TVSquad

Even though TV Squad's very own John Scott Lewinski is fighting his way through hordes of overweight Rorschachs and pre-pubescent Chun Lis to get exclusive interviews and scoops on the newest TV news at the San Diego Comic Con, don't forget that our partners-in-crime from Cinematical are also there covering the latest flim-flam in film.

The movie side of the annual pop-culture cavalcade opened with one of the biggest names in the history of film and what could very well be one of the biggest names in the future of film. Director James Cameron screened a solid 25 minutes of his forthcoming sci-fi epic Avatar. Blogger Todd Gilchrist got a hint of the plot and special effects movie-goers can expect when the film hits theaters later this year and said it "promises to be both hugely entertaining and technically groundbreaking." Man, that's got me worried. That's what they also said about Titanic.

There's no doubt that the names Spike Jonze and David Cross usually belong on the quirkier side of the entertainment world, but I still never would have expected something like this. Apparently, the two have created a comedy pilot for Channel 4. That's right: a British comedy.

The show, called The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret, will be co-written by Cross and Shaun Pye (you may know him as Andy's smarmy nemesis on BBC/HBO's Extras) and star Cross, Will Arnett and Spike Jonze.

The best television programming out there isn't on TV. It's on VBS. Alright, that's a bit of an overstatement, but Vice Magazine's VBS broadband channel, which is currently in beta, is into overstatements. With director Spike Jonze as its creative director, VBS has set out to "rescue you from television's deathlike grip" and "exploit every Utopian vision the internet has thus far failed to live up to." Big words from a little network, but so far, they're kicking broadband ass and taking names.

The network is a heady, hipster mix of politics, fun and music. Some of the best programming so far - Heavy Metal in Baghdad, a five-part series in which the filmmakers search for Baghdad's only heavy metal band Acrassicauda. The short series presents a unique take on civilian life in Iraq. Soft Focus - former Nation of Ulysses and Make-Up frontman Ian Svenonius interviews musicians like Chan Marshall, Will Oldham and Ian Mackaye. Dos and Don'ts and Friends - alternative comics and other off-kilter folks hold forth on still images of sexy, sexy people doing sexy, sexy things.

I caught the video for Paul Simon's "Call Me Al" on VH1 Classic the other night, the one in which Chevy Chase lip syncs to the song, and it got me thinking about other funny music videos. I thought it would be a great idea for one of these "The Five" lists we bloggers love so much, and as I was racking my brain I realized I could just simply list five Weird Al Yankovic videos.

But no, Adam loves a challenge, so Weird Al is off limits. After the jump, check out the five videos I came up with, along with a little help from my pal Wild Bill. Throw down some of your own suggestions in the comments.

Let's rock:

Pearl Jam is making one of their videos available online under the Creative Commons license. Why do I care about Pearl Jam doing this? Well, I don't actually, but it got me thinking about music videos and how they've found a new life online and in DVD form, as television has all but eradicated them. While many networks and channels are moving online with broadband content while still remaining secured to TV, these days you can't really see a video from your favorite band unless you go online, or buy a number of DVD collections dedicated to certain video directors like Michael Gondry and Spike Jonze, among others. The thing is, videos haven't gotten worse, in fact, they've gotten much better, I think, and while the idea of sitting through three whole minutes of song might cause the programmers at MTV to gasp in horror, I'm glad to see bands are still making videos, and making them easily accessible to fans and anyone else who wants to check them out. The Web can be a place not only for networks to try out online-only content and rerun old shows, it can also be a place where ideas no longer suited to television can still find an audience.