Allthyngs

Josh Ritter’s Girl in the War is definitely one of my favorite songs of the past four years. The originally recorded version is just really lush and atmospheric — the music is so gorgeous that his amazing voice kind of gets lost. This live acoustic version exhibits his husky voice and endearing drawl really well, and the crooning at the end is my favorite part. If you haven’t heard the original version yet, however, get on it now.

The workings of film industry are baffling to many, and even more baffling to some. Hopefully this flashy info-graphic will clear some thing up, such as why it costs so much to go see a movie and why “so much” isn’t really “so much.” Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a pile of money from my latest blockbuster to go roll around in, but check out the info-picture after the jump (click “read more”).

There are a handful of people who are just right about everything, and Bill Maher is one of them. Now, he enjoys offending people too much for people to really take him seriously, but the man is unfailingly right about shit. Here, he explains how Obama needs to quit smoking so that our government can finally get something done.

Unfortunately, Bill’s friendship with Ariana Huffington means I have to send you over to the Huffington Post to watch this video, so check it out there.

Picture this: you’re having an in-depth conversation with your lovely date about the philosophical implications of creating an exact copy of yourself via teleportation when suddenly you freeze. You know the word, but can’t say it, almost as if it’s trapped on the tip of your tongue. What happens? After an awkward two minute pause interrupted only by a “hold on” or “I know it, just give me a minute,” your date gets up and leaves, utterly disgusted by your pitiful vocabulary. We’ve all been there. Thanks to the internet however, this awkward aside can be replaced by an awkward minute on your phoneternet, via a Tip of My Tongue online dictionary search.

Check it out at www.chir.ag

I think we’ve all come to the conclusion over the years that people in general suck. In fact, here on allthyngs, we have a tag specially reserved for people who need to be shot. The Autobiography of J.G.B., a short story featured in the New Yorker a few months ago, tells of the last man on the planet after an unexplained disappearance of all human beings. Right, I know, you’ve heard this one before, except this time there’s no Will Smith or vampiric zombies. There’s just a guy doing exactly what I would do if I was the only one left: whatever the hell I wanted. But what the writer so expertly describes is the world without humans, from a human perspective. It just seems so peaceful.

For a look into the world without people, and an extremely annoying ending (trust me you’ll be calling up the author for more), read the article in the New Yorker.

This is the movie that Hollywood thought was so important it would be worth making Scarlett Johansson ugly for, and it’s got a Robert Downey Jr, so I have some pretty high expectations for Iron Man 2. Oh, and then there are those Samuel L. Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, and Paul Bettany guys too. This movie clearly has all the right parts, so I’m seriously hoping Jon Favreau can put them together the right way.

Sometimes a lie is so much more interesting than the truth that you just have to accept it. I won’t give away the video because it’s only about a minute, so watch and be amazed at the immense power of a good story.

I know I have been on an unannounced hiatus recently, so I thought it most appropriate and befitting to offer my fellow collegians a comforting solace in this turbulent period that is mid-term season. Despite all your potential follies and academic misfortune, know that you will always be smarter than at least one person in the world…

Keyword for this video: Brilliant.

Zach Galifuckyouicantspellthis hosted SNL last week, and he was actually really funny. I loved him in The Hangover, obviously, but everything I’ve seen him do since has fallen flat (Between two ferns?). His opening monologue for SNL was great throughout though, and I know that can’t be because the SNL writers fed him a bunch of jokes, so I guess I’m a Zach Galifianakis fan now. Check out his monologue after the jump (click “read more”).

You probably know what a Rube Goldberg machine is — one of those contraptions where a ball slides down a slide and hits a windmill which triggers some other mechanical event. This OK Go video features what is basically the mother of all Rube Goldberg machines and even inspired me to think about making one of my own.

Sims lead terrifying lives. They don’t know when to go to the bathroom, their free will has a toggle option, and everything is flammable. College Humor imagines the potential in a horror movie based on the best-selling God simulation. The twist would be great, they were in a computer the whole time!

Action movies are an unappreciated art. The catharsis that comes with watching a man punch another man’s head off is unparalleled. Having said that, here’s a summary of the greatest action movie no one has ever seen. Looks like it’s time to dust off the old VHS player and journey over to ebay for a copy of DEADLY PREY.

This is the funniest thing I’ve seen in weeks. I thought America was done being lazy, I thought our country was moving forward, but I guess not. Case in point: Pajama Jeans. Yep, denim-style pajama pants. I already bought my pair, so next Friday when I’m laying in bed crying I won’t have too put on new pants to go to the door and sign for my pizza.

Check them out at Pajamajeans.com

When Ron Howard, Will Farrell, Jim Carey, Chevy Chase, and Bill Clinton all tell you to do something, you damn well better laugh a few times and then not do it. The newest celebrity-packed Funny or Die video, showing a reunion of all our recent presidents, is promoting MainStreetBrigade.org, and although the video’s pretty funny, and it’s great to see Jim Carey again, I’m not really sure about the Main Street Brigade, whose whole website probably cost much less than the video. But their message is definitely a good one: Support the consumer finance protection agency, because God Knows consumers these days need some protecting.

Being a poor, miserable college student with nothing better to do than listen to music all day, I am always finding ways to download things without having to pay for them. Every now and then I feel guilty about my methods of doing so, so this site offers some good ways of getting FREE music LEGALLY.

Check it out at Friedbeef.com

Sometimes it seems like everybody anyone listens to is either stupid or just way more worried about their agenda than being right. Fortunately, just as all hope seemed lost, a group of protectors has emerged from the shadows to keep our world safe from the greatest evils that threaten it. Well, the group is composed of the greatest, most famousest retired people who haven’t died yet, so you can’t really say The Elders were in the shadows, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a force of reckoning in the world that could use some. I’m not sure what exactly they do, but just knowing they’re out there is definitely going to help me sleep better for a while.

Check out their website at TheElders.org
And watch their surprisingly cool promo video after the jump (click “read more”).

Like terrible music? Neither do I. That’s why I spend quite a few hours of my time searching for a good new music site. I’ve come across hotnewhiphop.com, datpiff.com and hypem.com, but Fratmusic.com is currently my website of choice. Fraternities all across the country submit their playlists via youtube videos so anyone can listen to them. I have found more good music the last few weeks than I have found this entire semester. My Playlist, Party N’ Bullshit, is currently number nine on the “Hot This Week List,” so check it out and vote for it if you like it.

Check out everybody else’s music at Fratmusic.com

A while back John posted a link to Sexstop, a brilliant comic from webcomic Virus Comix (or is it Subnormality? I don’t really know). Anyway, I’ve gone through a lot of the other Subnormality comics, and I’ve pretty much been blown away by the fact that almost every one of them is dripping with awesome, so I decided to highlight a few more comics. Too Much Information is probably my favorite besides John’s two, and it captures my exact thought process when I see a girl, pretty much down to the exact words I think in, which is kinda creepy. Look Back in Anger is creepily accurate too, but it’s about the future. Kind of. Life’s Calendar isn’t all that funny, but it sums up your life in about 150 words, which is pretty damn impressive. Finally, Rockin’ the New World has the highest insightful commentary about humanity to douchey-ness ratio of anything I’ve ever seen.

Check out all those comics, and then keep reading more at VirusComix.com

Tim Burton’s re-imagining/sequel of Alice and Wonderland hits theaters this weekend and, like most Tim Burton movies, this one will probably make a lot of money and give half of America’s children (and probably me) violent night-terrors for a month. For those of you who can’t wait until Burton’s next assault on your senses and sanity, College Humor takes us into the heart of Burtonopolis (I assume that’s what Tim Burton calls his office) for an intriguing look at the creation of his newest masterpiece.

The MPAA is a terrorist organization responsible for rating movies. They are also the reason that you can’t watch the DVD you bought without first being taught that pirating a movie is the exact same thing as stealing a Mercedes. You may have noticed that their ratings always come with a short reason for the rating. This reason is usually something vague like violence, language or some other bullshit, but every once in a while the MPAA tosses out a hilariously specific/ridiculous reason why children under the age of 13 can’t see a movie without an adult. Gunaxin has compiled a great list of the top 20 most ridiculous MPAA ratings. My personal favorite is Rated “PG-13 for non-stop ninja action,” probably because that’s the rating the film adaptation of my autobiography currently holds.

Check out the list at Gunaxin.com