I couldn't be happier that the music video has regained its cultural capital in the age of YouTube. There's something about the form that is just magical. Or maybe it's just that it's been the most reliable fix for movie-musical lovers during the past 30 years. You can pretend these 3 to 5 minute show stoppers are but one scene in a larger movie musical, can't you? At least that's what I do with my favorite videos.
So herewith, several favorites in no particular order. If you're wondering what music videos have to do with The Film Experience remember that they're short films and that this year's most celebrated director David Fincher (The Social Network) started that mammoth career by making mammoth music videos for Madonna (among others).
Please to enjoy. And let me know your favorite(s) in the comments.
8 FAV MUSIC VIDEOS OF '10 Why only 8? I ran out of steam. You don't have time to watch 10 anyway.
Brandon Flowers "Crossfire"
In which Charlize Theron kicks much ninja ass. I love the self-effacing helplessness of your rock star hero who just can't stop getting into predicaments from which his hot girl (Charlize) must rescue him. Movie stars slumming in music videos is one of the best things in the world though this video does bring up my constant worry about Charlize: Why is she so awesome without making any movies worth caring about?
Janelle Monáe (feat. Big Boi) "Tightrope"
Those feet. The way they slide, spin, shuffle, dance. It's quite a feat.
Cosmo Jarvis "Gay Pirate".
I heart this so hard. That "Yo Ho" chorus is to die. Plus, it's lit and choreographed cleverly for one take (joy) and it's easily enjoyable both on the surface -- gay pirates! -- and moreso if you want to dig deeper (think don't ask don't tell) which is the best kind of artistic trick.
But there's more: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gaga, and more one-take madness coming...
Madonna was once both adored and reviled as "The Great Appropriator" so I suppose it's only fair that Lady Gaga borrows from her. When I first heard "Alejandro" I kept thinking 'Oh, Ok. Gaga has to have her own "La Isla Bonita," too.' And then she went and collaborated with frequent Madonna iconographer Steven Klein for the music video.
So even though Klein is shamelessly borrowing from his own past work here, the wonderful thing about Gaga is that, like her spiritual pop empress predecessor, she's her own artist, too. This makes the appropriation palatable as well as fun... until crazed fans start giving her credit for everything. [But that's another funny subject matter entirely.] I mean even Madonna didn't invent the chameleon approach to pop stardom, though her fans, like Gagas, also tried to give her credit for it at the time.
Doesn't that "what on earth will they wear/look like next?" thing go directly back to Bowie? Or is it earlier than that. Paging pop historians???
Blond helmet bobs and flare pants forevah!
So mark my words. Someday soon -- let's say within the next 3 years -- Gaga is going to have her Madonna "Live to Tell" moment wherein she totally shocks the world, not with a new provocative look but by showing up with a demure, classic one. It'll get everyone talking as much as any diet coke can hair rollers ever did.
The Madonna / Steven Klein collaboration from 2003 One might call the stylings Gaga-esque but for the year in question
So, my point is this: Clumsy homage/ripoff like the kind that Christina Aguilera does in "Not Myself Tonight" when she plagiarizes both Madonna and Gaga *shudder* is not fun at all and should be looked down upon. But riffing on the work of others in a new context or with a fresh twist is totally fun and what many great artists do.
We see this in feature films all the time, too. Both of the best shots in Pedro Almodovar's Broken Embraces are arguably inspired by other work: There's that white sheet shrouded sex scene (Margritte) and that moving emotional climax with the hands caressing the static image (which I'm hearing is a Godard reference... but it totally works in the Almodóvarian context). A couple weeks ago we chatted briefly about the various A grade riffs on Ingmar Bergman's Persona (Lynch's Mulholland Dr and Altman's Three Women). And everyone knows that the wildly popular Quentin Tarantino is all about referencing other movies. But whether or not we recognize the references --I often don't with Tarantino since the genres he loves most are weak spots for me -- great artists reference past work only in the service of making their own fresh visions.
The only real issue with doing this is when the new artist acts as if it's completely and 100% their invention. Which is why it was a shame that Beyonce's otherwise awesome and awesomely ubiquitous "Single Ladies" video didn't have a "thank you Bob Fosse" attached to it, for example.
Madonna & Gaga. They're both "tops"
So, I can't help but think about Madonna the entire way through"Alejandro" maybe because of the Catholic imagery. I see "Alejandro" like so: Madonna's men in cone bras helping hot blond divas masturbate (Like a Virgin, Blonde Ambition Tour), women topping men suggestively in dance choreography (Express Yourself, Blonde Ambition Tour) and catholic girls obsessing over funerals and death in snowy black and white ("Oh Father") plus a couple choreographed bits from "Human Nature" and "Express Yourself" all get tossed into the Gaga/Klein blender and come out the other end as an angry military puree. Here the woman isn'ttopping men with a flirtatious feminism but actually appears to be penetrating them rather more subversively like a man would. And instead of just obsessing at the coffin and weeping for her dead loved one, the girl is actually leading the funereal procession. And the cone bras become guns. Bang Bang.
I'm not sure I've ever fully registered the sheer amount of aggression in Gaga's art before. But after the mass murder of "Telephone", the crispy end-gag in "Bad Romance" and the poisoned Skarsgaard in "Paparazzi," and this, it's abundantly clear. Suddenly those silly rumors about Tarantino wanting to work with her that sprung up when she used Kill Bill imagery for "Telephone" make more popcultural sense. Gaga is out for blood!
Unfortunately this new video is too effortfully mounted and grave to be half as fun as her previous outings and it also feels more derivative. Will she ever top the exquisite aesthetic control, hilarious sight gags and awesome choreography of "Bad Romance"? That said, even though I'm unmoved by this new work, I really love Lady Gaga and remain thrilled that someone is taking the music video format so very seriously again and has the fanbase to back up that particular passion. It had been a long while since each music video premiere felt so "NEW SHORT FILM!" headline worthy.
Three final errant thoughts...
On a shallow film referencing note, can I just say that I absolutely hate beautiful men with perfect bodies. It's entirely unfair that anyone can stay "hot like Mexico" while sporting Moe's Three Stooges 'do. Entirely unfair.
How much do you love that lyric "you know that I love you, boy | hot like Mexico"? Well, I love it more than you do. Genius.
JA from MNPP here, with a look at five people who should probably sleep in tomorrow when the Oscar nominations are announced.
Beyonce, for snarling and snapping her neck in Obsessed
Either of these two blocks of wood, New Moon
Anne Hathaway, Bride Wars - I love ya Annie, but you have to be reminded like when you rub a dog's nose in its business when it does its business on the floor. Bride Wars is bad business on the floor, girl.
Eli Roth, Inglourious Basterds - He'll probably give the speech for who ever wins an award for Basterds anyway since that's been the routine this season - and I like looking at him so I haven't much minded - but I think it's safe to assume his name's not getting engraved on any acting statues any time this year. On my bedpost, that's another matter. (Call me, Eli!)
But hey, y'all can probably expect a call when they're looking for presenters, so chin up! You can awkwardly read the teleprompter in much the way you delivered your lines on-screen, and that'll be a treat for us all. Especially me, since I will be drunk, and laughing at you.
To those who are ready to move on: Back to regular cinema soon. Stick around. To those who can never get enough Oscar: I'll wean you away gently until the 2009 contest begins in a month and you know I'll drop the Oscar talk back in when appropriate. Stick around. In short: Stick around.
This Oscar fashion roundup is dedicated to Billy Idol. For apparently Sunday in LA was a "nice day for white wedding". Remember that year when everyone wore champagne dresses to SAG and how irritating it was that all the actresses looked the same? Does Hollywood's army of stylists have spies in each other's camps or are they operating in strict adherence to pack rules. Perhaps they're a lycan society with an Alpha Dog stylist residing somewhere deep in the Hills, howling at the full moon monthly as it reflects off the Hollywood sign.
What was with all the white?
As far as I know Amy Adams is the only star that's about to get married and she was in red!
Rather than do a whole 'nother permanent page at the mainsite I thought we'd just finish the wrap up here with photos. Some of my bests may be your worsts but that's the way it goes with fashion (and acting, actually, as the annual wars over the Oscar shortlists attest)
I'm ignoring the men this time 'round. I didn't mean to and there were lots of sharp dressed men and one handsome boy who could just as easily have been starring in a Gus Van Sant picture as writing it (Dustin Lance Black) but time is short and I really need to put this year's Oscars in the rearview mirror.
I'm not quite sure about this... Actually all of these goddesses look beauteous. But we're not talking A+ Oscar wear. The Doubt actresses (Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Viola Davis) look better as a trio, all earth and fire and well matched. Probably the point... great for photo ops. But apart from each other the outfits were a little busy (Amy... but I actually love the huge necklace) plain (Meryl) or risky (Viola). Perhaps I should explain: I love the gold dress and the woman inside it but unless you're a lock to win, I always think that color is asking for trouble. That statue looms large you know.
It was nice to see Bridget Fonda and Phoebe Cates dolled up again but something is missing in both cases...and not just their careers (har dee har har)
What are you wearing?
Beyoncé's a little teapot, short and stout. Why is she always there? You don't see Amy Adams at the Grammy's every year? Robin Swicord's color choices and pattern (!) are disturbing me... even more than her screenwriting for Memoirs of a Geisha and Benjamin Button did. Heidi Klum usually makes best dressed lists but there was something atrociously busy about this number. Nice color on her (which color isn't?) but all the cut outs and sharp angles and then all the bangles. Any of the elements are okay on their own but all together?, Miley Cyrus has been at the Oscars two years in a row and... I... I... don't understand. Or I don't want to understand. And we'll wrap up with Mary Hart. She never leaves the house without a frozen smile. Even if she forgot to buy a new dress or iron an old one to go with it.
YUMMY...
My choices for best dressed are the always ravishing Nicole Kidman (love the feather and shiny details which rescue this from being another boring white dress, Freida Pinto (Latikaaaaaa!) in blue and that sleeve is a beauty, Leslie Mann because her dress reminds me of a disco ball and I've been totally on a 70s kick (I blame Milk) and there's something about her whole look, hair, attitude and all that screams decadent/sexy/underestimated woman. Amanda Seyfried continues to be awesome, despite Mamma Mia! And finally there's my girlfriend Marisa Tomei. I have nothing to say about the dress but to tell you that Nick describes it perfectly on the upcoming podcast. From the back it's even more deconstruct as if the strap was barely hanging on to itself to keep the entire dress together.
What's that line from The Age of Innocence? Something about that the audience
wants to get away from amusement even more quickly than they want to get to it.
Excuse me If I've stolen it before. But isn't that the way many of us feel after the Best Picture prize has been handed out. It's like [pantomimes wiping hands] 'That's that! Done. On to next year"
Hugh's opening number. A faux shoestring charm offensive
But I do want to say a few things about what turned out to be a surprisingly fun wrap to the lengthy awards season. This particular season was at turns satisfying (mostly on the acting / awards show side) and unimaginatively monotonous (The world was Slumdogging it from Toronto onwards). I squawked earlier on these pages about the continual leaks that they were going to be messing with the Oscar format. I worried that they didn't care enough about Oscar's true fans, the millions who still tune in every year eager to see favorite annual traditions reenacted. Who wants Christmas without a tree or Thanksgiving without the turkey? If Oscar is your favorite holiday (it's mine. Duh) you want the traditions.
Read the Rest... Parts 2 (acting presentations) & 3 (fashions) coming tomorrow
I haven't been very coherent today so I'm not trying to type much at you. But here's a little 7 minute video I prepared with some fun Golden Globe arrival moments and subtitles to show you what I was thinking at the time. Just for... well, for no reason whatsoever.
Next year @ the film experience I hope to look at shorts and DVDs more on account of easy access for all of you -- this year was so discouraging in how hard it was for anyone outside of NY & LA to see the new releases I wanted keep talking about. Maybe next year we shoot for more accessibility.
[soapbox] I can't be the only one that's concerned that the movies --particularly the awards hopefuls -- are veering further and further away from the direction of general pop culture which is all about instant access. Why do the movies keep withholding? --no wonder Oscar ratings keep sinking. I think it's a far more complex problem than "the public doesn't like serious films". I think it's more a problem of "the public likes these movies less and it's really hard to see them even if you're interested in them". After all, who cultivates interest in something they have extremely little access too? Not many people, that's who. Anyway.... [/soapbox]
Here's a look back at the best of music video (everyone's favorite short film genre) for 2008... the form was once dying but the web has started to resuscitate it. Like my best of television list this is hardly comprehensive... I'm sure I missed some goodies. But here's 10 I loved from the year (in fluid but vaguely preferential order)
10 Matt & Kim "DAYLIGHT" and 09 P!NK "So What" Because music videos should understand how to be fun. Is it just my imagination or is P!NK too modest what with the "I'm still a rock star" bit. Isn't she more than "still"... doesn't she get better all the damn time?
08 She & Him "WHY DO YOU LET ME STAY HERE" and 07 Janet Jackson "ROCK WITH U" Zooey Deschanel sings. She makes an adorable rock pixie even if her film career is getting fairly one note --I love this bit from a Yes Man review @ Tractor Facts
Blessed with those wide, striking, chocolate eyes, Deschanel's performance still feels out of sorts, as if she's staring into the abyss of her limited range.
Hee. And in other news Janet Jackson returns (even if it wasn't quite a "comeback") with a nifty one take video. I love that one take gimmick (see also Hitchcock's Rope)
06 Grace Jones "CORPORATE CANNIBAL" and 05 Madonna "4 MINUTES" I've featured both of these videos before and wrote about Madonna's extensively. I went a little crazy but she does that to me. The reaction to Grace Jones has been memorably divisive. Some people think this video is 'creepy and subpar' and others 'utterly astonishing'. But I think we can all agree that it's a good thing Grace is back to haunt us.
04 Radiohead "HOUSE OF CARDS" and 03 Gnarls Barkley "WHO'S GONNA SAVE MY SOUL" I used to occasionally be annoyed with videos that relied heavily on trippy visual effects or conceptual gimmicks (I'm not a fan, for example, of one of the most favored videos of all time "Sledgehammer" but now that so many mainstream artists view video-making as a toss off optional ad for their cds --even Madonna has gotten relatively haphazard about when she'll make them and how much effort gets put in -- conceptual and f/x videos are more thrilling... at least they still seem interested in the form.
02 The BPA "TOE JAM" and 01 Beyoncé SINGLE LADIES Choreography is still king (or queen as the case may be) to the music video. The Toe Jam video feels like a fun-loving lark but you know it was intricately planned work and it's a pleasure to watch. I'm not even a fan of Beyoncé (too disturbingly retrograde in her gender politics for me) but this video deserved all the mainstream attention it got --even as I wished they'd have been more upfront about their debt to Bob Fosse (maybe a "dedicated to" note at the end of the video, single lady?)
And yes I was killing time.
I know why you're here: le cinéma. The Year in Review proper begins tonight (or tomorrow morning?). It's always such a daunting task. Bear with me.
As you may have heard there are 49 eligible songs in play for Oscar nominations in the Academy's most dubious award: Best Original Song. You may have heard that... but have you heard them? Now in theory the Best Original Song category can give the audience really wonderful entertainment breaks from all of the canned banter, orchestra drowned speeches and annual "we have no time management skills!" confessionals (some people refer to those as 'film montages'). But it's only a theory as sometimes we have to worry about the Academy's taste level in this category.
I thought I'd share some audio with y'all re: this category. If you're not interested and you'd rather just sleep, here's a minute of Clint Eastwood singing "Gran Torino" to use as lullaby.
If all it takes to win an Oscar is some raspy whispering @ the piano, can I have one? I can play.
If Clint makes the cut you might hear his songsmithing onstage before he picks up his fifth Oscar.
Someone you won't be hearing is Jennifer Hudson. Her Sex & The City number "All Dressed In Love" didn't make the eligibility cut, despite already being on those pricey For Your Consideration ads. But then, JHud probably didn't need that extra pressure of performing at the Oscars anyway. Our heart still goes out to her. In much happier news, we all dodged a bullet: the absolutely horrific Elton John "Drover's Theme" from Australia isn't eligible. Whew. That doesn't mean you won't see über famous rock stars on the stage. It could get very star studded with Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Norah Jones, Bruce Springsteen and other household names within the range of possibility.
Here's a musical sample I prepared for you of eligible songs that might get nominated (you can purchase them all on iTunes). If you'd like to follow along as you listen you're hearing promotional bits from:
Mariah Carey "Right to Dream"
Regina Spektor's "The Call" from the second Narnia movie
Bruce Springsteen "The Wrestler"
Deanne Storey singing Jon Brion's "Little Person" from Synecdoche New York
will.i.am doing "The Travelling Song" from Madagascar 2
Beyoncé "Once in a Lifetime"
"Rock Me Sexy Jesus" from Hamlet 2 (hee)
"Dracula's Lament" from Forgetting Sarah Marshall (hee hee)
Miley Cyrus and John Travolta singing "I Thought I Lost You" from Bolt
Peter Gabriel's WALL•E contribution "Down to Earth"
Robyn Hitchcock "Up To Our Nex" from Rachel Getting Married
Norah Jones "The Story" from her film debut My Blueberry Nights
Danny Elfman "Little Things" from Wanted
Chaka Khan "Too Much Juice"
Emmylou Harris spends Nights "In Rodanthe"
Etta James "It Ain't Right" from Dark Streets (that's also where the Chaka Khan song is from).
Yes that's right. There's a thin possibility that both Etta James and the woman playing her in Cadillac Records (that'd be Beyoncé if you're just waking up from the Clint nap) will be taking the stage at the Kodak to perform.
Before I let you go I want to subject you to little snippets from the High School Musical 3 numbers they're pushing. 11 "songs" are eligible but they're only pushing 4 and due to Academy rules only 2 can be nominated. Let's pray it's 0. I mean, wouldn't nominating those tinny ditties be rather like having nominated the Thundercats or Jem theme songs for EMMY's? 'Jem, Jem, truly outrageous. Truly truly outrageous.'That's what the songs sound like: Saturday morning jingles.
With musical-theater loving Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) directing and Hugh Jackman hosting this year's Academy Awards the show might get really musical. We can at least assume that the nominated songs will be showcased. I never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever want to see another Oscar night where they hire a celebrity to do a medley of virtually all of the numbers (that Beyoncé year *shudder*) It's so disrespectful to the original performers plus: it's monotonous! But then again...I suppose if they nominate songs that aren't performed by the actual musicians they could always have Hugh Jackman high-kicking whilst belting out the songs.
Can you imagine him shimmying and shaking to "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire? I know I can...
If you're still reading I'm your biggest fan. For a full list of the 49 songs the Oscar's music branch can vote on and many other bits of awards info, you can head over to my impossibly busy Oscar prediction pages. Five songs or less (you never know) will be announced as actual nominees on January 22nd, 2009. *
Several new films in the marketplace and one week old Best Picture Nominee to be that's significantly expanding (in ascending order of screen count). Links go to trailers
<---Ciao I really meant to write about this rather unusual gay film which is about the hesitant meeting between a grieving man and his late best friend's would be lover. Damn. Perhaps tomorrow I'll buckle down, stop blogging and start churning out reviews proper. Hey, stop snickering out there at your computer.
Let Them Chirp Awhile an indie relationship comedy about 20somethings in NYC Frost / Nixon Ron Howard hits a middlebrow bulls-eye of a sort. I think the subject matter and source material, a compressed look at David Frost's historic 1970s television interview with disgraced ex-president 'tricky Dick' is straightforward enough that it's hard to mess up. Entertaining if not particularly resonant... I probably wouldn't even include that modifier but for the abundant Oscar nominations it will soon receive, thereby giving it a lasting place in history which is, you know, overdoing it a little a lot. [geez, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. -ed.]
Black Balloon An Aussie film which Glenn @ Stale Popcorn has been covering a bit about a teenager with a mentally disable brother whose family has relocated. With Toni Collette, Rhys Wakefield and Gemma Ward.
Milk Another one I keep meaning to write about. You know what it's about. Is it in your city yet? If not probably next week when it expands again.
Cadillac Records Beyoncé plays/sings Etta James in this musical set in 1950s Chicago. I hear it's TV movie ish but hopefully the music alone makes a ticket worthwhile. Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright and Gabrielle Union.
Nobel Son A kidnapping comedy/thriller with an all star cast which happens to be the sophomore effort from Bottle Shock director Randall Miller. Starring Alan Rickman, Mary Steenburgen, Bill Pullman, Shawn Hatosy, and Danny DeVito. But can we talk for a minute about Bryan Greenberg (the kidnapee) ...first he gets to bed Uma Thurman in Prime and now he gets nookie from Eliza Dushku? What did he do to deserve this?
Punisher: War Zone Ray Stevenson takes over for Thomas Jane in the role of the vengeful antihero. Will people care? I mean... more than they did the first time?
The Satellites have announced their nominations for this film year that's still in progress. As per usual there are so many nominees that it's hard to be generous about their award meaning much of anything to anyone outside of the actual nominees. With 12 nominees for both Actor and Actress there's room for everyone (including a double nomination for Mark Ruffalo??? I wasn't even truly cognizant that he was in two movies this season and I pay attention) When they get to the supporting categories that's where things get really wacky. Beyoncé Knowles for Cadillac? Really? Does this mean she agreed to show up? Penelope Cruz for Elegy (a lead role) instead of Vicky Cristina Barcelona in which she's the obvious and truly supporting highlight. Strange. Frozen River and The Visitor, two early-ish releases that will probably do well at the Indie Spirits scored big too.
Next up: The National Board of Review kicks things off all official like (at least in terms of standard Oscar precursor chronologies) this Thursday.
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