February 2011

WATCH IT: Atomic Tom "Don't You Want Me" (Isaac Rentz, dir.)

The cast of retro '80s goodtimes movie Take Me Home Tonight sends-up some classic flicks from that decade in this music video tie-in. Set at a party where Atomic Tom (aka the iPhone band on the subway) is performing this Human League cover, actor Topher Grace, Anna Faris, Theresa Fogler and Dan Fogler use found objects to parody and recreate epochal scenes from Say Anything, Ghostbusters, Fast Times At Ridgemont High and so much more.

IN DEPTH: LaChapelle v. Fenty... On Lawsuits, Creativity and Music Videos

Director/photographer David LaChapelle filed a lawsuit this week alleging that the new Rihanna "S&M" video directed by Melina Matsoukas infringed upon his copywrited photography work.

RadarOnline has the lawsuit available as a pdf here, if you're interested. And you should be interested, especially since the suit lays out lots of little details about the video-making process that usually stays behind closed doors.

WATCH IT: Foo Fighters "White Limo" (Dave Grohl, dir.)

Dave Grohl has gone full metal. And it's awesome. With Lemmy at the wheel of an old-school white limo and the full Foo Fighters crew partying it up in the back, this lo-fi old-school, white trash and tongue-in-cheek meshes perfectly with a song that's not fooling around at all with a hardcore sound that's far heavier than anything he's ever released with the Foos. --> watch "White Limo"

Foo Fighters "White Limo" (RCA)Dave Grohl, director

NEWS: Grammy 2011 Music Video Winners

Video winners at the 2011 Grammys:

Best Short Form Music Video:

Lady Gaga "Bad Romance" Francis Lawrence, video director; Kathy Angstadt, Nicole Ehrlich & Heather Heller, video producers [Streamline/Interscope/KonLive/Cherrytree]

Best Long Form Music Video: 

When You're Strange (The Doors)Tom Dicillo, video director; John Beug, Jeff Jampol, Peter Jankowski & Dick Wolf, video producers [Eagle Vision]

WATCH IT: Wolfgang Gartner "Illmerica" (Ryan McNamara, dir.)

It's the story of America, from the Mayflower to the Civil War to the Industrial Revolution and on and on and on until the present day of us sitting on our asses as everything falls apart. The video for DJ Wolfgang Gartner is a mixed-media tour-de-force, even if it's geared toward those of us who prefer Howard Zinn's People's History to what you learned in Social Studies class. --> watch "Illmerica"

IN DEPTH: Maroon 5 "Never Gonna Leave This Bed" (Tim Nackashi, dir.)

I guess when a rock star is dating a Victoria's Secret model, there's no sense looking any further when it comes time to cast for their music videos. Anne Vyalitsyna follows up her featured role in Maroon 5's "Misery" with "Never Gonna Leave This Bed," which finds her never leaving singer/boyfriend Adam Levine's bed, no matter where it is. --> watch "Never Gonna Leave This Bed"

Pages