YOUTUBE TREASURES — SUMMER 2017

Maldives Relaxation Video • Spellbound  • Charlton Heston • The Outer Limits • Truman vs. MacArthur • Reunion at Fairborough • The Impressionists BBC Series

By Charles Canovas

YouTube has many ways of keeping you entertained, informed, occupied, worried or relaxed. The problem is that we have less and less time to explore a minimal part of all its offerings.  We are fortunate in that nowadays we can study almost any subject in depth by seeing lectures, docudramas or documentaries about them in incredibly entertaining videos which are no less scholarly than most textbooks.

We can fill our homes and lives with what is known as slow videos which basically allow us to be a part of life out there – somewhere –  a mix between a peeping Tom and friendly viewer from the safety of our own home at all times of day and night.  

The first video will help you concentrate, or sleep, or wind down, or dream you are on an island in the middle of the ocean with no other sound than the waves lapping at your feet – uninterrupted for 8 hours.  This kind of videos is great as giant screensavers that can change your decoration on a big TV screen. You can have a window looking out into a forest, a raging snowstorm, aurora borealis or the changing night sky.

Ocean in the Maldives
8 hrs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nep1qytq9JM&t=9618s

Only natural ambient sound of waves for meditation, relaxation or sleeping and of course decoration.

Spellbound
1 hr. 58min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qku4jtvtay8&t=44s

Spellbound is a 1945 American film noir psychological mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, and was nominated for 6 Oscars and won 2.  Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck were both married to others at the time of production but they had a brief affair during filming.  Salvador Dalí and Hitchcock conceived a dream sequence of almost 20 minutes but it was cut by Selznick to about 2 minutes in the final film.

Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
49 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij1d3LdjDjk

A well-made and informative biography of Moses, El Cid, Michelangelo, Andrew Jackson … all in one great and memorable actor whose real name was John Charles Carter.  For all you biography buffs, when you view this video on the right of the screen you can find many more bios.  Enjoy!

Trial by Fire  –  American President Confronts Invasion Force
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2M-p-Q8BvU

“There is nothing wrong with your television set.” That famous line opens each episode of the classic science fiction anthology series. The original The Outer Limits series is part of a narration that makes people think their TVs are being controlled.

The success of the series Star Trek, The X-Files, and anthology shows such as Tales from the Crypt convinced rights holder Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to revive the original that aired from 1963–65 as The Outer Limits 1995 and 2002.  Distinct from The Twilight Zone in that the stories were more science-fiction based, and less dark fantasy/science fiction as was the case with The Twilight Zone.

You can see more episodes to your right when you view this episode.

 Reunion  at Fairborough 
1 hr.53 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX2vKgFV6pk

Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum starred in this 1985 TV movie.  They had made 3 movies together before and this was to be their last movie together. The story is about World War II veterans who travel to England for a reunion at their old base. Once there, Robert Mitchum finds love again with an old flame he left behind (Deborah Kerr). Two of the great actors of the era in a nostalgic reunion.

The Impressionists 3 part BBC Series
60 min each

The Impressionists is a 2006 three-part factual docudrama from the BBC, which reconstructs the origins of the Impressionist art movement. Based on archive letters, records and interviews from the time, the series records the lives of the artists who were to transform the art world creating a new type of art.  As usual nobody does it better than the BBC. An added plus for all art lovers, the film was shot on location in Provence and Normandy, at Monet’s home and garden at Giverny, and in locations in the UK. The playlist runs the three-part series of 60 minutes each episode.

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Featured image/Leo Hidalgo, CC BY2.0 cropped