Golden fluff remade: Estelle Getty gets the Beyoncé makeover; an X-wing fighter looks better made out of hands; rap fit for crying and cleaning; weathermen, saints of television, swearing and fighting; Norman Mailer wrestling with Rip Torn; and Brigitte Bardot singing you a lullaby.
First drafts and flashbacks: The short that gave us a million novelty products; a rap video that undoubtedly inspired millions of burger flippers; the nail in the coffin of Bronson Pinchot’s career; and a car commercial that probably won’t sell many cars.
Great movies in children’s hands: Convincing Jaws made by 12-year-olds; “Star Wars” doctored with other James Earl Joneses; Spiders in the hands of narcotics; Pierced water balloon convinces you you’re the one on drugs; Drunk driver pulls Fosse steps; and some jumping ducks, just because.
One Digest you don’t want to miss: “The Beaver Trilogy,” the fascinating story of a boy in Utah who worships Olivia Newton-John, and the director who’s so compelled he can’t stop making a movie about him.
The Year in Video, 2006: Best Videos of the Year; Most Awesome Ridiculousness, Videos That Actually Taught Me Something, and more.
Nerd fetishes in several fashions: Oppressed rapping nerds, Nerdcore Christmas “Star Wars” special, Nerds get wild for early animation, nerdy French director solves a Rubik’s Cube with his feet, and an misunderstood monster roars.
Nostalgia in many forms: For Freedom Rock, Davey and Goliath, gods named Zardoz who declare the penis is evil, a wee Ben Affleck, an evil Mary Poppins, and...blenders?
Baby, you got it: Best infant breakdancer, Snoopy goes to the disco, a child that seems to be talented at something, a fancy French mime, Mel Brooks’s “The Critic”
Spoof or no spoof: Bank of America partners with U2; Laci Petersen is remembered off-key; “Office Space” reveals the horror of corporate America; Local man takes his picture every day (not really); Sondra Prill gets nasty; Daler Mehndi loves his job.
Sarah and Brad Pitt, sitting in a tree: The many faces of Pitt, from “Dallas” to Pringles commercials, with a little “Fight Club” ditty thrown in; Bernal and the girls who love him; Faith Hill turns upset at losing; The perverted history of cinema can’t compete with “Growing Pains.”
