UnNews:Ebert calls YouTube video "Oscar worthy"

A newsstand that's brimming with issues

✪

UnNews

✪

Thursday, November 21, 2024, 15:18:59 (UTC)

31 December 2010

Roger Ebert, attending a private screening of the 2007 YouTube hit, "Chocolate Rain," starring Tay Zonday.

CHICAGO, Illinois -- Award-winning film critic Roger Ebert, although now illegal himself in many states, because of his controversial views on video games, has done what no other film critic has done before. At a recent private screening, he proclaimed Tay Zonday's 2007 YouTube meme, "Chocolate Rain," to be "Oscar-worthy."

"This video," he says, "is the highest art that mankind can ever achieve. The song, sung in a booming bass by Tay Zonday, has a strong message about society. While Numa Numa simply has a catchy song -- 'Dragostea din Tei' -- and the Rickroll is amusing, 'Chocolate Rain' actually has substance. Something a video entitled 'Random S--t' can never have.

I have seen many great YouTube videos, such as the trailer to the as-yet-unreleased Daeg Faerch thriller Sebastian; a fan-made Thundercats film trailer; Numa Numa; all those Dark Knight trailer parodies; Titanic in five seconds; and all those Chipmunk versions of popular songs that Ross Bagdasarian Jr. would never let them sing.

But 'Chocolate Rain' is truly something special, something to behold. It deserves an Oscar (1) Because of its wonderful quality. (2) Because of its role as homage. It is directly inspired by Paul Robeson's classic, "Old Man River" from the musical Showboat, as well as 80s synth-pop. 'Chocolate Rain' is the highest art that mankind will ever produce, second only to de-aging Jeff Bridges in TRON: Legacy. It's just marvelous."

Tay Zonday uploaded a new video yesterday responding to the enthusiastic, if hyperbolic, response.

"I have no idea what the hell he's talking about," says Zonday, who then moves away from the microphone to breathe. "All I do in the whole f--king video is sing 'Chocolate raaaiiin' and then sing a bunch of random s--t that makes no sense. So Thank you, Mr. Ebert... I..." he then moves away from the microphone to breathe, "...think."

The praise has not been without its criticisms. One man in Chicago said, "If Ebert had his way, Yogi Bear would win Best Picture."