This is excellent: It’s a fake trailer for a nonexistent (but wished-for) GREEN LANTERN movie starring the Serenity and Dr. Horrible actor (and geek fave) Nathan Fillion. YouTube user jaronpitts grabbed footage from a wide range of contemporary and classic science-fiction films, including PLANET OF THE APES, SERENITY, GALAXY QUEST, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, and ESCAPE FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN, and then used Adobe After Effects to add various cool effects. The end result is surprisingly cohesive and awesome.

McCain’s latest effort to separate itself from the arugula-eating, latte-sipping culture au Obama, indicates yet another factor that’s leading the campaign to collapse: it’s inability to brand itself. Rather than relying on his own message, he’s using Microsoft’s.

McCain’s latest ad is a montage of (mostly white) people saying “I’m Joe the Plumber.” [www.youtube.com].

Which is very similar to Microsoft’s latest ad. [www.youtube.com]

Branding himself off of Microsoft is a strategic move here. Microsoft has far more users than Macintosh, which is associated with the arugula crowd. But from an advertising, branding standpoint, Microsoft has been the biggest loser in comparison to Apple. similar to McCain’s campaign, Microsoft has been struggling to get out a unique advertising message. After losing millions of dollars on original celebrity ads [valleywag.com] that just didn’t seem to resonate with people, they finally resorted to a “response” ad based on Apple’s advertisements. And even then, Apple’s original “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” ads were more popular.

What the McCain campaign seems to be missing is that the premise of Microsoft’s spoof of Mac commercials is the opening line “I’m a PC, and I’ve been made into a stereotype.” If McCain’s camp really lacks that much vision that they are have to base their ads off of a commercial for consumer electronics, than at least it should do a better doing it.

To really parlay the PC message into a campaign message, McCain should have used Obama’s (now play-our and antiquated) quote that “stereotyped” the working class as gun-clinger-on-ers and bible lovers. Then show a variety of working class people from all walks of life who say that they are Joe the Plumber or whatever. Sure, it would still be a pretty cheap shot and I’d still be critiquing it, but at least it would show that the campaign is innovative and in touch with the public and pop culture. Right now it’s as if grandpa tried to make a youth reference and got it all wrong.

–Jamie Wong

Will Ferrell has been making hilarious video shorts for awhile now. His latest creation is a spoof on over-the-top environmentalists who are seen to be invasive in their attempts to convince others to be more aware of their environmental impacts. This latest video features Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly And Adam Mckay playing the parts of a three man “Green Team.” The Green Team terrorizes people in a parking lot by intimidating people into the proper green conduct.

We should say that Sundance Channel does not endorse these views of environmentalists but that does not mean that we do not find this video’s comedy to be gut-bustingly amazing.

Check it out at Funny or Die [www.funnyordie.com].