Ending the week on a lighter note …
A backer of indie film festivals, Volkswagen presents “See Film Differently” — a series of videos that feature amusing re-interpretations of classic movies. Here, you’ll find new takes on Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Die Hard, and Mary Poppins. Below, we’ve featured another (somewhat racy) bit and added it to our YouTube Playlist.
via Slashfilm
Here’s another good submission (many thanks) that came out of last week’s book giveaway…
It’s an animated film called The Story of Stuff, which offers “a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something .… and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.”
The film, narrated by Annie Leonard, an expert in international sustainability and environmental health issues, can be viewed on The Story of Stuff web site, or it can be downloaded here for free. Below, we have posted a quick teaser that will give you a feel for what this film is all about.
Fimoculous has nicely highlighted a series of good films that Hulu has made freely available. The one obvious downside is that, unless something has changed at Hulu, the flicks will only be available to viewers in the US. (Hulu needs to do better than this!) Nonetheless, here they are, and thanks to Kotkke.org for helping flag these. (Update: For many excellent films, please see our collection of Free Movies Online.)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
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.
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.
Today we present Frank Capra’s Academy Award-winning comedy from 1934, starring Clark Gable — It Happened One Night. Grab some popcorn. Dim the lights (even if you’re at work). And enjoy:
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.
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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