Below, some vintage Monty Python footage… (And see our related piece: 150 Monty Python Sketches.
The 50 Greatest Arts Videos on YouTube
One of our British readers turned us on to this post by the Guardian, noting that they took a page from our general playbook. The post features 50 of the best YouTube clips from across the arts, some of which we’ve featured here in the past. Among the videos, you’ll find vintage performances by John Coltrane and Billie Holiday, readings by Jack Kerouac, an interview with Eugène Ionesco, clips of Nirvana rehearsing in a garage, Vladimir Nabokov talking about Lolita, Jackson Pollock dripping paint outside his home, and Marlon Brando doing a screen test for Rebel Without a Cause. We have posted the Brando clip below. There are some definite gems here. Now dive in. And don’t forget to work through our YouTube playlist and our piece 70 Signs of Intelligent Life at YouTube, where you’ll find enriching video collections.
Thanks Stephen for the tip. And readers, keep the good recommendations coming!
Jean-Luc Godard Meets Woody Allen
Filmed in 1986, Meetin’ WA is a short (26 minute) film that not many have seen. What you get is Godard, one of the driving forces behind La Nouvelle Vague, in conversation with Woody Allen. The trademark Godard approach to film, the expected dose of Woody Allen neuroses — they’re all there. Hat tip to Metafilter for bringing this one to light.
Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia: Diving at the ’36 Games
Produced at the request of the International Olympics Committee (and not at the behest of the Nazi propaganda machine), Leni Riefenstahl’s 1938 documentary, Olympia, is considered one of the more important sports documentaries of the 20th century. Below, we have posted a well known sequence that recalls the diving competition at the ’36 Berlin Games.
What Wikipedia Founder, Jimmy Wales, Thinks about Knol, the New Google Competitor
Here is Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia’s founder, being interviewed after Google debuted Knol. Interesting that his first thought is that users should copy Knol content and bring it to Wikipedia … :
The Great Dictator: A Classic Chaplin Moment
It’s 1940. The film is The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin’s famous satire of Nazi Germany. In this celebrated scene, Chaplin dances with a large globe with Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin Overture playing in the background.
Watch Complete Documentary Films For Free (Featuring Super-Size Me)
Joerg, one of our readers, wrote us rather joyfully and declared: “Today I found the site of my dreams: Supposedly most of the greatest new documentaries can be watched online” and they’re “financed by ads.” The site is called SnagFilms, and indeed, it finds “the world‘s most compelling documentaries, whether from established heavyweights or first-time filmmakers, and mak[es] them available to the wide audience these titles deserve.” In exchange for making the films free, you do have to sit through some ads, but it is perhaps a small price to pay. Below we have posted Super Size Me, the 2004 documentary by Morgan Spurlock, which offers some startling commentary on the fast food industry. Other notable titles include the 2004 rock documentary Dig!, Under Our Skin, and Run Granny Run. You can see their full collection here.
NOTE: You can find this film in our collection of free online movies.
Related Content:
YouTube’s New Screening Room (Free Indie Films)
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