Random Vid Recs

[icarus_chained]

I'm clearing out the favourite's bar again. I've spent a lot of the past week or so watching random vids and reading random OUAT fanfic, so I thought I might as well share some of the former? *shakes head at self* For some reason, most of these ended up either on a theme of 'random tropes across media' or 'angst magnet characters'? IDEK. The upside of this, though, is that there is a) a lot of meta-ish stuff and b) a lot of really pretty suffering in this vid set, if that appeals to anyone. Heh.

Fourteen Vid Recs Here:

Percussive Maintainence by Duncan Robson (Multifandom)

That grand old maintainence tradition of giving it a good wallop, as portrayed in every movie/series ever. And the vid itself is fantastically rhythmic to boot. *grins* Honestly, don't even deny it's one of your favourite tropes. (Also? The TARDIS has a long history of being abused, doesn't she? *grins faintly*)

Tumbleweeds by Duncan Robson (Multifandom)

Same vidder as previously. They have a knack for examining tiny tropes across wide swathes of visual media. In this vid, the history of the humble tumbleweed, from its entirely straightfaced origins into the increasing depths of parody. Truly fabulous.

Alegria by Cirque de Soleil (Alegria)

From humour to wonder and joy. This vid is a retrospective of Cirque de Soleil's touring show 'Alegria', set to the signature song from the show. It's one of my ambitions to see Cirque live at some point in my life. I just love watching things like this. And I love the song, too. The theme resonates for me, I think. *smiles crookedly* 'There is a love in me raging' 'Joy and sorrow, so extreme'. This vid is just something I watch to catch a hand under my breastbone and tug me upwards again.

Tragic Kingdom by missbreese (Disney Animated Canon)

... So we all know that over nearly eighty years of their history, Disney's animated canon has maintained a certain level of scary-as-hell effed-up-ness, right? And it's awesome. Disney's tragic kingdom, all the pain and sacrifice and horror and crazy-ass triumph of it. I love this vid.

Sweet Dreams by missbreese (Once Upon A Time)

Again, same vidder as previous, and bouncing from Disney to OUAT, because that just makes sense. This vid is Rumpelstiltskin set to a cover of 'Sweet Dreams Are Made of This', because honestly, what better song? 'Sweet dreams are made of this, who am I to disagree? I travelled the world and the seven seas: everybody's looking for something." When you make a deal with the devil, dearie, in the end you'll be paying big time. Even if you ARE the devil. Heh.

Too Late Baby by joyovids (Once Upon A Time)

Staying with Rumpel now. This one is again on the theme of the lives ruined, his own very much included. This one focuses much more on how the fact that he's basically screwed over every life he's touched has screwed him over times a billion in consequence. Three hundred years of relentless fighting and trying, and he's still tripped up at the finish by his own previous actions. The vid builds to a crescendo of violence and increasingly personal consequence as he slowly comes unhinged in both worlds at the center of it, thrown back to the beginning no matter how hard he tries to fight past it.

Uh. This one's a recent find, and I'm on an OUAT kick right now, so I'm a bit enthralled, yes? *grins sheepishly* But as a character study of a truly screwed-up man, this vid is incredible.

Einstein on the Beach by giandujakiss (Person of Interest)

Speaking of characters truly screwed over by their own actions ... *smiles crookedly* Harold Finch and Rumpelstiltskin have a surprising amount in common, really. The figures at the center of webs of consequence, flung into quilt and horror when their actions come home to roost. This vid is Harold and Nathan, and Harold slowly waking up to what he's actually done and what the consequences of it are going to be. 'The world begins to disappear. The worst things comes from inside here'. A study of genius, machine, and consequence.

This one, though, does end on a slightly more hopeful note than 'Too Late Baby'. System reboot indeed ;)

Bleeding Out by KatrinDepp & Grable424 (Multifandom)

Okay. At this point, you'll have realised we're starting to develope a theme. Violence, consequence, loss and sacrifice, both meaningful and otherwise. This vid takes that out across multiple fandoms. It's also got fantastic rhythm/pacing, and a pretty cinematic sensibility as well. Um. Because of the theme, though, I think it sort of does spoiler quite a lot of things -_-;

Red Rain by Gwyneth (Miami Vice)

Again on the theme of personal consequence and cycles of violence spreading out around a single character. This time, though, adding in a touch of 'really pretty angstbucket', on the grounds that Sonny Crocket is really pretty in his suffering. Though, seriously, it's a lot of suffering. The vid kicks off from his 'amnesiac-undercover' plot from the end of S4/start of S5, and then goes back through what seems like every loss he's suffered over the previous seasons, coming back to the Burnett plot as we essentially see the dissolution of his sanity and his morals under the relentless weight of vice. Because, in spite of the bright pastels and snazzy cars and gorgeous cinematography, Miami Vice was effing dark, yes?

Also gorgeous. And full of really pretty characters and Edward James Olmes being unremittingly badass. Which helps, yes? *grins*

Blaze of Glory by wiggel144 (Magnificent Seven)

Moving more towards the 'pretty angstbucket' end and slightly away from the 'relentless suffering' end, have some really pretty angstbuckets in period costume? The picture quality on this vid is somewhat dodgy, but it's one of the few vids I've seen that focuses on Vin, Ezra and Buck, drawing some nice parallels and connections between them, and I like those character combos so I'll forgive the quality. *nods* Also, if you like mostly-naked men, apparently Vin was the only one of those three who didn't end up running down the street in his boots and a tablecloth at some point. If, you know, that's of any interest ;)

Believe in You by ShannonGeorgia (Magnificent Seven)

Taking a small continued detour into M7, this one is a team vid, slowly teasing out the seven-way connections built up between the team over the show. On a theme of 'I Believe in You', naturally there's a lot of focus on people temporarily losing faith only to be picked back up by various of their comrades, so it's good for both pretty angst and warm team fuzzies. *smiles* There's some of the standard combos (a nice thread of Buck with both JD and Chris) and some not-so-standard ones (Josiah with Chris and with Ezra), and overall it's a lovely study of them becoming a team over time.

The Pirate Song by flummery (Crusoe)

And this one, we're back with 'really pretty angstbuckets'. Also slash, because nothing goes better with angst, desert islands, and pretty men. This is a vid of the 2008 adaptation of Robinson Crusoe, starring Philip Winchester and Tongayi Chirisa, the latter of whom is honestly one of the most gorgeous men I've ever seen. Not that the former is anything to sneeze at, mind. The angst in the vid is focused on Crusoe, as the vid takes us through the life and the love he left back in England, and the life and love he's developing on the island with Friday. It's a gorgeous and lyrical vid, and it's really, really good for when you just want something pretty in your life.

Imma Be by Talitha78 (Leverage)

And if you want awesome and funny on top of the pretty, have some Hardison and Parker being cool and morally suspect for a living? In theory this is supposed to be Hardison, Parker and Elliot, but the first two get the lions share of the vid. Which is honestly fine by me, because Parker and Hardison were a significant part of the reason I watched Leverage. Heh. Never did two people have so much fun being so awesome (and crazy). And I was having an entirely acceptable amount of fun watching them do so. *grins*

The Golden Age of Swashbuckling by Wagons Ho! (Multifandom)

And then, to finish up this set, have something that sort of circles back up to our opening theme of tropes across media, but mostly just celebrates one of my favourite things in movies: swashbuckling swordfights. A vid tribute to the golden age of Hollywood swashbucklers from the 30s to the 50s, it showcases some of my favourite film fencers and fights. I think the one in Mark of Zorro (1940) between Basil Rathbone and Tyrone Power is my favourite, but there's a lot to be said for the 1937 Prisoner of Zenda with Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Ronald Colman too. And Mel Ferrer in Scaramouche (1952) is always nice to watch. *grins broadly* Sometimes you just want to some swashbuckling in your life, no? Well, here you go!


So. That was another fourteen random vids, though more or less on a couple of themes. Heh.