Gollum meets Johnny Cash.
May 6, 2007 10:43 AM   Subscribe

You've probably seen the video of Kirk and Spock set to "Closer." You might not be familiar with the wider world of fanvids, however. It might be "Lost" set to Warren Zevon or "Heroes" set to Jonathan Coulton. Some are slashy, others are just hilarious. And some are really awesome.
posted by EarBucket (46 comments total) 21 users marked this as a favorite
 
Hey, those are pretty good. And for the anime nerds, there's Neon Genesis Evangelion vs. Nightwish. And for Trekkies, there's the Picard Song, which might be the best thing ever.

^__^
posted by ELF Radio at 11:02 AM on May 6, 2007


I am such the nerd that I loved both the Kirk/Spock and the Picard videos.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 11:11 AM on May 6, 2007


the heroes one fits perfectly
posted by muthecow at 11:15 AM on May 6, 2007


I am such the nerd that I loved both the Buffy videos.

But I didn't need to see Anya killed again. Or Kennedy at all.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 11:22 AM on May 6, 2007


I've only ever dipped my toe into this fandom but I like Obsessive 24's stuff.
posted by ninebelow at 11:26 AM on May 6, 2007


I've love these. I've always been partial to Can't Touch Vegeta.

Snark away, you can't touch me.
posted by Mblue at 11:39 AM on May 6, 2007


The Buffy videos make me want to go back and watch the whole thing again. I can't really justify doing that based on a 3 minute video, can I?
posted by TypographicalError at 11:42 AM on May 6, 2007


I loved the Buffy one. I was in danger of forgetting how much I missed that show. Eh, Buffy certainly took a lot of lonely walks by herself.
posted by who squared at 12:18 PM on May 6, 2007


I've been watching Buffy for the first time lately. My wife and I are in complete agreement, but we may be alone against the world: She's just an annoying idiot, right? Willow, fine. Xander, OK. Giles, good. Anya and Spike, awesome. Buffy and Dawn--self-obsessed morons of the first water.
posted by DU at 12:23 PM on May 6, 2007


That last one has Alan Tudyk (pronounced "Tudick") in it, a guy that I went to high school with. Of course we had ~1400 kids in our graduating class, so we didn't know each other.

Although he has been in several Hollywood movies, it is his nickname I will never forget.

Alan Doubledong.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 12:25 PM on May 6, 2007 [3 favorites]


DU, Dawn? Yes, definitely an annoying moron. Stupid keything. I still want the stupid, whiny keything to just go away. It's been how many years?

Buffy? Not so much. Well, there's Buffy in love with Riley = stupid. Buffy in love with Angel = sweet. Buffy in lust with Spike = awesome and wrong. Buffy kicking ass = awesome!

And, of course, Willow the magic (i.e. drug) addict = WTFness to the nth power. I miss that show! The whole Tara thing over on TWOP. Comedy gold, baby!

The Picard bit was nice. Picard and Q in bed. So funny!
posted by who squared at 12:33 PM on May 6, 2007


It's hard to discuss Buffy fanvids without The United States of Spike, which is damn well-timed.
posted by adipocere at 12:38 PM on May 6, 2007 [1 favorite]


On the anime side, the mother of all of these is AMV Hell, the largest being over an hour of humorous fan videos.
posted by zabuni at 12:48 PM on May 6, 2007


Big fan of this The Office fanvid.
posted by lubujackson at 12:50 PM on May 6, 2007


Bligh,
The actress playing Anya wanted to be killed so she couldn't be called back to play on Angel or whatever. Which is silly, considering what happened to Buffy.

And the Kirk and Spock video? Oh god, I think I felt it move.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:58 PM on May 6, 2007


What whosquared said. Buffy became my favorite television series of all time. I love that show in a way I've never loved any other show. I miss it all the time. Even so, I've long been ambivalent about the character of Buffy. I think she was more attractive and sympathetic early in the series, but over time her angst over being the Slayer and her bossiness and such became wearying. By the end of the series, she just wasn't very fun to watch anymore. That's a shame because she really is fun to watch she she's at her quippiness best. All that said, I'm still pretty ambivalent about the character and feel a lot of affection for her in a warts-in-all sort of way. I care about Buffy, though I don't always like her—but in contrast to Willow, who...well, I don't have words for how much I love Willow. And Vampire!Willow and Dark!Willow, too.

Interestingly, some of the same stuff I can say about Angel and his series. I've never really liked Angel all that much, although on his own series he had his moments where I liked him a lot. But I came to really love the series as a whole even though all of the characters had problems with their characterizations.

The Buffy videos make me want to go back and watch the whole thing again. I can't really justify doing that based on a 3 minute video, can I?

Sure you can. :) I'm ready to watch the series again. I've seen all of it twice, most seasons three times and a couple four times. But I'd watch it all again if I had someone to watch it with. I'm not very excited about watching seasons six and seven again, though.

The actress playing Anya wanted to be killed so she couldn't be called back to play on Angel or whatever.

I thought I knew all such trivia, but I didn't know this. Or I forgot it. But it broke my heart to see her killed. I know I'm not the only one who felt that way. Her and the tall, geeky slayerette—both their deaths really pissed me off, especially when Kennedy lived.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 1:11 PM on May 6, 2007


Uh, Dawn and Buffy have the exact same personalities. They are sisters (fake, but still).

Sure, Buffy can kick ass...when she's not talking. But almost everything that comes out of her mouth is whining about how much her life sucks (largely without supporting evidence) and every problem anyone else comes to her with gets turned into Something About Buffy.


OMG, spoilers in this thread. Anya is killed?!?! Maybe I don't even want to watch anymore.
posted by DU at 1:35 PM on May 6, 2007


The "awesome" video lives up to its adjective.
posted by mkhall at 1:38 PM on May 6, 2007


I've never really liked Angel all that much, although on his own series he had his moments where I liked him a lot.

Yes. The two-parter that includes "Five By Five" is freakin' brilliant. And the Connor arc is really great. It was hard not to admire Angel pre-kidnapping, even though you knew he was just fighting fate.
posted by smorange at 1:47 PM on May 6, 2007


And then, there's the bizarrely wonderful or is it wonderfully bizarre...
posted by redbeard at 1:55 PM on May 6, 2007


DU, to spoil you some more, *Spoiler* it doesn't happen until the series finale so you have much more Anya awesomeness to look forward to. *End spoiler*

My favorite fanwank interpretation of Buffy is that it's a tragedy about the life of a Slayer. Buffy didn't end up permanently dead because she had the Scoobies, but being a Slayer still fucked her up royally.

On topic: I'm not into fanvids, but I came across this one for Starbuck from the new Galactica and it is awesome. It's all Season 1 and 2 Starbuck without all that crap from Season 3.
posted by nooneyouknow at 1:55 PM on May 6, 2007 [1 favorite]


Wow, that Kirk/Spock video was--hmm--interesting. No way am I going to research this, but, who is supposed to be the dominant in the Kirk/Spock slash?

Sorry, DU. I think. The series is over. It's kinda hard to watch for spoilers at this late date (unless you were kidding). Dry humour?

Personally, I never cared for Anya that much. She just kept screwing up for a revenge demon. I wanted more umph. Tara, now, that broke my heart. That was just plain mean--not because of what happened, per se--but because they played it for maximum shock. The manipulation irritated me.

I went back and forth with the Angel series. I liked it at first then stopped watching when Doyle died. Mixed feelings about Gunn. So much potential and they wasted the character horribly. Your soul for a car? Really? How . . . stereotypical. A gang? Really? Didn't see that coming a mile away.

Despised Connor. Loved Jasmine. Hated Fred. Loved Wesley Wyndham Price. Really hated Fred-Illyria. Absolutely hated Gunn in love with Fred. I've met more interesting and attractive sticks of wood. Etc, etc.

The ups and downs of the series weren't the same as with Buffy, though. Buffy you just loved. You know? Angel was now and again watching the reruns and maybe catching a new episode if the ep description caught my eye.
posted by who squared at 1:56 PM on May 6, 2007


OMG, spoilers in this thread. Anya is killed?!?! Maybe I don't even want to watch anymore.

Can you really spoil for a show that's been off the air for several years? There is a statute of limitations.

But don't worry, she lives through 99% of the series.

What really bothered me about both of these videos was lack of Cordelia. She has to be my favorite character in the Buffyverse, after all the stuff that happened in Angel. It's unfortunate that they disposed of her character there in such a pointless and terrible manner.
posted by TypographicalError at 1:57 PM on May 6, 2007


TypographicalError, which characterization of Cordelia did you like? Buffyverse? Angelverse Season 1? Pre-Jasmine? Post-Jasmine? Or the Cordelia who knocks boots with he-who-shall-not-be-named-to-spare-DU?
posted by who squared at 2:10 PM on May 6, 2007


So much love for that Heroes vid. I'm not sure if Buffy/Giles is technically slash - to be a pedant - doesn't it only apply to same-sex pairings?

Also, ugh, the death of Anya - much like the death towards the end of Serenity - made me like Joss that little bit less, genius as he is.
posted by featherboa at 2:30 PM on May 6, 2007 [1 favorite]


That video was just a little too fanwanky for my taste WCityMike
posted by Tenuki at 2:45 PM on May 6, 2007


Tara's death was good. It came from nowhere and it's impact was huge. Plus we got to see the characters come to terms with the death and it's impact.

Now Firefly? THAT pissed me off. The death of that certain character came from nowhere and we never go closure, especially from the other character the killed character was close to.

Damn, that's an awkward sentence.

Anyway, Anya's death just seemed so pointless and stupid. Spike's was decent, but Anya's seemed like some afterthought, thrown in 'cause they had to kill someone. And then one seemed to miss her! WTF, Josh?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:52 PM on May 6, 2007


I'm not sure if Buffy/Giles is technically slash - to be a pedant - doesn't it only apply to same-sex pairings?

I believe that's historically (so to speak) correct, although more recently "slash" has been used by a lot of people to describe any fanfic pairings, homosexual or otherwise. In this case, I just couldn't think of a better word to describe what's going on in those videos, but here is a much better example of slashy goodness (NSFW!) in a fanvid.
posted by EarBucket at 3:00 PM on May 6, 2007


Brandon Blatcher, I respectfully disagree. The death in The Body was good. It served a purpose. That entire episode was frankly amazing. Tara's death was just gratuitous.
posted by who squared at 3:05 PM on May 6, 2007


I think someone's got to look up the definition of slash again. The "slashy" link is a to a het BG vid.

EarBucket, I don't know what fandom you're in, but "ship" describes any pairing; "slash" is for the gay ones, and in particular, gay pairings that aren't canon.
posted by Hildegarde at 3:07 PM on May 6, 2007


Gotcha. My bad.
posted by EarBucket at 3:31 PM on May 6, 2007


DU said: "I've been watching Buffy for the first time lately. My wife and I are in complete agreement, but we may be alone against the world: She's just an annoying idiot, right?"

Congratulations Du, you and your wife just took your first step into a larger world. =) It's everyone around Buffy that makes her great.
posted by ZachsMind at 5:00 PM on May 6, 2007


Oh, now a perfectly fine NIN song is ruined for me. The video was well done but I guess I'm not a fan of the slash genre.
posted by fuse theorem at 5:57 PM on May 6, 2007


WCityMike pointed out a vid of Angel & Buffy done to a Celine Dion song.

I don't like Celine Dion, and though I adore the BtVS series, that whole starcrossed romance thing with Angel & Buffy was in my opinion one of the weakest links in the whole chain...

I liked it most when they fought! =) When they'd get all googly eyed it was for suck. Seeing their tumultuous lunacy distilled in seven minutes over that music, I guess I can begrudgingly see why so many other people - that's why they tuned in. BtVS is a lot of different things for a wide range of people, which is why I believe it stands the test of time. It's up there with Star Trek, MASH, Happy Days, Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, Perry Mason... Shows that stand the test of time that people go back to again and again cuz they're just fun television.

Buffy Abridged goes too fast. I'd like to see someone pick seven songs, and do one season per song, so it doesn't feel so rushed. Or better yet! A voiceover explanation like Seven Minute Sopranos but for Buffy.
posted by ZachsMind at 6:13 PM on May 6, 2007


Depeche Mode + Tron will always be my favorite. No comparison.
posted by churl at 6:33 PM on May 6, 2007


FPP said: And some are really awesome.

At the risk of showing my non television watching cultural ignorance, could someone tell me what that mashup is from? It looks interesting. (The Depeche Mode one.)
posted by dejah420 at 6:52 PM on May 6, 2007


could someone tell me what that mashup is from? It looks interesting. (The Depeche Mode one.)

It was a movie.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:29 PM on May 6, 2007


could someone tell me what that mashup is from? It looks interesting. (The Depeche Mode one.)

It's from Joss Whedon's short-lived but much-beloved Western/Sci-Fi hybrid Firefly. It was made into a movie in 2005 called Serenity, a.k.a. The Best Movie Ever.
posted by EarBucket at 7:59 PM on May 6, 2007


Ethereal Bligh, if you didn't live a few states away, I'd say we should get together to re-watch all the episodes of Buffy. On Tuesdays, my friends & I would get together to have dinner & watch the new episode. I miss the anticipation during the week of discussing the previous episode & counting down till Buffy night.
posted by mogget at 8:12 PM on May 6, 2007


Ah, one of my favorites has always been Pikachu singing 'Bitches' by Mindless Self Indulgence. The timing is well done, and the contrast between the cuteness on screen and the rollicking, light-hearted obscenity of the music was always endearing to me.

Also, dejah420: I'd suggest watching Firefly the series before watching Serenity the movie. Both experiences will be much better for it.
posted by Rictic at 8:34 PM on May 6, 2007


What I think is more cool than music videos of show edits with pop tunes, is what some are calling "fanon" or fan-made videos for various tv shows.

Like Lost parodies, hoaxes, and even the apocryphal Off The Island and other shorts that try to lend tribute to the show's mythos while seruptitiously adding to it. Admittedly, one can't set expectations too high. There's only so much that can be done on a budget of nothing, but these are fun for diehard fans and even the daringly curious types. Heck, Damon & Carlton have admittedly that some aspects of the Rachel Blake story isn't canonical, and they helped make that happen. So if official stuff doesn't have to be canon, then fanon's where it's at.

Then there's a fan oriented serial going on called Incidental Heroes starring a gorgeous brunette who claims to speak to the dead, and has one foot in the Heroes world and one foot presumably in this one. Admittedly it's a little slow and consists mostly of exposition being revealed through monologues and occasional dialogues with the cameraman. Again, set your expectations realistically. They're doing it in their spare time. And there's other fan creations that are worth a gander, like Zeroes for example - though some argue that this is viral marketing done by Heroes' producers - they haven't admitted to that yet.
posted by ZachsMind at 8:38 PM on May 6, 2007


Oh! And talk about viral marketing, Joss Whedon did a great short subject feature just before the movie Serenity came out called the River Tam Sessions that still gives me chills. I wouldn't mind viral marketing so much if it was always this cool.
posted by ZachsMind at 8:40 PM on May 6, 2007


That Starbuck vid is great! Thanks, nooneyouknow.
posted by rtha at 10:29 PM on May 6, 2007 [1 favorite]


YoBananaBoy: Alan Doubledong is making the 12 year old in me giggle immensely.
posted by Arturus at 10:42 PM on May 6, 2007


redbeard: just wonderful will do.
posted by patricio at 4:20 AM on May 7, 2007


I've love these. I've always been partial to Can't Touch Vegeta.

You'll probably love this.
posted by Citizen Premier at 12:43 PM on May 7, 2007


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