Watch This Thing - Start your weekend off right by discoing with Grover!

What better way to practice your ABCs by boogieing with everyone's favorite gangly blue Muppet? Have a great weekend, everyone!

Watch This Thing - Creepy British Child Syndrome

Does your toddler summer from CBCS? Let this video from the Second City Network clue you in.

Watch This Thing - You Cannot Fart Around With Love

From Fredric Hobbs's bizarro sexploitation nervous breakdown musical ROSELAND (1971) comes this musical number featuring a very enthusiastic bearded man (Adam, played by Kerrigan Prescott) singing a universal truth. (The rest of the film is in color, and you can read more about it here, though this link is NSFW -- the video below isn't.)

Watch This Thing - Brooke Shields has pinball fever in 1979's TILT

Forget video game movies -- the world needs more pinball movies! In the mostly-forgotten TILT, pinball hustler Brooke Shields hits the road (she has "Pinball Champion" sewed on to her jeans) and longs for the big time, encountering the likes of Fred Ward, Geoffrey Lewis and Charles Durning on the way. Why isn't this on DVD? Check out this apparently Australian trailer.

Watch This Thing - Artist Sergio Aragonés in a 1991 interview for a USC student film

Sergio Aragones' work has been seen in the pages of Mad Magazine and in the likes of his most famous creation, "Groo the Wanderer" for decades, and his style is unmistakable. In this interview from 1991 shot for a USC film school short, Aragones talks about his history with overcoming the language barrier, his teaming with the equally-great Mark Evanier (who is also interviewed) and more. (Sadly, he doesn't talk about his role in NORMAN, IS THAT YOU?, but maybe that's on the cutting room floor.) I believe the director is the Michael Markowitz who later served as a supervising producer on "Duckman."

Watch This Thing - Phil Mucci's psychedelically bloody comedy short FAR OUT

Mucci has recently become a player in the world of music videos (his latest is pretty spectacular), but this 2007 short film has a very BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS vibe -- with a sinister twist.

 

Watch This Thing - Joi Lansing is trapped! In the "Web of Love!"

I do love some Scopitones, the music video predecessor that were popular in the '60s and are mostly viewed as a curiosity today. But there are some amazing ones, like this amazing video for Joi Lansing's "Web of Love," that allows Lansing to wring out every facial movement possible out of every single lyric.

Watch This Thing - "Batfink" producer-made shorts based on Charles Addams comic for a potential Playboy Channel series! (Don't worry, SFW!)

When the Playboy Network was in its infancy, "Batfink" producer Hal Seeger created a series of short cartoons based on comics for the network to use. The series never materialized, but these brief pilots provide a little-seen animated adaptation of a Charles Addams comic.

Watch This Thing - Morning Chess with Robey

Great day in the morning!  Several years before "Friday the 13th: The Series," Louise Robey (known simply as "Robey") hit the pop charts with the most famous number from the musical "Chess" (written by Tim Rice and Abba's Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus) - a feat more notably accomplished by Murray Head the same year. Head's video doesn't have nearly as much big hair, butt grabbing and questionably racist imagery, though.

Watch This Thing - Greg Kinnear interviews Sybil Danning at the premiere of HOLLYWOOD CHAINSAW HOOKERS

Future Oscar nominee Greg Kinnear talks to the likes of Dawn Wildsmith, Sybil Danning, Linnea Quigley and "Les Stevens and The Lovely Carol" at the premiere of 1987's HOLLYWOOD CHAINSAW HOOKERS, and seems to be having a ball.  Quigley, weirdly, is billed as "Chainsaw Hooker," despite the fact that she never actually becomes a hooker in the film.

Watch This Thing - A fake Elvira hawks for a Milwaukee-area party store chain in 1985

In 1985, Elvira's "Movie Macabre" was a staple of Saturday evening entertainment for the young kids of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, so it's only natural that a local chain of party supply stores would want to use her to sell their stuff.  Or, if not the actual Cassandra Peterson, at least someone posing as the Mistress of the Dark.  Did they sue over this?

Update from the real deal!

Elvira has confirmed that this was, in fact, the winner of an area Elvira look-a-like contest!  Thanks, Mistress, but you should know (and reality show experience should suggest) that nobody could truly replace you!

Watch This Thing - Sam Raimi's early short film CLOCKWORK

Sam Raimi turns 55 today, and he'll always have a place at the psychotronic fan table for the EVIL DEAD films.  While the short film that provided the basis for those films, WITHIN THE WOODS, has been commonly seen on the bootleg circuit for years, his 1978 short CLOCKWORK is a creepy little entry that deserves credit all its own.

Watch This Thing - The trailer for the 1985 German New Wave musical DER FORMEL EINS FILM, featuring Falco, Meat Loaf and Pia Zadora

If you ever dreamt of a film that features Falco, Meat Loaf, Die Toten Hosen, Katrina and the Waves, Limahl and Pia Zadora (!)... well, there may be something wrong with you, but at least this should help. DER FORMEL EINS FILM (THE FORMULA ONE MOVIE) is a German film based on a music-based TV series of the similar name, and it brings together all of your New Wave favorites... and also Meat Loaf and Pia Zadora. The latter performs "Little Bit of Heaven" from VOYAGE OF THE ROCK ALIENS. Check out the trailer and be puzzled as to why the English-dubbed version hasn't made its way to DVD yet.

Marc Edward Heuck has a lot more about the film here!

Watch This Thing - Alan Thicke recaps "Twin Peaks"

Recap episodes are nothing new, but in between seasons one and two of "Twin Peaks," NBC felt the need to do a recap to catch audiences up on the surprise hit of the spring as a double-bill with the season's other "innovative new show," "Cop Rock." Best, it's hosted by Alan Thicke, the patron saint of innovation and thinking out of the box. Rarely have two such differently strange shows been featured together. Watch, and listen to Thicke describe himself as a "peaker." (Sadly, the "Cop Rock"-focused portions don't appear to be online.)

Watch This Thing - The Complete History of The Soviet Union, Arranged to the Music of Tetris

Sometimes the title tells it all. Simply amazing stuff, though, and worth re-watching even if you've seen it before.

Watch This Thing - 8-Bit Cinema tells you about THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

CineFix's 8-Bit Cinema, re-imagining cult favorites in the guise of NES-era video games, might seem to it's wearing thin after so many entries, but I can't fault them, as they've perfected the format. Their latest finds Jonathan Demme's classic adaptation of Thomas Harris's book remade as an RPG, and our heroine picking up moth larvae and Lecter's notes on the way.

Watch This Thing - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Mario Andretti and Pelé play Atari games

Atari promotes their 1981 line of sports games with a trio of superstars.

Watch This Thing - Wake up with Annie Golden and the Shirts' "Teenage Crush"

Punk rock is even better than coffee.  Golden can be seen more recently (and less loudly) as the mousy Norma on "Orange is the New Black."

Watch This Thing - 1985's "Halloween Safety" from Coronet Films

The good folks at Coronet Films were masters of the ephemeral social guidance short, even later in their lifespan after they were purchased by another company.  1985's guide to Halloween safety features a funky jazz beat, pumpkin carving and robot costumes -- perfect for planning the trick or treating next week.



Halloween Safety Educational Film (1985, Coronet) from Jason Willis on Vimeo.

Watch This Thing - MC Chris' "Twin Peaks"

With "Twin Peaks" getting a long-delayed third season, isn't a good time to revisit MC Chris's take on the series, couple with video accompaniment from Formaldehyde Pictures?  This pie's so good it is a crime...

Watch This Thing - The most romantic commercial you'll see today.

Look, just click "play" and try to ignore the title. It's a bit of a spoiler.


Hooray for California.

Watch This Thing - Toto Coelo's music video for "Dracula's Tango"

What would October be with some Halloween-themed music videos? All-girl New Wave band Toto Coelo may be best known for their tracks "I Eat Cannibals" and "Milk From the Coconut," but their "Cannibals" follow-up is no slouch, finding the ladies doing the titular dance around a mysterious castle with the titular fang-bearer nowhere to be seen until the end.

Watch This Thing - Trippy student film ANIMAL CRACKERS from "Simpsons" director Mark Kirkland

Mark Kirkland has directed more episodes of "The Simpsons" than anyone, including the likes of "Kamp Krusty," "Last Exit to Springfield" and "A Fish Called Selma." But in 1978, he was a student at the California Institute of Arts, and producing works like the enjoyably colorful one below.


ANIMAL CRACKERS from Mark Kirkland on Vimeo.

Watch This Thing - Gilliamesque cut-out animation for a theater policy trailer

No smoking, please!  I don't believe Terry Gilliam himself is responsible for the cut-out animation in this theater policy trailer (those things that tell you what you are or aren't supposed to do in the theater), but it's certainly inspired by him, and it's a must-have for your evening's entertainment at your home.

Watch This Thing - Galileo becomes a werewolf in Zoran Gvojic's mock trailer for GALILYCAN

Zoran Gvojic's Low Carb Comedy is quickly becoming one of the masters of genre archetype mockery, embracing the tropes of psychotronic film with a genuine love while still poking fun at them with great comic timing.  His latest effort premiered at last weekend's Massacre Film Festival in Chicago, but now it's online, and easily worth two and a half minutes of your time.

Watch This Thing - 1978 7-Up Commercial featuring HALLOWEEN's P.J. Soles

The same year the adorably pig-tailed P.J. Soles was in HALLOWEEN, she could also be seen on drive-in screen at home, drinking the Uncola. 

Watch This Thing - Anthony Perkins in 1990's darkly comic pilot for "The Ghost Writer," from the writer of "Sledge Hammer!"

Anthony Perkins never quite found another great role after PSYCHO, and in the '80s, he embraced his most popular character in full, starring in several sequels and embracing a variety of twisted roles.  One of his last was in, of all things, a sitcom, in the 1990 pilot "The Ghost Writer," playing a widowed bestselling horror author with a goth son (RIVER'S EDGE's Joshua Miller) who remarries a woman with a daughter suspicious of the goings on that surround them.  It could have been an "Addams Family" for the '90s - it's written by Alan Spencer, who lent "Sledge Hammer!" similar sensibilities, but the series never got past the pilot stage. 

What is This Thing I'm Supposed to be Watching?

I know what you're thinking -- another dang blog of random content.  What is this, 2004?  Did you forget your LiveJournal password?  So unnecessary!

And I'd agree, if I wasn't, well, me.  (Besides, TRANSFORMERS 4 wasn't necessary either, and millions of people still cared about that.)   You see, I love the world of oddball media, and I've tried to make a pastime of writing about those little corners of cultural history that I've come across to the best of my ability, most prominently on Daily Grindhouse, a fine site I still contribute to.  But recently, I've started getting burnt out on contributing -- I had plenty of ideas of things to write, but due to a variety of circumstances, neither the time nor the energy to actually bang the things out on paper.  I'm not a freelance writer -- I have nothing but respect (and envy) to those who are, but I can't really take the financial risks in going that route at this point in my life.

But I love to tell people about neat stuff.  One of my greatest pleasures in life is showing friends nifty bits of video oddities that I've discovered, and I've often made evenings of showing random things that I just happen to like.  And if I dare say so, I'm pretty good at liking stuff.  Because I like a lot of stuff.

Hence, this little corner of the internet.  Inspired by the likes of Dangerous Minds and Boing-Boing, I wanted to do my own little contribution to the world of "Here is something interesting."  Long ago, there were a few blogs I followed that did the same sort of thing - "No Fat Clips" was one, and I'm straining to remember the others -  but they seem to have fallen by the wayside.  "Watch This Thing" is a home for whatever random bit of video ephemera I happen to enjoy, and the fact that I can schedule post releases means that I can set this up in advance without stressing out about not having added anything in a while.

What will be added?  Well, the plan is for every entry to be as simple as possible -- a video link to something to watch, and a reason that it's worth watching.  It could be old or new, or something that made the social media rounds five years ago that I think deserves another look, in the form of a short film, a cartoon, a music video, a commercial, or just some random thing.  Any thing, basically.  As long as it's worth watching.

So here, watch this thing.