UPLOADED VIDEOS

Newest
Popular

1

02:28

An Inconvenient Proposal: A Love Song for Laurie David

by grapepop (3/17/09) 519 views

Starring Josh Rachlis and Directed By Jonathan Bensimon, this music video is dedicated to Laurie David - producer of An Inconvenient Truth and ex-wife of Larry David, creator of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm - with the goal of winning Laurie's hand in marriage. Josh is just an ordinary person who, like many people today, is concerned about our environment. So everywhere he walks, he picks up litter. He even goes through the trash in subway stations to put paper and bottles in the proper recycling bags. When he heard of stopglobalwarming.org, he was curious as to who started the site. When he found out it was a woman, he developed a green crush. And when he further learned that the woman was married to Larry David, he was really excited. Because Larry's bald, neurotic and Jewish just like Josh. So Josh was Laurie's type! But she was married, so it was all just a dream. But then one day, Josh heard that the Davids were getting a divorce... Upon hearing of the divorce plans, Josh promptly recorded a marriage proposal for Laurie with his webcam: http://tinyurl.com/marrymelaurie. It was featured on eco-celeb site Ecorazzi - as you can see here: http://tinyurl.com/ecorazzi - and in the blog of Edge 102.1 FMs Alan Cross. But alas, Laurie played coy and never contacted Josh, surely because she wanted to ensure he was serious. So now Josh is kicking it up a level with a song. Because girls love songs, right? Especially hip hop songs. Even more especially when the singer is dressed as a superhero. He hopes that Laurie sees the video and that together they can save the world. Or, at the very least, Josh hopes that the song teaches viewers some positive things they can do for the environment. And that way, his love for Laurie will do some good for the Earth no matter what happens with their relationship. But still, his fingers are crossed for a green wedding. If you'd like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Josh Rachlis, please send an email to josh.rachlis (at) gmail.com. To contact the Director, Jonathan Bensimon, send an email to shoot (at) industryfilms.com
2

03:23

Beaver Tale 3: The Break-Up

by grapepop (3/7/09) 330 views

The 3rd installment in the award-winning Beaver Tale short film series, "Beaver Tale 3: The Break-Up" takes a darker turn than the first two, chronicling romantic troubles between Pelt The Beaver and Quillette The Porcupine. The movie has been highly-anticipated, as the first Beaver Tale won Most Original Idea at the Leo Burnett Advertising Short Film Festival and the Audience Choice award at the Small Town Film Festival (STFF) in Chatham, Ontario, while the second installment won Audience Choice at the following years STFF. And both Beaver Tales were featured on CBC TV's show Exposure. In a new twist for the series, BT3 ends with a "To Be Continued" cliffhanger. "As is increasingly common in Hollywood, we shot Beaver Tale 4 simultaneously," says series creator, Josh Rachlis. "And we promise not to hold it back too long. We know the audience will be chewing at the bit! Get it? Chewing? Normally you'd say chomping at the bit. But I said chewing, because it's a beaver... Ok, never mind." For those unfamiliar with the doc-style series, the story began when Pelt The Beaver found a pack of gum in a campers backpack in the forest. He realized he could chew this gum instead of trees. So naturally he moved to the city and bought a condo-loft. His adventures have taken him to a career in architecture, to running a bed & breakfast, and now to dealing with the heartbreak of a troubled relationship. All the while, he maintains his sweet, innocent disposition and curiosity about life. Catch up by watching the first Beaver Tale: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQUPwlgDu1s Then Beaver Tale 2: The Bed & Breakfast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_5rXbvTahE You can read the full press release here: http://joshrachlis.blogspot.com/2009/03/watch-beaver-tale-3-break-up.html
3

02:56

Award Show Host Trains Cute Girl Assistant

by grapepop (2/27/09) 2,561 views

The year was 2000. By popular demand, I was returning to host Ottawa's Ad Award Show. To entertain the crowd, I made a spoof of "Real Dealers Can't Jump," which was that year's hit commercial for the Ontario Toyota Dealers. In the video, shot with high-production values in, um, my basement, I am training my cute female assistant to help me on stage. I make several references to people who worked in the Ottawa ad business. These names may be meaningless to you, but trust me, the references were hilarious to people who worked in the Ottawa ad business. (Note: The actual Toyota commercial starred fellow Ottawan and Greenbank Public School alumnus Adam Reid, who was generous enough to reprise his role as the pompous director for me, giving me enough footage to cut together a second short that I also screened at the award show. I'll post that film one day too, when Mr. Reid is rich and famous enough for me to blackmail.)
4

03:31

JAOS - Episode 2: Josh is Selling New "Coke Smooth" on EBay

by grapepop (1/25/09) 225 views

Josh has been having trouble selling his amazing goods on his eBay page. So he thought maybe videos would help to show how great his stuff is. In his second video, he's selling "Coke Smooth," a new kind of Coke without bubbles, which you haven't seen in stores because it's really rare and you can only get it from Josh. So please buy it from him.
5

08:24

Josh's Speech at His Dad's Retirement Party

by grapepop (1/17/09) 748 views

On June 5, 2008, a huge party was thrown at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa to celebrate the retirement of my father, Dr. Lorne Rachlis, from 37 noble, selfless years of service to public education. His current job was Director of the Ottawa School Board, and there were many colleagues and friends and family there to thank him for doing so much for the Ottawa School Board, and for education in the Province of Ontario in general. There were many speeches given. And, as esteemed as this event was, for some reason they let me give a speech, too. Even though I don't know much about the inner workings of public education. I do, however, know much about the inner workings of the Rachlis household...
6

09:36

Talking Bollocks - Episode 2

by grapepop (1/17/09) 77 views

Josh and Rill want to host a talk show. So they're doing it themselves. By interviewing each other. In this episode, Rill, soon eligible to become a Canadian citizen, interviews Josh about what it's like to be a Canadian. (Filmed on January 8, 2009)
7

04:25

A Love Song for a Cozy Snowy Winter Evening

by grapepop (1/17/09) 290 views

Here's another original love song for the New Year by Josh Rachlis, with back-up from Cheryl Beatty. It's about finally finding someone who gets your heart beating faster every time they send you an email, call you on the phone or snuggle up to you - even after you've dated for a while. If you have a suggestion for a title, please post your thought. (Sorry for the awkward framing here. We were using Cheryl's Super VHS video camera, but then couldn't figure out how to transfer the footage onto her computer. Fortunately, I was shooting a back-up angle with my digital camera. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that this angle had a lot of shelf in it.) Here are the lyrics so you can sing along: Most things they fade away No matter what you do they just wont stay The same as when they First were there First times are exciting They hit you like a blast of lightening Then the light vanishes Into air But from the first time that I met you To the last time that we kissed Our love shines/Just as bright As it did the morning after/The first night When you said/That youd stay In my arms forever and youd never fade away I always thought Id be The kind of person who could never see Myself with one person Now I do Cause from the first time that I met you To the last time that we kissed Our love shines/Just as bright As it did the morning after/The first night When you said/That youd stay In my arms forever and youd never Fade away And now I want your love to be a part Of each day Cause every morning feels just like the start Our love shines/Just as bright As it did the morning after/The first night When you said/That youd stay In my arms forever and youd never In my arms forever and youd never In my arms forever and youd never fade away
8

04:16

A Love Song to Fill the New Year With, Um, Love

by grapepop (1/17/09) 309 views

One of my new year's resolutions is to fill the entire world with love. My other resolution is to find someone to marry me. And since the first resolution will be much easier for me to achieve, I figure I'll get right on it by posting a love song, thus putting the first drop of love into the empty vessel that is 2009. This song is a work in progress. Still tweaking the chords. And don't have a name for it. But that's a lesson for all of us in 2009 - things will never be perfect. So just do it. No, wait. That's a Nike ad. Anyway, helping me out here is the stripy-socked Cheryl Beatty. Go to www.myspace.com/cherylbeatty to buy her album and find out where you can can see her live. She's a beautiful singer and a beautiful person. (Oh, and if you're expecting this song to be funny, it's not. Well, not intentionally, anyway.)
9

14:41

Talking Bollocks - Episode 1

by grapepop (1/17/09) 153 views

Josh and Marilla want to host a talk show. They also want to be guests on a talk show. Since neither is happening at the moment, they're taking things into their own hands and making their own talk show. They'll take turns interviewing each other. And they'll be "talking bollocks," which is an English expression meaning "talking about whatever." (Take Marilla's word for it, because she's English.) This is the first episode, filmed on Saturday, December 6th, 2008, at Talking Bollocks Studios (a.k.a. Marilla's house).
10

07:08

Stand-up Comedy About: Stain On Wall, Sleep Tips, Death, Facebook, Intern, Glory Holes

by grapepop (1/17/09) 924 views

Stand-up comedy at the Black Swan Tavern in Toronto on Sep. 9, 2008. This is the end-of-class show for a stand-up comedy workshop Josh took this summer through Bad Dog Theatre. Each week he would bring in his thoughts and the teacher - Dawn Whitwell - would offer some advice on what to keep. Most of Josh's thoughts involved being alone and depressed. For the show he decided to talk about the stain on his bedroom wall, his sleep tips, why he wants to die in a nuclear war, how to personalize Happy Birthday messages on Facebook, his love for an intern at work and why he wishes he were gay. You'll laugh, you'll cry. Mostly cry, actually. (Side Note: Why is there a girl standing on stage at the beginning? She was chosen as the class MC. Apparently a week before, her and Josh had joked briefly about her staying on stage and bantering with him. Josh forgot about this "plan." Josh likes to think that her standing there is why people weren't laughing at the beginning. They were confused and distracted. That's Josh's story and he's sticking to it.)