Come on, you had to know that this was going to make it in. I can only assume that from now (or more accurate, last December) until the day I pass on from this world, Decembers will be synonymous with Star Wars. Last year's The Force Awakens kicked off the run of new Star Wars films scheduled to be released every year until 2019 (though we all know that Disney will continue to milk this cash cow until the chickens come home to roost). Regardless, let the hype train for Rogue One leave the station NOW!
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The good people at the isthishowyougoviral YouTube channel are back and this time, Bert and Ernie are here to regulate some fools.
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I'm laying on the Star Wars hype thick in this edition of Drop a Like as the guys over at ScreenJunkies released an Honest Trailer for The Force Awakens and not too surprisingly; it is an awful lot like A New Hope.
It's time for another edition of "Drop a Like", my bi-weekly look at the YouTube videos I felt the need to share, let's get started:
Our first video is a trip down (a slightly altered) memory lane as Jimmy Fallon and actor, rapper, and voice actor(?) Ice T reflect upon some of Ice T's work as the voice of many of our childhood icons. It goes without saying that things are not as we remember.
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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is finally in theaters this weekend and the reviews have not been so kind to the DC Comics/Warner Bros. movie tasked with setting the foundation for the DC Comics cinematic universe. Of course, the poor reviews are not entirely lost on Ben Affleck as demonstrated by his reaction when questioned about the topic. (Almost assuredly, the facial expression is not an actual representation of his feelings about the movie or the reviews. I mean, Affleck did star in Daredevil and directed and star in Gigli--I think he can handle some criticism.) Anyways, cue the Simon and Garfunkle!
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Our final video of the week comes courtesy of Vox and my newest favorite source of news and political commentary, Liz Plank. In the premiere episode of her latest YouTube project, 2016ish, Plank sits down with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada to discuss a number of topics including the potential influx of American immigrants into Canada following the 2016 Presidential Election. Now, I try not to get too political in my entertainment columns but it is a fun, interesting, and informative video involving one of the rising stars in North American (if not, global) politics.
What is up? Welcome to the debut edition of a new feature on J+30: Drop a Like. I spend a lot of time on YouTube and throughout the course of any week (or two), I come across a number of videos that I genuinely like or are buzzworthy. Anyways, Drop a Like is where a select a handful of videos from the week past (or since the previous edition of Drop a Like since I am considering making this a bi-weekly feature) that enjoyed and share them with you with some commentary on why I felt the need to share it with you.
Alright, the explanation is finished, let's get to the videos!
Personally, the most significant video to drop this week on YouTube was Marvel's latest trailer for Captain America: Civil War. In this latest trailer, viewers saw more Black Panther, more Captain America battling Iron Man, Ant Man being fired from one of Hawkeye's arrow shots, and FINALLY, MOTHERF-CKING SPIDER-MAN! Yes, the wall crawler made his first appearance under the Marvel banner and it was brief but still pretty awesome. In case you were not aware (and you probably were not since I probably have not mentioned it previously), Spider-man is my favorite Marvel superhero (or comic superhero in general--sorry, Batman). But, let's slow our roll here because I feel as though I have too mention that while it was totally awesome to see most everyone's favorite web-slinger; I did have some reservations with his costume; First, the eyes: I am slowly coming around on the eyes--they are animated in similar fashion as Deadpool's eyes in Deadpool--but seeing Spidey's eyes move was still initially offputting and that is possibly the byproduct of my familiarity with the masks of Tobey Maguire's and Andrew Garfield's versions of Spider-man. Second, the black trim on Spidey's arms and legs are awkward to me--stick with the traditional blue and red with minimal black trim color scheme. And third, the CGI costume looks "flat". (I am actually borrowing the term from Nerdist because I could not put my finger on what felt off about the costume until I heard them say it first.) Seriously, where is the texture? The costume looks as though it is some sort of frictionless leotard that if someone were to push Spider-man onto a smooth surface, he glide endlessly until someone stopped him. Anyways, I am incredibly excited about this film and cannot wait to see it when it comes out.
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Unfortunately, I do not watch The Daily Show as much as I would like and it is not as though I dislike Trevor Noah; it is simply a case in which I did not watch the show frequently anyways. I typically consume my late night talk shows in clip form and on YouTube thus explaining the reasoning behind this column. Despite the infrequency of my Daily Show viewings, I am pleased to see that Lewis Black's "Back in Black" has remained following the transition from Jon Stewart to Noah. Personally, "Back in Black" was always one of my favorite recurring segments on the show because it featured Lewis Black in his most comfortable setting: PISSED! This particular segment was no different as he eviscerated FOX News and other media's coverage of the last will and testament of Osama Bin Laden and in particular, the absurd notion that Bin Laden and President Barack Obama were "friends" because of their stances against global warming. I could say something myself about this suggestion from the brain-dead numbskulls at FOX, but I will let the master of comedic outrage take it from here; enjoy.
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One of the best things about viral videos is that a new one can be discovered everyday. I actually had another video queued to share with you and then came the video above. In case you were wondering, I am trying to limit the number of videos I share to three per column. Anyways, who does not love Sesame Street? And as a child of the 90s and a consumer of mainstream rap music, I loved Bone Thugs 'N' Harmony's "Crossroads" despite never being able recite the lyrics in step with the track--they were spitting their rhymes too quick for this plebeian. Regardless, this video, which is brought to us by the same group that brought us other viral video mashups like The Muppets x Biz Markie, is remarkably clever and simply fun to watch.
