Procrastination Reccomendations
The best videos for putting off whatever task you currently have at hand
YouTube is always my preferred form of procrastination, if only for the fact that I often count watching things as “learning about X” or “research for Y.” For the most part though, my watching habits include a lot of movie trailers and interviews with celebrities whose vibes I want to pin down. That and John Early’s Drunk History. Sometimes, though, I stumble upon some great videos. So in the spirit of my smart and cool friend Kira Sommer, I have rounded up some of my best findings below!
Robert Pattinson Desperately Needs a New York City Hot Dog
I only recently discovered this video (short film?) which was written and performed by Robert Pattinson for GQ. I don’t know what project he was supposed to be publicizing with this, but it feels like perfect publicity for The Batman as it showcases his ability to play anxious weirdos who struggle to act normal outside their comfort bubble. The way he buries his face in his jacket like a turtle is fantastic, and watching him try and hail a taxi is a beautiful bit of restrained physical comedy. It’s just a lovely, strange, and dare I say, uplifting little tale.
Danny DeVito Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters
Danny DeVito is one of our true great character actors, and seeing him talk about his work from One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest to Always Sunny showcased how many cultural touchstones he’s participated in. The video does a great job of balancing the acting insights (his character in Cuckoo was previously shot down into the water, so he would often sit higher up on furniture to try and stay above the tensions — or water — rising) with industry anecdotes (Arnold Schwarzenegger once helped him carry bags out of his car). Also, DeVito does not remember singing in Hercules which is wild to me because he has an excellent song in Hercules.
Denzel Washington is the LeBron James of Acting
I’m going to level with you — this is less an interview where two hosts ask Denzel Washington questions, and more just three guys from New York talking about New York, and frankly, I love that energy. There are certainly a lot of stiff, actor-y interviews that you could watch about Denzel Washington, but this is an interview where he really loosens up and seems like just a normal dude who wants to tell you about how he used to get a slice of pizza and a soda for 25 cents. This kind of loose, easygoing rapport is a specialty of the Desus and Mero format — the actual questions are not as important as the path they take to get there.
Guy Who Came Up With The Word “Umpteenth”
I have already talked about how much I love Chris Fleming’s work, and thankfully his new video is just as nonsensical and irrationally angry as his past work. I’m fascinated by the world that this character lives in — one where words are churned out at the Word Factory, and Merriam Webster comes to pick them up at the end of the day. Fleming manages to nail the specific mannerisms of these types of off-center innovator types, even as he spews utter nonsense. It’s joyous.
Dave Grohl Makes a New Friend While Eating Spicy Wings
To me, Dave Grohl seems like an old oak tree that has many, many rings of different lives within one vessel. To be in Nirvana, one of the most famous bands of all time, and then go to Foo Fighters, another wildly successful enterprise, would seem like an impossible feat if it were not for the fact that Dave Grohl has actually done it. “Hot Ones” interviews are interesting in that Sean Evans will give extensive background and then introduce a question, rather than attempting to have questions flow more organically. What often results is conversations that quickly span multiple different topics, which for Grohl ranged from the time he got electrocuted, to his new film, to what makes a great drummer.
Johnny Knoxville Answers the Web's Most Searched Questions
I haven’t seen the new Jackass film, but I am interested in the continued popularity of Jackass, even in the time of TikTok when everyone is essentially recording their own dumb stunts all the time. It seems like the familiarity and approachability of Knoxville and his ragtag group of misfits is what keeps people coming back. Sure, we’ll watch videos of random people getting smacked in the face, but a video of someone we know getting smacked in the face? We’ll watch that forever. The crux of how Knoxville does what he does, though, comes from him answering a question about pain. “My pain tolerance is probably just about the same as anyone else’s, it’s [that] my ‘give a shit’ tolerance is real low.”