We can't say that we're necessarily the biggest fans of the "supercut," those viral videos that take a bunch of examples of a particular thing — people cussing, or saying a particular line, or whatever — pull them together with some natty editing, and then just hang around collecting views. Generally speaking, they feel like kind of a waste of time, and are sort of indicative of a depressing pick & mix engagement with culture. But having said that, Christian Marclay's "The Clock," which cuts together moments of instances of time in film over a 24-hour period, is one of the most amazing things we've ever seen, and that's essentially an extension of the supercut principle, so we're certainly open to it.
A new video essay by Jason Bailey that just popped up at Flavorwire is no "The Clock," but it's certainly worth a watch; collecting 135 shots from 86 movies that the site and their commenters labeled some of cinema's most beautiful. And watching them unfold (even if some are in less-than-optimal quality), it's hard to disagree. You can look over at Flavorwire for the full list of films, but no cheating, see how many you can name in the comments section below. For a little antidote to "The Dark Knight Rises" madness, the clip can be viewed below.
135 Shots That Will Restore Your Faith in Cinema from Flavorwire on Vimeo.
another one: http://www.flavorwire.com/314824/video-essay-faces-105-of-cinemas-most-beautiful-close-ups
Can I call BS?
So many not great shots, many just plain the wrong movie. A bunch were the right movie, wrong shot. Sort of incompetent, yet pretentious and annoying all in one. Removing all context from these emotional scenes of characters serves what purpose? People may not have seen all the films, and random chaotic jumping about is just an empty exercise in cutting an pasting.
What on earth is the point of including some of those images (i.e. Night Of The Hunter and In Cold Blood, for starters) and then cutting away right before the moment that actually makes it a great shot!?! It's not Lillian Gish in a rocking chair, it's Robert Mitchum in the yard!
Nice attempt, but flawed, for sure. To see this done right (arguably never better) check out the opening and closing montages from "Visions Of Light".
The music reminds me of Adaptation, but there are no shots from that movie. Which has some of the best nature shots.
Is it weird that I would pick completely different shots from these movies?
Not very impressive. What are Martha Marcy May Marilena and The man who cried doing there? Some of his choices are completely random and not that great. He basically assembled shots of skies and setting suns.