Posts Tagged ‘funny’

An Oral History of Airplane!

Tuesday, April 21st, 2015

If you haven’t seen it already this Onion A/V Club oral history of the movie Airplane! is very much worth your time. Tidbits include:

  • Zucker and company wanted to do the film in black and white featuring a propeller plane, Paramount had to convince them to go modern.
  • David Letterman tested for the role of Ted Striker.
  • Teaching Barbara Billingsley to speak Jive.
  • The kid in the cockpit had no idea what Peter Graves’ was talking about when they were filming.
  • The secrets of Leslie Nielson’s handheld fart machine.
  • It’s a long piece, but well worth it…

    “They’re Depleting Our Strategic Velour Supply!”

    Tuesday, March 17th, 2015

    People impose their own sense of style (or lack thereof) on their homes. Sometimes the results are awesome.

    And sometimes they’re not. The theme of this house is “Velour.”

    Lots and lots and lots of velour.

    In some ways you have to admire the singular pursuit of their own vision. “Screw your definition of good taste! I like velour and my house is is going to have enough of it to crush an elephant!”

    (Hat tip: I think I originally saw this house on the now-deleted Lovely Listing site, from which I’ve shamelessly stolen the blog post title.)

    It’s Short, And I Laughed

    Thursday, October 30th, 2014

    Sometimes that’s enough…

    Two TV Artifacts From My Misspent Youth

    Thursday, September 25th, 2014

    There are two forthcoming TV show DVD sets that hearken back to the days of my youth:

    Recommended without qualification is the complete WKRP in Cincinnati with the original music restored. If it wasn’t the greatest sitcom of the late 1970s/early 1980s, it was certainly in the top 5.

    A bit more qualified recommendation for the complete 1960s Batman. Every significant dark, gritty Batman of the last 30 years (from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight to the Christopher Nolan trilogy, and even the Tim Burton movie) has been largely in reaction to this show’s campy tone. The show is very much a product of its time, but retains a certain charm for just that reason. Plus the cast of villains (Burgess Meredith, Vincent Price, Julie Numar, Frank Gorshin, etc.) draws from some of the very best character actors of the time.

    I’m sure either might make swell Christmas presents for someone you know…

    Bold New Frontiers in Cattle Rustling

    Friday, September 5th, 2014

    I think these guys could be in a Joe R. Lansdale story…

    John Belushi on The Luck of the Irish

    Monday, March 17th, 2014

    Because a lot of people have been searching for this on St. Patrick’s day, and the old video appears to have died, here’s a new version.

    Watch more video from the Top Picks channel on Frequency

    This Is Spinal Tap Turns 30

    Sunday, March 2nd, 2014

    Thirty years ago today, from the place eardrums go to die, the Greatest Mockumentary Ever Told premiered:

    Here’s Siskel & Ebert’s original review:

    And this is pretty much obligatory:

    LANDBOAT!

    Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

    Or should I say, L.A.N.D.B.O.A.T. Imagine someone entering the Bulwer Lytton contest trying to win the Men’s Adventure category, but instead of a single sentence, you get an entire chapter.

    Grid sat backwards on the bike, slinging Lily onto the seat in front of him like a sack of hamburger meat. Brick grimaced. He knew she was a prime cut of USDA Choice Angus steak. He wanted to put her in his mouth and taste her juices. But the steak would have to be for desert, because the main course was revenge. And that meal was about to be served. Cold. Like a chef salad or some other cold entrée.

    It’s pretty much all like that. It comes from Blood & Tacos, a site that celebrates Men’s Adventure.

    (Hat tip: Karl Rehn.)

    Real Norwegian Satanic Metal Band, or Amazing Parody of Same?

    Monday, April 15th, 2013

    Sometimes the line between the genuine article and inspired parody is so thin as to be non-existent. Here’s The Black Satans with “The Satan of Hell.”

    Nothing says “Dangerous Minions of Hell” quite like tossing snowballs, or banging a tree with a stick. But I bet if they tried harder, they could work in a few more Satans…

    The Nightmare Before St. Patrick’s Day

    Sunday, March 17th, 2013

    Just as a blind squirrel occasionally finds an acorn, so to does College Humor occasionally produce something that’s actually funny. “The Nightmare Before St. Patrick’s Day” is one of those time.