Technically, we're in the business of reviewing movies. Well, by business I mean something of an indentured servitude, where good behavior is rewarded with chocolate chip cookies and bad is punished with multiple viewings of the Doom Generation and Crossroads, but you know what I mean. Movies. The things that go up on the big shiny screen and then come to small shiny discs and tapes. The things people get paid millions upon millions of dollars to be in.

But we're also in "cult", which, if you've read any of our MRFHline interviews, doesn't really seem to have a solid definition.

One thing we can agree on though, I think, is that wackiness has a place here at MRFH. Aside from the parties Kyle's been throwing ever since he was promoted to a head honcho (Drew's been hung over for the past three weeks, and but for my "delicate condition", I'd probably be joining him. At least HE has an excuse for the lampshade in the photographs!), we appreciate wackiness in all sorts of ways. Which all boils down to a crappy introduction to say I got bored one night and watched the DVD we have of Weird Al Yankovic videos.

Weird Al, just for the record, is kind of the minstrel of cult.

Seriously. Weird Al is just one of those pop culture phenomena that has a devoted, slavering following and leaves the rest of the world bemused or scornful. His parodies are the best-known, although he's far from the only parodist (is that a word?) I know of. He's certainly had a presence in movies, although I'd guess a good 95% of the world hasn't bothered to watch the ones he's been involved with. The man SCREAMS cult, which is pretty funny given that he seems like a clean-cut, normal type of guy.

Anyway, as I said, one night I got bored. Duckie was out of town and I was cranky, so I decided to cheer myself up by watching every Weird Al music video we own. Given that we own the DVD of his videos, and his 1999 tour on DVD as well, that kept me entertained for quite a while. And if you ever do find that you're depressed and want to break out of it, I fully recommend this method.

I also highly recommend going to his concerts, if he tours near you. He puts on a good show, including multiple costume changes.

Anyway. The DVD spans from 1983 to 1996, and features some of the best Al moments known to man.

Ricky (parody of "Mickey" as performed by Tony Basil). It's kind of funny. I just spent the past half a page pontifying why I love Weird Al in vague terms, and the first video out of the gate isn't one I'm very fond of. Maybe because I was never a huge I Love Lucy fan. I think your appreciation of this particular song and video might be proportional to how much Lucy you watched when you were a kid. But wow, he looks young here.

I Love Rocky Road (parody of "I Love Rock and Roll" by Joan Jett). Another one I'm sort of lukewarm on, to be honest (I think it took Al a few years to get going). It's entertaining, and it does feature ice cream, but this is sort of your average Al. Amusing parody. What does crack me up is watching the extras do their best impression of stoned 80's teenagers. At least, I assume they were doing impressions.

Eat It (parody of "Beat it" as performed by Michael Jackson). Oooooh yeah. NOW we're into the good stuff. "Eat It" is definitely one of my top favorites. The song is funny (even if it seems like half of Weird Al's songs are about food- kind of funny given that he's so skinny), but the video is what really makes it. What really amazes me about Al is that he is a skinny, geeky, white guy that can't dance, and yet he can pull off the most amazing impressions. His mimicry of Michael Jackson here is dead on, and absolutely hysterical. And extra points for the Thriller dancing and the yellow eyes at the end.

I Lost on Jeapordy (parody of "Our Love's in Jeapordy" by Greg Kihn). An absolutely classic ode to geekdom song, I think. And we keep our Ph.D.s in our coats, thanks. I do get a kick out of the answers and questions that come up in this, though. Good for a nice, hard laugh, and I always appreciate good geek humor.

This is the Life (original song). See? Movie presence, thus justifying praising Weird Al on a movie site! This one comes from Johnny Dangerously, which I've never seen and probably should, because it looks like prime Mutant fare. I can probably give a more thorough review of this video once I've seen the movie.

Like a Surgeon (parody of "Like a Virgin" as performed by Madonna.) Okay, this one disturbs me. Now, I like Weird Al. A lot. And actually, he strikes me as one of the better catches in Hollywood, at least he presents himself that way. He comes across as humble and sweet, very smart, and with a great sense of humor. And the guy isn't hideous. But he is not, I repeat, NOT sex on two legs here. And watching the Madonna-like posturing (bearing in mind what I said about his mimicking skills) just goes beyond funny to disturbing.

One More Minute (original song). Ah, my favorite Weird Al original song that doesn't involve Christmas ("The Night Santa Went Crazy" beats it out, but by a narrow margin). The 50's doowap style has always amused me, but this song wins prizes just for the line "Because I'm stranded all alone in the gas station of love/And I have to use the self service pump!" Best. Breakup song. Ever. The video isn't all that amazing, but it really doesn't need to be. (The backup guys could have been more amusing though.)

Dare to be Stupid (original song, but obviously spoofing Devo). It's funny. I saw an interview at one point where they asked Devo about how they felt about this song. Devo said that actually, Weird Al accomplished the style and feeling better than they ever had. A true tribute to the parodist, I guess. But for some reason, this reminds me of the sequence in Revenge of the Nerds where the Tri-Lams have their concert. Go figure.

Living with A Hernia (parody of "Living In America", as performed by James Brown.) My least favorite song on the disk, save Bedrock Anthem. It's just not that funny. But Weird Al gets points for being a skinny white guy managing to pull off a credible James Brown impression. That takes talent.

Christmas at Ground Zero (original song). Not my all-time favorite Christmas song (like I said, that's "The Night Santa Went Crazy"), but it's a definite number 2. Great black humor - certain movie makers should really take note. The pictures of nuclear Armageddon and the air raid drills mingled with Christmas specials shouldn't be funny, but it cracks me up every single time. Heck, air raid drill footage amuses me, because, y'know, covering your head makes it impossible for you to die. I'm just saying. And the Reagan footage is the perfect touch.

Fat (parody of "Bad" as performed by Michael Jackson). Pure gold. From the fat suit (which he wears when he tours) to the dancing to the lyrics… everything about this is perfect. Nothing else needs to be said.

Beverly Hillbillies/Money for Nothing (parody of "Money for Nothing" as performed by Dire Straits). Dire Straits. I like Dire Straits to begin with, and the fact that Mark Knopfler insisted on playing the guitar for this just makes it cooler. (Additional fun sidenote: Mark Knopfler, to up his Mutantness, wrote much of the music for The Princess Bride.) But I was never a Beverly Hillbillies fan, so like Ricky, the full effect of this parody was probably lost on me.

UHF (original song, theme to the movie). Ah, UHF. Is there a Mutant that hasn't watched it? (Erm, confession. Me. But I will! I swear!) But what really amuses me is Al imitating all of the other styles and singers in this video. It's a little scary when he does George Michael, VERY scary when he does Prince, but really funny when he does Billy Idol.

Smells Like Nirvana (parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as performed by Nirvana) This is Al at the top of his game. I remember seeing this VH-1 special on Weird Al where they showed the video he parodied first, and then his video. The similarities between these two (right down to the same janitor!) make it absolutely hysterical. And the concept has always cracked me up, because I never understood Nirvana either.

You Don't Love Me Anymore (original song, although the video is a parody of "More Than Words" as performed by Extreme) This is one of those good, solid Weird Al songs that doesn't break any records or top any lists, but doesn't make me wonder why I like the guy, either. Middle of the pack, entertaining, but nothing extraordinary.

Jurassic Park (parody of "Macarthur Park" as performed by Paul Simon.) The original song is one I barely knew, and my first real experience with it was watching Apu's niece sing it in the Little Miss Springfield contest. (It took me a while to realize they DIDN'T parody it there. "And I'll never have that recipe again… oh no!" didn't sound like real song lyrics to me. Guess I was wrong.) However, I really like the video for this. The claymation is great, and the dinosaurs are fantastic. Especially when they bite off Barney's head. I hate Barney.

Bedrock Anthem (parody of "Under the Bridge" and "Give It Away" as performed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.) Yawn. My absolute least favorite, and not for any reason besides it's not really funny. I saw the Peppers talking about how they were very disappointed- Al wanted to do a parody of their songs, and they were psyched cause they liked his stuff… and then they got this. The bit with the bumblebee girl is great, but the rest of it is just dull.

Headline News (parody of "Mmm Mmm Mmm" as performed by Crash Test Dummies) I always liked both the original song and the video, and the parody amused me as well. The amusing thing is I can't completely remember which news stories go with which version, but go figure. Again, Al's talent at mimicry cracks me up, as do the audience leaving at the end. Spot the Dr. Demento cameo!

Amish Paradise (parody of "Gangsta Paradise" as performed by Coolio) I remember seeing this with my roommates in my senior year of college. This one is absolutely hysterical, both in video and in song. In fact, it goes up there with "Smells Like Nirvana" and "Fat" for me. But what really makes me laugh is the controversy surrounding "Amish Paradise". Apparently, Coolio was very annoyed at the spoof, saying that it mocked something that was serious and artistic and stuff. I would have been much more impressed if Coolio hadn't been polishing his Grammy for it on his shirt as he made his little speech.

Gump (parody of "Lump" as performed by Presidents of the United States) I wonder if I should be more loving of this, because it's a movie-related song. I never hated Forrest Gump, but I never had a huge love for it either. It was just one of those movies I saw, enjoyed at the time, and it just kind of rolled right off me. The video kind of does the same, maybe because I was never crazy about the song "Lump."

Spy Hard (theme song for the Leslie Neilson movie Spy Hard) It's a parody of the James Bond theme song. It's for a Leslie Neilson movie. What more do you want?

BONUS! I still was in the mood for a little more, so I got out the other Weird Al DVD (Weird Al in concert, after the release of Running with Scissors) and popped it in for the bonus videos.

It's All About the Pentiums (parody of "It's All About the Benjamins" as performed by Puff Daddy or whatever he calls himself these days) Weird Al doing gangsta rap or whatever this is could seem a little scary, but this song so works. Especially when you know people like he's talking about. (It's very scary when they work at the same place as you do. And I'm not talking about the narrator of the song.) Plus Al in silver lame just… well, have I used the word scary enough in this paragraph? But seriously - good stuff. Very good stuff.

The Saga Begins (parody of "American Pie" by Don Maclean). Like "Bedrock Anthem", The Saga Begins is little more than a retelling of a pop culture cash cow. But this time, it works. Maybe because Al picked a catchier tune, maybe because he inserted some wry humor… I'm not sure. What I AM sure about is the video is hysterical, and he does the best job channeling Ewan McGregor channeling Alec Guinness. I mean, it's just something about the head bob, or something. Even Sue, the Ewan McGregor connoisseur, agrees with me on this.

He might not be considered a musical genius by the world at large, but there's just something about Weird Al that makes for a really nice evening. He's kind of the musical equivalent of Prozac, or chocolate, but without the petroleum byproducts or the calories. Now to explore the world of Cletus T. Judd…..