Law Schools

Law Revue Video Contest 2018: The Finalists!

Who will win this year's Law Revue Video Contest? It’s up to you. Start voting now!

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Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to feast your eyes upon the best of the best in the 2018 law revue video contest. This year, the competition was absolutely awesome — so awesome, that for our tenth edition of this contest, we decided to narrow down the competition to the top three videos.

Not only were these law students able to carry a tune, but they also had excellent comedic timing, and provided us with professional-grade production values. Our finalists’ videos were an absolute joy with Pop music and Broadway hits providing an excellent soundtrack for this year’s law revue stylings. You stayed current, and the results were amazing. Nice work, everyone!

This year, your reviewers will be Elie Mystal, Staci Zaretsky, Joe Patrice, and Kathryn Rubino. We issue only advisory opinions; you hold all the power.

Who will follow the winners of years past into the annals of Law Revue history? It’s up to you, our readers! Do the right thing: vote early, and vote for the best.

Videos are listed in alphabetical order by school. Voting will close on SUNDAY, MAY 13, at 11:59 PM (Eastern time).

1. George Washington University Law School – A Slave to Law Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA_wPnkMbiE

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ELIE: This video wins the “law students who go to the gym” competition. There are pretty people from both sexes here. I can’t abide the Taylor Swift though, what with me not being a Nazi-sympathizer and all. But the lyrics are clever, and the singing is competent. I think I’ll watch it again… cause, umm, I only watch law revue videos for the articles.
STACI: I have no shame, so I’ll admit it: I love Taylor Swift’s music, so I loved this video by default. Not only did GW try really hard to copy the actual music video for “Look What You Made Me Do,” but I noticed that your law revue squad put the ATL editors’ initials on their crop tops. The singing is pretty spot-on, too. Nicely done!
JOE: As a former Senior Article Editor for a journal, cite checking is always a source of jouissance for me, mostly because everything in this song sounds like every 2L editor coming to me complaining about how they failed to accomplish even the modest citation task which was their charge. Yeah, I was the mean senior editor.
KATHRYN: I really don’t like this song — the original TSwift variety, not the GW parody. The revenge track with an annoyingly catchy tune induces nothing but eye rolls in its desperation for social media relevance. But, again, the tune is catchy and GW’s law school spin on the track is clever. And it helps that they can sing.

2. New York University School of Law – AMF

ELIE:: I really don’t like actual potty humor. I’m too prude to find bowel movements funny. I want you to know that because… this is the funniest video I’ve seen in years. Our offices are near NYU and every time we go out drinking, we’re going to be looking out for this performer to buy her a drink and maybe offer her a job. Just watching the video makes me more comfortable with my own bodily functions. And it’s literally the only finalist this year that doesn’t make me think about Nazis.
STACI: In all of the years that I’ve been judging law revue contests, I can’t remember a single solo performance backed only by piano, which made this performance all the better. NYU’s ballad about shitting your pants during classi may just win the entire thing. This was freaking fantastic.
JOE: So there’s some editorial momentum around the idea of “not appreciating potty humor” and I generally agree with that sentiment, but there’s an art to it. A B-movie of fart jokes is not particularly funny to me, but the key to this isn’t “potty humor,” it’s juxtaposition. It’s taking the word “shart” and putting it into a dignified, self-serious piano solo. THAT is funny.
KATHRYN: What an unexpected delight. Not often you say that about an ode to shitting yourself, but there you go. I’m not usually a fan of potty humor, but the juxtaposition of such a vulgar subject matter and the auditory delight of the performance just work.

3. University of Virginia School of Law – Please Read

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ELIE:: I mean, they literally made a video based on one of our stories, so I’m pretty happy. The singing is great, the video editing is great, and nobody shits their pants. I was kind of prepared to be pissed that UVA Law did a whole thing without mentioning their Nazi problem, but they won me over by the end.
STACI: Who doesn’t love The Book of Mormon? I thought this was great, and I found myself singing along at the end of the tune (much to the annoyance of my fellow editors). By the way, this is the ATL post this song is based on. 🙂
JOE: UVA always brings it in this competition, and this is another solid entry. We actually had a couple of Book of Mormon entries this year and they were all outstanding, but this one got a slight edge in our mind. Basing itself on an ATL story certainly provided the necessary huckleberry.
KATHRYN: Okay, this gets my vote. Clever, self-depreciating lyrics: check. High production value: check. Quality singing: check. Obligatory Above the Law shout out: check. What else could you ungrateful little sh*ts want from a Law Revue video?

It’s time to vote, everyone. Polls close on SUNDAY, MAY 13, at 11:59 PM (Eastern time). Feel free to get out the vote among your friends and family. In order to vote, please fill out the form below. This will generate an email message and provide you with a link to submit your vote. Good luck to all the finalists!

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