at Henson Studios hasn't died -- it's gone a bit more underground and is leaking its way out any way it can. In particular it has found a home on YouTube. Great new bits like the one below have been showing up on everyone's favorite video service and they make good use of the staples that have made the Muppets so entertaining over the years: music, sarcasm, and slapstick violence. Perhaps it's a viral campaign for the upcoming Muppet movie? Is it just a way for the Muppeteers to let out some old-school wackiness? I don't care. Just keep 'em coming.

YouTube Friday - Retarded Policeman #13

It's been a while since I've linked to an episode of Retarded Policeman, but it's just as hilarious as ever. If you like this episode, be sure to give it a bump on Digg.

Culture. Morality. Patriotism.

A Muppet video made specifically for the Internet. Nice to see that someone in Henson-land is in charge of keeping the weirdness alive -- and taking their job seriously. Watch it all the way to the end.

Japanese SUVs just got a little sexier

Queenie in Trouble

The things filmmakers used to be able to get away with... this excerpt from Dogway Melody.



Thanks to Mitch O'Connell for bringing this to my attention, and for pointing me to some historical context as well.

Goodbye to the Normals

This little short is brilliant -- four minutes of pure comedy. Strange that it only played a handful of festivals. Oh well, now it's on YouTube for your enjoyment.

Forsooth.

Gasoline vs Ethanol commercial

My friend Glenn entered an advertising competition called "Fuel the Change."

Rate my video in this contest!

Submit entry

Contest details

Check out the rest of the commercials but I think Glenn's is the best I've seen. Please vote!

Wacky divorce video on YouTube

This is apparently really, really big news.



I don't doubt it has divorce lawyers alternately licking their chops or gasping in horror, but I'm pretty sure Andy Warhol is somewhere out there, laughing.

Blue Jeans Cable Strikes Back - Response to Monster Cable — Audioholics Home Theater Reviews and News

This response to a cease and desist letter from Monster Cable makes me want to spend money with Blue Jeans Cable -- and I don't even need any home stereo cabling right now. Never has a company been more aptly named: Monster has been ripping people off with grossly overpriced cabling for years and threatening capricious legal action against their competitors. What they didn't know is that Kurt Denke, the president of Blue Jeans, is a former attorney. Here's my favorite passage from the letter he wrote back to Monster.

I am "uncompromising" in the most literal sense of the word. If Monster Cable proceeds with litigation against me I will pursue the same merits-driven approach; I do not compromise with bullies and I would rather spend fifty thousand dollars on defense than give you a dollar of unmerited settlement funds. As for signing a licensing agreement for intellectual property which I have not infringed: that will not happen, under any circumstances, whether it makes economic sense or not.

In context of the entire letter's it is easy to see that Denke is a reasonable person, and that (at the very least) Monster is half-assing their cease-and-desist efforts. Read the entire letter ("Blue Jeans Cable Strikes Back") over at Audioholics, it's a hoot.

(Via Daring Fireball.)

M.C.????????????????????????????

No clue what the title says but the video speaks for itself.

Uwe Boll will stop directing if 1 million people ask him to.

Or so he says.

Sign the petition here - almost 73,000 signatures as of this writing.

You will be compelled to the edge of sight and sound.

Guess who went to Trailerthon tonight?

Conan O'Brien on the Jon Stewart Show

As excerpted on the Colbert Report back in January.

Barack OBollywood

If YouTube videos were delegates in the electoral college, Barack Obama would be president. Here's my favorite ObamaTube so far.

garfield minus garfield, marmaduke explained, and lasagna cat

Sometimes you just accumulate little mental notes about things that make you laugh until they come crashing together. Like these three things:

Garfield minus Garfield.

Marmaduke Explained

Lasagna Cat.

I'll let you figure out how they relate.

When does Hilary Clinton = Reese Witherspoon?

Normally I try to steer clear of political talk here on the blog, but this was too good not to share.

Why White People Like Recycling

From my new favorite blog, Stuff White People Like:

Recycling is a part of a larger theme of stuff white people like: saving the earth without having to do that much.

Recycling is fantastic! You can still buy all the stuff you like (bottled water, beer, wine, organic iced tea, and cans of all varieties) and then when you’re done you just put it in a DIFFERENT bin than where you would throw your other garbage. And boom! Environment saved! Everyone feels great, it’s so easy!

Read more of #66: Recycling.

Facebook continues to amuse

Facebook status updates.

Sometimes they're funnier than they're intended to be.

Just one of the many reasons I love Sarah Silverman

You know, if YouTube doesn't remove the clip. Again.

You Couldn't Make this Stuff Up Dept.

Windows Vista requires a help file to open the box.

[Via Daring Fireball]

JJ Abrams talks at TED

...on why closed boxes obsess him.

Some brilliant analysis of the best moments in movies like JAWS.

Italian Spiderman Trailer

Blake over at Cinema Is Dope recommended I take a gander at this -- how could I not share it with you?

Holy Crap - Daily Show, Colbert Report return to the air

I'm not sure how I missed this, but Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are back on the air, without benefit of their writers. If your Tivo didn't catch it, you can catch up on the first night back over at thedailyshow.com. And yeah, the whole "watch it on the Internet" thing is a large part of what the strike is about.

Safety First

"Safety First" -- a comedy short by Scott Calonico that slays me every single time. If you like it, please register at Funny or Die and help vote the video up the charts.

Super Mario's Sleigh Ride

For those of you who need your holidays and video games mashed together.

Trajan is the movie font

OK, this is pretty funny. 99% of moviegoers out there won't have even thought about this, but I'll confess -- I noticed. I didn't know the name of the font, but I knew it was being overused.

[via Daring Fireball]

This one's for Dr. Freex

Pug vs. Peacock.

Erickson Sports - Wii Bowling Championships

An Ode to "2 Girls, 1 Cup"

If you haven't been exposed to Two Girls, One Cup, I envy you. This little video from Scott Allen Perry should tell you everything you need to know, though. Watch it first, then decide if you want to rape your own eyeballs that way. (You can Google it, I ain't gonna link from here.)

YouTube Saturday - Extended Cloverfield Trailer

YouTube Friday part 2 - Paul Anka sings Van Halen

I just heard this Vegas lounge cover version of Van Halen's "Jump" on the Muzak at the coffee shop I'm working from this morning. God bless Google, it identified Paul Anka as the perpetrator within seconds. You can witness Paul Anka singing "Jump" for yourself here, since they've disabled embedding for some reason.

This is but one track on a full album of pop covers called "Rock Swings" -- includes "Eye of the Tiger" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Just awesome.

Sorcese's Sesame Streets

If it's Friday, it must be time for a YouTube post. Due to language, not safe for work.

The Godzilla Burger - eat it all and they'll name it after YOU

That's five pounds of burger plus extra fixin's, for $100 -- refundable if you eat it all in under an hour.

I wouldn't pay $100 just for the "privilege" of eating the burger, but I can see a group of friends chipping in to buy it for the entertainment value of watching their buddy contestant give it a try.

Learn more at the Phantom Gourmet.

Humility by the Arcade Lights

My short "documentary" film from about ten years ago, starring Scott Hamilton and Amy Eisenman. Newly remastered for YouTube.

People Getting Punched Just Before Eating

And people say Saturday Night Live isn't funny anymore.

Norton Fighter - Ultraman for your PC

This is quite possibly the coolest thing the Symantec/Norton antivirus company has ever done. Ever.

[Via Gizmodo.]

Wired's Chris Kohler chats with Uwe Boll

This is just precious.

I met Uwe Boll about two years ago (for the premiere of Bloodrayne at the Austin Film Festival) and he hasn't done a lot since then to convince the world of his prowess as a movie director. There's always the chance that he's playing up these conflicts with the press for the sake of publicity, but that would require an insight about his own work that I don't think he has. At least, not from the content of these interviews.

There's not much content here, other than Uwe Boll flicks continue to stink. Also, against incomprehensible odds, Uwe Boll continues to make movies.

MC Outdoorz - Episode 2

The great thing is that someone actually paid Scott to make these.

Respec' yo mama - Mama Nature

Directed by Scott Allen Perry.

Arms sore from Wii. Can only blog this lame YouTube video.

End Times Arrive: Fake Steve Jobs Outed by NY Times Reporter

You know that guy at work who always has to draw attention to himself by spoiling everyone else's fun, usually while proving that he's smarter than the other people in the room?

Next time he comes around, call him Brad.

Brad Stone at the New York Times revealed the true identity of Fake Steve Jobs, who entertained us for a long while (months?), posing as the real Steve Jobs and writing the wacky things the real SJ probably thinks but can't say. I won't link to the article here, but I'm sure you can find it.

Here is FSJ's awesome reply.

Long Live FSJ -- I'll keep reading even if I do know who you are.

I don't care who knows it...

LOLCatz make me laugh and laugh and laugh.

You park like an @$$#013

A brilliant site, and absolutely necessary in today's world.

However, here in Austin there is a clash of cultures: there are the well-meaning environmentally-minded folks who provide special parking for compact cars, and then there are the SUV and pickup-truck driving populace who willfully ignore the painted lines and just park wherever they can pull in. I'd have to carry a sheaf of notices around and issue them a few times a day.