A dance battle between Chris Brown and Drake doesn't seem like a fair fight, but director Chris Robinson and crew don't let this storyline play out as you'd expect.
Spoiler Alert: Encouraging your lover to take the $1 million offer to sleep with the one-eyed dude's boss will never end well. Even if you happen to be Drake, and even if there's a wicked double-cross a'foot. So it goes in this 20+ minute mini-movie that incorporates multiple tracks from Views, and which makes "Smooth Criminal" seem unambitious.
An homage to Saturday Night Fever, actually shot in many of the same locations as the 1977 classic, but with a little more, shall we say, naked ambition thanks to Anthony Kiedis and guest dancer Stephanie Crousillat, of Punchdunk's Sleep No More art/theater project.
Those New Orleans floodwaters may have receeded, but there's still anger and style a'plenty left behind, especially when Beyoncé busts loose with a surprise, yet unsurprisingly strong video that reconnects her with her roots.
Twenty-five years ago, when he himself was twenty-five (!!!!), Lenny Kravitz debuted with a plea for all of us to let love rule. Twenty-five years later, Lenny learns that love is a dangerous thing in, by far, his steamiest video ever — and that's including "Black Velveteen".
Shot by Anthony Mandler in Paris — partially in Lenny's own residence there.
Holy crap. An all-star, action packed trailer for Jay Z and Beyonce first feature film coming... NEVER. So, breath a sigh of relief, since all involved surely know that this compilation of action flick cliches would be a clunker even by Hollywood crap standards.
That said: We get Beyonce at her hottest, Jay at his most badass and cast that would be the envy of any blockbuster: Sean Penn, Don Cheadle, Guillermo Diaz, Emmy Rossum, Jake Gyllenhaal, Blake Lively, Rashida Jones and Kidada Jones.
And if you want to see Jay and Bey' on the run together: Go get your tickets for their tour — which is what this trailer is really meant to promote.
Beyonce's Visual Album kicks off with "Pretty Hurt," drawing upon memories of childhood beauty pageants, but with a specific focus on the forced smiles, forced diets and other pressures. Eventually it all comes to a head for Miss Third Ward with pageant host Harvey Keitel.
Lana Del Rey's "Tropico" is more ambitious that almost any other music video you've seen this year — and not just because it's 30 minutes long. Director Anthony Mandler and Ms. LDR create their a sort of Pop Bible here, starting with creation and a Garden of Eden, with Jesus, John (Wayne), Marilyn (not Manson) and Elvis (certainly not Costello) peering down from up high.
And that's just the first couple minutes before the Fall... The rest is much more sinful, believe me.
Consider this a must-watch, especially if you have an appetite for a proudly blasphemous and cracked artfilm that should tickle fans of Tony Scott and Oliver Stone's more visionary works.
There's a last days of Xanadu vibe here, with Jay Z and Justin Timberlake all alone at the top of the world, surrounded by the baubles that come with great wealth and success — an effect that's further emphasized by the periodically slurred-down audio.
And it could be a good case study into whether people care about where or how they watch videos, so long as all the sharing/embedding features they expect are supported.
Director Chris Robinson takes superstars A$AP Rocky and Skrillex to the Dominican Republic for the gorgeous-meets-dangerous scenery and the grimiest basement party of all time. The vibe is fun (assuming City of Godis your kind of fun) and the partying truly epic - plus you get to see Skrillex in his natural habitat, baking in the tropical sun.
Here's another Grammy video/commercial, but it's notable for a weather angle. A little wind storm — actually, a massive wind storm — wasn't enough to dissuade X-Factor winner Tate Stevens, director Phil Andelmanand crew. Instead they just go with the flow, literally, pushing aside the orginal bonfire treatment in favor of focusing on the windstorm that whipped through the Simi Valley location.
