Punch it Up
[Photo by Frank Zhang on Unsplash]
There are many different types of punches in existence. The jab, the straight, the cross and the uppercut all of these are parts of the repertoires of the best pugilists in the world. Yet even all of those different punches don’t even scratch the surface of all of the punches in the world. To celebrate National Punch Day, we at Quirk decided to take a look at some of the greatest popular culture punches.
McLovin Gets Punched
In the 2007 Jonah Hill and Michael Cera movie Superbad, Fogel, a nerdy friend of the lead characters, gets knocked out hardcore. During his attempt to illegally purchase alcohol with a fake idea under the name of McLovin, Fogel gets knocked out by a robber who then proceeds to raid the liquor store’s cash register. The security footage goes viral and eventually leads to a running series of gags throughout the movie.
Kool-Aid
Every kid of the ‘90s at some point had Kool-Aid. The drink was ubiquitous and even had individual plastic bottles which could be packed in a sack lunch for only the coolest of the cool kids. The brand was so popular that its mascot, an anthropomorphized pitcher of Kool-Aid become something of a pop-culture phenomenon with appearances not only in commercials but in television shows like Family Guy as he smashed through walls to provide thirst quenching reconstituted juice.
Lucy Punch
There are a lot of great character actors out there in the world but Lucy Punch is by far one of the funniest. With almost eighty acting credits to her name, Punch has appeared in such major hit films and tv shows as Ella Enchanted, Bad Teacher, What We Do in the Shadows, New Girl, and Hot Fuzz. Always quick to bring a laugh, Punch is worth keeping an eye out for in any entertainment.
Sucker Punch
From Zack Snyder, the director of comic book film adaptations 300, Watchmen, and Man of Steel, came this experiment in special effects and genre combination. More a series of music videos connected by a framing story, Sucker Punch was an action heavy steam-punk, live-action anime, superhero adventure. While the film met with inconsistent reviews, it is a spectacle worth watching at least once.
Speed Bag Punches Bernie
Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has been a big presence over the last four years. Nearly wresting the 2016 Democratic nomination from Hillary Clinton and then giving Joe Biden a run for his money this year, Bernie has been all over the internet and the United States. On a visit last year to The Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky, Bernie took his best swing at a speed bag, unfortunately for the US Senator, he wasn’t ready for the bag to swing back at him and got a shot in the face. Still, he took the hit like a champ and that is why though he did not win the nomination for president, he has won the hearts of many Americans.
Super Punch-Out
In September of 1994, Nintendo unleashed one of its most popular video games ever, Super Punch-Out. Game players controlled their avatar, Little Mac, as he attempted to defeat a series of progressively more difficult opponents. There is probably no original Nintendo fan in the world who hasn’t played at least a round or two of the game.
