Digging around youtube these days, I’ve had two main thoughts. 1) There are some talented bastards out there. 2) The inability of mainstream media to realize the power of free information will be their downfall. Original thought, I know. But it amazes me how clear it is to me and so many like me, and how hard it is for those on the other side of the table to get it. The only real answer is that they’ve been pulling a fast one on all of us for so long, that their biggest fear is the masses realizing that we can entertain ourselves. If you know anything about the fall of the Holllywood studio system, it’s not like this is anything new. Fatcats so afraid of losing power, that they’re afraid of letting go and grabbing something new.

The Films Of Quentin Tarantino

What does this have to do with a montage of 70’s movies? This guy on youtube has got me more excited about watching old movies than anything I’ve een from the studios. Every once in a while I’ll watch a dvd that has some kind of “watch our movies” montage that they force you to watch, and despite showing the best clips from good movies, they almost always come off as shitty commercials. Why?Because most people’s taste in movies isn’t decided by the limitations of a companie’s back catalog. We don’t care which movies were made at Miramax,and which ones were at Universal.

The Films Of Joel and Ethan Coen

Marketers and accountants are really lousy at determining what people want to see. The only reason they manage to make the money they do now is by controlling our choices. Those days are coming to a swift end.I for one, welcome our User-created overlords. And instead of looking at a clips like these (or Prince footage from coachella, or SNL sketches etc…) as copyright infringement, see them for what they are: Proof that media doesn’t need to be static.

The Films Of Stanley Kubrick

But enough pontificating…These clips were put together by a guy on YouTube with the handle Barringer82. Kudos to you sir for getting me really excited about movies on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. It was hard to pick which of his montages to lead with…Definitely check out his work on YouTube, there’s a lot more good stuff. His Tim Burton Montage especially. I went with the 70’s montage because of Jack. I’ll get to The reign of Jack at some other time. Never fear though…I saved the best for last.

The Films Of Martin Scorcese

p.s. I keep watching these, and every time, I chnge my mind about who tops this list. I want so bad to say Scorcese, but Kubrick could win it based on The Shining alone. I could talk about how good that movie is for hours. But you look at the Coen reel, and it’s back to square one. Hell, even Tarantino, who gets badmouthed a lot, looks strong when I think of how well his movies hold up on repeated viewing. He’s no Kubrick, but I would watch any of his movies right now. Especially Jackie Brown, his underrated classic.