Since it’s that time of the year when everyone looks back on the past 365 days and attempts to summarize them in some poignant or meaningful way, I thought that this week’s Weird Web Wednesday post should also be poignant and meaningful. Looking back on a whole year’s worth of bizarre laughs and cheap thrills that were brought to us via the internet, there were some videos that stood out above all the others. These are the cream of the crop, the videos that truly made an impact on pop culture and wormed their way into the public consciousness. Ladies and gentlemen, without further adieu, I present Film Junk’s Top 10 Viral Videos of 2007:

10. David O. Russell Loses it on the Set of I Heart Huckabees
Before this year, a lot of people probably didn’t know who director David O. Russell was. But now that this video of his freakout on the set of I Heart Huckabees has hit the web, the man has almost become a household name! This video would seem to epitomize the image of an egotistical and anal-retentive filmmaker who has to have everything exactly his way. While we may never know the entire story behind this meltdown, I’m sure we can all agree that it’s not a particularly professional way to conduct yourself in the workplace!

9. Cadbury Gorilla Commercial
The Financial Times ranked Cadbury’s drumming gorilla commercial as the most successful viral commercial of 2007, with over 5 million views on YouTube. Indeed, the commercial was so successful that it has recently started playing in theatres before movies, which is pretty amazing in itself. The exclamations of confusion after the commercial plays to an audience are well worth the price of admission alone. It also inspired this amusing parody.

8. Mini-Mall Rap
Normally cheesy, low budget TV commercials are restricted to late-night time slots and local public access TV stations. Fortunately, in the age of YouTube, this is no longer the case, as a number of hilariously bad commercials found a global audience this year through the magic of the internet. This Flea Market Montgomery commercial is one of the best/worst, with even Ellen Degeneres recognizing it on her show for its amazingly lame jingle. This guy even had a Facebook gift modeled after him… how’s that for flattery?

7. Dramatic Chipmunk
Who knows how something so short and so simple managed to become such a big hit, but hey that’s the unpredictability of the world wide web for you! The dramatic chipmunk has its origins in an episode of a Japanese TV morning show where the pop group MiniMoni were shown a chipmunk in a cage (watch the original version here). But with a little editing and some music, presto… a new internet sensation is born!

6. Hasselhoff Drunk, Eating a Hamburger
2007 was a big year for celebrities being captured in embarrassing situations. Thanks to the internet, even their private lives are now public, and thank god for that because otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to see this amazing video of David Hasselhoff drunk, on the floor, eating a hamburger. The story goes that his daughter videotaped him and wanted to teach him a lesson for falling “hoff the wagon”, so to speak, and in fact you can hear her talking to him in the video and telling him he’s going to lose his current gig on The Producers.

5. Leave Britney Alone
Britney Spears is another celebrity whose mishaps were in the spotlight quite a bit this year, and while most people seemed to delight in her downward spiral, one person stood against the grain and declared that we should all just “Leave Britney Alone!”. That person was actor Chris Crocker, but so convincing was his on-screen performance, that most people thought it was completely authentic. The popularity of this video even led to Crocker being offered a deal to host his own TV show.

4. 2 Girls, 1 Cup
Ah yes, how can we forget this now infamous video that set a new standard for bad taste and internet filth. This video has become a test of endurance, with friends daring each other to watch without looking away or vomiting. Even better than the original piece, however, is the flood of reaction videos that have hit YouTube with everyone from someone’s grandma, to Joe Rogen, to… Kermit The Frog?

3. Don’t Tase Me, Bro!
Tasers are no joke, and the controversy continues to swirl over accusations of excessive force among various police departments as this year has seen a handful of taser-related deaths. But the issue gained even more prominence thanks to this video of University of Florida student Andrew Meyer who caused a ruckus at a town hall forum with John Kerry and was subsequently arrested and then tasered. Not only did it shock people, it also inspired a series of amazing remix videos and a bunch of t-shirts as well!

2. The Landlord
2007 may go down in history as the year that Hollywood stopped fighting the internet and started using it to their advantage. Back in April, Will Ferrell and his buddy Adam McKay launched a viral video site called FunnyOrDie that would feature short comedy videos, many of them starring big name actors. (Judd Apatow also came on board later in the year.) The site’s traffic was propelled into the stratosphere due to the popularity of this video starring Ferrell, McKay, and McKay’s toddler daughter Pearl. Hilarious stuff, and it seems to have had an impact on a lot of other showbiz folks who are now looking to get into the internet market as well.

1. Chocolate Rain
A knack for catchy songwriting, strange lyrics and a freakishly deep voice all helped the video for the original song “Chocolate Rain” to spread across the internet like wildfire, making Tay Zonday an instant internet celeb. The success of this video led to appearances on Jimmy Kimmel and CNN, performances with Girl Talk and Dan Deacon, and recently, his own Dr. Pepper commercial! Whether or not he can spin this into a legitimate music career remains to be seen, but it’s hard to deny the impact that Chocolate Rain had on the web this year. All hail Tay Zonday!

So that wraps up our Top 10 Viral Videos of 2007. The thing is, there were so many others to choose from. Here’s where we throw it over to you: what were your favourite internet videos of 2007?