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The Many Classic Music Videos Of Spike Jonze

Posted 7/5/11 3:00 pm EST by in beastie-boys, Video

By Zachary Swickey

The Beastie Boys are at it again. The trio is re-teaming with veteran music video director Spike Jonze to helm the clip for the group’s upcoming single, “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win,” which features the unstoppable Santigold as guest rhyme-spitter.

We all know and love Jonze’s throwback video for the Beastie’s “Sabotage,” which featured the boys riffing on the police dramas of the 1970s – mustaches and all. For the second single off their critically acclaimed album Hot Sauce Committee Pt II, it appears Jonze and his crew are looking to have some fun again as the Boys will be portrayed by action figures in a style that is hopefully akin to the Robot Chicken series.

The band has posted a picture of their action figures – donning white parkas with artillery in hand – and it looks like production has already wrapped for the clip. “The video was directed by our esteemed colleague Mr. Spike Jonze. It is an explicit action adventure spectacular. It features action figures of us and yes, they are ACTION figures, NOT dolls!”

No word on when we should expect the video, but there will apparently be short and “epic” length versions for us to enjoy. Jonze is no slouch with epic music videos either. He is one of the grandfathers of the art form. You’d be hard pressed to find a more in-demand video director than Jonze during his heyday, when everyone from Bjork to Tenacious D requested his services. While there were plenty to choose from, here are some favorites from the man who would go on to direct Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Where the Wild Things Are. Read More...

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Alternate Version of Beyonce’s ‘Run The World (Girls)’ Video Shows Up Online

Posted 7/1/11 10:45 am EST by in Beyonce, Music, Video

The lead single from Beyonce’s 4, “Run The World (Girls),” already has a perfectly awesome, Francis Lawrence-directed video, but it seems Queen Bey shot so much footage out in California’s Mojave Desert that an alternate version of the video, which surfaced online this week, features almost entirely original content.

The new clip has Beyonce grooving atop a car and features some killer dance sequences courtesy of the French dance duo Les Twins (Laurent and Larry Bourgeois), who have been performing live with B recently, including at her blockbuster headlining gig at the Glastonbury music festival in England.

Check out the alternate version after the jump. Read More...

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Why Are Lady Gaga’s Most Recent Music Videos Stalling?

Posted 6/30/11 1:00 pm EST by in Lady Gaga, Video

Lady Gaga

By Danielle Genet

We all remember the infamous meat dress Lady Gaga showed off at the 2010 MTV VMAs (by now we also all know it was real…gross!). Though her multiple outfit changes throughout the evening may have obstructed your memory, if you rack your brains a little further you’ll remember Gaga was there for a very special reason – she received 13 MTV VMA nods at last year’s awards show and picked up a hefty 8 prizes, including Video of the Year for “Bad Romance.”

“Bad Romance” continued its critically acclaimed success by winning two Grammy Awards in February for Best Short Form Music Video and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, while her album The Fame Monster won for Best Pop Vocal Album of the Year. We could go on and on about Gaga’s nominations and awards but we’d rather devote our energy to understanding the discrepancy between “Bad Romance” and her earlier videos and Gaga’s more recent efforts.

“Bad Romance” has hit almost 400 million views online. We’re taking a look at Gaga’s other music videos and their current views (as of June 30) to try to grasp why they haven’t racked up as many hits on YouTube as “Bad Romance” despite being as successful, if not more so, on the singles charts. Read More...

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Beyonce’s Videos: High-Concept And Cutting Edge Without Being Pretentious Art Pieces

Posted 6/30/11 11:31 am EST by in Beyonce, Music, Video

This is Beyonce’s week. Her new album 4 dropped on Tuesday, earning positive reviews and buzz that it will debut at the top of the charts. Tonight at 7pm, MTV will air a special, "Beyoncé: Year of 4,” that takes fans behind the scenes of the new album. So she’s basically everywhere, and all morning her videos were pumping through the MTV Newsroom.

Which leads us to the most terribly obvious statement we will make today: Beyonce makes great videos. Duh! But more than that, she makes extremely high-concept clips that go far beyond the usual bump and grind of many R&B and pop videos to deliver something truly artful without coming across as an art project. It’s a fine line she never crosses.

Take, for example, the somewhat dark “Why Don’t You Love Me,” which features the typically clean-cut Queen Bey as a jilted, smoking, martini-swilling pinup vixen with her eye makeup running down her face.

Beyonce comes straight out of the Madonna/Michael Jackson school of seeing music video as an art form. She’s used it as a venue to do something unique and interesting. Another prime example of this is the continuous, single-shot style of her legendary “Single Ladies” vid. Read More...

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The James Franco Music Video Has Arrived (And It Is As Absurd As You'd Expect)

Posted 6/29/11 5:30 pm EST by in James Franco, Video

James Franco

Professional Renaissance man James Franco is busy. He has, ahem, seven different films in various states of production, including August’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Sal, the Sal Mineo biopic he is also directing. This is, of course, in addition to his studies at Yale University, where he is getting his PhD in English. In the last several months, he’s had art shows, filmed a documentary about what goes on backstage at Saturday Night Live, hosted the Oscars and now he has a music video.

The actor is one half of the duo Kalup and Franco, who will release their debut EP Turn It Up on July 12 via Dutty Artz, the label founded by Jace Clayton, aka DJ/Rupture. So that’s also happening.

Kalup and Franco’s first official single is called “Rising” and in the trippy video for the track, the 127 Hours Oscar nominee appears randomly (and mostly sort of transparently) sitting on a couch (we think) while his partner in weirdness Kalup Linzy floats around crooning. This is obviously a no-budget parody of an indie music video, right? That almost seems too easy for Franco, so we’re sure there’s something in there about the state of consciousness in the 21st century world.

Anyway, check it out after the jump and let us know your thought in the comments! Read More...

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Drew Barrymore: Latest Actor-Turned-Music Video Director

Posted 6/20/11 3:30 pm EST by in Music, Video

By Zachary Swickey

L.A. surf-pop scenesters Best Coast are about to give their song “Our Deal” the video treatment, and frontwoman Bethany Cosentino has revealed in an interview with Rolling Stone that a gal pal of hers – none other than Drew Barrymore – will be directing the clip. The two met backstage at a show in L.A. and really hit it off.

“She’s the nicest, most down-to-Earth person I’ve ever met,” said Cosentino, who was clearly taken aback by Barrymore’s nonchalant character. “We were like, ‘How can we work together?’”

A music video directed by Barrymore seemed like the logical solution, as the actress made her directorial debut two years ago with the roller derby romp Whip It, starring Ellen Page and current hot commodity Kristen Wiig. Barrymore is not the only celeb attached to the video either; it will include appearances from iCarly star Miranda Cosgrove, Chloe Moretz of Kick Ass and Let Me In fame, and comedian/rapper Donald Glover of Community. Cosentino assures the video has a “very cool concept,” which was concocted by Barrymore.

While this will mark Barrymore’s first music video, actors lensing music clips is far from a new trend. Let’s take a look at some of the more memorable and obscure music videos that were helmed by actors.

Heath Ledger

Before his tragic passing, Ledger had high aspirations of being a serious director. He helmed the video for “Morning Yearning” for pal Ben Harper off his 2004 double album, Both Sides of the Gun. An animated (yet, disturbing) video that Ledger had conceived for Modest Mouse’s “King Rat” was eventually completed after the star’s passing, but he was still given the credit. Most interesting is the video Ledger directed for Nick Drake’s “Black Eyed Dog.” Ledger, who was fascinated with the British singer-songwriter, also stars in the clip, which has only been screened twice in full and never been released to the public.

Read on for more. Read More...

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Foo Fighters' Wasting Light Marketing Scheme Sounds Oddly Familiar

Posted 4/12/11 1:52 pm EST by in Music, Video

It is no secret that I am quite a fan of Dave Grohl, a man I once described as being "on a mission to spread the good word." He's part apostle, part figurehead, he fronts one of the most successful rock acts on the planet — and played drums in one of the most influential — and, yet, he's not above appearing on "Yo Gabba Gabba" or making videos like this (or, this, for that matter).

Of course, having said all that, it pains me to reveal that Dave Grohl and now I have a big problem: He totally ripped me off.

See, I awoke this morning to read an interview Grohl did with LA Weekly about the Foo Fighters' brand-new Wasting Light album (it's in stores today and rules pretty hard; you should go buy it). In said interview, Grohl reveals that the Foos are employing a rather unique bit of marketing in conjunction with the album: Namely, that every copy will come with a piece of the master tapes Light was recorded on.

"We recorded the record in my garage to analog tape, and probably wound up with 20-30 reels of tapes, masters reels with all the takes on them, reels with alternate takes," Grohl says. "At the end of the session I thought it would be an extraordinary move to destroy all the masters and give the pieces of the tapes to the fans."

After reading that quote, my morning was ruined. Why? Because that was totally my idea! See, last month, when I interviewed the Foos for the debut of their "Rope" video, Grohl mentioned that the band had destroyed the original master tapes and I, half joking, responded that they should include fragments of it with copies of the album. Grohl laughed that it was "a great idea," and then we moved on.

Only, apparently we didn't. And as I prepare my voluminous lawsuit against the band, I figured I'd roll out the video evidence to back up my claim. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, please allow me to present Exhibit A:

See, irrefutable proof that this was my idea. So Grohl, consider this my fair warning: I'm totally coming after you. Or maybe not. After all, maybe you had this idea all along. Also, you're a pretty rad guy, and hiring a lawyer is probably a lot tougher than I realize. So maybe you can just give me a drum lesson or a platinum plaque or something like that. I'm willing to settle. I'm a believer, after all.

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'Mob Wives' Season Two Stars Predict the Winners Of Celebrity Mob Fights

Posted 1/2/11 10:00 am EST by in Television, Video

By Damian Vaca

Renee Graziano and Drita D’avenzo infiltrated our homes in 2011 when they let the world into their day-to-day lives in VH1’s "Mob Wives," giving viewers a honest vision of what the "mob lifestyle" entails. We've seen "Scarface," "Casino" and "The Sopranos," but one thing that rings different with this show is the strong female personalities that are intertwined in one another’s lives. Asked about the success of season one, Drita tells MTV News, "I knew it would do well only because it has never been done before. You never see the woman's point of view."

"Mob Wives" is particularly good at getting that POV from the fabulous foursome. Karen Gravano and Carla Facciolo also return this season, as we see in VH1's promo, and there are some issues that need to be settled. From dinner parties to rooftop meetings gone wrong, you never know what will happen with these ladies. “We are putting what is real on camera,” Renee says. "We can’t be anybody but ourselves. If you can script something like this then sign me up!"

Season two will continue to bring the battles between Renee and Carla and, of course, Drita and Karen. Since these ladies have known each other for years, you can also expect some new residents to join the Staten Island group. "I’m not the drama queen anymore!" proclaims Renee. "There are a lot of interesting things that go on. There are twists and turns and it’s kind of like we are playing a game of Twister," Drita adds.

So with the battlefield getting prepped and raw meat being thawed to slap on their eyes – "Mob Wives" returns to VH1 on Sunday, Jan. 1 at 8 PM ET – Renee and Drita gave us their thoughts on who would win in celebrity vs. celebrity mob fights. Check it out below:

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Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch: VMA Legend

Posted 7/20/09 6:02 pm EST by in Music, Video

Adam Yauch (aka MCA of the Beastie Boys) announced today that the group will be taking some time out while he deals with a cancerous tumor on one of his salivary glands. As a result, the group will push back the release of their new album Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1 and bow out of their upcoming tour dates, including headlining slots at Lollapalooza and All Points West. MTV News wishes Yauch a speedy recovery.

What's an even bigger bummer is that it's unlikely the Boys will be available to attend this year's Video Music Awards. It's a shame indeed, because they happen to be responsible for one of the best VMA performances of all time. On the 1998 edition of the show, the trio teamed up with DJ Mix Master Mike to bust through "Three MCs and One DJ" before launching into their hit "Intergalactic." Their five manic minutes on stage proved them to be not only some of the best old-school rappers still in the game but also some of the genre's most dynamic performers. Get well soon, Yauch.

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Party Like It's July 20, 1969: The Moon Landing Playlist

Posted 7/20/09 5:47 pm EST by in Music, Video

As noted this morning, today is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. It was difficult to choose this morning's Wake-Up Video, as the moon has provided an inordinate amount of inspiration to musicians in their songs and videos. So to augment this morning's Smashing Pumpkins clip, here are 10 more videos to play while looking to the stars and tipping your hat to the thrill of exploration and the miracle of science.

Ozzy Osbourne, "Bark at the Moon"

Read More...

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