Miley Cyrus won't stop, not when she's on a roll that's taken her from the "former Hannah Montana" to undoubtedly the biggest pop star in the world in just a few months.
New video "Wrecking Ball" shattered the VEVO single day viewing record, previously set at 12.3 million views by OneDirection's "Best Song Ever" — a number which Miley and her big ball smashed in approximately 12 hours.
It's currently at 16 million views, in less than 24 hours.
Mumford & Sons have at times been criticized as Instagram-filtered nostalgists who dress like docents at some Dust Bowl history center, but this latest clip from director Sam Jones steers the band straight into that skid and out the other side to the land of laughs.
The first version of this video had the younger Manchester quartet performing in black-and-white in a poster-and-picture-clad room. This version.... is different. How? It's in color. And it tells a narrative of two young lovers in a cinema-verite style, which doesn't appear to end well. The old cliche "sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll" is certainly apropos here.
With the original version now in the VEVO Certified zone of over 100 million views, there's no harm in losing views to the Director's Cut that's been newly unleashed.
This time director Diane "Diamond" Martel gets a big title credit upfront — which is more than deserved — and all the product placements have been wisely severed off like a pesky ankle monitor, but it's the other changes that should grab your interest, since A/B'ing the original and this Director's Cut can serve as a lesson in how you can cut two very different videos from the same footage.
This is sexier, more salacious and a bit sillier — for example, a Karaoke segment, which takes up a prominent position — and presents a great What If issue, where you can imagine if this cut would have generated the same response and results as the official version.
Diane Martel, director: It's like a giant, fucked-up selfie... We wanted the video to be full of blog-worthy moments, but it ended up being about Miley sharing herself with her audience in a crazed way. It's exhibitionistic, and she's absolutely taking the piss out of being in a pop video"
Director Diane Martel works her magic once again — perhaps you've seen "Blurred Lines," aka the video of the year, so far — conjuring a mix of tawdrysexyfun for a very willing Miley Cyrus.
Depending on your age and geography, Montauk either brings to mind images of Hamptons preppy chic, or the working-class fisherman enclave that it was for so long (or, if you're Mick Jagger, you think of Memory Motel).
Not a surprise that the new David Bowie video "The Next Day" has stirred up controversy. We have Bowie as a prophet, Gary Oldman as a Bad Priest and Marion Cotillard as a blood-spurting Mary Magdalene.
But, kudos to the Catholic League President Bill Donohue for rebutting the video with something even more offensive. I bolded the best bits. See below.
Talk about a tough gig. David Bowie is the prophet providing some rock 'n' roll at an underground religious shindig for those who like to mix a lot of sin with their salvation. Guest stars include Gary Olman as an ass-kicking and ass-appreciating priest, and seductress Marion Cotillard, who brings the festivities to an unlikely hault when she gets unexpectedly hit with a case of Stigmata.
Last week's Robin Thicke, Pharrell and T.I. collabo "Blurred Lines" was one of those rare videos that managed to be both sexy and fun. And, even rarer: The clean version is the better version. This newly released UNRATED version of the video — aka NSFW aka nudity — might be more revealing, but leaving less to the imagination is sometimes less imaginative.
Director Diane Martel easily blurs those lines between sexy and casual in this new collabo between Robin Thicke, Pharrell and T.I. And she also makes sure you know to use that #THICKE hashtag.
