Monday, June 11, 2012

YouTube Channels for Movie Lovers

Disclaimer: I do not promote copyright infringement.

I have this keen desire to watch all movies part of a series or franchise, especially if I like the first one. I’ve watched many of them – from The Godfather trilogy to the Resident Evil film series. I just had one problem with a particular movie franchise – Godzilla!

When I found out that there are 28 movies under the Godzilla franchise (29 if you include the American movie, which Godzilla fans detest), I told myself that there’s no way I would watch every single one of them. I would if I were jobless and had all the time in the world! But because I am not and I don’t, I was only able to watch five of them. It was good to know, however, that one good guy dedicated his time to reviewing all Godzilla movies. James Rolfe, the man behind the YouTube channel Cinemassacre, had what he calls Godzillathon.

 Watch Godzilla do his victory dance.

Watching his reviews is like watching the Godzilla movies minus the boring parts. James discusses the plots, highlights the best and worst parts of the films, and gives witty commentaries in under 5 minutes. Thanks to him, I saved a lot of my time.

 I didn't know that Godzilla had a son.

James, like I am, is also apparently a fan of scary films. He has reviewed tons of monster flicks in his Monster Madness series. Now, however, he is reported to be too busy with a film that he is producing, so he no longer makes videos for his website or his YouTube accounts (he has another channel, where he talks about classic video games.) For the mean time, his friend Mike Matei does the reviews. One time, Mike Matei talked about The Killing of Satan, a 1983 Filipino flick starring Ramon Revilla, Sr. It was not posted on YouTube but on the Cinemassacre website. I bet you’d be “proud” of the Philippine film industry after watching it.

Speaking of the Philippine film industry, if you are nationalistic and you prefer full-length classic Filipino films, then you can check the YouTube channel of gobitz69. He did not provide any details about his identity. I’m not sure if he was ever part of the Filipino film industry or just a movie fan who decided to share his collection with the rest of the world, but I thank him for posting some of the greatest Filipino movies ever made.

In his channel are film titles that I kept hearing about but hadn’t watched until now, like Maynila, sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag, Oro, Plata, Mata, and Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon. The latest film in his collection is the critically acclaimed Bayaning 3rd World.

Bayaning 3rd World on YouTube (from Gobitz69)

In his other channel, tawapinoy69, he has films of Comedy King Dolphy. In another channel that he also owns, jotiv69, he has very old Filipino movies, including Zamboanga, the oldest Filipino film known to exist, which stars Fernando Poe, Sr. It’s not really a gem, but I recommend watching it to see how far Philippine cinema has come.

Zamboanga on YouTube (from Jotiv69)

If you have issues with movies posted on YouTube (whether or not they violate certain rights or laws) and would rather watch films without feeling guilty, then you’re in luck. According to Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Bayani San Diego Jr., “two independent film companies, Origin8 and Epicmedia, have teamed up with YouTube to make award-winning full-length and short films from the Philippines readily available to a global audience.” The channel, aptly called Pelikula, is only a week old, and, so far, only one film is posted - Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros. I haven’t watched it yet, but I I’ve heard that it’s good. I guess more movies will be posted later on.

Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros (from Pelikula)
 
The Internet is actually a gift for movie lovers (if you know what I mean). No movie is rare or hard to find if you know where to look. Sometimes, however, you don’t have to look far for good movies. Just search for them on YouTube. :)

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