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Lucas the Spider Shows Off His Musical Talent With a Little Song Skillfully Played on a Thumb Piano

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Misty Copeland and the poetry of Saul Williams, by Drog5 for UnderArmour

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<3 <3 <3

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What I learned from my failure is that it's not creativity you should be afraid of, you should just be aware of what the value is. The film industry is very simple, like any market. If your films make money, it's a lot easier to get money to make more films. If your films don't lose money, you can still find people to give you money. But if you lose money, that's a very dangerous, slippery slope to get into. The problem with "Fear X" - creatively I didn't solve it as much as I should have. That's my fault, pure and simple. Financially, the film was just too expensive for what it was worth. If the film had cost half a million dollars, nothing would have happened. But because it cost between $3-4 million, it was just way too expensive for the kind of film it was. Also when I was making it I thought I was god's gift to mankind. I felt I could walk on water. Which is what you do. You have to have that attitude. But when it became such a colossal failure, and because I invested my own money it, not only was the movie a failure, but I owed my bank $1 million. Now when you owe your bank $1 million, you're pretty much ruined for life. At the same time, I was a has-been at 30 years old. I felt really sorry for myself. I was really pathetic. In a way, failing was always something that had to happen to me. Because you need to learn you can't walk on water. Then you can understand when it really works.

Nicholas Winding Refn, on the failure of Fear X (2003) and market value, via IMDB

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Early 70’s behind the scenes of Sesame Street with the Muppets.

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The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Magically Made Out of Gingerbread

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Where to start with Mel Brooks’ high-quality low comedy

The Essentials

1. Young Frankenstein (1974) Blücher! While rarely mentioned among its decade’s greatest films, Young Frankenstein absolutely should be. This is an essentially perfect comedy, one that features remarkable visual beauty and even some pathos among the huge belly laughs.

2. Blazing Saddles (1974) A safe choice for the funniest movie ever made, this is Brooks at his most deliciously vulgar and anarchic. It’s forever the standard for comic Westerns, but behind the jokes is an unflinching look at race.

3. Get Smart (1965-70) Brooks would become less involved with this classic spy comedy after its first season, but the whole series is tremendous fun. Even if he hadn’t graduated to film, this effort would be enough to position Brooks as a force of major influence.

4. The Producers (1967 and 2001) Brooks’ cinematic debut remains a masterpiece of low comedy, one that doubles as a thesis statement for his own success-despite-tastelessness. The onstage version is sweeter, but no less enjoyable.

5. Spaceballs (1987) While not his most assured or out-and-out funniest film, Spaceballs perfectly demonstrates how enjoyable Brooks’ goofiness can be, even when he’s operating on auto-pilot (at ludicrous speed).

Read our full beginner’s guide to the works of Mel Brooks at avclub.com