"Uptown Funk"
January 24, 2016 3:53 PM Subscribe
I need to watch more Fred Astaire movies. He's so crisp.
posted by Diablevert at 4:07 PM on January 24, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Diablevert at 4:07 PM on January 24, 2016 [8 favorites]
As the creator notes in the comments, this was inspired by an earlier "movie dancing set to Uptown Funk" video that came out a while back (and is possibly what rmd1023 is thinking of): 100 Movies Dance Scenes Mashup
The distinction is that this newer video features exclusively films from before 1953, where as the one I just linked uses footage from the last 40 years or so.
posted by Ian A.T. at 4:17 PM on January 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
The distinction is that this newer video features exclusively films from before 1953, where as the one I just linked uses footage from the last 40 years or so.
posted by Ian A.T. at 4:17 PM on January 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
Sorry, that came out a little more "Well, actually..." than I wanted. I just thought if you liked the video in the FPP, you'd like that one as well. No funksplaining intended.
posted by Ian A.T. at 4:30 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Ian A.T. at 4:30 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
I never get tired of this. Those dance clips are amazing! The skill, especially in the last moments of the FPP video astonish me every time.
posted by annieb at 4:35 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by annieb at 4:35 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Lotta Dick Van Dyke there, can't say as I don't approve. He's so great.
I swear if someone ruins Dick Van Dyke with some sort of awful little factoid about him then I may well be forced to quit the internet forever. Don't. Leave me in ignorant bliss.
posted by RolandOfEld at 4:42 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
I swear if someone ruins Dick Van Dyke with some sort of awful little factoid about him then I may well be forced to quit the internet forever. Don't. Leave me in ignorant bliss.
posted by RolandOfEld at 4:42 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
Oh geez, RolandofEld, I don't know how to tell you this...
posted by Ian A.T. at 4:43 PM on January 24, 2016 [29 favorites]
posted by Ian A.T. at 4:43 PM on January 24, 2016 [29 favorites]
I was waiting for a cut of Fred Astaire's ceiling dance, and there it was.
(Watch it in full if you don't know it. It's just delightful. (Dancing starts around the 1:30 minute mark.))
posted by bigendian at 4:45 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
(Watch it in full if you don't know it. It's just delightful. (Dancing starts around the 1:30 minute mark.))
posted by bigendian at 4:45 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
Oh geez, RolandofEld...
*unfriend*
posted by RolandOfEld at 4:48 PM on January 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
*unfriend*
posted by RolandOfEld at 4:48 PM on January 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm sort of a movie know it all, so I go through naming the artists and the movies. So I get a game AND an awesome group of dancing clips.
THANK YOU!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 4:55 PM on January 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
THANK YOU!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 4:55 PM on January 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
That's amazingly well done in terms of specific clip selection and synching -- it maybe helps to get across the idea that although a lot of "old-timey" b&w movie musical dancing can sometimes appear superficially to be sort of moss-covered and square to People of Today, it often was (and immortally is) pretty smokin' hot and, yes, funky.
(I also was doing the Name That Film self-quiz as it went along. )
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:12 PM on January 24, 2016 [9 favorites]
(I also was doing the Name That Film self-quiz as it went along. )
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:12 PM on January 24, 2016 [9 favorites]
I popped in to say that I felt a little self-satisfied over how many of the movies I could name (and even the ones I couldn't place right away, I'd seen). I fell in love with classic Hollywood musicals when I was about 12.
I also love the unification of past and present.
posted by not that girl at 5:23 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
I also love the unification of past and present.
posted by not that girl at 5:23 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
I need to watch more Fred Astaire movies. He's so crisp.
And so good with Ginger Rogers. She always has the best dresses. Except when she's wearing trousers, which is possibly even better.
posted by not that girl at 5:26 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
And so good with Ginger Rogers. She always has the best dresses. Except when she's wearing trousers, which is possibly even better.
posted by not that girl at 5:26 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
The African-American soft shoe trio are the Berry Brothers.
That Nicholas Brothers clip can definitely stand its own link.
posted by thomas j wise at 5:38 PM on January 24, 2016 [11 favorites]
That Nicholas Brothers clip can definitely stand its own link.
posted by thomas j wise at 5:38 PM on January 24, 2016 [11 favorites]
Al Minns & Leon James dance the Charleston to Daft Punk
posted by Ian A.T. at 5:43 PM on January 24, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by Ian A.T. at 5:43 PM on January 24, 2016 [11 favorites]
Smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy. :)
posted by Guy Smiley at 5:44 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Guy Smiley at 5:44 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Lotta Dick Van Dyke there, can't say as I don't approve. He's so great.
RolandOfEld, Don't hate me but -- I am 99.9% sure that there is zero Dick Van Dyke there. There's Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Mickey Rooney, James Cagney, Donald O'Connor .... but there's no Dick Van Dyke.
posted by pjsky at 5:46 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
RolandOfEld, Don't hate me but -- I am 99.9% sure that there is zero Dick Van Dyke there. There's Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Mickey Rooney, James Cagney, Donald O'Connor .... but there's no Dick Van Dyke.
posted by pjsky at 5:46 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
in my dream world the Nicholas Brothers have a biopic and one of them is played by Elijah Kelley
posted by Anonymous at 5:49 PM on January 24, 2016
posted by Anonymous at 5:49 PM on January 24, 2016
Another reminder of how desperately I want Cosmo's tie.
posted by carsonb at 5:53 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by carsonb at 5:53 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Mickey Rooney, James Cagney, Donald O'Connor...
...all characters played by Dick Van Dyke. Astonishing range.
posted by Wolfdog at 5:54 PM on January 24, 2016 [27 favorites]
...all characters played by Dick Van Dyke. Astonishing range.
posted by Wolfdog at 5:54 PM on January 24, 2016 [27 favorites]
:: Hands Wolfdog the Joke Dollar ::
posted by pjsky at 5:57 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by pjsky at 5:57 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
that sync of "hallelujah" was pretty geniusss
posted by en forme de poire at 6:08 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by en forme de poire at 6:08 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
I can't hear Uptown Funk without hearing Strong Bad.
posted by contraption at 6:08 PM on January 24, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by contraption at 6:08 PM on January 24, 2016 [11 favorites]
Unfortunately, I can't find a clip of the whole scene on YouTube, but here's Harold Nicholas at the age of 68, forty-six years after the Stormy Weather number.
posted by thomas j wise at 6:08 PM on January 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by thomas j wise at 6:08 PM on January 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
1) I'm glad they used a clip from Hellzapoppin
2) I'm disappointed that all they used was one brief bit from Hellzapoppin
posted by idiopath at 6:25 PM on January 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
2) I'm disappointed that all they used was one brief bit from Hellzapoppin
posted by idiopath at 6:25 PM on January 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
Ian A.T. - thank you! that's the one I was thinking of. Yay! Even more dancing fabulousness!
posted by rmd1023 at 6:28 PM on January 24, 2016
posted by rmd1023 at 6:28 PM on January 24, 2016
Aaaand, here's Uptown Funk with a horse dancing! because, why not.
posted by daisystomper at 6:45 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by daisystomper at 6:45 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
If you watch both the videos back to back (the original one with mainly newer films and this one) you can spot almost the exact moment when we stopped celebrating the fun of dance and started mocking it. You go from "look at this genius" to "look at this asshole". It's a shame.
posted by selfnoise at 7:19 PM on January 24, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by selfnoise at 7:19 PM on January 24, 2016 [8 favorites]
I thought, at one point, this'd turn into an Eleanor Powell spins supercut. Which would not be a bad thing.
Were those the Ritz Brothers at one point? And Louise Brooks?
posted by the sobsister at 7:29 PM on January 24, 2016
Were those the Ritz Brothers at one point? And Louise Brooks?
posted by the sobsister at 7:29 PM on January 24, 2016
This has brightened up my otherwise-meh weekend like nothing I could have imagined.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:50 PM on January 24, 2016
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:50 PM on January 24, 2016
(Just as an FYI, turning on the Closed Captioning shows the movie titles, which is useful if you're like me and have a lot to learn...)
This is so good!
posted by oddphantom at 7:50 PM on January 24, 2016 [8 favorites]
This is so good!
posted by oddphantom at 7:50 PM on January 24, 2016 [8 favorites]
That was just magnificently done. Some of the cuts made me laugh out loud. Inspired.
posted by Mchelly at 7:51 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 7:51 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
Until one of you folk corrects me I'm going to assume that gentleman descending the stairs at 3:42 is Harry S Truman.
posted by benito.strauss at 7:59 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by benito.strauss at 7:59 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
After you watch Astaire's ceiling dance via bigendian's link above, watch this analysis of how they did it. Obviously the room and camera were both rotating, but it wasn't continuous rotation. Astaire Unwound (ceiling dance from Royal Wedding)
posted by intermod at 8:04 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by intermod at 8:04 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
Not Harry S. but James Cagney, quite the hoofer...
posted by jim in austin at 8:08 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by jim in austin at 8:08 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
Took me a minute to catch my breath, I swooned at Rita Hayworth.
Loved this so much, thank you for posting it!
posted by MissySedai at 8:44 PM on January 24, 2016
Loved this so much, thank you for posting it!
posted by MissySedai at 8:44 PM on January 24, 2016
A completely arbitrary hypothesis: The absolute number of people on earth who can really dance like in all those clips hasn't actually changed in the past 60+ years. The large increase in global population consisting of clodhopping gangnamstyling harlemshaking macarenaing electric sliders, however, makes their relative percentage seem vanishingly small, if not non-existent.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 9:19 PM on January 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Cold Lurkey at 9:19 PM on January 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
Thank you for making my day a little bit funkier.
posted by Soliloquy at 10:56 PM on January 24, 2016
posted by Soliloquy at 10:56 PM on January 24, 2016
That was a delight!
Also, obligatory Walk It Out, Fosse
posted by numaner at 11:12 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
Also, obligatory Walk It Out, Fosse
posted by numaner at 11:12 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
This was amazing and put a giant dumb smile on my face, thank you!
posted by Dysk at 3:26 AM on January 25, 2016
posted by Dysk at 3:26 AM on January 25, 2016
From the YT page:
Published on Oct 6, 2015
If you like this video, please support these film preservation charities:
The British Film Institute, https://www.bfi.org.uk/filmisfragile/
The George Eastman Museum, http://eastman.org/donate
The Film Foundation, http://www.film-foundation.org/donation
My inspiration came from What's the Mashup? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmnSm...) but I didn't manage 100! The idea was to do the same for movies from the Golden Age – meaning no title later than 1953 (although there is one at the end.) Oh, and none of these clips was sped up or slowed down.
If you like the clips, go buy the movies on DVD! And the song on Google Play or iTunes!
And thanks also to IMDB, clipconverter.cc and Nero Video.
Turn on subtitles to find out the film names.
PS. I write books as well. Here's two very reasonably priced ones about movies:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Afflict...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Halliwells-Ho...
posted by Mister Bijou at 3:57 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Published on Oct 6, 2015
If you like this video, please support these film preservation charities:
The British Film Institute, https://www.bfi.org.uk/filmisfragile/
The George Eastman Museum, http://eastman.org/donate
The Film Foundation, http://www.film-foundation.org/donation
My inspiration came from What's the Mashup? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmnSm...) but I didn't manage 100! The idea was to do the same for movies from the Golden Age – meaning no title later than 1953 (although there is one at the end.) Oh, and none of these clips was sped up or slowed down.
If you like the clips, go buy the movies on DVD! And the song on Google Play or iTunes!
And thanks also to IMDB, clipconverter.cc and Nero Video.
Turn on subtitles to find out the film names.
PS. I write books as well. Here's two very reasonably priced ones about movies:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Afflict...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Halliwells-Ho...
posted by Mister Bijou at 3:57 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Al Minns & Leon James dance the Charleston to Daft Punk
Sincerely, Ian A.T., that may have been the best minute and 43 seconds of my life.
posted by The Bellman at 6:35 AM on January 25, 2016
Sincerely, Ian A.T., that may have been the best minute and 43 seconds of my life.
posted by The Bellman at 6:35 AM on January 25, 2016
From the comments (a lot of which are actually worth reading):
The clip at 1:29 showing the two guys doing the reverse back-flip, is from a movie called ‘Gold Diggers of Broadway’, one of the earliest musicals. Does it make you want to watch it all? It does me. Well you can’t… It’s a mostly lost film. Only two reels of it survive – about twenty minutes’ worth. You can watch the footage on the DVD of ‘Gold Diggers of 1937’, which is from where I took the clip. Isn’t that sad? It can never be re-assessed; it can never be re-discovered as a forgotten classic – no-one can ever have an opinion about it at all, really.posted by Mchelly at 7:04 AM on January 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
Now you might think this was some minor picture made by a small studio – yeah, a small studio called Warner Bros! It featured an early version of Technicolor, which means that serious money was spent on it. It got good reviews and did well at the box office. If such a fate can befall a picture like this, just imagine what has happened to the less prestigious works from that time…
Love the classic cuts video. Love.
I think Gene Kelly would have been all over Uptown Funk.
posted by monopas at 8:25 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I think Gene Kelly would have been all over Uptown Funk.
posted by monopas at 8:25 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Bonus points for the Marx Brothers clip! So great, thanks for posting this.
posted by skycrashesdown at 9:00 AM on January 25, 2016
posted by skycrashesdown at 9:00 AM on January 25, 2016
YES! I loved that, especially the three-people-riding-a-couch-to-the-floor and the Big Finish. And the jumps that end in the splits. And…everything, really.
Needs moar canes.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:13 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Needs moar canes.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:13 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Ian A.T.: Al Minns & Leon James dance the Charleston to Daft Punk
When I imagine that the saxophone player on the right is really holding a keytar, this video is slightly even more awesome.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:18 AM on January 25, 2016
When I imagine that the saxophone player on the right is really holding a keytar, this video is slightly even more awesome.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:18 AM on January 25, 2016
meaning no title later than 1953
Ah, that explains no Young Frankenstein "Putting on the Ritz."
posted by kirkaracha at 11:40 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
All those clips are so great on their own and "Uptown Funk" (and its video) is so great on its own that it's actually somehow amazing that they're even greater together. You wouldn't think that either one could possibly be improved upon.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:52 PM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:52 PM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Al Minns & Leon James dance the Charleston to Daft Punk
As a former club VJ that gave me the most delightful shiver of satisfaction. It reminded me of those serendipitous moments when everything synchs up perfectly like daaaammmn.
I used to use that clip and it's kind of magical that way.
posted by louche mustachio at 12:53 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
As a former club VJ that gave me the most delightful shiver of satisfaction. It reminded me of those serendipitous moments when everything synchs up perfectly like daaaammmn.
I used to use that clip and it's kind of magical that way.
posted by louche mustachio at 12:53 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
RolandofEld: I grew up in Dick Van Dyke's hometown, Danville, IL—a dying town in the middle of nowhere, spittting distance from IN—no one would fault the man if he never returned. Most kids grow up thinking "I can't wait to get out of this place..." (those who don't, should).
None the less, he keeps coming back to visit, e.g., in 2004, he came for the high school production of "Bye Bye Birdie" and last year he announced he was turning his boyhood home into a museum and he was funding a foundation that will "provide scholarships, encouragement and support to schools, performing arts groups and accomplished young performers."
I'm not going to click IanA.T.'s link. I plan to continue to think the man's a peach until I die.
posted by she's not there at 7:41 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
None the less, he keeps coming back to visit, e.g., in 2004, he came for the high school production of "Bye Bye Birdie" and last year he announced he was turning his boyhood home into a museum and he was funding a foundation that will "provide scholarships, encouragement and support to schools, performing arts groups and accomplished young performers."
I'm not going to click IanA.T.'s link. I plan to continue to think the man's a peach until I die.
posted by she's not there at 7:41 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I wouldn't worry about IanA.T.'s link to The Onion.
posted by Bugbread at 7:53 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Bugbread at 7:53 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Bugbread: thanks for the heads up. I'm tempted to print a few dozen copies of the article and have them distributed in relatively high traffic areas just to watch the fallout until someone finally figures out that The Onion isn't a legit news source. But that would be mean—and Dick Van Dyke should never be used for mean-spirited, snarky purposes.
posted by she's not there at 8:25 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by she's not there at 8:25 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
This isn't a mashup. I could pretend I wanted someone to suggest modern music for it, but really I just think you might like watching Ksenia Parkhatskaya Charleston. She looks like 1920s drawings of flappers, as though she's been stylized.
posted by clew at 10:02 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by clew at 10:02 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
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posted by rmd1023 at 3:54 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]