the Video Nova

Sequel to "Welcome to My Study"

2008-03-16T20:31:00.003-04:00

By Mitch Magee, who brought you Welcome to My Study (obviously), Sexual Intercourse: American Style, and others.

The saddest "your mom" joke

2008-02-29T12:55:00.003-05:00

Eliza Skinner, oh Eliza Skinner. Another character-driven scene about an asshole.

From the person who gave you Amy at the Club.

Do you remember Valentine's Day?

2008-02-21T02:02:00.005-05:00

It's after Valentine's Day, but who cares? Why can't we hate everyday, and not just holidays? To celebrate, here's Ben Schwartz's story of a V-Day breakup. (With the guy who wrote What If There's Bears and the guy who sings Black Bean Burger.)

Playing Catch-up: Babycakes

2008-02-15T23:35:00.003-05:00

I sincerely hope you've seen SuperDeluxe before. If you haven't, here's a good entry point: "Babycakes." If you like the first one, there are eleven more here.

At some point a review will follow. Other projects have been hitting me hard and I haven't had time to watch hours of videos a day. Also, feel free to give me your feedback on whether you like this as much as I do.

Super Bowl XLII Ads

2008-02-04T10:14:00.000-05:00

Gawker has a great post with the best ads from the Superbowl. Why would I redo all that work?

This one goes out to the dog-lovers

2008-01-31T18:24:00.000-05:00

Some girls are just all about puppies. You know who you are. I think some people might not have patience for this video, but the people who like it will really like it. It's "Puppy Love," from the Kissing Booth, a comedy showcase in New York.

Solution to Beard-Related Problems

2008-01-29T12:51:00.001-05:00

I got angry looking at the most recently posted "comedy" videos on YouTube. So instead of dealing with those emotions, I watched this. You could watch it too. It's by Waverly (who I obviously really like, else why would I constantly post their videos). It's called "Beards Only Club."

How to Seduce Women

2008-01-26T19:57:00.000-05:00

This is kind of funny, except for the ad at the end and maybe being a bit too long. Paul Rudd's first few moments on screen are great. Got it from my friend who runs this comic.

More can be found at My Damn Channel.

Everything Poops

2008-01-22T21:43:00.000-05:00

Great new one from Waverly. Maybe it's not everyone's style, but something about this really appeals to me.

Simple concept, good execution.

UCBComedy.com Lauched!

2008-01-19T11:45:00.000-05:00

No video today (sorry). But it's exciting to find out that UCB Comedy is live. Many of the videos here (What if there's bears, YouTube War, Amy at the Club, etc.) were made by performers and teachers at the UCB Theatre in New York.

Plus there's a video up (Shirts vs. Skins) with Matt Walsh and Matt Besser.

How Fox News calibrated their obituaries

2008-01-13T22:26:00.000-05:00

When a 24-hour news channel needs to align themselves relative to the world, they use a simple process. You put names on both ends of a spectrum and put everything else between them. For Fox News, the two ends are Anna Nicole Smith:

and Kurt Vonnegut:

What Swamp-Guys Really Talk About

2008-01-07T03:38:00.000-05:00

A simplistically animated video by Will Hines and Terry Jinn. I like the whole thing, but the end is my favorite. And the sipping sound. Here's "Guy Talk:"

To YouTube page.

Like Citizen Kane, but with a Flower

2008-01-04T16:55:00.000-05:00

This one's from Waverly. It was posted back in September, but you might have missed it at the time. It tells the story of a young flower in a harsh world.

What people were watching at 3:09 AM Today

2008-01-04T03:11:00.000-05:00

In case you thought everyone had the same YouTube taste as you, check out what people were watching while you were sleeping. This is a sample of what people were watching from 3:09 AM to 3:10 AM on January 4, 2008. I don't recommend any of these videos.

The Perfect YouTube Video

2008-01-03T02:02:00.000-05:00

The Internet is not a kind place, and most YouTube videos are shit. Then why speak poorly of a relatively good video? Why needlessly foster ill will (apart from this annoying reason)?

Because "YouTube Is My Life" is not perfect. But Nalts, a so-called weblebrity, had this to say about it:

"I’m on a mad campaign to get this featured by YouTube editors because it’s just perfect. Clever, well produced, fantastic cameos by some YouTube weblebrities (TheHill88, MarkDay and Sean Bedlam). It’s a totally addictive song, it’s well lit, the sound effects are fantastic, the acting is dead pan, the humor is intellectual, the camera movements are thoughtful, and the stop-animated finger puppets are just plain cute." (Emphasis added)

Perfect? Perfect this video is not. It's mildly amusing. I did not, unlike several commenters on the video, want my five minutes back. But the song is certainly not "totally addictive," the acting is not at all dead pan, and I would not recommend you watch it.

Like many communities (college campuses come to mind), YouTube has subcultures that are strongly insular. I guess "YouTube Is My Life" hits a demographic of viewers who really love talking about YouTube, but using YouTube as subject matter here only serves the purpose of self-promotion (unlike YouTube War). In fact, it seems like the purpose of Nalts's "mad campaign" is not just to get this video featured, but to have his name attached to it.

Legendary Creature Caught on Tape

2008-01-01T16:09:00.000-05:00

Here's a recent video from ThoseLilRabbits. It is shocking new footage of a long-forgotten beast.

Good performances, good use of a shitty camera, good concept. Notice how someone left a comment asking whether it was staged or not.

Sexual Intercourse: American Style

2007-12-29T14:14:00.000-05:00

Here is the first in Mitch Magee's great series "Sexual Intercourse: American Style," which was created for Channel102. It's not exactly the newest video around, but I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it. It's about a group of swingers and the troubles they face.

Review: High Times Editorial Office

2007-12-24T01:17:00.000-05:00

I can't say I'm normally a fan of CollegeHumor, but this popular series (which by now, you've probably either heard of or seen) stands out as one of the best serials on the web. The videos give a fictional glimpse into the innards of the High Times editorial office, taking The Office as its model (sort of--mostly just the opening music and title).

Thanks to a credits feature CHTV has added, I can attribute the great writing to Dan Gurewitch with additional material from Streeter Seidell, and credit Ben Schwartz with a strong performance as the boss. My only criticism is that many of the stoner jokes seem derivative or hackneyed, for example: obsession with decriminalization, fascination with spectrum inversion, listening to Phish (does anyone still get high and do this?). On the whole, it's funny stuff.

Episode 1:

Episode 2:

Episode 3:

I'm gonna marry Christmas

2007-12-22T02:19:00.000-05:00

Here's the first of what I'm sure will be many holiday-themed video selections this week. This video is from Knox's Korner, also known as Robert Benfer. The bulk of his work is claymation; this video is not.

Music Video: "Feeling Good"

2007-12-19T15:03:00.000-05:00

Some MFA students at the School of Visual Arts made this music video for Nina Simone's "Feeling Good." From the YouTube description: "The assignment was to create a music video using just type and typographic elements in black and white."

Massive Head Trauma

2007-12-18T16:07:00.000-05:00

Here's a video I just found by Sue Galloway. It's a video about how you can recover from massive head trauma at home.

Sue Galloway can also be seen in this video, "Baby Party." You can also go vote for this video at FunnyOrDie.com.

Notes and Vids

2007-12-18T01:24:00.000-05:00

Instead of a regular video post, I decided to just give some links to videos and some sort-of news. First, some videos:

If you're of a philosophical bent (especially if you like Nietzsche), watch this Kant Attack Ad
This meth ad spoof on MyspaceTV is funny
Waverly's The Hauntening, which apparently everyone has seen

And "What if There's Bears," the video recommended in my first post ever, was an Adam McKay pick at FunnyOrDie.

House of Cosbys

2007-12-16T12:58:00.000-05:00

Since it's Sunday and I should be studying for exams, how about the four-part classic from Channel101? Here they all are:

Episode 1:

Episode 2:

Episode 3:

Episode 4:

YouTube War

2007-12-15T03:15:00.000-05:00

The most recent (although three months old) video from cutmanfilms, makers of the "Most Awkward Boy in the World" series. Featuring Chris Gethard, Zach Woods, and Gil Ozeri.

Ballad of the Beard

2007-12-14T09:28:00.000-05:00

By Nate Dern, former Daily Show intern and Beauty and the Geek contestant.