Christian Bale Top 10 List...

In case you've been living in a cave for the past 7 days...
Here's a quick recap of all the REALLY important stuff that you might have missed...

Christian Bale, like, totally freaked out and he was, like, totally cursing out this guy, like, on the set of Terminator 4 and now it's, like, totally all over the internet and, like, people have been totally making fun of it all week and it's, like, totally funny now!

There now you're caught up.

It was a pretty jacked up rant, and so it is certainly understanding that it should gain significant attention, but seriously... how much can we really milk this event for comedic content??

Well... it turns out... the mine runs pretty deep!


In just under a week Christian Bale has inspired countless re-enactments, mash-ups with other celebrity rants, re-imaginings involving donuts and Elmo, homage videos by other actors, cable TV comedy skits, network TV comedy skits, a new dance club hit, and he's been Rick-rolled!

In fact... Sony Pictures is even trying to market on this event by running Google search ads AND YouTube search ads saying "Christian Bale... gets all 'Fired Up'!" - but these links just take you to ads for "Fired Up" which is a movie about High School boys trying to bed cheerleaders (I'm not sure I get the Christian Bale connection ... You'd think they'd be driving traffic to something for T4)?!?

Since there is such a plethora of material now available on the subject of Christian Bale's angry tirade, I figured I'd help you out by providing a resource for easily locating the important items.

Here's my Top 10 list:

#10
Maybe this is how it looked on the set?! - Probably not, but its fun to watch someone lipsynch to the audio standing in an industrial park and carrying a massive weapon Terminator style. Not too creative though...

#9
What if he just had a really nasty hankerin' for some donuts?!

#8
Mash-up with Bale and Lilly Tomlin going toe-to-toe - definitely interesting... this one sounds like it just might have happened... though I think they both might've forgotten exactly what it is they're arguing about the dialogue gets kinda circular.

#7
The movie studio responds! - sort of...

#6
Christian Bale berates "David After Dentist" - A quality mash-up! Two internet phenoms in one!

#5
Christian Bale's "sister" freaks out on her dogs - funny stuff!

#4
Now wait... I'm confused... Why is Batman yelling at Elmo while being chased by a midget?? - Oh yeah... because it's REALLY FUNNY!!

#3
Killer dance re-mix by RuPaul's producer RevoLucian - with bonus points for political relevance; the track is titled "Bale Out"!

#2
The Colbert Report goes all Christian Bale on guest Steve Martin

#1
What happens when Christian Bale becomes unemployed - WOW! If you've ever been to Hollywood & Highland and seen the "movie characters" that pose for photos on the street... YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!! BRILLIANT!!



Also ran:

- Michael Cera gets props for his pop culture savvy, but he's just too nice to be believable in this send-up

- "YouTube News" interviews the Bale and the Governator about T4 - This one almost made the list, but I could only take so much of the annoying hosts making faces at the camera... so close.

- Mash-up with Bale and Bill O'Riley going at it - good thought, but not real convincing... ho, hum... yawn...

- Another reenactment/reinterpretation - production quality stinks, but the DP in this is entertaining; he just can't let go of his crappy little light.


Why...
- Christian Bale gets Rick-rolled - Why??... Who started this? Why does anyone continue it? It's stupid. It's not even funny. Give it up. Let it die. Just let it die. Please...


p.s. - For reference... This is the original audio track of Bale's tirade.

Mindy Kaling. Web Series. That's It.

House Poor: Episode One.


"It's like someone's kicking you in the stomach, but you like it."
LINKS:
Strike TV: House Poor (website)
Things I've Bought That I Love (Mindy Kaling's blog, which does exactly as it says on the tin.)

Laugh Riot - Laugh Yoga

Dr. Madan Kataria, M.D. started a new kind of yoga called "Laugh Yoga." He was always a man who preached that laughter is the truly best medicine. For someone who wanted to be able to practice what he preached, he started a group to do just that. Every morning in India crowds of people meet with the doctor before their day begins in order to make silly faces, talk in gibberish... and laugh.

Here is a video of the man himself:

Hillary Kimblin, a Vedic healer and massage therapist studied under Dr. Kataria to obtain her certificate in order to be a Laugh Yoga teacher. Once a month she leads what she calls a "networking party" where people from all over California come to participate in her guided Laugh Yoga. The session lasts about an hour, is free of charge, and there are always little nibbles beforehand.

I recently went last week and found the experience to be as fun and rewarding as the website promises. People of all ages and colors were there and the atmosphere was warm, fun, and... funny. As a comedian I was very doubtful that these strangers were gonna get into my funny bone, but the yoga is not about jokes, it's about silly. And the silly works! By the end of the session I was crying from laughing so hard.

Even John Cleese agrees that laughter is the best medicine. Check out this video where he visits Dr. Kataria in India.

For more information on the monthly meeting/ Hilary/ and how you can attend,
visit: http://yogaunderthetrees.com/laughter.html

Uncle Jay Explains the conventions!

For those of you who don't know my Uncle Jay...

My Uncle Jay is a really great person. I like Uncle Jay really a lot. He's a really, really great grown-up person. Anytime I am confused about stuff he does a really, really good job to explain it to me good so it all makes sense. He's the bestest. I like Uncle Jay.

Uncle Jay has his website and he makes video stories for me to learn all about the news each week. I really like my Uncle Jay! You can see him too at UncleJayExplains.com!

I like my Uncle Jay.

And I like his story this week about the conventionses.



p.s. - In case you are dense... this is not really my uncle, but I wish he were! I highly recommend visiting Uncle Jay's website every Monday to get caught up on the week's important news! If you're too lazy to go to the website, you can just subscribe to his video podcast and have it download automatically!

p.p.s. - You definitely need to go view his episode from July 2nd, 2007! This is Uncle Jay at his BEST!

Enjoy!

Thursday at the Largo -- HUMAN GIANT

Everybody's favorite latter-day MTV comedy trio Human Giant -- Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, and Paul Scheer -- will be performing live at the Largo this Thursday night. Wikipedia claims that they're also a staple of the New York stand-up scene, and since we're loathe to question the veracity of mob-oriented reference works we'll assume that must be the case. Hopefully, this means they'll be every bit as funny in person as they are the small screen.

If you've yet to see a Human Giant episode then I can but pity you, and direct you forthwith to the YouTube clips embedded within this very article.


Need another reason to go? How about guest appearances from Mindy Kaling (Kelly from The Office) and Thomas Lennon (of The State and Reno 911 fame). Also "very special guests," which tends to be stand-up comedy-speak for "people you've never heard of but who are friends of the guys on stage so why not invite them up and maybe they'll be funny too."


WHERE: The Largo at the Coronet Theater
WHEN: Thursday, August 26 2008 @ 9pm
PRICE: $25
MORE INFO: Largo Website

Return of the Urban Haute Bourgeoisie!

Whit Stillman's "Metropolitan"
Hulu.com seems determined to prove itself an unexpected asset to the human race. First, they agreed to provide hosting services for Joss Whedon's amazingly amazing supervillian musical Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog ; now, they've put up the entirety of Metropolitan, Whit Stillman's 1990 comedic masterpiece, free for your viewing pleasure.


"You don't have to have read a book to have an opinion on it."
(The guiding philosophy of most of my college essays.)
Stillman has thus far only directed three films, what he calls his "comedy of mannerlessness" trilogy, each of which chronicles the waning days of a particular social schema. Barcelona, set in the 80's, is about the end of the Spanish sexual revolution; The Last Days of Disco, set in the 70's, kind of lets you know what you're in for right in the title; and Metropolitan, set in the 60's, details the final years of the bourgeoisie "debutante" culture.

The appeal of these films lie with Stillman's own particular brand of comedy, which is like a cross between a Woody Allen film, a Jane Austen novel, and a particularly observant New Yorker cartoon. It's a dry wit that plays upon the intelligence and self-awareness of its viewer, as in this scene, where one of the New York "preppies" bemoans the inappropriateness of that descriptor, and proposes what he believes to be a more dignified alternative:


"The term is brilliant, and long overdue."
LINKS:
Metropolitan on Hulu
Metropolitan Criterion Collection DVD
Barcelona DVD
Whit Stillman Interview at IFC.com

Drunk History...with the illustrious Jen Kirkman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqzUI1ihfpk

Wait Till Bigus Dickus Hears of This

Continuing his quest to -- depending how you look at it -- keep alive the flame of Monty Python / degrade the memory of everything beautiful and subversive about Monty Python by turning it into a fucking musical, Eric Idle will unleash "Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)" tomorrow night at the Hollywood Bowl. It's billed as a concert oratorio combining Handel's "Messiah" and the best bits from Monty Python's Life of Brian -- arguably one of the greatest movies about religion ever made, and certainly the funniest.

I have some serious reservations about whether one of the world's few perfect films truly needs to be reimagined as a concert piece, which are only slightly offset by the moderate self-loathing I feel for wanting to attend anyway. (For what it's worth, a recent Washington Post review of the D.C. performance was positively glowing, but then again this is from the same paper that called The Dark Knight "a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war.")



WHERE: The Hollywood Bowl
WHEN: This Friday, August 1st at 8:30pm
COST: $10 - $110, depending upon seating / wallet size
MORE INFO: Hollywood Bowl Website

Sing Along With the Horrible Doctor

Following some unfortunate technical glitches, the first two parts of Joss Whedon's three-part web serial Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog have finally dropped online, and they are awesome.

Horrible is the story of the titular Doctor ("with a PhD in Horribleness"), a wanna-be mad scientist desperate for membership in the Evil League of Evil; the girl at the laundromat he pines for but has never spoken to; and Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible's superheroic arch-nemesis. It is, naturally, a musical.

Those of you with social lives more active than my own might not instantly identify Joss Whedon as the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, recent Astonishing X-Men scribe, and co-writer of the first Toy Story movie. Whedon also wrote and directed Buffy's musical episode, which was notable not merely for featuring choreographed dancing vampires, but also for having songs that were actually, you know, good. Word on the street is that Dr. Horrible will see a DVD release in the near future, and feature a sung audio commentary.

WHERE: http://www.drhorrible.com

PRICE: Free until July 21st, or download the whole thing for just $4 on iTunes.

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS at The Largo -- Definitely / Maybe

New Zealand's fourth most popular novelty-folk duo are set to make a live appearance on the July 26th edition of the Greg Proops Chat Show at the Largo, in its new location at the Coronet theater. That show is, predictably, sold out.

But the Largo will also be hosting "The 1st National International New Zealand Day" on August 2nd. No schedule for the event has been posted online yet, but considering that the Conchords and the Largo have a lengthy history together, it wouldn't be a surprise if they made an appearance.

Tickets are still available, at $30 apiece.

More info: http://www.largo-la.com