Catching up on vid recs
Before I started getting sick in August, I was DLing some vids and trying to get a vids recs post going, but then I kept losing momentum each time I got started. By now, I've managed to lose track of some of the vids I wanted to rec, and that's entirely my fault and i feel more than a bit stupid about it, but I thought I'd at least mention these and hope you will seek them out, and more work by these folks if you haven't already seen it.
Cells by the Servant, Global Frequency pilot, vid by the Pug. The first one is for a fandom that pretty much no one knows -- I sure didn't, when the_pug told me about it: Global Frequency, which was scheduled to air on what became the CW and so was disappeared when the WB went kaput. It's a very cool futuristic noirish series (at least, it looks like it to me; the pilot was leaked to the Net of course, and the_pug is sending me a copy so I can view it all on my own, very exciting) and the_pug has found an excellent song for this incredibly atmospheric show, and also managed to take what is probably a heavily exposition-heavy episode (pilots always are, I find) and give you just enough sense of what's happening to reel you in, without expecting to take away a lot of context. Also, it has Michelle Forbes kicking ass, and that is always a good thing.
Whatever It Takes by Sinead Lohan, Bend It Like Beckham, vid by just_eunice. I have loved this song for years and years, and I was thrilled to see someone use it for a vid, but the extra bonus here was that it was used beautifully, and that's always the treat -- you're willing to fogive a lot in a crappy vid if it's a song you adore, sometimes, so it's a joy when it's used to make a lovely thing like this vid. It captures everything I loved about the movie, and everything I love about the song -- getting high on my mortality, indeed: it's impossible not to feel like you could go to the moon, too, with these ladies when you watch this vid. My favorite thing is right at the beginning -- a wonderful contrast of the practice lineup of female footballers , juxtaposed against the older, proper Indian ladies in their saris, all sitting in a matching immobile line.
Perfect Day by Lou Reed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, vid by aycheb. This has a wonderfully spooky, weird, off-kilter quality that I absolutely adore (and the choice of Lou Reed just seems like a masterstroke to me, the drugged-out, trancelike way he "sings"). It's a perfect backdrop for Willow -- her overweening needs to know and make things conform to what she wants, while still being somewhat passive, the various "addictions" (I use that word very hesitatingly and believe it's grossly overused, and that they never ever made a good case for Willow being addicted to magic on the series) or at least dependencies in her life. The song is so quiet that it seems almost as if it's not tied together, that there's no narrative, but aycheb's gift is that she threads in a little narrative and character study while you're not even looking, and the ending is a doozy.
Hung Up by Madonna, Driven, vid by Obsessive 24. Really, I have no idea who the guys are in this movie, I've never heard of it before, and I don't know if it's all half as blissfully gay as it seems, but I am certainly -- and not even the least bit quietly -- rather giddy about racing cars and the barely closeted gay boys that drive them, whether it's street-racing rice burners or Formula 1 cars. And I'm also giddy about pretty much everything obsessive24 makes vids-wise, so it's a wonderful combination. Cars, homoerotic subtext made text, longing looks, spewing champagne bottles... really, what more could you ask for? I have to check this movie out, soon. And you should, if you haven't seen her other vids, watch all of them. Because I said so.
I Only Want to Be With You by Dusty Springfield, The Persuaders, vid by keiko_kirin. There are actually four vids on the JKL site mentioned in Keiko's LJ post that I'm linking to here, and you absolutely have to watch all of them or I keel you dead, okay? Especially Pants, which is just fucking wonderful, and Jill's Crazy, which got a lot of press after Vividcon and it totally deserves it (Life on Mars and SOO GOOD), and Lynn's This is the Place, which is so exciting to see online, but most of all I want you to watch I Only Want to Be With You. Because it is FUN. And schweet. And so, so wunnerful. Keiko has this amazing knack for finding neglected fandoms or not famous fandoms or obscure actors from other corners of the world and then introducing or reintroducing us to them via her fiction and vids (and her gorgeous screengrabs of beautiful Asian actors, sigh). The Persuaders was this swingin' mod-a-go-go series from 1971 with Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, and they've never been more adorable and so, so very gay. There's a little bit of Life on Mars, a little bit of Pros, a lot of I Spy and Man From UNCLE, and just a whole bunch of other great stuff from that time period (give or take a few years), and you must go watch it or I keel you.
ETA: Please, if you enjoy any of these or have anything to say about them, even if it's just "I really enjoyed this," let the vidders know. Vidders spend a lot of time, money, and effort to create these things, yet they get no cookies for all the hard work. I guarantee you it'll make their day.
Cells by the Servant, Global Frequency pilot, vid by the Pug. The first one is for a fandom that pretty much no one knows -- I sure didn't, when the_pug told me about it: Global Frequency, which was scheduled to air on what became the CW and so was disappeared when the WB went kaput. It's a very cool futuristic noirish series (at least, it looks like it to me; the pilot was leaked to the Net of course, and the_pug is sending me a copy so I can view it all on my own, very exciting) and the_pug has found an excellent song for this incredibly atmospheric show, and also managed to take what is probably a heavily exposition-heavy episode (pilots always are, I find) and give you just enough sense of what's happening to reel you in, without expecting to take away a lot of context. Also, it has Michelle Forbes kicking ass, and that is always a good thing.
Whatever It Takes by Sinead Lohan, Bend It Like Beckham, vid by just_eunice. I have loved this song for years and years, and I was thrilled to see someone use it for a vid, but the extra bonus here was that it was used beautifully, and that's always the treat -- you're willing to fogive a lot in a crappy vid if it's a song you adore, sometimes, so it's a joy when it's used to make a lovely thing like this vid. It captures everything I loved about the movie, and everything I love about the song -- getting high on my mortality, indeed: it's impossible not to feel like you could go to the moon, too, with these ladies when you watch this vid. My favorite thing is right at the beginning -- a wonderful contrast of the practice lineup of female footballers , juxtaposed against the older, proper Indian ladies in their saris, all sitting in a matching immobile line.
Perfect Day by Lou Reed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, vid by aycheb. This has a wonderfully spooky, weird, off-kilter quality that I absolutely adore (and the choice of Lou Reed just seems like a masterstroke to me, the drugged-out, trancelike way he "sings"). It's a perfect backdrop for Willow -- her overweening needs to know and make things conform to what she wants, while still being somewhat passive, the various "addictions" (I use that word very hesitatingly and believe it's grossly overused, and that they never ever made a good case for Willow being addicted to magic on the series) or at least dependencies in her life. The song is so quiet that it seems almost as if it's not tied together, that there's no narrative, but aycheb's gift is that she threads in a little narrative and character study while you're not even looking, and the ending is a doozy.
Hung Up by Madonna, Driven, vid by Obsessive 24. Really, I have no idea who the guys are in this movie, I've never heard of it before, and I don't know if it's all half as blissfully gay as it seems, but I am certainly -- and not even the least bit quietly -- rather giddy about racing cars and the barely closeted gay boys that drive them, whether it's street-racing rice burners or Formula 1 cars. And I'm also giddy about pretty much everything obsessive24 makes vids-wise, so it's a wonderful combination. Cars, homoerotic subtext made text, longing looks, spewing champagne bottles... really, what more could you ask for? I have to check this movie out, soon. And you should, if you haven't seen her other vids, watch all of them. Because I said so.
I Only Want to Be With You by Dusty Springfield, The Persuaders, vid by keiko_kirin. There are actually four vids on the JKL site mentioned in Keiko's LJ post that I'm linking to here, and you absolutely have to watch all of them or I keel you dead, okay? Especially Pants, which is just fucking wonderful, and Jill's Crazy, which got a lot of press after Vividcon and it totally deserves it (Life on Mars and SOO GOOD), and Lynn's This is the Place, which is so exciting to see online, but most of all I want you to watch I Only Want to Be With You. Because it is FUN. And schweet. And so, so wunnerful. Keiko has this amazing knack for finding neglected fandoms or not famous fandoms or obscure actors from other corners of the world and then introducing or reintroducing us to them via her fiction and vids (and her gorgeous screengrabs of beautiful Asian actors, sigh). The Persuaders was this swingin' mod-a-go-go series from 1971 with Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, and they've never been more adorable and so, so very gay. There's a little bit of Life on Mars, a little bit of Pros, a lot of I Spy and Man From UNCLE, and just a whole bunch of other great stuff from that time period (give or take a few years), and you must go watch it or I keel you.
ETA: Please, if you enjoy any of these or have anything to say about them, even if it's just "I really enjoyed this," let the vidders know. Vidders spend a lot of time, money, and effort to create these things, yet they get no cookies for all the hard work. I guarantee you it'll make their day.