Crushable » YouTube

‘Lana Del Rey’s Hunger Games‘ Is A Hilarious Dual Parody

Natalie Zutter — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:13:50 +0000

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Second City comedienne Holly Laurent looked on Google Trends and threw two popular topics together: Maligned singer Lana Del Rey and the much-anticipated Hunger Games movie. And yet, instead of being shameless linkbait, it works!

Laurent has smartly edited the footage from the two Hunger Games trailers to make it resemble the supposed earthiness of Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” music video, but she also pops in playing the singer. And while the lyrics at first sound weepy, there’s an edge to them: Lines like “a pita is a pouch of bread, but that’s his name” and “Panem is a place that’s fake but true” show that she’s willing to mock both of the hot-topic pieces. (And maybe this is wishful thinking, but Hunger Games fans will remember that in the new trailer Katniss is wearing a yellow dress; if Laurent’s yellow dress is a homage to that, then she’s a genius.)

It ends a little abruptly, but we hope that Laurent makes a follow-up once the next trailer comes out—or even after we see the whole film on March 23. In the meantime, you can check out her work with Chicago improv troupe The Reckoning.

What’s also interesting to note is that LDR’s other song “Born to Die” has been making the rounds on YouTube, with Hunger Games fans mashing it up with the actual trailer. So, kudos.

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Michael Stipe Pissed At Youtube For Rejecting Homoerotic Album Promo

Jamie Peck — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:42:31 +0000

R.E.M.‘s Michael Stipe has long been shy about discussing his sexuality publicly, but that all changed with a 2008 Spin interview in which he said he realized that “to have public figures be very open about their sexuality helps some kid somewhere out there.” Since then, he’s become increasingly vocal about all the anti-gay bigotry that exists in the world, most recently in reference to Youtube‘s rejection of a promo clip for upcoming album Put Your Back N 2 It by indie pop band Perfume Genius.

Although it’s not particularly explicit, Youtube told the band’s label Matador Records that it wasn’t “family safe”:

The ad has been disapproved because it violates our Adult Image/Video Content policy. Per this policy, video content, audio, static imagery, and site content must be family safe. Any ads that contain non family safe material are disapproved… the overall feeling of the video is one of a more adult nature, including promoting mature sexual themes and what appears to be nude content. As such, the video is non family safe. In order to have this video ad approved, you will need to bring it into compliance with our policy.

Here’s the clip in question:

Perfume Genius ad from nils bernstein on Vimeo.

Pretty tame, right? I can’t imagine they would have rejected a straight version of that. Sure, one of the men is gay porn star Arpad Miklos, but porn stars are allowed to be on Youtube, provided they keep their naughty bits covered (as the many clips of “Sasha Grey on Sasha Grey” would attest).

Michael Stipe was understandably pissed about this, and posted this cutting paragraph to his blog last night:

I’ve been listening to the new Perfume Genius record all last week in Mexico, it is a beautiful and amazing record and a stunning 2nd album and achievement. But in trying to advertise the record and first video, this short clip has been banned by YouTube. For YouTube to deem this advertisement as “non family safe” is dumbheaded discrimination; I find their actions in doing so disgraceful and cowardly. YouTube, shame on you. You were born of the 21st Century, now act like it.

Indeed. For a website that gladly helps circulate “It Gets Better” videos, Youtube is not actually doing much to make things better for LGBT folk.

(Via Pitchfork)

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The Daily WTF: This Girl Can Sneeze With Her Eyes Open

Natalie Zutter — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:27:24 +0000

When we were kids, we cowered in fear of the urban legend that if you try and force your eyes open while you sneeze, your eyes will pop open and you’ll have no hope for a decent life outside of working at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum. However, a new video (via The Daily What) shows that some people are born with this innate ability. It just so happens that they also look like the devil.

YouTuber jaadalade seems to have recently harnessed the power to not only sneeze with her eyes open, but to purposely induce that sneeze. Unlike my go-to method of looking at the sun, she tickles her nose with a tissue until the sneeze comes, hard enough to rattle the camera on her computer.

I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty terrifying. But you’ve got to appreciate jaadalade’s sense of showmanship: Even as her face is starting to wrinkle up pre-sneeze, she pushes her hair out of the way so that viewers can still see her face.

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‘Sh-t Nobody Says’ Puts The Nail In The Coffin Of The ‘Sh-t Girls Say’ Meme

Natalie Zutter — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:44:36 +0000

You may have thought that the “Shit Girls Say” meme — including gay guys, white girls to black girls and girls to their gay boyfriends — would continue on ad infinitum like Nyan Cat, but it turns out there is a clear-cut ending to this craziness.

“Shit Nobody Says” is like the anti-meme: It uses the same formula of a stereotypical person running through relatable phrases, except that they’re things none of us would dare utter. What makes it funny is that it’s the opposite of each one that we would actually use as a conversation piece. Case in point:

“Hey, can I burn a copy of your Nickelback CD?”

“I completely understand my taxes.”

“Does anyone know how I can make Papyrus my default font?”

“I hope he’ll call and ask me to help him move.”

“I’m thinking of ditching my iPhone so I can use Boost Mobile.”

“TLI!”

Bravo, Tripp and Tyler at dontbethatguyfilms.

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‘Sh-t Gay Guys Say’ Piggybacks On The Success Of ‘Sh-t Girls Say,’ But It’s Also Funny

Natalie Zutter — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:26:52 +0000

YouTube comedian and actor Jeffery Self has experience playing “sassy gay hairstylists and waiters” on television, so we trust him to know what the stereotypes are when it comes to queer characters. Enter “Shit Gay Guys Say,” a video Jeffery shot where he rattles off the usual catchphrases and asides that gay men say. This is an obvious rip-off of the viral video “Shit Girls Say,” but luckily for Jeffery, it’s also very funny.

Jeffery’s trying to launch a web series, and this video was his ticket to doing that: He’s exceeded his IndieGoGo goal of $2,500 with six days left. In the campaign video he says that the series will be about all of the pop culture he already obsessively tweets about. Hopefully there’ll be another installment of “Shit Gay Guys Say”!

And here’s the original video:

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Will.I.Am And Other Celebs Say Megaupload Used Their Likenesses In Jingle Without Their Permission

Natalie Zutter — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:28:20 +0000

Remember the bizarre, celebrity-studded Megaupload jingle we posted yesterday? If you thought it seemed too good to be true that the likes of Kim Kardashian, Macy Gray, and P. Diddy would be endorsing a file-sharing site in addictive song form… you’re probably right. THR reports that several of the celebrities featured in the video filed takedown notices against the video on YouTube, as did Universal Music Group. The most surprising, however, was will.i.am, who provides the song’s backbone. (“M-E-G-A, upload to me today / Send me a fiiiile, Megauuupload”)

The reports on this vary: will.i.am’s lawyer Ken Hertz filed a takedown request last week; he told THR that his client never consented to the specifics of the “Megaupload Mega Song.” However, Megaupload’s lawyer Ira Rothken countered by saying, “Each of the other artists, including Will.i.am signed a broad written agreement allowing the use of their likeness and their statements in the context of the video.”

So that must be the problem, that the artists who signed this very broad agreement didn’t realize they’d be participating in a cheesy advertisement. If you watch the video, you’ll see that they essentially Auto-Tuned will.i.am for part of the video. But again, you have him singing the chorus; that can’t be faked.

As for the other celebrities, there’s a mix of stars who obviously knew that they were filming endorsements, like Ciara and Game. But a few others, like Kim Kardashian, seem to be spliced from existing interviews. UMG maintains that several of its artists “never consented to being portrayed in this video,” but it’s not clear if they have a case.

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Video: George Takei Ends Star Wars/Star Trek Feud By Suggesting Nerds Turn Against Twillight

Natalie Zutter — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:49:26 +0000

Long before Twihards battled Hunger Games fans for dominance, the original geek fan face-off was Star Wars versus Star Trek. It’s not surprising: Both have introduced famous depictions of sci-fi, with heroes we love and canon we follow. So it’s understandable for the fans to nitpick over which is better. But when the actors involved join the debate and call each other out, then it just gets ugly.

Last week, William Shatner and Carrie Fisher traded a series of videos in which they mocked each other’s series: Shatner called Star Wars derivative of Star Trek, while Carrie mocked Shatner’s weight. They might have been only playfully joking, but it just made everyone on the Internet incredibly uncomfortable.

Film critic Roger Ebert even weighed in on the developing feud, writing, One can only hope George Takei can be brought in to broker a peace settlement before blood is shed. Well, here’s Takei to the rescue! The man who once played Lt. Sulu on Star Trek posted the video below where he tells Carrie and William to simmer down and consider that both of their series are masterpieces, especially compared to the current cash cow Twilight.

Takei, a fan favorite, is quickly becoming known for these quick, witty videos in which he represents for both the geek world and the LGBT community. He manages to join in on serious issues while still retaining some wryness so that he won’t alienate viewers.

“Gone is any sense of heroism, camaraderie, or epic battle,” he says. “In its place we have vampires that sparkle and mope and go to high school… In Twilight, the only message that rings out loud and clear is, ‘Does my boyfriend like me?’” (Great Kristen Stewart impression, btw.)

The best part that shows that the two fandoms can coexist is when Takei ends the video with “And may the Force be with you.” Which only serves to show that Star Wars is better, obviously.

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Fund The Chronicles Of Rick Roll On IndieGoGo And Help Bring Internet Memes To Hollywood

Natalie Zutter — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:58:14 +0000

This spring, we learned about an awesome new project slowly coming to fruition: The Chronicles of Rick Roll, a feature-length action movie starring Internet memes and YouTube stars like Antoine “Bed Intruder” Dodson, Bear “Double Rainbow” Vasquez, David After Dentist, and so many more. At the time, NURV had released only a concept trailer in which we learned that Rick Rolland has to travel to a distant land populated by Internet memes in order to save Allison.

The movie is a mix of Alice in Wonderland, The Chronicles of Narnia, and the filmmakers’ own brand of tongue-in-cheek fantasy. They’ve spent the last six months working on a full-length screenplay, and now the project needs financial backers.

To that end, NURV has emulated other aspiring filmmakers/artists by setting up an IndieGoGo campaign: They’re trying to raise $100,000 by March 27, 2012. That’s not even their full budget, but their hope is to use the money raised through IndieGoGo to produce additional concept footage and another trailer, as well as to travel to Hollywood to pitch to bigwigs. (Though they claim to have interest from “A-list Hollywood talent and top industry professionals,” they haven’t named names.) Incentives include T-shirts, posters, and possibly a signed copy of the script.

NURV has uploaded a new video showing the behind-the-scenes process of shooting the original trailer:

Writer-producer-mastermind Andrew Fischer – who played Rick in the concept trailer but will leave that role for someone else to fill in the movie — says, “We’re ready to bring on producers and talent to get things moving… A lot of our fans have said they would like to get behind us and make this happen.”

Sure, it looks cheesy—but at the same time, it stars Internet celebrities that you already know you find funny. (Together, they have a combined 2 billion views on YouTube, which is nothing to shake a stick at.) Doesn’t a passion project starring the Numa Numa guy and Daft Hands deserve to be made instead of Alvin and the Chipmunks 3: Chipwrecked?

It sure as hell does.

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These Social Media Sneakers Are Awesome

Natalie Zutter — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:50:45 +0000

I’m not usually one for shoes with some sort of decoration or gimmick: Whether they’ve got Justin Bieber or the New Moon lovingly painted on them, they’ll all eventually go out of style and then I’m the idiot who has to keep walking around in them until the soles actually wear down. But I’m tempted to change my mind for these special “social media” Keds from graphic designer Lumen Bigott.

I need these Twitter shoes more than I need any other social media accessory. The color! The whale!

The Flickr set is an especially inspired choice with the dots and color scheme.

But then I just noticed the little “friend request” icon on the Facebook shoes, and… I want these, too.

The saddest part? They’re just concept art. But how about Keds (or TOMS, even) snatches up Lumen’s idea and pays him a bunch of cash to make this a reality? From the positive response, I bet enough people would want to buy the kicks.

[via]

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It’s Scary How Well Disney And Sin City Match Up In This Trailer Mash-Up

Natalie Zutter — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 19:03:01 +0000

Oh Disney, will you ever not be the perfect way to reimagine gritty movies that are way inappropriate for your intended audience? First there was the Sucker Punch trailer set to Disney princesses; now, it’s footage from Beauty and the Beast, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Aladdin, and other classics acting out Sin City.

YouTube user ChiefBrodyRules is a genius with video editing: The lines match up with the characters almost perfectly, which makes it really easy to believe that underneath the cheery Disney songs there lies a hardboiled, noirish mystery.

Flavorwire says that Sin City is one of the few movies to give them nightmares. You know what I have to say to that? The Great Mouse Detective – which is sampled a lot here — is what used to terrify me. So, we’re both scared.

Also, in case you missed it the first time: Disney princesses as the ladies of Sin City.

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