Click here to continue reading Film Festival: The Oscars >>>

For every cause, there’s probably a protest song. (Example: USDemocrazy staffers are waiting for approval to release their protest song, “Please, Editor, Take a Shower.”)

Musicians are always looking for ways to help out in the ways they can… And since they usually have more appealing voices than, say, most U.S. Senators, their causes are able to get a lot of attention.

For this week’s Film Festival, we’ve compiled all sorts of protest songs for your inner rebel. Let us know in the comments what your favorite is!

Given the controversy that is war, we’ll kick off with a couple to do with just that:

That’s Donovan singing “Universal Soldier” – a song with compelling lyrics about who goes to war and what’s worth the fight, released in 1965.

Next up, there’s Pearl Jam with “World Wide Suicide” which was released in 2006 as a response to the war in Iraq and criticizes the U.S. government and the detriments of war in general:

Click here to continue reading Film Festival: “Note”-worthy issues >>>

Today, the Hip Hop movement  has had a huge impact on worldwide youth culture.

But back in 1920s New York, another cultural phenomenon had a similarly large impact on our nation’s culture.

It was called the Harlem Renaissance and it was an exciting time of literary, artistic, musical, and cultural happenings. We have found some cool clips that show a few notable developments of that movement.

The clip above is extremely fun to watch and depicts the Lindy Hop dance craze.  The clip comes from the 1941 film Hellzapoppin’.

A few venues in the region served as major cultural centers and helped artists like Billie Holiday, featured in the above clip with Louis Armstrong, find their way to a larger audience. Click here to continue reading Film Festival: Harlem Renaissance >>>

Mardi Gras is USDemocrazy’s favorite time of year!  Right?  Well, if you’re from New Orleans, this is probably one of the most memorable times of the year!

It all started with a bull’s head… or the Romans… actually, we really don’t know how the Mardi Gras that we celebrate today happened.  But we’re sure glad it did!

Never heard of Mardi Gras?  Well, you’re missing out.  Check out the top video of Mardi Gras in 1956, and you can get an idea of the general craziness that goes on, including tons of costumes and parades, and everyone having a good time!

In fact, New Orleans has always had a lively musical culture, and has been known for more than just their win in the Superbowl this year… New Orleans is known for the birth of jazz, from such greats like Louis Armstrong and Wynton Marsalis.

So what could possibly change the greatest party in the world?

Only one of the greatest tragedies in U.S. history. Click here to continue reading Film Festival – Mardi Gras!!! >>>

We at USDemocrazy are victims. Victims of the SNOWPOCALYPSE, that is.

If you live in the mid-Atlantic region, you know what we’re talking about. If you live in the northern mid-west, you’re probably thinking, “Um, OK.”

And since we are snowed in and absolutely bored out of our minds, we became unnaturally obsessed with snow stories and videos, which we’re sharing here. If you think it’s going to be boring, you’re clearly unfamiliar with how awesome blizzards are.

Snow can make people act crazy. But no one can act crazier than meteorologists, as evidenced by the video above, featuring a seemingly maniacal weatherman flipping out over the most recent mid-Atlantic blizzard. It’s awesome.

What’s also awesome is thundersnow. Haven’t heard of it? Well, the concept is simple: imagine a thunderstorm, subtract the rain, and add a whole lot of snow. And there you have it. They’re pretty rare, so meteorologists get worked up over thundersnow storms as well. For instance, Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel:

And Mr. Cantore isn’t the only one enraptured by this meteorological anomaly:

Click here to continue reading Film Festival: Frozen Frenzy! >>>

By the standard of contemporary films like Avatar, some old fashioned Hollywood flicks can look completely laughable.

The only thing weirder and goofier than old Hollywood movies are old US GOVERNMENT movies.

Some of these movies may have been well-intentioned at the time but now some smack of awkward propaganda.

The film above is one of the most famous government-issued pieces of all time. “Duck and Cover” teaches children how to stay safe, even with the looming threat of a nuclear bomb. The concept seems a bit silly to us now, but was taken seriously to the point of duck-and-cover methods being practiced in schools.

Cartoons are supposed to be fun and lighthearted, but this animation depicts a disheveled Donald Duck learning the importance of his income taxes.

The Cold War Era of American history included a lot of anti-Communist sentiment. Lucky for us, the US government created this video so that we could learn how to easily identify a communist and get rid of the internal threat.

Veering a bit from the wartime track, the video above is an educational video by the US government on the effects of LSD, a popular drug in the 1960s. Wow, drug education has surely changed in the past fifty years!

These old government films and propaganda pieces may seem corny, but don’t think that similar tactics aren’t being tried today!

Have you seen anything on television or on the news that you think is propaganda? Do you find it to be an effective tool for the government to use to change attitudes? Leave us a comment and get the discussion started!

Here at US Democrazy, we watch the news A LOT. So the news correspondents that bring us our daily stories almost become our best buddies. Our buddies do not only share the news with us but sometimes SHAPE the news we see.

In the clip above, CNN’s Anderson Cooper stops his news reporting to help save a boy from a group of looters. The clip is somewhat graphic, yet it shows the chaos of the situation in Haiti without many words.

Anderson Cooper is not the only one reporting from dangerous parts of the world.

In the episode above, journalist Mariana van Zeller reports from Sri Lanka, on that country’s war on terror. One of the world’s most dangerous terrorist groups, the Tamil Tigers has caused chaos… but defeating them comes at a high cost.

This mini news documentary comes via Current TV’s Vanguard program.

Vanguard has also done interesting reports on contraband rings in US prisons, the prescription drug problems of South Florida, factory outsourcing, and the Somali pirates (just to name a few).

Have you ever viewed something during a typical news broadcast that made you think twice?  Send us your thoughts and send us a link of anything you find interesting.

Here at USDemocrazy, we understand people who have strong political opinions. Combine strong political opinions with some strong vocal chords, the result is this week’s Film Festival:  a celebration of the Top Presidential Hecklers!

Our first clip above features President Obama being interrupted by pro-life hecklers in Boston this week. (Fast forward to the 1:15 mark in the video).

Let’s not forget another famous heckle that featured an airborne assault.  President George W. Bush is called a dog by an Iraqi reporter who then takes aim at the President with his shoes.

In this clip, President Clinton’s controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for gays in the military gets one heck of a heckle. Click here to continue reading Film Festival: Historical Hecklers >>>

It’s a Monday morning, and although some people are enjoying nice winter breaks, many of us are back to school and back to work.

Here at US Democrazy, it’s time to start applying for summer internships and start working on spring projects. However, we are easily distracted from our tasks.

Take a look at the award-winning animation above by Mike Sternio that manages to put distraction into an effective visual production.

There are so many great animations and works of visual art that you can access on the internet that it’s hard NOT to get distracted. Here’s one more with a post-apocalyptic theme by a French artist, Anthony Voisin.

What should you be doing right now? How do you get back to being productive after intense distraction? Share with us – we need the advice!

Now that you’ve grown to appreciate USDemocrazy’s thoughtful and insightful predictions for 2010 (what, you don’t agree?!), we hope you’re looking forward to the elections coming up this year.

All of the recent banter over health care and President Obama’s performance in office is raising a question… which party will be victorious in 2010?

Some such people spoke out on The McLaughlin Group on Sunday.  ’Political oblivion’ is discussed in no uncertain terms in the video above.

You can find what the panelists thought on other topics of yearly importance, including the most original thinker and the worst politician of 2009, here.

The McLaughlin Group, for those of you not always tuned into PBS (we saw it while waiting for Sesame Street to come on this week) is a public affairs round-table show with big-mouthed panelists and some fun debates. Not everyone is enthralled with their styling of arguing debating, as shown in this video below:

Click here to continue reading Film Festival: A new year, a new election cycle! >>>

Despite the leaps in special effects and graphics available today, there still remain some TV commercials that look like they were conceived in the dark Ages ( You know, the 1970’s).

Meanwhile, there are other ads you can find that may be professionally polished but are just plain strange.

To demonstrate our point, we would like to share with you some of this year’s weirdest and worst TV ads, according to AdFreak (a blog of AdWeek Media) and SodaHead.

Above, this Italian PSA for sexual abuse awareness depicts a boy carrying a dying version of himself through his daily life. It leaves an eerie feeling, but is really effective in transmitting the feeling of a victim of abuse.

This ad comes from a small police department in Wales that wanted to show the devastating effects of texting while driving – then, the clip went viral. They definitely got their point across in this graphic look inside of the car during a crash. Warning: this clip is a bit gruesome!

This one got AdFreak’s award for weirdest commercial of 2009. We won’t spoil it for you, but expect to be a bit disturbed while learning about why you shouldn’t buy prescription drugs without a prescription. Check out the full list of weird ads at AdFreak.

If you even only watched a bit of television this year, you surely caught all of the Free Credit Report madness. SodaHead rated this one of the worst commercials of the year for its “annoying tunes.”

What do you think? Anything you think these lists left out? Be sure to let us know – and don’t forget your reactions to what you saw above!

We at USdemocrazy like to believe we are above all that marketing-consumerism- hullabaloo. Still, we are suckers for a clever engaging TV ad. Of the tens of thousands of ads produced in the past 10 years (and we saw most of them) there a few that stood out as classics.  In this week’s Film Festival we are celebrating some of the decades best commercials  as voted by AdWeek Media.

Above is one of our favorites as Honda’s fluffy rabbits, rainbows, real-toe tapping tune makes us whistle about a diesel engine.

Sneaker squeaking and basketball “rapping” never made a pair of Nike’s look this good.

One of Ikea’s famous “unböring” commercials. To feel bad for the lamp or not to feel bad for the lamp?

Have you ever been thrown out of school? (Editor: that question was not directed to the staff. Please put your hands down).

If you think School officials gave you or any of your friends a bad rap, check out these videos.

Today’s Film Festival features stories of school rulings under attack.

These rulings, ranging from haircuts to hugs to the Pledge of Allegiance are all curious and controversial.

The clip above documents the story of a 4-year-old boy in the Texas school system who is serving an in-school suspension for his long locks – until he or his parents decides to cut them.

In Virginia, a school administration found that hugs lasting over 2 seconds were a display of inappropriate behavior, leading to students holding small demonstrations after hours.

Finally, this clip takes us to Arkansas, where a 10-year-old boy has refused to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance until gays and lesbians are granted full rights. Unfortunately, this has led to him being called many harsh names.

What do you think? Are the school administrations justified? Or do you agree with the students? How does your middle or high school handle these sorts of controversies?

Are looking for an excuse to avoid homework, house work, or really any kind of work? (Join the club)

We have found a way to procrastinate with a purpose… look no further than incredibly amazing TEDtalks.

These short 5 minute videos are the product of the elite TED conference where the world’s best innovators gather each year. Now these cool talks are available online for all to see!

The topics vary but here are just a few of USDemocrazy’s favorites:

Barbie, music videos, and  comic books aren’t just for the western world. Watch this video (above) to see how the Arab world shapes its own pop culture.

America Idol boasts of similar shows springing up across the globe, but how does this idea translate to non-democratic nations?

Ever wonder how oil gets from the ground to your car? What does that even look like?!? Watch to see how industrialized landscape is shaped by this prominent resource.

With so much concern still surrounding the Economy these days, we at USDemocrazy thought it would be time for a good laugh.

So we have turned to satirist and comedian Harry Shearer (who has provided voices for multiple characters from “The Simpsons) for some inspired video. In the film above, he takes Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and puts words in his mouth. We hope you enjoy the results!