It is a strange juxtaposition to go hunting for clips of master filmmakers on youTube. But they are there to be found.

In the great democratization of media, a clip from Fellini’s 8 1/2 stands on even par with clips as monumental to the history of cinema as Brandon Davis and Paris Hilton’s crude comments about Lindsay Lohan’s nether regions. That any one of these great film pioneers foresaw this highly compressed small screen fate for their work is asking too much even for such visionaries.

In the end, it makes for an enjoyable evening surfing through these clips. Here are but a few. I invite you to add more via the comments.

The trailer for Godard’s Breathless (with Japanese subtitles no less).

The swing scene from Kurosawa’s Ikiru.

Two classic 60′s rock n roll moments: the Yardbirds in Antonioni’s Blow Up and a great early rendition of Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones in Godards’ One Plus One.

Film historian, Peter Cowie talking about Bergman’s “Winter Light”.

The wonderful Saul Bass title sequence and opening scene of Hitchcock’s Vertigo.

And finally, one that always gives me chills with the first strains of the violin, the French trailer for Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love.