If you’ve been reading this blog for a while then you probably know that I absolutely love Tommy Wiseau’s 2003 film The Room. I love it for its off-center dialogue, for Tommy Wiseau’s interesting performance, and for the scene where Tommy says, “Oh, hai, doggy.”
(Of course, the main reason that I love it is because Tommy screams, “You’re tearing me apart, Lisa!” at one point.)
I also know that several of our loyal readers love Star Wars.
So, what could possibly be better than a viral video that combines my love of The Room with your love of Star Wars?
How about two videos that do just that?
I found these videos on YouTube and all credit for them should go to the enigmatic artist known as noisyimp.
As some of our more regular readers may know, I was born, raised, and still live in the part of the country known as Tornado Alley. Yesterday afternoon, we had about a thousand tornadoes all on the ground at once. Well, maybe not a thousand. More like six. But still, it was scary! I was at work in downtown Dallas when the storm began and I spent almost the entire afternoon in my boss’s office, watching the tornadoes on his TV while the building trembled with each crash of thunder. As soon as it was reported that one tornado had finally gone away, another one would suddenly be reported on the other side of town. As the hours passed, I heard about and saw footage of tornadoes ripping through towns like Arlington, Forney, Lancaster, and Mesquite and I found myself wondering how long it would be before they found my home in Richardson.
Fortunately, despite the six tornadoes, none of them hit downtown Dallas and, though they came way too close, they also missed us in Richardson. I did panic a bit when I first got home and I couldn’t find our cat Doc but eventually, he turned up hiding underneath Erin’s bed. He gets scared of thunder. My sister Melissa actually saw the tornado that hit Arlington but, thank goodness, it didn’t hit her house.
Anyway, this may stretch the definition of entertainment, but here’s a few Texas tornado videos that I’ve found on YouTube.
The video comes from outside of Forney, which is the town that was hit the hardest yesterday.
Here’s another one from outside Forney.
When the tornadoes first hit Forney, I was at work in downtown Dallas. My boss and I were in his office, watching the footage that is featured in this video. Essentially, a storm tracker named Jason was on the phone with our favorite local weatherman Larry Mowery and Jason suddenly starts going, “Oh my God, it’s hit the high school! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOODNESS! THE HUMANITY!” It was a bit like that famous audio of that reporter watching the Hindenburg explode. Anyway, a few minutes later, as can be seen in the video below, Jason calmed down (a little, at least) and let us all know that actually the tornado did not hit the high school.
This next video was shot by a guy named Vincent Tang who was apparently sitting on the roof of his home in Lancaster, Texas and filming the whole thing while it went on and, unfortunately, providing his own running commentary. I know that some people online love this guy’s commentary (mostly because he kind of prays at one point and pandering to God is always the easiest way to get lots of fans online — well, that and thong pics.) but I find it to be kind of annoying which is why I always mute it before I watch.
And seriously, why would you get on your roof in the middle of a tornado?
Finally, here’s the footage that everyone’s been talking about: one of the tornadoes hits a truck stop and sends a bunch of semi flying through the air. As scary as this footage might look right now, just imagine watching it while you’re sitting in a fourth floor office with warning sirens going off all around you. Agck!
Fortunately, we all survived and the sky is nice and clear today. As for me, I’m working on a new script: The Towering Tornado. I’m thinking either Jennifer Lawrence or maybe Aubrey O’Day can play me. It’ll be great!
The video above was released today by 20th Century Fox as part of their marketing machine to help create buzz for their upcoming summer blockbuster scifi film Prometheus.
It’s a clip of a fictional keynote speech by one Peter Weyland at the TED 2023 conference. Guy Pearce plays the role of Peter Weyland and talks about how technology’s influence in human history from the beginning with fire (he mentions the Greek myth of Prometheus stealing the technology of fire from the gods and giving it to man) all the way to artificial intelligence and realistic cybernetic constructs.
Anyone who has been a fan of the Alien franchise will recognize the name Weyland. It’s the fictional transnational corporation which has become a major part of the films in the franchise and, to a degree, even to the Predatorfranchise. They’re the corporation which sends Ripley and the crew of the ore mining hauler Nostromo to the desolate planet of LV-426 where they encounter the very lifeform that would become one of film’s iconic monsters. It is also the corporation which 70+ years later would send a terraforming colony to the very same planet which would become a major part of the plot for Aliens. Even the David Fincherdirected third film, Alien3, would use the corporation as the monolithic badguy behind-the-scenes.
Weyland is just part of the corporation’s name as through the years it would combine with another corporation to become Weyland-Yutani. While the aliens in the franchise have been the immediate threat in all the films in the franchise it would be Weyland-Yutani who became the face of the corporate evil that continues to try to get samples of the very alien the franchise is known for.
It’s going to be interesting how this viral video ties into the upcoming Ridley Scott “prequel” to Alienand whether Weyland-Yutani will play a major role in the film’s plot. One thing I’m sure is that Pearce definitely plays a convincing corporate visionary with a God-complex that’s part Steve Jobs and part Richard Branson (if both iconic businessmen channeled their inner-darkside).
To cap off the night as I recover from that arrow I took to the knee I would like to share one of the many reasons why YouTube continues to be the gift that keeps on giving.
Two very talented ladies decided to take it upon themselves to cover both the main themes to Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as a medley. To say that they knocked it out of the park would be an understatement. To think they accomplished this by listening to the two themes and creating the musical arrangements themselves without any sheet music just speaks to their talent as musicians.
Hi out there! Did everyone have a good Thanksgiving? I know I did. Now, I know that some people will say that this has been a disappointing year in entertainment. Steve Carrell left the Office, Whitney Cummings got a sitcom, and — while I’ve truly loved a handful of films this year, it’s hard to ignore the fact that 2011 has yet to produce anything close to a Black Swan, A King’s Speech, or even a Social Network. Instead, the best films of the year have been ignored by both audiences and critics while good but definitely flawed films like J. Edgar are being touted as being the best was can hope for. Even Pixar failed to tug at our heart-strings this year.
However, I think we’re running the danger of giving too quickly into negativity when it comes to considering 2011. No, 2011 is no 2010. But there’s still a lot to be thankful for and below are just 10 examples of some things that, as 2011 reaches its conclusion, I’m thankful for.
10) This.
9) The time I have left with Community.
With The Office current flailing about in its attempts to establish a consistent post-Carrell identity, I have a new favorite sitcom and its name is Community. Now in its third season, Community has truly hit its stride and Joel McHale is, of course, to die for. So, naturally, Community has been yanked from the mid-season schedule while NBC continues to heavily promote shows like Whitney. This is indeed the darkest timeline but I know that I will continue to tweet things like #savecommunity, #6seasonsandamovie, and #NBCSucks for as long as it takes.
8 ) A second season of Game of Thrones
With the current season of Dexter getting bogged down in its attempt to make a villain out of Colin Hanks and the Walking Dead remaining a flawed masterpiece, the 1st season of Game of Thrones is now the unquestionable highlight of an otherwise uninspired season in television drama. I can’t wait to see what happens in season 2.
7) Higher Ground
Vera Farmiga’s directorial debut is probably one of the best films that you’ve never seen.
6) Black Swan is available on DVD and Blu-ray.
5) For that matter, so is the original, non-American, non-Hollywood, non-David Fincher, non-Daniel Craig, non-Rooney Mara Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy.
4) Shame is rated NC-17.
What does this mean? It mean the Full Fassbender.
3) Hanna
This intriguing and criminally underappreciated postmodern fairy tale remains my favorite film of 2011.
2) Oscar Isaac
Seriously. Love him. I still love to imagine him shouting, “And I declare him to be an OUTLAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW!” whenever I’m annoyed at being stuck in traffic. You know what else I love? Listening to him as he sang over the end credits of Sucker Punch.
1) And finally…
I am thankful that I have the greatest sister ever! You may know her as Dazzling Erin and, if you’re on twitter, you can find her under the name TakeSumE. However, for me, she will always simply be my best friend and my older (but only by 11 months) sister. Yesterday was not only Thanksgiving but it was also her birthday! Now, for those of you who don’t know, Erin is not only my sister but she’s also a talented photographer, a great cook, a wonderful roommate, and the greatest guardian angel that anyone could possibly ever hope to ask for! And on top of all that, she’s hot too. Happy birthday, Erin Nicole!
This is something that I came across on YouTube about a year ago. Apparently, way back in 1987, person unknown managed to hijack the signal of Chicago television station. The end result can be viewed below.
Personally, I find this video to be … well, disturbing. And kinda scary, though not as scary as this one time in Arkansas when I was walking along these train tracks and I nearly placed my foot right into the middle of the mushy, maggot-ridden remains of a dog that had apparently been hit by a train. (Agck! Now, that was scary….) I also find it kinda sad that somebody went through all the trouble to hijack a television signal (which I assume is not easy) and this is why they did it.
Anyway, Halloween seems to be the perfect time to share this video. Not only does it feature a guy in a mask but it’s also one of those mysterious events that make Halloween a holiday worth celebrating. So, without further jibber jabbering on my part, here is the 1987 Max Headroom Incident:
Believe it or not, I can occasionally be a little bit moody. Sometimes, I simply get a frown on my face and not even all the Italian horror films in the world can turn that frown into a smile. I’m like a lot of people in that I’ve always had to battle that creeping depression and I hate that feeling.
Luckily, whenever I start to feel sad, I go to YouTube and I watch the greatest viral video of all time. Now, I know that some people will always debate whether or not a 3-minute viral video deserves to be considered entertainment in the same way as a 2-hour film and a 22-episode season of a well-written television series. I can see both sides of the argument but ultimately, it comes down to the one thing. The video below never fails to make me feel happy.
Without further ado, here’s my favorite YouTube video of all time: Noisy Kittens Waiting For Dinner!
By the way, I know that most people seem to like the jumpy kitten the best but I think they’re all adorable. The little quiet orange one is just simply to die for.
Okay, so basically this is just a commercial for a show that I don’t watch but it’s just so adorable that I had to feature it. The show, by the way, is called Psych and it’s on the USA network. I know a lot of people who love this show but I’ve honestly never seen it, largely because I always forget just where exactly the USA network is located on AT&T U-verse.
But if I do end up tracking down the USA Network and watching an episode, it’ll be because of this commercial. Seriously, it’s just so adorable!
Everyone who has seen David O. Russell’s The Fighter knows by now the life and travails of not just Mickey Ward but that of his half-brother Dick Eklund. The film showed Ward at his lowest and struggles to get another chance to succeed and make a name for himself in the annals of boxing lore. The climactic bout between Ward and Neary to finish off the film was well choreographed and looked quite realistic (compared to the one’s for the Rocky series).
I am one of the film’s fans who would’ve picked another fight to truly make that impact to Ward finally making it big after all the drama and familial issues Mickey Ward had to maneuver to finally get his chance to shine. As great a fight as the Neary-Ward fight was in the end the one that should’ve been picked and re-enacted was the first of what would be called one of the greatest trilogy of fights between two fighters in boxing history: Gatti-Ward I.
The fight would earn Ring magazine’s 2002 fight of the year and the 9th round would go down as one of the greatest boxing rounds ever as both Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward would not give an inch to each other. To be able to see this re-enacted would’ve been a dream of any boxing fan. It’s a good thing we have HBO to keep a visual record of the round so we can continue to watch and marvel at two fighters who actually deserve the label of having “heart and soul”.
