The magnificence of the ’80s montage

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

If you’ve been a frequent visitor to the blog over the past month or so could probably tell, I’m a big fan of the ‘80s. But maybe I’ve been a little too subtle. I LOVE THE ‘80s!!! (Hopefully, VH1 hasn’t trademarked that yet, or else I’m in for some legal trouble.) Anyway, one of the coolest things about the ‘80s are the movies. It’s true, I didn’t get to some of them till much later — it took me until one random Friday night in grad school to finally sit down and watch “The Breakfast Club.” The stuff I loved, as any kid then did, was the action movies, with the colorful characters, cheesy dialogue and — best of all — the montage scenes. Ah, the montage. It doesn’t get more glorious than spliced-together scenes set to a rock anthem. Here are a few of my favorites. Don’t like ‘em? Well then, I’ll sic John Kreese here on ya. Sweep the leg, indeed.

Speaking of “The Karate Kid,” here is one of the best montages around, set to my current musical obsession of the moment. It’s a great scene: After spending most of the previous two hours getting his butt handed to him by pretty-boy California types, Daniel finally gets it into gear and breaks out the whuppin’ stick after some waxing on and off under Mr. Miyagi’s supervision. What’s truly scary is how Elisabeth Shue looks exactly the same now 24 years after this thing came out.

I have a hard time picking between two Rocky training montages. Here is the one from “Rocky III,” where Rocky gets some help from Apollo Creed in getting ready for his match with Clubber Lang, perhaps the dumbest name for a movie character ever. I pity the fool who came up with it! True, it is rockin’ with “Eye of the Tiger” but this one from “Rocky IV” has a bit more edge to it, as he goes all medieval in Russia to get ready for the monumental mano a mano with Ivan Drago.

Let’s stay with the Stallone oeuvre and go to our last one of the day, this time from “Over the Top,” the best arm-wrestling, bratty-kid-gets-over-himself flick ever made, hands (and arms) down. Again, this comes near the end of the movie when Lincoln Hawk (the second dumbest name for a movie character ever) gets to Vegas for the big honkin’ national arm-wrestling championship and the chance to take home a really big truck. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a truck. I particularly love the many veins popping out of biceps in this clip (even on a few women!) and you really get the feeling that this is truly the ultimate sporting event. Or maybe that’s just the effect Sammy Hagar has on me.

Suffice it to say, these are so pop-culturetastic that the “South Park” guys have even done a few hilarious odes to the montage, with this clip where Stan has to train for a ski race and this one — set to the awesome “Karate Kid” tune — where the boys just can’t lose in the Little League playoffs.

Got a favorite montage? Let me know in the comments or email novapoppin@gmail.com. In the meantime, here’s your video of the week:

Boosh smash Brian of 1970!

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

Remember that time I made myself an M&M character? Well, that got me looking to see where else I could make myself … something else! There are many, many of these sites out on the Internet and all of them are time wasters of the most entertaining sort.

First off, who doesn’t want to be a superhero. Maybe you wore those Underoos things when you were a kid (if you’re still wearing them now, it might be time to get some help), or live for Halloween. With the Marvel Create Your Own Superhero site, you can create your own avatar by using Iron Man, Spider-Man, the Hulk and other Marvel icons to mold your very own do-gooder. Or supervillain, if you’re so inclined. My alter ego over there on the right, The Boosh, is a little bit Hulk, a little bit Juggernaut and all coolness.

There’s also Yearbook Yourself, a site that lets you reinvent yourself for a new decade, say the ‘70s or ‘80s. (Seeing as how I actually graduated from high school in the ‘90s – and still have those unfortunate pics – I’ll avoid that time period altogether.) All you have to do is upload a pic of yourself, pick a mall (for some reason, Fair Oaks Mall is on the site – score for the locals!), choose a year and watch what unfolds. Some of the templates look better than others. Here is “me” from 1970, which actually looks a little TOO good. It might as well be a picture of my dad! Save and share them with your friends, and let the hijinks ensue.

In fact, I have an idea! Just for fun, go on and Yearbook Yourself – or create your own superhero – and send jpegs and files to novapoppin@gmail.com. We’ll post them in an upcoming blog. And of course if you want to create a “story” for your hero and/or time-traveled self, feel free! The more fun, the better.

Without further ado, your video of the week:

Blogs bring the funny

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Funny. Celebrity. Video blog. Hollywood types entertain us on screen – and sometimes unintentionally off screen in certain circumstances – but many have taken to the Internet to give us even more of their creativity. Which is why I hope you caught Joss Whedon’s “Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog” mini-movie when it was available for free streaming in July. If not, you can always download it on iTunes, but the “Buffy” creator gave us Neil Patrick Harris as a lovable supervillain, Nathan Fillion as his heroically smarmy foil (and obstacle to true love) and a work that proves word of mouth still rules on the web.

Love it? Then you’ll want to download the delightful and sometimes touching soundtrack off iTunes. (For those who live offline, there will be a CD and a DVD as well. But where’s the fun in that?)

Along the same lines, but much more viral and varying, is Funny or Die, a video-sharing site started by Will Ferrell’s production company. The site blew up with Ferrell and director pal Adam McKay’s “The Landlord,” starring the twosome and a potty-mouthed tyke. Now, it’s a place that hosts amateur brilliance from people just like you and me (only a lot funnier), gives them social networking and offers picks from Ferrell, McKay and new comedy juggernaut Judd Apatow. I especially like this one, where a bunch of people have placed themselves in the movie “Teen Wolf” – and actually made it a lot better than it ever was back in the day.

Apatow’s recent work only continues what Kevin Smith’s movies started in the ‘90s with “Clerks” and “Mallrats.” Silent Bob himself has gotten into the game with his SModcasts, paired with longtime producer/straight man/friend Scott Mosier. Each week, they riff on a host of topics, have been known to drop into faux German accents and play up movies that have gotten a bad rap. (We are talking about a pair of guys who did a “fan” commentary for a DVD release of “Road House.”) In short, they’re much like Smith’s flicks – hugely entertaining, with lots of male bonding, foul language and quippy repartee. Plus, you can subscribe to SModcasts on iTunes or Feedburner, or just simply download from the site.

What’s your favorite celebrity blog, video or otherwise? Make your voice known in the comments section or e-mail links and such to novapoppin@gmail.com.

Here is your video of the week, featuring some local celebrities and the hilarity that ensues when pro football players sit down for their fantasy football draft (hey kids, put on the earmuffs when you hear the saucy language!):

Where on the Web for Videos and Teen Girl Squad

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

Web Wednesday is here and I’ve got some cool and sometimes quirky web sites for y’all to check out. If any of you loyal NoVa Poppers run across a great viral video or a site that left you on the floor (or, in cyber-speak, made you ROFL), send the link to novapoppin@gmail.com. I’m always looking for something to keep me entertained through the day, and this way, we can share it with fellow readers. Everybody wins!

Speaking of videos, keeping YouTube, Hulu, Veoh and all these other sites straight takes a good amount of time. Well, consider yourself freed up – from flash video games to online movies, OVGuide keeps it all organized! There are more than 2,100 sites on the guide, widgets keep you apprised of what’s buzzworthy and what people are watching, and offers a comprehensive search engine. For video mavens, it’s a must-favorite on your browser.

MTV.com has the new trailer here for the comedy “Role Models,” starring Seann William Scott (where the heck has he been?), the always-funny Paul Rudd and McLovin himself, Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Energy drink reps sign up for a Big Brother program – I think you can figure out the hilarity from there. The flick opens Nov. 14.

If you don’t know of “Teen Girl Squad,” go here now. Seriously. I’ll wait. From the dudes who brought you Homestar Runner and the charismatic Lucha Libre email guru Strong Bad, these very crude drawings of high school angst are priceless. The latest episode finds our four heroines studying for finals (“Hyper Fill in the Blank Barrage” was always my weakness, too) and trying to win boys on Yearbook Day. WOOT!

Premiering Sept. 7, HBO’s new series “True Blood” chronicles vampires down yonder in Louisiana and is based on the works of Charlaine Harris. The official site has new pages of a prequel comic book up every Wednesday, a store where you can get shirts and whatnot, and such other viral goodness as a vampire news site and a human/vampire dating service.

If you haven’t heard, there’s this little thing called the Olympics starting Friday. And sure, there’s about 147 trabillion cable channels that will be showing coverage of the events, but most will be taped (since the Summer Games are going on in China, and not around these parts). Thankfully, NBC is here to give us 2,200 hours of streaming broadband international sportage here. You know, if you can’t wait for all that exhaustive dressage coverage.

And here’s the video of the week, courtesy of well-dressed British funnyman Eddie Izzard: