My Favorite Music Videos

You make a movie that is about what you want it to be about and let people have their reaction to it -Spike Jonze

The other day, I was watching an interview with Patrick Carney & Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys as they discussed their favorite music videos... and frankly I was somewhat disappointed. They only mentioned the classic "Sabotage"video by Spike Jonze and then a very strange Devo piece which makes bizarre use of a blue screen.

Coming from the guys who made that hilarious"Tighten Up" video, that's kind of sad. It got me thinking about music videos and what some of my favorites were. So without further introduction, here are 11 beloved music videos of mine and at the end I'll pick a winner. I'll just exclude already well known classics like "Thriller" and the aforementioned Beastie Boys video. Because really that's like putting Citizen Kane on your "Best Films of All Time" list.

So here we go, and bear in mind these are in no particular order:

#11   I'll Believe In Anything -- Wolf Parade

                                 

Set in what I think is the Romantic Era (don't quote me on that one), this video follows two aristocratic gentlemen locked in a pissing match over a woman that eventually escalates to them settling it with  cannons in an all out dual. Aside from the obvious thrill I get watching men in silly hats shoot at each other, I like how this whole video has pretty much nothing to do with the theme of the song in any way - Which is probably something you'll see a lot of in this list.

#10   Oscar Wilde -- Company of Thieves

This makes the cut just for paying tribute to one of my all time favorite movies... Also the lead singer is one of the most beautiful woman I've seen wearing glasses. Just saying.

#9   We'll Become Silhouettes -- The Postal Service

A family (or maybe a cult?) living in what is quite possibly the post-apocalypse, going on family bike rides, and watching the sunset together. I really can't do it justice.

#8   Hoppipolla -- Sigur Ros

Sigur Rós - Hoppípolla from sigur rós on Vimeo.


This warms my heart. It follows a group of elderly folks, galavanting around town pulling pranks, lighting off fireworks, door bell ditching, and doing a whole bunch of other stuff you usually don't associate with anyone above the age of 12. While that may sound juvenile, it's honestly done in a way that's very moving. Shot on what looks Super 8, it has this nostalgic quality that makes me get slightly emotional every time I watch it... But then again that happens whenever I listen to Sigur Ros.

#7   I'd Rather Dance With You -- Kings of Convenience

Out of all the entries, this one is probably the funniest. It shows a young boy in a ballet class who's thrown out for dancing to his own beat (Something we sufferers of Dyslexic and ADD can attest to). He then grows up and returns to teach in the very classroom he was expelled from. I can't really say why, but all of this puts a smile on my face. Maybe I relate to being misunderstood as a kid by teachers and peers and this is slightly therapeutic for me. Or maybe I just hate ballet.

#6   High & Dry -- Radiohead

Thom Yorke and company arrive in a small dinner and we then explore the personal lives of the customers and workers through a series of flash backs -- some of whom turn out to be criminals. There's also an explosion towards the end. But the highlight for me is when Thom and the little girl share this moment and they smile at each other. Pulls at the heart strings like only Radiohead can,

#5  On Melancholy Hill (and pretty much everything by the Gorillaz) -- Gorillaz

Birds fly. Fish Swim. Gorillaz have some of the best music videos. I wasn't even going to include
them on this list but as a hardcore fan, I feel that would be sin on my part. Clint Eastwood is the most famous, but personally I think On Melancholy Hill is my all-time favorite. I honestly wish there was a Gorillaz tv series or something because all of these could be fully fleshed-out films in their own right. For now, we just have the music videos. Come back Gorillaz, we miss you.

#4 Praise You -- Fat Boy Slim

Spike Jonze, in my humble opinion, is one of the best directors alive today and his newest film, Her, was nominated for Best Picture, won Best Screenplay, and is the only film outside of the opening of Up that can make most men cry... He's also a spontaneous prankster, as evidenced by this hilarious video. Under the pseudonym Richard Koufey, he shot this guerrilla style with his own dance troupe and everything that follows (including security coming to stop the boombox) is pretty much 100% unscripted. Now that Sabotage video was pretty funny, but this is the work of a mad genius. In a poll in 2001, this was voted as the greatest music video of all time by MTV--righty so. Mr. Jonze, I salute you.

#3  Strawberry Fields Forever -- The Beatles

strawberry fields forever from aboriggeno on Vimeo.


One of the very first music videos ever made (back then simply called a promotional video), this one is pure entertainment. It features the fab four goofing around a field in bright, colorful outfits, and features bizarre edits, day-to-night jump cuts, slow motion, reverse, and ends with the guys pouring paint over a piano. Groundbreaking and still infinitely more creative than the thousands of videos that would follow it.

#2  Take On Me -- A-ha

No description necessary.

#1  Enjoy The Silence -- Depeche Mode

A man in a burger king outfit carries a lawn chair to various high places and sits in it. Brillant.



So which is my all time favorite? I think it's a toss up between Praise You and Enjoy The Silence. I like the humor and simplicity. The idea that music videos have to be these big grandiose affairs is silly. Just grab a group of friends and go dance in public, or make a shoddy costume and just walk around the woods.

Okay, now I have to mention that I too have made my fair share of music videos. One of them I directed with my best friend when I was 16 (Seen Above) and then I acted in another friends (I'm not very proud of it but thankfully I can't find it on YouTube anymore) where I can be seen dancing in a banana shirt. One of these days I hope to make an actual quality film. But for now-- I'll settle for being some schmo on the internet...

Where Have All The Good Comedies Gone?

"Comedy isn't necessarily all dialogue. Think of Buster Keaton: the poker face and all this chaos going on all around him. Sometimes it's a question of timing, of the proper rhythm." -Clint Eastwood

You know that old Bonnie Tyler song "I Need A Hero"? The one that goes: 

Where have all the good men gone?And where are all the gods? Where's the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed? Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I needI need a hero. I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night! 

That's how I feel about the state of comedy films today. Ok before you start throwing wine glasses at their computer screen, let's rewind shall we? I was up late watching Wayne's World with a friend of mine, which if you're unfamiliar with, is a movie based off an old SNL sketch about two guys who run a bizarre cable access show out of their basement--and it's hilarious. 

I feel that comedies like Wayne's World, The Blues Brothers, and Ghostbusters almost represent a dying breed of film--Genuine comedies, i.e. things that are funny because they're legitimately funny and clever as opposed to using pop culture references or just throwing in some vulgarity for the sake of vulgarity *Cough* Brickleberry *Cough*. 

I'm not saying there aren't good comedies anymore, they do exist and they always will but doesn't it seem like they're in the minority? In a single decade alone we had the Monty Python films, Airplane, Caddyshack, Annie Hall, Animal House, Blazing Saddles, The Jerk, Sleeper, Bananas, and many others. There's even been many quasi-philosophical comedy films like Groundhog Day, LA Story, The Big Lebowski, and Dr. Strangelove.




Nowadays, I feel like comedies come in one raunchy, Seth Rogen tasting, flavor. With a few exceptions like Edgar Wright's now beloved Cornetto Trilogy, I can't even remember the last comedy that didn't have at least one dick joke in it. And though I can't honestly say I've seen them, but a lot of people have told me that they felt very dirty after The Hangover parts 2 & 3--I guess transsexuals raping people isn't really that funny.
I mean where does it end? Will I have to take a chemical shower every time I come home from the theaters? 

Yes, I do enjoy low brow Beavis and Butthead humor but if you'll allow the metaphor, imagine if for a year all you ate was ice cream cake. After about a solid week and a couple memorable trips to the bathroom, you'd never want to clap eyes on the stuff again. I feel malnourished, like someone returning from a POW camp. 
Can't we have something just...funny? Something new, something fresh? It could happen...yeah and monkeys might fly outta my butt! Yeah I guess Wayne's World isn't too sophisticated either. Well, carry on Hollywood.

The Ghibli Effect

“I would like to make a film to tell children "it's good to be alive".”

― Hayao Miyazaki


I was introduced to Studio Ghibli at a young age by my neighbor, a school teacher who wanted to see if these films were appropriate to show to her students for class -- lucky for me (and the kids) because it helped me develop a deep appreciation for the medium. From that day on, I loved the films of Ghibli and studio founder Hayao Miyazaki. I didn't know why I loved them, I just did.

They were rendered in glorious, traditional 2D, they were scary, yet funny, had all kinds of crazy monsters, and best of all there was no sign of princesses, or heroes with chiseled chins and washboard abs, or anything that was standard Disney fare. These were usually the stories of common, everyday people like myself. Even now as an adult, having just returned from an extremely stressful stay in Eastern Europe, I find myself relating more than I ever did to Chihiro, who had to grow up fast in the harsh Japanese spirit world, or the sisters Mei & Satsuki and the very real threat of losing their mother.

With Mr. Miyazaki's recent retirement, I've been revisiting all these films and I think I've finally discovered what makes them so special -- because as I soon learned after my first viewing, not all Japanese animation has this much heart.

Unfortunately the answer isn't just one thing I can point to and go "That's it!" but rather a mixture of things all done with love and precision, that made even the boys over at Disney and Pixar bow their heads in reverence.

Foremost and most obvious is the imagination that goes into them. Look at the Cat-Bus in My Neighbor Totoro. Or the Castle in Howl's Moving Castle. Or anything in Spirited Away past the 10 minute mark.

Howl's Moving Castle

I mean doesn't that thing totally live up to it's name? When you tell someone a movie has a Cat-Bus in it, that sets certain expectations and this film just blows it away. It's even cooler than you'd imagine a cat bus hybrid could ever be.

"But" I hear you ask, "Lots of stuff has a cool and interesting art style, what makes Miyazaki different from say Don Bluth, or John Lasseter, or Ralph Bakshi?"

I think, it's that his films are reserved, reticent, harmonious, and a bunch of other words I had to find using a thesaurus. At no point, do you feel rushed by a Hayao Miyazaki film. They take time-out to breath, to let you soak in the world, become immersed in the characters and the setting. I wanna say they're slow paced, but that's not really accurate. It's like watching life at half the speed, you notice all the tiny, beautiful details that we usually miss.

To quote Hayao himself:

"What my friends and I have been trying to do since the 1970's is to try and quiet things down a little bit; don't just bombard them with noise and distraction. And to follow the path of children's emotions and feelings as we make a film. If you stay true to joy and astonishment and empathy you don't have to have violence and you don't have to have action. They'll follow you. This is our principle."

The entire studio Ghibli library walks this incredibly thin line between not enough going on, and too much -- and all the while they still manage to tell these very human stories. I find the whole thing really quite amazing. Even greats like Alfred Hitchcock, Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, and Quentin Tarantino have misfires, but here's Miyazaki with a career that's spanned four decades and he continues to make it look effortless.... until his sudden, although completely deserving retirement.

Lastly, I need to mention the music because it's terrific. Every stirring moment is accompanied by some of the most beautiful music I've heard in motion pictures.

In closing, I know this is long overdue, but I raise my glass to one of animation's finest directors and proclaim proudly (with a hint of sadness) "adieu".. or maybe さようなら would be more appropriate.
If you haven't seen any of these, I'd say give it a shot... But don't take it from me, take it from John Lasseter.

Why I love Adventure Time

“Don't criticize what you can't understand.” 
― Bob Dylan


A couple of weeks ago I was standing in the lobby of my church, at the end of yet another three hour Sunday service-- floating around, looking for someone to talk to. As it happens, I ended up in a conversation with this younger fella who, like myself is an avid writer and film fan. We started out on the right foot, bonding over our similar taste in directors, actors, writers, etc.

But then we came to the subject of TV shows and Adventure Time and that's when things got interesting. Now let me put a disclaimer here saying that I'm fine with people telling me that they think Adventure Time is weird -- I'm used to it. I mean heaven knows I don't give the time of day to tons of shows, films, books, zoetropes, etc. Because there just aren't enough hours in the day for me to watch all 33 seasons of Doctor Who plus the TV film, plus the spin off series, plus the- (AGHH!!!!)

Point being, I totally understand not liking AT or any show for that matter, because really on a surface level it is a show about a boy wearing a strange hat who lives in a tree house with his magical dog and talking video game console (that sings about being pregnant)

I brought up how my two favorite series right now are Adventure Time and Regular Show, and before I could finish his eyes swiveled back into head as he made what I can only describe as an emo Peter Parker face, drew a heavy sigh and then said "those shows represent the downfall of human society on the whole" and how AT specifically is "nothing more than a string of fart jokes" and then told me I should go watch Fringe... for some reason.

The downfall of human society? That comment that left me a little hurt, because isn't that somewhat of an extremist position to take on a children's cartoon show? For now, let's just move past it because unfortunately I don't own a TARDIS so I can't exactly travel forward and prove or disprove that idea.

Let's assume this young man doesn't really think Adventure Time and it's insanely large fan base are going to bring about the destruction of civilization as we know it but is merely taking the piss out of the show in very exaggerated fashion.

Which begs the REAL question, is Adventure Time merely "a string of fart jokes" that's meant only to appeal to small children and maybe their parents if they'd had a few drinks in them, or is there more to it than meets the eye? So don't consider a counter argument against the haters, because frankly the show can defend it's self on it's own merits. No, this is more of a critical examination of why people watch AT, and the reason behind it's preternatural ability to amuse young, old and everyone in between... and I might as well add that this totally just my opinion and I did no research other than watching the show.

First and foremost, Adventure Time is original... Anyone who's ever seen it will concede that in spades. AT doesn't really bear a strong resemblance to any other show, movie, video game, Rembrant painting etc., Like a Beastie Boys album, it's more like a mash up of great things across all mediums, all rolled into one great big delicious everything burrito. The color palette and whimsy of it all is reminiscent of the Yellow Submarine film, the animation has kind of a Hayao Miyazaki feel to it, the humor is straight out of Dr. Strangelove; or How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb, and the world has this fanciful Tolkien vibe but all the back stories of the characters and the land are shrouded in dark undertones similar to Cormac McCarthy's The Road. I need to stop myself here because literally, this could go on for hours.

So at the end of the day, one point that remains inarguable is that Adventure Time for good or for fill, is a unique specimen with no real companion piece... Except for Bravest Warriors but one show at a time.

The second reason why I think people cling to Adventure Time is the unexpected drama that lies beneath the comedy. People take one look at the series and basically just write it off as a potty humor show for kids.. and to be honest that's what I thought too at first. But then you run into episodes like "I Remember You","Simon & Marcy", and "Betty" which explore themes like loss of loved ones, dementia, the end of human civilization, loneliness, and regret.

In fact, there aren't that many laughs to be had at all in these episodes but the way they just tug on your heartstrings is really rather amazing for any show -- let alone a children's cartoon. Eric Kohn of Indiewire has said of the series:

" [it's] willingness to contemplate while sticking to its unique combination of silliness and haunting beauty routinely transforms the show into a wondrous genre experiment."

You can read his article 'Why Adventure Time is the Best Sci-Fi Show on TV Right Now' here.
And that ladies & gentlemen, I think takes some serious balls. Even shows like Family Guy, American Dad!, and South Park which are very much cartoons for adults, rarely go for the jugular with material that's as gutwrenching as any AMC series... and I would also like to point out that there is not a single fart joke to be found in these episodes.

Third, Adventure Time is unlike a lot of animated shows: serialized. That's right, like The Walking Dead, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Battlestar Gallatica, and all your other favorite shows, AT's events (aside from two non-cannon episodes) build upon each other, and are referenced, and re-referenced continually from Season 1 onward. That being said, there is usually some downtime in between the big set pieces and earth shaking events of Ooo, but hey there's an episode of Breaking Bad where Walt & Jesse chase a fly around their lab so who's saying that's a bad thing?

Fourth and finally, the show has a nostalgic factor to it. I'm not gonna dwell on this one too long because Idea Channel already has a fantastic video on Youtube about this that I will post here.
For me, probably one of the main draws for me is how the show almost magically transports me back to times in my grandma's basement playing Super Nintendo, or I find myself in my neighborhood cul-de-sac hiding behind a row of bushes, pretending me and my friends are adventures off on a great quest, ignoring our mother's frequent requests to return home for dinner.

At the end of the day, I won't convince anyone of anything just by talking about it. So if you're on the fence about the show and aren't too sure why so many people are fans, I'd say give it one more shot. Open your heart, to simpler times... Or you can watch Fringe I guess, if you want to slow mankind's inevitable march towards destruction. Can't go wrong either way.

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