If you ever needed proof that the one saving grace of the “Star Wars” medal ceremony scene was John Williams’ soaring, celebratory score, then “Star Wars Minus Williams” is an Exhibit A that requires no Exhibit B.

Comedy group the Auralnauts posted this music-free version of the scene on their YouTube channel, where the pomp and circumstance of Williams’ music is replaced by ambient shuffling, the occasional stifled cough, and a couple moments of colorful commentary by Chewbacca. The result? To paraphrase George Orwell: If you want a vision of cringe-inducing awkwardness, imagine a Wookie screaming in a silent, crowded room, forever.

Kat Rosenfield @katrosenfield

It’s a testament to the power of iconic movies like “The Matrix,” “Titanic” and “The Lion King” that even without their A-list stars, award-winning effects or their giant Hollywood budgets they are instantly and completely recognizable in this video from the YouTube account of stock footage company Dissolve.

There are 14 movies recreated here using snippets of cleverly-edited stock footage (and a few necessary sound effects), and they’re all great — but the concluding shot for “Arrogant pilots in the danger zone (1986)” takes it to a whole other level.

Kat Rosenfield @katrosenfield

In what has to be the most inventive plan ever to raise cancer awareness, Thomas Cantley is pushing an enormous inflatable testicle across the country, in the hopes of inspiring his fellow men to be vigilant about the health of their balls.

Cantley, a 31 year-old cancer survivor, came up with the idea as a way to (ahem) get the ball rolling on getting young men to be tested for testicular cancer. Vowing never to deflate or detach his ball from his person, he kicked off his planned journey from LA to New York last week.

Speaking to KSBW in Carmel, California, Cantley explained that his goal was to get people talking about testicular cancer, and that he and his ball would be relying on the kindness of strangers in order to work their way east:

“My goal is to get across the country not by any money,” Cantley said. “I want people to come and (say), ‘I’ll book a hotel room, I’ll take you out to lunch, I’ll fill up your gas tank’ or whatever, and I want those physical connections, I don’t just want people to donate to me, I want people to connect with me.”

In short: If you see Cantley rolling down a highway near you, feel free to stop for a chat — and be prepared for him to ask if you’d like to write an inspirational message on his testicle.

You can follow the adventures of Thomas and his ball (known as “Lefty”) on Read More →

After his triumphant victory in the “Tonight Show” cooler scooter race this summer, Hugh Jackman was back Wednesday night to compete in an entirely new game of Jimmy Fallon’s design: pool bowling!

A new variation on Jimmy’s penchant for creating giant-sized versions of ordinary sports, pool bowling is just what it sounds like: billiards, but with a giant table and bowling balls. It’s not the most successfully-designed of all the games that have been featured on the “Tonight Show,” but Hugh Jackman’s deep emotional investment in winning — to the point where he tried to cheat, but mistakenly put his own ball back on the table — makes it one of the best.

Kat Rosenfield @katrosenfield

There has probably never been a more pure, unadulterated moment of Goldblum than this one from Tuesday’s (September 9) “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” when guest Jeff Goldblum picked up a microphone to sing the “Jurassic Park” theme song — and then led the entire studio audience in a delightful repeat sing-along.

You can add this to the never-ending list of moments with which Jeff Goldblum, in all his Goldblumminess, unintentionally caused mass heart palpitations among all the ladies present. And in addition to being such a good sport about singing this really silly song, can we just point out that Jeff is a seriously A+ crooner? We eagerly await the release of his solo album, featuring such hits as “Let Me Teach You Chaos Theory” and “Gonna Stammer ‘Til Your Pants Drop.”

Kat Rosenfield @katrosenfield

Every movie is a LEGO movie for members of Swebrick, an online cohort of Swedish LEGO enthusiasts — and when it comes to the results of their “Plast from the Past” competition to recreate iconic movie scenes out of LEGOs, everything is, truly, awesome.

As reported by The Daily Dot, the winner of the competition was user Etzel87, who built a perfect model of the scene from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” wherein Cameron’s father’s red convertible takes an accidental plunge through the window of its fancy lofted garage. Every detail is there, from the garage structure to the suspended car to the horrified faces of the film’s central trio. (Images via Etzel87′s Flickr account.)

A full roundup of all the entries has been posted on the Swebrick forum, where you can see LEGO reimaginings of everything from “Spaceballs” to “Blade Runner.” They’re all spectacular, but our favorite runner-up has to be this very creepy recreation of the famous hallway scene from Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining.”

Kat Rosenfield @katrosenfield

With Steve Harvey slated to make a “Tonight Show” appearance Monday, it was only natural that he bring his gig as the host of an entirely different show into the studio with him, facilitating a round of “Family Feud” between Jimmy Fallon, Jason Segel, and house band the Roots.

And by “only natural,” we mean, “so fantastic that we will never see its equal again, ever,” because Steve Harvey is a national treasure in this role. Between shaming the Roots for their gun show and putting Jimmy in his place (“I’m the host of this show!”), Harvey basically ensured that no other “Tonight Show” game will ever be this fun, or funny.

Also, the Roots are really good at “Family Feud.”

Kat Rosenfield @katrosenfield

Ever since Jesse Eisenberg was cast as Lex Luthor in “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice,” there’s been no shortage of questions about what he’ll be like in the role — and for many fans, no question has been more pressing than whether or not he’d shave his head to play the canonically bald villain.

Up until now, we’ve just had to wonder. Eisenberg himself has kept very quiet about his involvement in the film, refusing to divulge a single detail about whether a date with a razor might be in his future. But while he hasn’t spoken a word about it, a fan who snagged a picture with the actor this week might just have solved the mystery.

That is not Jesse Eisenberg’s hair — or at least, it’s certainly not the naturally curly mop he’s sported literally every other time we’ve seen him. Which leaves us with two possible explanations: either Jesse has suddenly and inexplicably decided to experiment with a flat iron, or he’s naked as a cue ball underneath a silly little hairpiece.

Nobody knows for sure, of course, but the smart money is on the new Luthor being an old-school bald baddie. And with filming set to continue for awhile yet, we kind of hope that Eisenberg will eventually embrace his brief freedom from follicles and ditch the wig. Those things are itchy.

Kat Rosenfield @katrosenfield