Video Digest: December 22, 2006 - Digest

Watching • Video Digest: December 22, 2006

Best Videos of the Year

There was a stretch this summer when I watched OK Go’s “Here It Goes Again” every morning. It was like my personal inspirational video, Tony Robbins with treadmills and Prada pants.

A few weeks later, it changed to “Little Superstar,” and even now, hearing that bumping “Holiday” remix brings back fond memories of procrastination and my office chair.

And then came Bank of America’s corporate luncheon. I ate that like a tub of Nutella. Didn’t even bother with spoons, just dug in with mah bare hands.

So when I started evaluating which videos were the best of the year, perhaps the most informative metric was which videos I watched the most this year. And I still watch the BBC interview with the wrong guy, on a regular basis. Best reaction shot of the year.

Most Awesome Ridiculousness

My world expanded this year. Suddenly I had access to a universe of community TV nutjobs…

…bad regional ads…

…daytime talk shows…

…and—of course—David Hasselhoff.

A lot of it sucked, and I mean that in a really great way.

Most Painful, Can’t-Look-Away Ridiculousness

But not all suckiness is awesome. No, some of it is painful. It can bring you down. You can only spend so long watching people get kicked in the junk before it scars your soul. (How long? 5,437 hours. Company time.) But I dare you not to enjoy the mind-melting horror of Connie Chung’s farewell song…

…or the don of dickerdom, Kevin Federline.

Videos That Actually Taught Me Something

The following videos didn’t teach me how to cook, or how to read my New Yorkers before they pile up higher than a phonebook, but I did learn a few things, such as the early history of the Muppets…

…the Wilhelm scream…

…and the intricacies of stop-motion animation threaded with classic film clips.

And also, that I needed to upgrade my Adobe Flash.

Best Vintage Commercials

Commercials are supposed to stick in your head. These two do the trick. You might even call them “mindstickers,” but then, why would you use a dumb-ass phrase like that?

Best Choreography Not Done By Damian Kulash’s Sister

OK Go’s videos marked a high point in video choreography—and group exercise. But not every up-and-coming artist has a fancy ballroom-instructor sister who can drop such smooth and kick-ass moves. Some dancers have to do it for themselves, in whatever way they can. We celebrate dancing, even when it involves community theater and jazz hands.

Best Re-Cut Trailers

If they were to make a trailer of my life this year it would be me watching recut trailers. And eating delivery sushi. And watching “Little Superstar.” And crying over this sad, pathetic little montage.

Most Ridiculously Cute Kids

Holy crap, these kids are cute. I want to kill them they’re so cute. I wonder if, when these kids grow up, they’ll be like, “Please don’t show my boyfriend the clip of me singing Earth, Wind & Fire again.” But don’t be embarrassed—you rocked it, girl.

Stupid Pet Tricks

Pet people are ridiculous. Pet people are disgusting. Pet people are—hold up, my cat is doing the most adorable thing right now. Kind of tucking his head under and curling himself in a ball? My cat so fucking rules. Anyway, this was a really, really good year for annoying pet people. And nothing says “beauty of the internet” like a video described thusly: “Cat walking on treadmill to song from Karate Kid.”

You heard it straight from Montel: In 15 years of programming, he’s never seen anything like a pug that can say “I love you.” What a year, friends, what a year.