Awesome Videos

Plot twist: these are a real family’s Christmas mornings over the past decade. The video was posted as a disguised cry for help by the boy, whose deranged parents make him play pretend everyday. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

Traveling by plane to or within the USA? Reason TV enumerates some of the items that you can or can’t bring on the plane, exposing the arbitrary and more importantly the futile nature of the guidelines.

FinalCutKing’s video greeting card gives us insight into the chaos and mayhem created by gingerbread men while we’re out shopping for last minute gifts. We’re surprised they’d trash their own gingerbread house though.

(NSFW: Language) Animation Domination HD once again uses the power of facts to ruin a good myth. We should be glad that Santa isn’t real, but more importantly, we should help the people who actually make our gifts.

CG Animator Brian Anderson pays tribute to a classic scene from The Dark Knight, recreating Batman’s brutal interrogation of The Joker with LEGO minifigs. Sorta. Stick around long enough and it really goes off the rails.

(NSFW: Language) Ever wonder what Santa Claus and his crew do in their spare time? Animators Jens and Anna explore the lives of Saint Nick, his reindeer, and even presents and trees when it’s not Christmas time. (Thanks Kenny!)

YouTuber SteveKardynal loves to get on Chatroulette and entertain strangers by lip syncing to songs while in costume. Here he is bringing holiday cheer over Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You.

Musician Greg Johnson of Acoustic Labs is back with another great arrangement, this time plucking a warm and soothing rendition of the classic Back to the Future theme by Alan Silvestri on his Alvarez acoustic guitar.

It’s not that they want to spoil the joy of the season, but the American Civil Liberties Union has an important reminder: Yes, Virginia, there is an NSA. And they’re coming for you. They probably already did.

CGP Grey starts out by messing with our heads, then moves on to explore the idea of the “nocebo effect” – a psychological effect which makes people experience pain, discomfort and other symptoms from non-existent causes.

On 12/24/1968, astronaut William Anders of the Apollo 8 mission took one of the most memorable photographs in human history: Earthrise. This is NASA’s scientifically accurate reenactment of the moment the photo was taken.

Aymann Ismail of ANIMAL set up a camera overlooking a UPS distribution facility in NYC’s Hell’s Kitchen in the days leading up to Christmas, capturing the mesmerizing ballet of trucks moving in and out of narrow spaces.

(NSFW: Language) The war of the boxes escalates to the skies in Cardboard Warfare 2.5: World of Warplanes, the latest action-packed short film from the RocketJump crew. It’s a shameless plug for World of Warplanes, but we don’t care.

2013 is nearly over, and it’s time to review the best and the worst of what the year had to offer. Let’s turn it over to Blake and Bungo – a couple of monkey puppets – to recap the year’s top events… and JCVD’s top splits.

YouTuber Flula got to sit down with the cast of Anchorman 2. But instead of interviewing them, he asked them to make music. The result is at 0:41, but you should watch the whole thing to see the fear in the actors’ eyes.

Jarrett Michael Alan Courtney captures a moment of visual poetry. A throng of kids are taught how to dance to a 4-year-old hip hop song urging women to shaking their behind to attract men. A bystander reacts appropriately.

Paul Klusman updates his earlier work with the help of his friend TJ and their numerous cats. Learn about the artistic and scientific interests of felines, their economic significance and the phenomenon they call CISCIS.

While CGI effects dominate the big screen these days, the Oscar-winning effects team from Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. shows off the incredible realism they were able to achieve with the gorilla puppet they built for The Zookeeper.

(NSFW) Nintendo declared 2013 to be the Year of Luigi, but the big N wouldn’t promote this song even if made you buy a Wii U. Luigi’s Ballad is a hilariously juvenile song from Starbomb, the band of Egoraptor and Ninja Sex Party.

You know the feeling – you’re visiting your significant other’s family for the holidays and you end up sleeping over in the room she grew up in as a kid. SNL serenades us with a little ditty about the awkward, but common scenario.

David Saterstad had some trouble cutting down a Christmas tree. Thank goodness his wife was chortling in the background, otherwise this video would be much more disturbing. The tree probably uprooted itself out of disgust.

Netflix goes above and beyond the call of duty by making a trailer – and a behind the scenes video – for one of its most senseless shows, Fireplace for your Home. Orange is the New Black? House of Cards? Pshhh. Place of Fire yo!

Fluids flow and rush to the beat of The Glitch Mob in the official music video of the electronic group’s new single Can’t Kill Us. The track is from their upcoming album Love Death Immortality. Video by beeple.