legal torrents

August 9, 2005 9:37 PM

"Legal Torrents" is a collection of Creative Commons-licensed, legally downloadable, freely distributable creator-approved files, from electronic/indie music to movies and books, which we have made available via BitTorrent."
posted by mcsweetie (20 comments total)

I'd pay someone to find the ones I'd like for me and spare me the time of sifting through them all. That's the curse of freely available content, I suppose.
posted by jonson at 9:56 PM on August 9, 2005

with something like teh meaty mcmeat show- a completely insane 99-minute long Flash-style full-length animated movie involves 'a diseased human organ and his colleague [who] travel back in time to meet an all-knowing psychic talking pie you cant go wrong. the games are pretty cool too
posted by psychobum at 9:59 PM on August 9, 2005

psychobum, I am grabbing that torrent as we speak. We'll just see who is the real omniscient talking pie around here.
posted by jenovus at 1:11 AM on August 10, 2005

. . . at 4 Kb/s. I will have to let you know on Friday who is the real etc.
posted by jenovus at 5:17 AM on August 10, 2005

cool!
posted by amberglow at 5:22 AM on August 10, 2005

"Using a reggae dub soundtrack and B&W photography, Nobody Needs To Know is a love story to New York and its people, starring Norman Reedus and Tricia Vessey... Unconventional [and] challenging

Honestly, that is the most pretentious short description of a movie that I've ever read. So this is largely a clearinghouse for movies made by film students with more money than taste and music that makes Philip Glass seem accessible?

It's a fine idea, but you get what you pay for (which is why I'd ratther "steal" good content). There's a reason this stuff is being given away. This is the Internet equivalent of the "FREE!" box at a yardsale-- all broken toys and unmatched acrylic mittens.
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:49 AM on August 10, 2005

you're awfully cranky lately, Mayor--what's up? Try the Wired Magazine Creative Commons CD for established artists.
posted by amberglow at 6:05 AM on August 10, 2005

Honestly, that is the most pretentious short description of a movie that I've ever read.

seriously? you must not read about many pretentious films, then.
posted by jimmy at 6:17 AM on August 10, 2005

The sheer courage of these pieces is breathtaking. The space inside, the gap between the walls, narrows, widens, breathes in and out (if you can speak of massive iron “breathing”, which in Serra’s work you can) and eventually rewards you with an inner chamber, from which you have to follow the same route out…each emphasizes the ancient Greek philosopher’s Zen-like adage: hodos ano kato mia kai hote, “the way up and the way down are one and the same”. A maze would be fussy; it would interfere with the stupendous directness and logic of Serra’s spatial language.


Now that's pretentious...
posted by ClanvidHorse at 6:36 AM on August 10, 2005

Philip Glass is inaccessible? Reggae dub is even more inaccessible??

And I don't think the Nobody Needs.. description is 'pretentious'. That word gets my vote for Most Misused.

IANAYuppie.

On preview: Clanvid's example is more likely to be pretentious. But on the other hand, maybe they're right? I personally won't know until I see the film (which it's not feasible for me to do at the moment).
posted by Drexen at 7:28 AM on August 10, 2005

Philip Glass is inaccessible? Reggae dub is even more inaccessible??

Glass is mostly noise to people like me who don't own any black clothes.

The "inacessible music" comment was for the mp3s available through the site, not the reggae dub featured in that film made by priveledged white people. I'm sure that's awesome. Provided that it was actually made by jamaicans (and not the filmmakers), I could focus on that instead of yet another black and white movie about how unique New York is.
posted by Mayor Curley at 7:41 AM on August 10, 2005

Glass is mostly noise to people like me who don't own any black clothes.

Glass is not much different from a lot of movie music - you just aren't used to listening without the pretty pictures.

Compared to other minimalists and modernists, Glass might as well be John Williams. He's one of the more melodic and accessible. But yes, like most western art music, you have to give it more than 30 seconds before you decide you are bored.
posted by jb at 7:47 AM on August 10, 2005

Go to etree for legal torrents of music. Pretty much all the bands that allow audience recording of their concerts will have shows up there.
posted by danb at 8:58 AM on August 10, 2005

Hey—guys—if you were thinking about downloading that Meaty McMeat Show, against your better judgment? Don't; it is terrible; you will thank me. I did not manage to weather five minutes. That is all?
posted by jenovus at 10:00 AM on August 10, 2005

amazingly terrible, funny terrible, or just plain terrible?
posted by amberglow at 10:19 AM on August 10, 2005

Re: Meaty McMeat. Even as someone that likes bad TV (i.e. infomercials, home shopping and TV ministry) there wasn't much entertainment value. There are a some amusing moments (the beginning was the worst - it's really slow), but mostly I just kept asking myself "How long did someone spend making this and why? WHY?!?!?". I made it through maybe 45 minutes after generous alcohol consumption, IIRC (this was >1 month ago). I still plan on finishing it some day. It's not like it costs anything to download, so in that respect it's "worth it", though. I'd say, perhaps, "mind-bogglingly terrible".
posted by nTeleKy at 1:58 PM on August 10, 2005

Jesus. That far? I started hemorrhaging about the time that kidney-shaped fellow started talking. The whole time, also, I was thinking, "Someone made this? This is the final version of their creative vision? DEAR GOD THIS IS THE BEST THEY COULD DO?!" I skipped through it and watched a bit of the pie scene and was disappointed to have done so.

I must be purified.
posted by jenovus at 2:48 PM on August 10, 2005

Did anyone else notice there's NO VIDEO on the Media Matters channel?

Also, this will be cool when it becomes more "social" -- when users can comment as with Flikr, on the content, in such a way that the comments are built in to the interface.
posted by eustacescrubb at 3:20 PM on August 10, 2005

Thanks, I love stuff like this. The Webbed Hand collection is great.

There's a reason this stuff is being given away...
Glass is mostly noise to people like me who don't own any black clothes...
not the reggae dub featured in that film made by priveledged white people

Haha really funny stuff. You should zip it up and distribute it via Bitorrent. Ass.
posted by melt away at 5:29 PM on August 10, 2005

A good site for illegal torrents is chomskytorrents.org
posted by mert at 7:35 PM on August 10, 2005