There are quite a few ’80s fans among us here, which is why we were so joyful when we discovered the video for Providence, RI-based rock band No More Kings’ song, “Sweep The Leg,” written by Pete Mitchell and Neil Robins. The video, directed by William Zabka, is a total salute to the 1984 teen martial arts drama, The Karate Kid. The movie starred a dreamy post-Pony Boy Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso, the new kid in Reseda, California who runs afoul of a local bully named Johnny Lawrence, befriends building super Mr. Miyagi (the late Pat Morita) from whom he learns to kick Johnny’s mewly butt (and score with Elisabeth Shue). Zabka actually played Johnny in the movie, and has a great sense of humor by reprising his role in the video as both a cartoonish version of himself and his character from the movie. The video also features a whole s-load of cameos from The Karate Kid, and is a hilarious distraction on this warm summer Hump Day.

For anyone who takes The Karate Kid as more than a distraction should visit Zabka’s home site at www.BillyZabka.com. There is a great fan rant by Jason Johantges on the site that suggests that it is Daniel — not Johnny — who is the villain of the story. It’s inspired stuff, like the video (which you can watch below). –Elizabeth Meyer

I’m one girl who doesn’t idolize Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her gross gang of grandmas, but when I saw Hanelle Culpepper’s short “Sex And The City” parody, Six And The City, I smiled. And I laughed. And I forwarded it to a whole bunch of people I knew. It features a young Carrie (Adair Tishler), blogging her young life on the playground in the city. Naturally, giantess Samantha (Channing Nichols) has the jump on the whole kissing-of-boys thing, and of course, there’s the prissy prude Miranda (Melia Lockwood), and tomboy Charlotte (Sierra Wingert). It’s brief and smart and the girls are all cute as can be, and for once, strangely enough, it’s not creepy seeing kids playing grownups (see Bugsy Malone for a great example of that). And if Culpepper’s spoof is too much estrogen richness for you to take, check out her antidote, How To Wait In Line For Star Wars. –Elizabeth Meyer

Click the poster on the right to view ‘Six And The City.’

Speaking as a former Worcester video store owner (remember Starship Video on Park Ave.?), I can tell you that the fear of obsolescence was a pretty big one for me and the dwindling base of independent store owners. Heck, even the big boys like Follywood and Lackluster have taken hits in the last five years. For me, the writing on the wall was Netflix and the reality of digital downloads replacing that trip to the video store. While I miss my customers a whole lot, I am happy I got out when I did.

The wacky folks over at The Onion have posted the video story below, detailing a historical attraction that recreates the video store experience for an America that no longer has them. Before you send it off to someone whose sense of funny you may not be familiar with, let them know that it’s a joke. I can’t tell you how many of these I had sent to my Mom before realizing that she thought they were legitimate news stories…

A good short film should communicate its key point within its abbreviated time span. That considered, the two spots that MTV’s “Think” initiative has produced to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day are great short films. In 30 seconds, they lodge an uncomfortable nugget in our craws; in one, “Subway,” a metropolitan underground commuter train delivers its passengers to a modern-day concentration camp. In the other, “Family Room,” a family enjoying a quiet evening at home is carted away by jackbooted thugs. Both end with the tag, “The Holocaust happened to people like us.” For the millions of people that only know the word Holocaust second- or third-hand (and routinely employ the words “Nazi” and “Gestapo” as if they were punch lines), these spots help make the events real. You know what the teachers say: “Whatever it takes to get the kids to read Shakespeare.” Check out the shorts and discuss below:

SUBWAY:
FAMILY ROOM:

Attention all New England Patriots fans! With the Super Bowl fast approaching, now come the inevitable pre-game war cries. We’ve got one for you – a painful music video called “New England, The Patriots and We.” It is a seemingly endless parade of local color showing their hometown pride, much like the “Super Bowl Shuffle” from 1986. Oh, did we forget to mention that this Patriots video was also from 1986? It aired on the short-lived Boston music video channel V66, and thanks to filmmakers Christian de Rezendes and Eric Green, whose documentary Life On The V is now in pre-production, it and the long-unseen exploits of WVJV can be seen again. Scientists now attribute all the hairspray used by the high-haired women in this seemingly endless musical torture as the main cause of global warming (and nostalgic embarrassment). Watch for a fresher-faced Bob Lobel in the mix, along with an assortment of “I remember that guy” and “What ever happened to her?” faces. It’s so bad that you kind of wish that former team owner James Orthwein had moved the team to St. Louis back in the early ’90s (almost).

Endure this torture by clicking below:

In an attempt to explain the “fair use” loophole in copyright law to his students, Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University created a brilliant summary of fair use copyright principles…by letting clips from Disney animated features do all the talking for him. Faden’s conscription of such clips falls under fair use, much to the chagrin of The Mouse, a company known for vehemently defending its copyrights and sponsoring legislation that prevents its characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy from entering the public domain after the standard period of 75 ears…er, years. According to the bogus FBI warning at the beginning of the 10-minute film, “Federal law allows citizens to reproduce, distribute or exhibit portions of copyrighted motion pictures, video tapes or video discs under certain circumstances without authorization of the copyright holder. This infringement of copyright is called ‘fair use’ and is allowed for purposes of criticism, news reporting, teaching and parody.”

With a $30 software program, Missouri-born Philip Scott Johnson created a short film called Women In Art, a roughly 3-minute collection of 500 years of gorgeous painted portraits of women, one morphing into another and set to a Bach Sarabande. Four million views later, the 40-year-old corporate financeer by day, film director by night has released Women In Film, a similar but just as lovely tribute to more than just the beauty of the last century’s most lovely belles of the Hollywood ball. From Mary Pickford to Halle Berry to the scores in between, Johnson does more than just upload photos and let the computer do all the work. His visual sense, choice of photographs and the great taste in using a Yo-Yo Ma recording of the Bach make this one to share and watch anytime the need for an inspiring diversion arises. This is the kind of thing that should get forwarded endlessly, not the uninformed warnings not to drink the cancer-causing bottled water that has been sitting in a hot car. –Robert Newton

Oh, what joy technology hath wrought. We suppose that it was only a matter of time before someone decided that Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” would be such a nice stylistic match for Gilbert & Sullivan’s oft-performed “The Pirates Of Penzance.” That someone was Mike Hightower, a Chicago Renaissance guy with a penchant for parody. He took the goofy 1990’s pop staple and recorded it in the style of Sirs Gilbert & Sullivan, and cleverly edited it with footage from the 1983 film version starring Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt. The visual element makes it funnier than Jonathan Coulton’s snarky riff on the song, and the cutting is almost as perfect as Todd Washburn’s videos made from songs from the brilliant Star Wars: The Musical. Watch Hightower’s video here. –Robert Newton

HARRY POTTER AND THE DARK LORD WALDEMART [NR]
There is nothing wrong with a few getting a few laughs while getting more socially aware, like when watching this short Harry Potter spoof, courtesy of the folks at WalmartWatch.com. Not only is it a clever parody (that unlike MAD Magazine, does not change most of the names), but it also lays out the disparities between the comparatively benevolent Wal-Mart that Sam Walton founded and the company it has become since diverging from that path. And of course, in the tradition of Shakespeare, Uncle Miltie and Monty Python, Hermione is a guy in drag. The site goes further, paralleling Hermione’s efforts to liberate house elves through S.P.E.W. with the need for humane treatment of workers, comparing the oppressive Dolores Umbridge to Wal-Mart anti-union forces and dark “Lord Valdemort’s” disdain for those not of pure blood with Wal-Mart’s discrimination against women, minorities and the handicapped. Click on the above title or photo of “Harry” and “Hermione” to check it out for yourself. –Elizabeth Meyer

ROGER CLEMENS 2057 [NR]
Red Sox fans lamenting their team’s unsettling slipping in the AL standings will surely get a kick out of this short comedy written by Natick, Mass. native Michael Barber, and directed by Matt Oates and Barber. The relentlessly funny film takes place 50 years in the future, and has 95-year-old former Sox hurler Roger Clemens (oldest living actor Johnny Holiday) pitching Yankees GM Brian Cashman Jr. (Barber) to return to the mound for one last comeback. In “Futurama” fashion, the disembodied brain of George Steinbrenner still calls the shots, and gives Clemens another chance. Barber takes a simple logline and builds on it with rapid-fire precision, and manages to pull off a serious razzing while maintaining a sense of respect. Watch the film here. –Robert Newton