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Buried Treasure: The Gods Must Be Crazier

May 12th, 2011 by Naivasha D

Like many Hulu users, I can usually find more than enough great content in our “Most Popular” section to keep me entertained, informed, and slightly less productive all day.

But I’ve always been one to root for the underdog.

So, in that spirit, I decided to start stepping out of my “30 Rock” and “Modern Family”-furnished comfort zone to explore Hulu’s treasure trove of diverse library content that often gets lost in the shadows of our most-watched shows, or Stewie Griffin’s giant head.

There are a lot engrossing movies, TV shows, and clips up there. It can be daunting. But I’ll be donning my miner’s helmet and doing a little digging to unearth some real hidden gems. —— Naivasha D

Today’s Edition: The God’s Must Be Crazy II

I want to direct your attention to the kitschy, quirky, uniquely ‘80s film “The Gods Must Be Crazy II,” directed by Jamie Uys and starring—in addition to real people—every wild animal in Africa.

Yes, this is a sequel to the equally wonderful and more famous original, but it stands on its own as a hilarious and heartfelt snapshot of an era. The “Gods Must Be Crazy” trilogy is fantastic because there is really nothing else quite like it, in the 80’s or otherwise. In this second installation, the characters spend most of the film bumbling around the Kalahari Desert in a slapstick comedy of errors, with a lot of the action scenes filmed in this frantic, speedy stop motion style that I haven’t seen before or since.

The cute factor is contributed by a couple of adorable Bushmen children who kick off the adventure by climbing into an elephant poacher’s truck and are taken on an involuntary joyride across the desert, pursued by their bemused father.

The sexual tension and age-old “city girl meets country boy” trope is rife. It’s brought by sophisticated New York City lawyer Ann Taylor and rugged zoologist Stephen Marshall, who are stranded when their plane crashes in the desert. The couple must fend off a rotating cast of wild animals and a couple of warring soldiers, who manage to be endearing despite the amount of rifle-waving and prisoner-taking that goes on.

This movie is also apparently the first comedic appearance of the recently famous honey badger, whose “nastyass” antics recently went viral on Youtube. In the movie’s best scene, Marshall and the honey badger are forced to forge a tenuous friendship as they struggle through the desert together. It’s a perfect example of this film’s command of subtle and charming situational comedy.

What I love most about this movie is the refreshing undercurrent of kindness that runs through it. The human experience is explored with love, patience, and a sort of affectionate resignation.

It’s almost great that a film about the clash of disparate cultures, set in a hostile landscape with a backdrop of war and violence, manages to leave its audience feeling warm and fuzzy.

Or, at least, it’ll leave you wanting to go on safari.

If you’re craving a dosage of 80’s-style laughs—but prefer baboons over Molly Ringwald—check out this amiable romp through the Kalahari on Hulu.

Green Room: Explaining Girl Talk

May 10th, 2011 by Ben Collins Assistant Editor

Girl Talk, that musician who is famous for not being female and not making songs, is now making songs.

Yep, the guy who makes the world’s best lengthy mashups is now venturing into the world of digestable pop/rap. New York Magazine has the tune, and they like it a lot.

When Pitchfork.tv paired Girl Talk with Dipset’s Jim Jones for their Selector series (which usually just involves one guy freestyling), the pair ended up making a whole new song. It’s called “Believe in Magic,” it samples Honey Cone’s 1971 souls smash “Want Ads,” and it is — despite Jones insistence on once again rapping about his ambivalent relationship with the sparklers that some clubs provide along with their bottle service — pretty great.

This can’t be bad news. Girl Talk’s concerts are supposedly earth-shattering, life-changing events. Attendees are usually weathered and hardened afterwards, like those descending the peak of Hipster Everest.

I’ve never been. I’ve only seen friend after friend return home covered in sweat and unexplained marker smudges, and they offer no details. They just go to bed, pack their things in the morning, then move to rural Utah by week’s end.

It has forced me to create a reconstruction of what a Girl Talk concert actually is, solely based on the appearance of my friends when we reconvene after the show.

Here’s the best I can do:

- The official sponsor of the event is Musty Taxi Cab Cologne. Everybody gets a free sample!

- Somebody will punch you in the face with a bag of glitter.

- Everybody’s thirsty. Nobody gets a water bottle.

- The entire audience is given an elliptical machine set on Steep Incline to power computers and make sure the concert never stops. This explains the amount of sweat.

- Despite this, you will not explain to anyone why you looked like you just fouled out of a two-overtime game in the NBA.

- An infant with very bad small motor skills will indiscriminately fingerpaint bright colors on your face and neck.

- You or your best friend must volunteer to lose your shoe.

- One of your friends will sign a contract requiring her to come home at 4 a.m. with a 37-year-old man named Cesar, who is wearing a button-down shirt without any buttons.

- All of your photos of the event must be cleared by a screener, who will make sure the photo is dark enough, blurry enough, and at least slightly resembles Pamplona’s Running of the Bulls.

Sadly, this movie will ruin your dreams and confirm a Girl Talk concert is just a concert but with lots of jumping. It’s called RiP! and it’s infuriatingly informative. It does a very good job of explaining why Girl Talk can legally get away with combining a Michael Jackson song with some more current hip-hop, why people love it so much, and how he can keep hitting people in the face with a bag of glitter.

He has the best job in the world.

Green Room: Hulu’s Top Five of the Week

May 6th, 2011 by Ben Collins Assistant Editor

Here are the top five shows and clips that still have us talking (and laughing) at the end of the week.

1) Elmo on Jimmy Fallon

Elmo: “You’re not coming to Sesame Street anymore. The Roots, you can come. But you’re not coming to Sesame Street anymore.”

2) Royal Wedding Uncensored

Jon Stewart: “The Queen, she don’t play it like that. Paddington Bear threw her a gun. Eat lead, butthorns! Suck lead, b**ches!”

3) Chelsea Lately: Repo Game Show

Owner of the Green Machine: “I ain’t gonna even f**kin’ look for a job now. The Green Machine is paid for!”

4) The Daily Show reacts to the death of Osama bin Laden

Jon Stewart: “As a New Yorker, you felt like the news couldn’t get any better—and then it did. What? Not only did we kill bin Laden, we killed him in Abbottabad? Abbottabad sounds like the name most New Yorkers would have invented for the fictional place they would’ve loved to kill bin Laden. Abbottabad. There’s no question in my mind.

‘I’ll tell you what I would do. You give me a gun. You drop me into f**king Abbottabad or whatever they call their f**king cities over there. I’ll go over there. I’ll go over to f**king Abbottabad and I’ll shoot him in his f**king Abbottabadabingoz.”

5) Jersey Floor: Episode 2

J-Bro: “1-2-3-4, I declare a prank war. 5-6-7-8, I declare a prank war.”

Wild Card: The Chicago Code – Bathouse & Hinkydink

Travis McCann, Hulu’s Content Operations Manager: “That show is killin’ it right now.”

Green Room: ‘[C]‘ Controlling the Future of Anime

May 3rd, 2011 by Ben Collins Assistant Editor

Hulu has accrued a lot of anime over the years, so sometimes it’s hard to parse what’s great. This week, Funimation write Anita Schuring previews [C] – Control, a critically acclaimed anime series that’s new to Hulu—and could be one of the best new shows in the genre. — Ed.

by Anita Schuring, Funimation

[C] – Control is a show that makes you think about money.

Kimimaro is a full-time student working his fingers to the bone just to make ends meet (we can all relate, as we’ve all probably been broke at some point) when, all of a sudden, some freaky dude with a cool cane promises him financial security!

But there’s a catch. His future is held as collateral in a surreal, parallel universe called the Financial District. Sounds like heavy stuff.

The cute but creepy antlered girls are a total bonus, too. There’s something endearing about a stoic girl in adorable clothes that eats cash like a goat—I can’t wait to see what else they do! And if I were Kimimaro, the first place I’d spend some of that dough is at an all-you-can-eat-sushi-on-a-conveyor-belt restaurant.

The intriguing characters and delightfully rapid-fire events in the first episode, plus the fact that [C] airs on Fuji Television’s hot noitaminA block, I’ll definitely invest in what’s next for our industrious Kimimaro.

Green Room: Previewing ‘The Voice’ Depth Charts

May 3rd, 2011 by Ben Collins Assistant Editor

Tonight, judges Christina Aguilera, Cee-Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton will be rounding out their teams on blind auditions for “The Voice.” It’s NBC’s new reality show where judges have to pick out teams of the best voices they hear without seeing each contestant’s face—and without getting vertigo from the spinny chairs.

Here are the rules: Each performer auditions to the four judges, whose backs are turned. If the judges opt to select the artist, that performer joins their team. If more than one judge hits his or her “I Want You” button, those judges barter for that performer’s services.

Each judge gets eight picks. It’s the fantasy draft of heartwarming talent shows, but with better music than American Idol. Simple enough, right?

Here’s what each team looks like after the first round of auditions, and how we think the judges did with their selections.

The leader in the clubhouse: Adam.

Team:
Jeff – A jolly 22-year-old with a booming voice in country tones. He had the first performance to turnaround all for judges. Adam was straight up clamoring for him. Jeff is the definition of what this show is about. He’d be on the fringe of making it to Hollywood on American Idol. He’s a juggernaut on this show.

Rebecca – She lives in her car — and you could kind of tell in her witchcraft-inspired performance of Nirvana’s “Come as You Are.” That song is supposed to be depressing, but it’s not supposed to be background music in the movie “Labyrinth.” She has a beautiful, strong voice, though. And Adam likes her ability to transform songs, even if she made this one slightly creepier.

Javier – Ah, the big get. Javier’s an acoustic singer/songwriter Dad with the best voice in the contest. He made “Time After Time” interesting, for God’s sake. Every judge turned around. Then it was like LeBron James’ Decision 2.0.

Adam’s X-Factor (pun intended): Levine is the most relatable, human coach in the contest. He wants to win, and he’s actually funny (“Shame about your looks,” he said to the objectively gorgeous Kelsey.) He used the most discretion in picking bubble candidates and then swindled them accordingly. He’s actually using a true strategy.

“Do you accept redos in exchange for personal checks and/or certified Platinum records?” — Blake

Team:
Patrick – Requisite country singer. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Elenowen – A super-creepy couple that benefitted from their shtick and a great song (Glen Hansard’s “Falling Slowly” from the Oscar-winning indie “Once.”) Still, they’re exactly like the creepy “Lovers” sketch from Saturday Night Live.

Xenia – She’s a tremendously sweet high school student with a kind of cool, but weak-seeming voice. We’re rooting for her, but it’s probably not a good thing if “we’re rooting for her” is the best thing we can say about your team.

Blake’s X-Factor: He has his pick of the litter on country stars if he turns around in time. He also seems like he’s desperate to win.

All he has to do is press the button and that person will work with him: Cee-Lo.

Team:
Vicci – She nailed Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” which is immensely tough to nail. And she had a choice between Cee-Lo and Christina Aguilera for a voice coach, which is not a bad decision to have to make if you’re a soul singer.

Kelsey – She’s accidentally crazy attractive (we say this because the judges didn’t know it), but it doesn’t matter. She chose a very cool, almost exotic pop song, (Estelle’s “American Boy”) and more than did it justice. She’s one of the better singers in the competition.

Tje – Cee-Lo Green has a protégé. Tje’s a fro’d-out dude with a great voice. He rounds out the team with the least weaknesses through the first week of auditions.

Cee-Lo’s X-Factor: He defines cool right now. His team is whoever he wants it to be.

Island of Misfit Toys: Christina.

Team:
Teema – A solid, if unspectacular R&B singer who is ceaselessly sweet. She’d be a great utility player for Xtina’s softball team, the Genies in a Bottle.

Beverly – Welp, this is what this show is about. It’s a 41-year-old Debbie Gibson, if Debbie Gibson had been arrested several times for arson and assault and battery. She’s, um, a character. Actually, no: She’s way over-the-top, sort of terrible, and Christina is stuck with her.

Frenchie – Frenchie could win or lose the contest for Christina’s team. She was cast off American Idol a few years ago because topless photos of her surfaced from when she was a struggling-for-cash 19-year-old. She’s since been on “Rent” on Broadway. Her performance was a little shoddy, but she was quite a talent steal.

Christina’s X-Factor: It’s pretty clear that she’s going to be the best vocal and performance coach for this contest. Her team is pretty dynamic, too, which could be a benefit, in a ragtag, “A-Team” sort of way.

The Voice airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. E.T. on NBC and is available on Hulu on Wednesday morning.

Last comment: May 3rd 2011 1 Comment