Sunday, February 28, 2010

Angry Loner's Viral Sickness

Every weekend, I scour the internets to find and post what I deem to be the "sickest" viral video on the web. Think of it as a condensed, 21st Century version of America's Home Videos, without the studio audience.

I spent a long time deliberating about this week's winner, since there were so many worthy contenders.

While I generally frown upon featuring clips from television shows in these posts, there are always exceptions that prove the rule. This week, there were two: a hilarious Daily Show interview with comic Tracy Morgan as well as a house full of down-and-out, possibly drug-addled musicians duking it out on Judge Judy.

I also couldn't resist recognizing this clever Legend of Zelda rap video. And, since I'm a sucker for amusing animal footage, I had to include this clip of one cat massaging another cat's back.

Macabre, revisionist, historical fiction was a definite theme this week as both Gone With the Wind and the life of Abraham Lincoln were re-imagined as Vampire epics. Now that's what I call Southern Gothic!

If those remakes weren't offbeat enough for you, we also saw how 80's screwball comedy Weekend at Bernie's might look if directed by Tim Burton. Even more bizarre still was actress Kirsten Dunst's harajuku cover of The Vapors' "Turning Japanese."

As entertaining as every single one of these offerings were, I felt one video stood apart from the rest. This week's grand prize goes to my old colleagues Dem Neistat Boyz (or one of them, anyway) for this well-produced, scientific study of internet video messaging service Chatroulette:


chat roulette from Casey Neistat on Vimeo.

Neistat's presentation was so clear and concise, the Democratic Party should hire him to make a commercial for health care reform!

Friday, February 26, 2010

Angry Loner's Movie Madness

Lately, I've been frustrated with the lack of quality cinema emerging from Hollywood. So, I spent an evening or two perusing upcoming movie trailers across the internet. What I saw was actually enough to get excited about. There is hope on the horizon, my fellow moviegoers!

In my opinion, the five most promising films coming out in the next few months are:


5. Hot Tub Time Machine (March 26)




4. Green Zone
(March 12)




3. Date Night
(April 9)




2. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (April 23)




1. Iron Man 2 (May 7)





Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Angry Loner's Netflix® Haiku of the Week

Every Wednesday, I recommend a movie that I missed in the theater but ended up being worth a spot in my Netflix® queue.

Since I wholeheartedly agree with Shakespeare's axiom that brevity is the soul of wit, all of my reviews are submitted in haiku form. Without further adieu, here's today's pick:


The Hurt Locker (Action/War, 2009)

This Iraq War film's
Tense, documentary style
Grabs you by the throat



NOTE: While I receive no compensation for endorsing Netflix®, I believe they provide an excellent service at a reasonable price. And I appreciate that. Especially in this economy...

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Angry Loner's Viral Sickness

Every weekend, I scour the internets to find and post what I deem to be the "sickest" viral video on the web. Think of it as a condensed, 21st Century version of America's Home Videos, without the studio audience.

This week, the elderly were represented extremely well on the internets. We saw Boston's "Fightin' Granny" fend off a would be robber as well as His Holiness The Dalai Lama engage The White House Press Corps in a playful snowball fight.

Today's runner-up is an amusing animated short produced by the publishers of Cyanide & Happiness, a very clever web comic that one of my closest friends introduced me to.

However, since I'm a sucker for stop-motion animation, this Suday's grand prize goes to the inventive and ambitious endeavor of baking cookies with Adobe's renowned Photoshop® software:


Adobe Photoshop Cook from Lait Noir on Vimeo.

Now if we could only get those cookies in 3D...

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Angry Loner's Netflix® Haiku of the Week

Every Wednesday, I recommend a movie that I missed in the theater but ended up being worth a spot in my Netflix® queue.

Since I wholeheartedly agree with Shakespeare's axiom that brevity is the soul of wit, all of my reviews are submitted in haiku form. Without further adieu, here's today's pick:


Cape Fear (Psychological Thriller, 1991)

With Hitchcock's prowess
Scorsese and De Niro
Do Southern Gothic



NOTE: While I receive no compensation for endorsing Netflix®, I believe they provide an excellent service at a reasonable price. And I appreciate that. Especially in this economy...

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Angry Loner's Viral Sickness

Every weekend, I scour the internets to find and post what I deem to be the "sickest" viral video on the web. Think of it as a condensed, 21st Century version of America's Home Videos, without the studio audience.

First off, honorable mention goes to a clever piece I've dubbed "Snowpocalypse Now" for its inventive use of time-lapse videography.

Moving on, today's finalists include a pair of Japanese felines as well as a montage of, and homage to, one of the most notorious horror movie clichés in cinema history.

In the end, as strange and intriguing as the Tokyo Zoo's escaped tiger drill was, unbridled cuteness won out.

This Sunday's grand prize goes to a video, which possesses that rare combination of amusing animal footage, overly enthusiastic narration, hilarious sound effects and in-your-face graphic design:



I'm just going to call it "Super-extra-special-wonder-kitty!!!"

Friday, February 12, 2010

Angry Loner's Top Five Date Movies

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'm posting my top five, all-time favorite date movies. These are the kind of romantic films that I like to show a girl on the first or second date, to let her know what I'm all about.


5. Last House on the Left



4. Straw Dogs



3. Blue Velvet



2. Natural Born Killers



1. True Romance



These films will demonstrate to your partner what a sensitive, sensual lover you are; guaranteeing that your Valentine's Day lasts well on into the night. And maybe even the next morning...

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Angry Loner's Netflix® Haiku of the Week

Every Wednesday, I recommend a movie that I missed in the theater but ended up being worth a spot in my Netflix® queue.

Since I wholeheartedly agree with Shakespeare's axiom that brevity is the soul of wit, all of my reviews are submitted in haiku form. Without further adieu, here's today's pick:


The International (Action/Thriller, 2009)

Shootouts, car chases
A tense, globetrotting thrill ride
Clive Owen kicks ass



NOTE: While I receive no compensation for endorsing Netflix®, I believe they provide an excellent service at a reasonable price. And I appreciate that. Especially in this economy...

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Oceanic 815: Side by Side

To celebrate the latest installment of the Lost saga, airing tonight, I posted this video I recently found on YouTube. It's a comparison between the opening sequences of the pilot episode and last week's Season 6 premiere, "LAX:"



Spooky, right? I'm really liking this season's Donnie Darko-esque, tangent universe theme.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Angry Loner's Viral Sickness

Every weekend, I scour the internets to find and post what I deem to be the "sickest" viral video. Think of it as a condensed, 21st Century version of America's Home Videos, without the studio audience.

Over the past few days, the internets yielded everything from hot, drunk chicks eating cinnamon to new footage of two Starfleet Captains. Yes, last week we saw Sir Patrick Stewart riffing on modern technology (awesome) while William Shatner lent his vocal talents to WWE Superstar entrance themes (bizarre).

However, in honor of today's big game, the grand prize goes to Slate.com for their brilliant piece, "If Filmmakers Directed the Super Bowl:"



My prediction? Saints 35, Colts 27 in a shoot-out.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Epic Passages

I've been looking for a way to incorporate books into this site and finally came up with "Epic Passages." Every so often, I'll be posting an excerpt from one of my favorite novels that I find especially salient. Today's pick:

Libra by Don DeLillo

"This was the year he rode the subway to the ends of the city, two hundred miles of track. He liked to stand at the front of the first car, hands flat against the glass. The train smashed through the dark. People stood on local platforms staring nowhere, a look they'd been practicing for years. He kind of wondered, speeding past, who they really were. His body fluttered in the fastest stretches. They went so fast sometimes he thought they were on the edge of n0-control. The noise was pitched to a level of pain he absorbed as a personal test. Another crazy-ass curve. There was so much iron in the sound of those curves he could almost taste it, like a toy you put in your mouth when you are little.

Workmen carried lanterns along adjacent tracks. He kept a watch for sewer rats. A tenth of a second was all it took to see a thing complete. Then the express stations, the creaky brakes, people bunched like refugees. They came wagging through the doors, banged against the rubber edges, inched their way in, were quickly pinned, looking out past the nearest heads into that practiced oblivion.

It had nothing to do with him. He was riding just to ride."

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Angry Loner's Netflix® Haiku of the Week


Every Wednesday, I recommend a movie that I missed in the theater but ended up being worth a spot in my Netflix® queue.

Since I wholeheartedly agree with Shakespeare's axiom that brevity is the soul of wit, all of my reviews are submitted in haiku form. Without further adieu, here's today's pick:


Extract (Comedy, 2009)

Director Mike Judge
Of Office Space fame is back
Jason Bateman shines



NOTE: While I receive no compensation for endorsing Netflix®, I believe they provide an excellent service at a reasonable price. And I appreciate that. Especially in this economy...