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Spike Jonze's New Film Her Opens Today To Rave Reviews

"Music video director" has long since ceased being the most accurate description for Spike Jonze, but the release today of his new film Her looks to cement the fact that many people will know him primarily as an acclaimed film director.

Just look at the reviews:

"One of the best films in years... The writer-director Spike Jonze gets beautifully lost in Her." - David Adelstein (New York)

"At once a brilliant conceptual gag and a deeply sincere romance... This is a movie you want to reach out and caress, about a man who, like everyone else around him in this near future, has retreated from other people into a machine world." - Manohla Dargis (NY Times)

"Visionary and traditional, wispy and soulful, tender and cool... A film that stands apart from anything else on the horizon in many ways, it will generate an ardent following" - Todd McCarthy (Hollywood Reporter)

"Her is a look at the pleasures and perils of new technology that's a smart entertainment and a subtle warning, a love story and a horror show. Acerbic, emotional, provocative, it's a risky high dive off the big board with a plot that sounds like a gimmick but ends up haunting, odd and a bit wonderful." - Kenneth Turan (LA Times)

Here's hoping Spike Jonze still comes back to visit us with a music video every now and then, but it seems like Her is the massive breakthrough he's been building toward since his first film, 1999's Being John Malkovich.

2014 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees Announced!

If the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame wants to sell out an arena show in Brooklyn — the annual induction ceremony touches down at the 18,000 capacity Barclays Center on April 10 with tickets open to the public — then they need arena bands to induct.

Mission accomplished.

2014 inductees are Nirvana, KISS, Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, Cat Stevens and Linda Ronstadt. Also receiving awards will be Beatles manager Brian Epstein, Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, and Bruce Springsteen's mighty E Street Band.

Here's a recap of each with some things to look for...

The Aftermath: Beyonce Scores Huge Critical and Commercial Hit with Visual Album

Beyonce, Beyonce, Beyonce. Friday was all about the pop star thanks to the Kamikaze release of a visual album that broke all the rules: No set-up, no radio, no traditional press, no retail version (yet), no proper single or focus track, and a video for every song and then some.

How'd it do?

Numbers wise it looks like a smash: Billboard editor Bill Werde is reporting she's sold approx 600k units via the iTunes exclusive making for a #1 chart debut even though it only had three sale days in the charting window:

Beyonce Surprise Releases Visual Album Today With Videos for Every Song

It takes balls to release something this ambitious on Friday the 13th. Or rather, it takes Beyonce.

Beyonce's fifth album, Beyonce, arrives today without forewarning, without any formal pre-promotion, and without any leaks. How sly was the release? She hasn't even mentioned it on Twitter — or anything, for that matter since mdi-August.

It's a seismic release that upends nearly every rule held sacred in the music business-as-usual:

2013's Most Popular Music Videos on YouTube

Thought that VEVOs Top 10 Most Watched Music Videos of 2013 would be the same as YouTube? Guess again.

Our old friend PSY is still #1. The Korean pop star had the most watched video with "Gentleman," duplicated the same feat he had in 2012 with "Gangnam Style." Also appearing here, but not on VEVO's list, are Selena Gomez and Avicii.

What accounts for the differences? PSY "Gentleman" is easy, since it's not on VEVO. The others are likely due to how YouTube isn't involved in VEVO's distribution chain for mobile and connected devices like AppleTV, Xbox and Roku. 

YouTube's 2013 Most Watched Videos:

1. PSY "Gentleman" PSY, dir.

2. Miley Cyrus "Wrecking Ball" Terry Richardson, dir.

3.  Miley Cyrus "We Can't Stop" Diane Martel, dir.

4.  Katy Perry "Roar" Mark Kudsi & Grady Hall, dir.

5.  P!nk f/Nate Ruess "Just Give Me A Reason" Diane Martel, dir.

6.  Robin Thicke f/T.I., Pharrell "Blurred Lines" Diane Martel, dir.

7.  Rihanna f/Mikky Ekko "Stay" Sophie Muller, dir.

8.  Naughty Boy f/ Sam Smith "La La La" Ian Pons Jewell, dir.

9. Selena Gomez "Come And Get It" Anthony Mandler, dir.

10. Avicii "Wake Me Up" Mark Seliger & CB Miller, dir.

2014 Grammy Video Nominations (and other thoughts)

Of the 82(!) Grammy categories, which the academy helpfully ranks in order of importance, music video comes in at #81. For perspective, Best Liner Notes is ranked as #65. Comedy is #55. And if you're wondering, #82 is Best Music Film, which is essentially a renamed version of the old Best Long Form Music Video.

That's not to say the nominations for Best Music Video are off the mark — they're not, especially in the context of the RIAA big music focus of the awards show — but don't you think it's time for the Grammys to maybe give a bit more respect to the most visible and popular manifestation of modern music? 

Anyway. Let's dig into Category 81, and then read on for Best Music Film nominees and some other Grammy thoughts

Best Music Video For an individual track or single promotional clip. Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.

SAFE AND SOUND Capital Cities Grady Hall, video director; Buddy Enright, video producer [Capitol Records] 

PICASSO BABY: A PERFORMANCE ART FILM Jay Z Mark Romanek, video director; Shawn Carter & Aristides McGarry, video producers [Roc Nation] 

CAN'T HOLD US Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Ray Dalton Jon Jon Augustavo, Jason Koenig & Ryan Lewis, video directors; Tricia Davis, Honna Kimmerer & Jenny Koenig, video producers [Macklemore LLC] 

SUIT & TIE Justin Timberlake Featuring Jay Z David Fincher, video director; Timory King, video producer [RCA Records] 

I'M SHAKIN' Jack White Dori Oskowitz, video director; Raquel Costello, video producer [Columbia Records] 

2013's Most Popular Watched Videos on VEVO

#1 ain't a surprise. Ditto for #2. But, some of the others in VEVO's Top 10 Most Viewed Videos for 2013 might surprise ya..

But the main takeaway? The top 8 of these videos are all about the women — 4 of 'em directed by Diane Martel, including both Miley videos and the ubiquitous "Blurred Lines"...

And all of them have been previously featured on Videostatic — including Naughty Boy f/ Sam Smith "La La La," which is certainly the least well-known of these...

VEVO's 2014 Most Watched Videos:

1.  Miley Cyrus "Wrecking Ball" Terry Richardson, dir.

2.  Miley Cyrus "We Can't Stop" Diane Martel, dir.

3.  Will.i.Am f/ Britney Spears "Scream And Shout" Ben Mor, dir.

4.  Rhianna "Diamonds" Anthony Mandler, dir.

5.  Katy Perry "Roar" Mark Kudsi & Grady Hall, dir.

6.  P!nk f/Nate Ruess "Just Give Me A Reason" Diane Martel, dir.

7.  Robin Thicke f/T.I., Pharrell "Blurred Lines" Diane Martel, dir.

8.  Rihanna f/Mikky Ekko "Stay" Sophie Muller, dir.

9.  Naughty Boy f/ Sam Smith "La La La" Ian Pons Jewell, dir.

10.  One Direction "Kiss You" Vaughan Arnell, dir.

Rebecca Black Finally Confronts The Horror That Is "Friday"

Here's a scary thought: "Friday" would have definitely been a Top 40 hit if it had been released after Billboard Magazine instituted their "let's count viral video views" into their chart formula.

Also scary: The video itself, which apparently also strikes a heart of darkness within Rebecca Black, who watches her video two and a half years later and seems equally thrilled and appalled by it all.

Innovations Editor Hates Music Video Innovations

Washington Post "Innovations" Editor Matt McFarland has a new column that essentially says, "I'mma let Bob Dylan and Pharrell finish, but PSY made the greatest video of all time!!"

Say what you will about the opinion, but at least McFarland knows that some good old fashioned trolling is good for web clicks.

And he may have a point buried under all that: Interactive and non-traditional videos are at a disadvantage since they can't always be embedded or viewed on mobile. But, as our friend Doug pointed out, that's like criticizing Dylan for going electric in 1965 when that clearly cuts off the base of folk lovers in the countryside who may not have electricity.

In short, I guess if your viewpoint is that music videos shouldn't try to do anything but entertain the lowest common denominator in the most passive way possible, then yes, last week's interactive tour de forces by Pharrell and Dylan are failures.

Shit, most of my favorite videos are probably also failures. Who knew?

Go read "Pharrell and Bob Dylan’s attempts to reinvent the music video fall flat"

The Hottest Couples in Music Videos

Is Kanye and Kim Kardashian the hottest couple to enshrine their love in a music video? Vulture made a list — Kimye comes in at #7, which means it will clearly be included in a future rant — ranking them from nottest to hottest.

The kookiest one is unfortunately not on the list: Britney Spears and Jason Trawick, who was also her manager at the time (and has much better abs than any other music manager out there. Believe me.) 

There also many notable hair metal omissions like David Coverdale of Whitesnake and Tawny Kitaen in "Here I Go Again" and "Is This Love" (ed. It was not) and, of course, Sam Kinison and Jessica Hahn in "Wild Thing" ...

Read more for the full list, but hit Vulture for a breakdown of each one:

Livin On A Prayer Re-Enters The Billboard Hot 100 Because of This Dude...

Still on the fence about Billboard's decision to include YouTube data in their Hot 100 chart tabulation? Well, get off it because Bon Jovi "Livin On A Prayer" has re-entered the charts thanks to some dancing dude in Boston.

Meet Jeremy Fry. Back in 2008 he did a passionate lip-sync dance to thie 1987 Bon Jovi hit "Livin On A Prayer" when it was played at a Celtics game. Here's a 2008 YouTube upload of it which caught the attention of Huffington Post Comedy.

The reason why a five year old "viral" is making a 26 year old song chart is apparently because a version of it was uploaded and promoted by viral aggregator utrend.tv, netting 11 million fresh views. And Billboard — who to their credit, is amazingly transparent about this stuff — says that those views account for 94% of the "chart points," and the other 6% from the 4,000 downloads sold that week (an 11% rise from the previous) and approximately 500 radio plays.

How you choose to view all this depends on how cynical you are, but it's clear that the Hot 100 is going to someday essentially be an online chart. Which might be what it should be...

In the meantime, I can promise you that somebody somewhere is probably realizing that the Payola window has moved from radio stations to the Internet... 

YouTube Music Awards Winners and Performances

As with all modern award shows, except for The Oscars, the winners at the first YouTube Music Awards seem like the least important element. That said, there were winners — deserving ones, especially since they were solely voted on by fans and not silly experts.

The biggest story of the show was the nontraditional set-up: The barriers between audience and the stage were blurry, and the performances were shot like "live music videos," complete with choreographed cuts, dialogue, scene changes and more.

It was incredibly ambitious, with seven distinct "live music videos," each as elaborate as a one-take music video, within the span of 90 minutes. When it worked, it was a beautiful thing — Lindsay Stirling's transcendent "Crystallize" is a great example — and you could argue that the freewheeling "let's make it work" ethos had enough excitement to overcome anything that feel short of what was envisioned.

But, if show creative directors Spike Jonze, Chris Milk and team seemed focused on deconstructing the typical live award show, YouTube seemed to gunning for more old-fashioned goals: An attempt to build an "everyone at once" live event, and a way to steer music video related traffic directly to YouTube without any VEVO involvement... That live audience 

Read More for the YouTube Music Award Winners and Performances: