The Web’s Best Video Clips: Videos With A Brain

Very creative, humorous look at the web of tomorrow.

Cute little tricks from a parrot.

Sometimes it takes a lot to motivate a cat. Not this time.

Parkour (sometimes abbreviated to PK) or art of displacement is a physical art of French origin, the aim of which is to move from point A to point B as efficiently and quickly as possible, using principally the possibilities of the human body. It is meant to help one overcome obstacles, which can be anything [...]

On a ukelele, recorded in Central Park. Tender, energetic and beautiful. Surprisingly engaging for a 4-stringed instrument with limited tonal range.

Certainly one of the most enduring, if not the best ever, amateur Star Wars lightsaber battle fan film. Two effect artists go to town. Very well done.

One of the great composers of the last century (along with lyricist Hal David), accompanied here by the most skillful interpreter of his work. Dionne sings A House is Not a Home, What the World Needs Now and Alfie.

Sounding much more mature than her 15 years when she recorded this, Renee Olstead (from TV’s “Still Standing”) is getting a lot of attention these days as a singer of jazz standards, produced by uber-producer David Foster. This is the classic Someone to Watch Over Me.

The young girl from the sitcom “Still Standing” is no longer so little (although she was born in ‘89)…and her singing just may be eclipsing her acting. Her producer is David Foster…so it’s quite likely that she’s going places. This is a monster performance of the standard Summertime.

Back before “smooth jazz” destroyed what was left of contemporary instrumental music, there was the great Grover Washington, Jr. This was recorded June 27, 1981 in Philadelphia. Sadly, GWjr died in late 1999, way too young. He was just 56. His backup band on this recording including jazz luminaries Ralph MacDonald, Eric Gale, Anthony Jackson [...]

A great band in their prime. BS&T at Woodstock. The music mix is a bit weak…so the great horn arrangements are hard to pick out, but you get to hear that was the magnificence that was David Clayton-Thomas when his voice was young and nimble. One of the best bands ever if you love jazz-rock.

This amazing little lady is 11 YEARS OLD. If you missed the first season of America’s Got Talent, you didn’t get to see her win the million dollars. This is a nearly letter-perfect performance of the big hit from Dreamgirls…but before Jennifer Hudson’s soundtrack recording of the song was released. She’s amazingly confident, and clearly [...]

Very creative approach to a commercial. Animations made by humans, shot from above.

Much more an experiment in creative video editing than anything else. It’s sort of a paint-by-numbers musical experiments, since the creator states at the end of the video: “I can neither play the drums nor the piano.” But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel the music, and it shows that he does. A fun, quirky [...]

Hugely popular vid has been seen by at least a couple hundred million people since it was posted in mid-2006. Lots of fun…a loosey-goosey interpretation of most of the dance crazes of the past 50 years. More info at EvolutionOfDance.com

A little street magic while pretty heavily made up. One would think that it increases the degree of difficulty somewhat to be surrounded by people.

A funny mashup of Beatles songs with traditional Irish song forms.

A vicarious visit to the nail salon with Anjelah. Let Mai Ling give you a pedicure.

A beautiful blending of art and technology, blending strobing LED lights with fluorescent drops to create the appearance of motion…to control speed and opacity…and apparently, to even make the drops move upward. Very cool.

I love the problem-solving skills at work here. This is a WHOLE lot more than just “FETCH…!!”

When I was young, we used to call these steam shovels. Like the whole Mike Mulligan thing. This barge looks like it’s powered the normal way…with a motor. But someone seems to have some extra time on his hands…so he decided to help boost propulsion. Pretty funny stuff!

Some very pretty shots in this little clip. Somebody’s been practicing a bit. Now, if the NBA just allowed ramps and skateboards, these guys would be in business. But…there’s really only one thing to say after a clip like this: “Thank God for video editing software!”

Since I’ve never seen anything quite like this before, this may well go beyond what the human body OUGHT to be able to do. Nonetheless, she appears to be bending with ultimate flexibility and ease. It’s quite beautiful on one level, and quite freaky on another…almost to the point of squeamishness at times. Wow. Just…wow.

There’s no question that Kobe is an amazing clutch player. One of the best of all time. But, lest we forget, here is the man who made basketball the best of what it is today.

A rare TV appearance of the British rock band Argent from 1972, with an early Seventies anthemic rock standard called “Hold Your Head Up”, which reached #5 on the US charts in the summer of that year. Even though this is in B&W and pretty obviously lip-synched to the original recording, it’s still good to [...]