This video wins the Internet for today.

Pac-Man, Tetris, and other classic video games destroy New York in the amazing short PIXELS from Patrick Jean:

Hall of Awesome: Five More Best Music Videos of the Decade

I thought I would kick off this year's Hall of Awesome with my favorite music videos of the decade, but Pitchfork pretty much beat me to it with their Top 50 Music Videos of the 2000s, a list so well-conceived and compiled that all I can do is simply present to you five more music videos I thought should have made their list. As usual, all the videos are compiled in a single YouTube playlist, viewable at the bottom of this post.

Supergrass, “Low C” (dir. Garth Jennings/Nick Goldsmith; 2005)
This decade, the documentary music video became a go-to style for bands wanting to stand out from the crowd. Most recently, the genre has been picked up by Massive Attack, whose video for "Paradise Circus" features an elderly woman reminiscing about her days as a porn star, intercut with definitely-NSFW scenes from one of her films. This 2005 effort from Supergrass finds the band reteaming with "Pumping On Your Stereo" directors Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith (a.k.a. Hammer & Tongs) for a nostalgic visit to Weeki Wachee, where a group of women are trying to keep their mermaid-themed tourist attraction from going under. It's a rare chance to see the usually SFX-heavy directors deliver a simple story with a minimum amount of style, but with a lot of heart.

Wintergreen, “Can't Sit Still" (dir. Keith Schofield; 2007)
When television stopped being the preferred delivery method for music videos, bands soon realized that in order to get people watching, they were gonna have to come up with something that fell into one of three categories: bizarre, hilarious, or controversial. And by the end of the decade, no one was doing it better than Keith Schofield. Every video of his falls into one of the three categories, and oftentimes he covers all three in one clip. Case in point is "Can't Sit Still" by Wintergreen, an elaborate little video that he posted on YouTube with the sure-to-score-a-ton-of-hits title "How to Make Meth". While the video didn't go batshit viral, it did ruffle the feathers of some people who were afraid kids would actually try to make the harmless concoctions the band ingests in the clip, and Keith eventually had to admit the thing was satire after YouTube threatened to pull it from their site. As usual, this video has embedding disabled, so click on the link above to watch it. As a consolation prize, I've included in the playlist below Keith and the band's less controversial (but equally informative) video for "When I Wake Up".

Gorillaz, “Clint Eastwood” (dir. Jamie Hewlett/Pete Candeland; 2001)
This decade proved that a band can not only sell an image, the band can become the image. Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett long-shot concept of an animated rock band turned out to be a worldwide success. And while the songs are top-notch, they wouldn't be half as good without their accompanying videos, animated by Hewlett and his team at Zombie Flesh Eaters.

The Strokes, “Last Nite” (dir. Roman Coppola; 2001)
I can't really explain what I thought of The Strokes' and their video for "Last Nite" when I first came across it one night on MTV (surprisingly, MTV was still showing videos back in 2001). The video's concept is almost insultingly simple: The Strokes, on a soundstage, performing the song live, under a sheen of '70s gloss provided by director Roman Coppola. The video is fun because of its sheer "fuck it" attitude, as Julian Casablancas throws his mic stand offstage like a javelin, and Fab Moretti's drum mics keep falling down. As a result, the version of "Last Nite" they perform is unique from the version that actually appeared on Is This It.

Aphex Twin, “Rubber Johnny” (dir. Chris Cunningham; 2005)
Technically, this is not a music video for Aphex Twin (although the song is taken from his 2001 record Drukqs). It's a short film by music video extraordinaire Chris Cuningham, one of only two videos he made this decade (not counting his commercial work). It's a disturbing and darkly humorous experiment, where Cunningham himself plays the titular character, who has the ability to morph into increasingly erratic shapes as the music of Aphex Twin pumps out of the speakers. It pretty much encompasses the definition of "WTF?" and is a fitting calling card for one of the least prolific, but certainly most watched, music videos directors of this decade.

Scary Music Videos 4: The Reckoning

It's that time of year again, and this time, I've taken the liberty of compiling all fifteen of my original scary music video picks into one, easy-to-use video playlist. Unfortunately, some of the videos have embedding disabled, so you'll need to visit my playlist page on YouTube for the full list. I've also added three new videos to the mix:

Liars, "Plaster Casts of Everything" (dir. Patrick Daughters)
It's official: Patrick Daughters has made my list of Best Music Video Directors of the 2000s, thanks to his eye-catching videos for Feist, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Grizzly Bear. In this clip, he teams the back-projection used in The White Stripes' "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" with a concept straight out of a David Lynch film. The end result is most unsettling.

Fever Ray, "If I Had a Heart" (dir. Andreas Nilsson)
Karin Dreijer of Scandanavian electronic group The Knife is no stranger to scary music videos, having appeared on last year's list in her collaboration with Röyksopp for the song "What Else is There?" Now, for her solo effort, she hired Andreas Nilsson, who has been behind most of the videos for The Knife, to pull out all the stops on the express train to Creepy Town.

Bodies of Water, "Under the Pines" (dir. Andy Bruntel)
In addition to being an exceptional animator (see: Rilo Kiley's "It's a Hit" and his Roman Coppola collaboration "Red"), Andy Bruntel has made a fair share of kickass music videos for the likes of No Age, The Mountain Goats, and Best Music Video of 2007 nominee Bat for Lashes. In this clip, a hunter is cursed with bad luck after he steals a diamond from inside a dead dog's stomach. What follows is a Grimm fairytale with a twisted sense of humor.

Don't forget to check out the other three entries in the Scary Music Video series.

Swine Flu Adverts

If only we'd listened to ourselves from the '70s!



Thanks to Amelie and John.

Happy Birthday to Me!

And what greater gift to get than the greatest viral video ever?

Countdown to Watchmen: The Keene Act and You

The Watchmen viral videos continue with this fake PSA on the Keene Act, which banned the act of costumed vigilantism in the United States:



Not as professional as the vintage 1970 newscast, but I love the step-by-step "How to Avoid Rorschach" at the end. For more awesomeness, check out the official website for The New Frontiersmen, as well as their Flickr page.

The Viral Marketing of Watchmen Begins

...with this exceptionally well-made fake newscast from 1970, commemorating the tenth anniversary of Dr. Manhattan. Check it out, especially if you've never read the book, as it will (hopefully) answer some of your more pressing questions about the film.



Watchmen arrives, court-approved, in theaters March 6.

Mad Men Crash The Soup

I never get tired of the left-field surprises The Soup keeps throwing at me:



In related news, LEVAR BURTON?! I haven't seen that dude in, like, forever!!

Hall of Awesome: 5 Movies We're Looking Forward To in '09

1. Watchmen (dir. Zack Snyder)
I don't think I need to explain why this is the most hotly anticipated superhero movie since...well, The Dark Knight. The original graphic novel is one of the most fascinating books ever made, pictorial or otherwise, and while I believe that director Zack Snyder is anything but "visionary," I do believe he is good at faithfully adapting comic books, so this one seems like a pretty good fit. Plus, no big name actors to distract us from all the awesome visual effects. I also have to give Snyder credit for keeping his fans in the loop, with his comprehensive video blog and free stuff on iTunes. Release Date: March 6

2. Coraline (dir. Henry Selick)
Henry Selick is the true genius behind Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas and this time, he's teaming up with fantasy writer Neil Gaiman (Stardust, Mirrormask) for this homemade tale of a young girl whisked into a parallel world where everything is the same...yet completely different. Stop-motion animation always gets me excited, and the filmmakers have been gracious enough to provide fans with a slew of footage and featurettes to whet our appetite. Release Date: February 6

3. Up (dir. Pete Docter/Bob Peterson)
As usual, Pixar has kept a tight lid on their latest creation, only recently debuting a trailer (shown below) and plot summary, which looks like it was pulled out of a Chris Van Allsburg short story. If this is half as good as WALL•E, I'll be impressed. Release Date: May 29

4. 9 (dir. Shane Acker)
Animator Shane Acker created a surreal little short back in 2005 called 9, in which a little human-ish creature (kinda like those felt things in LittleBigPlanet) has to defeat a robot bug thing and save the souls of his lost friends...or something. Anyway, it caught the attention of Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Night Watch) who produced a feature-length version, keeping Shane Acker as the director and hiring an all-star cast (including Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly and Jennifer Connelly) to do voicework. We'll see if the intimate little short film can blossom into a multi-million dollar blockbuster, but if the trailer is any indication, it should be quite interesting to watch. Release Date: September 9

5. Duplicity (dir. Tony Gilroy)
Tony Gilroy took everyone by surprise when he suddenly went from "guy who wrote all the Bourne screenplays" to "guy who wrote and directed the Oscar nominated Michael Clayton." Now, he's back with a slightly more comical look at corporate corruption, as Julia Roberts and Clive Owen play ex-spies who decide to double-cross their respective employers (played by Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti) and collect $20 million. Looks like Ocean's Eleven meets The Bourne Identity, and with Gilroy at the helm, I wouldn't want it any other way. Release Date: March 20

Hall of Awesome: Top 5 Music Videos of 2008

Just hit play in the YouTube player below and enjoy all of my music video picks for '08, from five to one! Descriptions and critiques are to follow:



5. Mogwai, "Batcat" (dir. Dominic Hailstone)
Mogwai took a decidedly different direction for their lead single off 2008's The Hawk is Howling, even going so far as to hire Chris Cunningham-protégé Dominic Hailstone for the terrifying video. It makes up for Cunningham's video hiatus, and it stands up very well on its own as an unsettling distortion of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale.

4. Radiohead, "House of Cards" (dir. James Frost)
Eyebrows were raised when Radiohead announced their new video for "House of Cards" was made without a camera, but instead with a series of lasers and motion capture techniques that captured Thom Yorke's face, among other things, making for a cool-looking video for an excellent song. But props must also be given to all the animators and directors who worked on videos for Radiohead's contests, my favorites being "Nude" by James Houston, "Weird Fishes" by Tobian Stretch, and "Reckoner" by Clement Picon.

3. Justice, "Stress" (dir. Romain-Gavras)
Even though '07 was the year Justice released their self-titled debut, '08 was the year for them to deliver on the hype surrounding that release. They had a wildly successful tour, a killer live CD/DVD, and two new videos: the awesome "guess-that-logo" video by So-Me, "DVNO," and "Stress." Heavily influenced by the 1995 French classic La Haine, with its gritty, documentary style camerawork and controversial subject matter, the video follows a nameless group of delinquents (decked in jackets with Justice's cross logo emblazoned on the back) as they cause all methods of mayhem and chaos, from assault to vandalism to carjacking. The directors raise the question "Is this for real?" by including nice touches like having the gang wait for the sound guy before they take off in their stolen car, or in the video's finale, where the gang turns against the cameraman and break bottles over his head.

2. Gnarls Barkley, "Who's Gonna Save My Soul?" (dir. Chris Milk)
What hasn't been said about this amazing video? Evolves from a somewhat corny breakdown of post-relationship depression to a fascinatingly surreal performance piece as an animated heart with the voice of Cee-Lo Green sings into a piece of broccoli, while the diner's customers and employees (including Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse) look on in shock. I never get tired of that ending either.

1. Björk, "Wanderlust" (dir. Encyclopedia Pictura)
Back when Michael Jackson ruled the airwaves of MTV, the debut of a new music video would often be hailed as an event that was not to be missed. Björk and the geniuses over at Encyclopedia Pictura brought a little bit of that magic back when they announced the debut of a new, eight-minute odyssey set to Volta highlight "Wanderlust." They held a premiere screening, gave away tons of 3D glasses to eager fans, and posted 30-second "sneak previews" of the video on Björk's YouTube page. Luckily for them, the video surpassed the hype, as "Wanderlust" takes the viewer on a journey through a world seemingly made out of animated strings of Play-Doh, as Björk and her herd of buffalo travel down a steady river and do battle with a water god and a clay doppelganger that grows out of Björk's backpack. Yeah, it's pretty fucking weird.

"2012" Trailer Actually Kinda Awesome

Let's face it: Roland Emmerich hasn't really had a hit film in a while. He experienced mainstream success with Stargate and Independence Day, hit a snag with the box-office bomb (but still fun to watch) Godzilla, rebounded with The Patriot, then returned to disaster movies with The Day After Tomorrow. (He also did 10,000 B.C., but we don't really need to mention that, do we?) Anyway, his new one 2012 looks a bit too much like The Day After The Day After Tomorrow, but I'm willing to give it a shot, mainly because of its badass teaser trailer:



I'm sure you're wondering, "Devin, what makes this trailer so badass? Freaked-out monk gets devoured by giant tidal wave, that's it. Not sure what all the fuss is about." Really? Well, let me point you over to this:



So, really, I could change the title of this post to just read "Song from 'Shining' Trailer Kinda Awesome," but figured including the "2012" trailer would make it more topical.

Two Interesting, Yet Radically Different, Video Clips Deserving of Your Eyeballs

My close, personal friend* John Hodgman recently wished everyone a Happy Halloween by giving the YouTube community a brief taste test of the much talked about Crystal Skull Vodka, which sparked the interest of the world after a bizarre infomercial featuring Dan Aykroyd surfaced:



As promised by my long-winded post title, I have another completely unrelated video clip to share with you, courtesy of Drawn! It consists of a Japanese artist showing off his latest sculpture: a "papercraft heart" complete with working gear mechanisms! Like most things Japanese, it looks awesome and I must own it:



Oh, and I almost forgot: VOTE!

*Not really. I met him at a lecture and book signing in Durham. He is awesome, though.

Scary Music Videos Part 3

UPDATE: Use this playlist to view these videos plus twelve others! For this list, click the playlist button on the bottom of the video, then click the right arrow.


Two years ago, I posted five of my favorite creepy music videos and it has consistently been one of my most linked-to articles. So last year I did it again and this year, I've scoured YouTube to find four more for your viewing (dis)pleasure. Enjoy!

Basement Jaxx, "Where's Your Head At" (dir. Traktor)
Superimposing faces onto animals and other people is nothing new here. Chris Cunningham famously took the face of Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) and planted it on creepy little kids as well as supermodels, with equally horrifying results. But Traktor's video for "Where's Your Head At" takes it a step further, revealing a secret plot to kidnap musicians and transfer their brains into monkeys. What purpose this is supposed to serve is never revealed, but it does make for a frightening music video.

Squarepusher, "Come On My Selector" (dir. Chris Cunningham)
Despite his two freaky-ass videos for Aphex Twin (three if you count the experimental short film Rubber Johnny), Chris Cunningham's video for Squarepusher is my personal favorite. And while it certainly isn't his scariest, it is definitely his most fun. So many bizarre things are in this, including a hyperactive Japanese kung fu girl, a talking dog, and a bad case of brainswap. Another oddity about this video is the fact that Cunningham had all the actors speak English, then dubbed over their voices in Japanese and included English subtitles.

Mogwai, "Batcat" (dir. Dominic Hailstone)
The newest video on my list this year comes from instrumental rockers Mogwai, who delivered their uncharacteristically metal single "Batcat" not long ago, and with it, this terrifying video from Dominic Hailstone. Seemingly torn from the pages of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, the video concerns a hooded girl fleeing from masked people only to wind up in a cave inhabited by the vicious title character.

Hugh Cornwell, "Another Kind of Love" (dir. Jan Švankmajer)
Who knows what '80s pop singer Hugh Cornwell was thinking when he hired freaky Czech surrealist Jan Švankmajer to helm his 1988 music video for "Another Kind of Love." Like one of my earlier picks, the visuals and music don't match at all, which only heightens the disturbing nature of the video. Watch for the part where Cornwell's dismembered head collides with the female mannequin's head and creates a swirling mass of clay with four eyes and an alligator mouth and tell me that a Nine Inch Nails song would've probably suited Švankmajer's creepy vision better.

Feel free to leave links in the comments to some of your own favorite scary music videos, and have a Happy Halloween!

The Flaming Lips Have Finished Their Movie!

I'm sure everyone already knew this, but after seven years in the making, Christmas on Mars is finally complete and has already begun making the rounds at various music festivals, including Sasquatch and Bonnaroo. In order to prepare the audience for the film, the Lips have made this brief PSA that plays before they screen it:



Now, if only they could get the multiplexes to put this in front of their feature presentation, rather than the dancing popcorn...

Real Life Wall-E

As if I didn't need another reason to see the new Pixar film, apparently they went and built a real-life version of the title character. Take a look:

MST3K: The Movie is Silently Released on DVD

For the longest time, the only way you could see the glorious slice of mid-90s nostalgia that was Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was to either have a friend with a penchant for making VHS bootlegs or to have a YouTube account. Well, the folks at Rogue Pictures (Shaun of the Dead) decided to quietly give the film its long overdue DVD release this Tuesday. Of course, in typical bureaucratic fashion, the disc has zilch as far as extras are concerned. But the film looks great and, in the end, isn't that really all that matters? Here's my favorite moment:

"This American Life" Returns to TV Tomorrow Night

I have recently come to the conclusion that I no longer have the time or the ability to discover new television shows by turning on the television. I now get my TV fix through my DVD player. Programs like "Human Giant" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" are so rarely shown on their respective networks that buying their seasons on DVD is the only way I am truly able to take them in.

Case in point is "This American Life." Not only have I never had time to listen to the NPR station here in Wilmington, and thus have to subscribe to the podcast version of the radio show; I also don't get Showtime, so I won't be able to tune in to the premiere of the second season this Sunday. However, I do have access to YouTube, and Showtime has been kind enough to bestow some clips from the upcoming season, including a second short film by animator extraordinaire Chris Ware (Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth):



"This American Life: Season One" is available on DVD exclusively at Borders bookstores (trust me, it's worth the effort). Season Two debuts tomorrow night at 10 PM on Showtime or, for those without Showtime, probably the next day on YouTube.

Hooray! Another short film complete!

This one's called Ball and, despite its short running time and simple premise, was a bitch to put together. Rotoscoping every single one of those frames literally drove me crazy. I think I frightened a few of my friends when they interrupted me working on this thing in the editing lab. Anyway, here is the finished result:



The song is "It's Okay" by the delightful PWRFL Power, off his self-titled EP, which you can purchase for a whopping $4 at the Catbird Records website.

Disney Repackages Existing Documentary Footage, Slaps Some Sigur Rós on It, Hopes Nobody Notices

So...I thought the idea behind Walt Disney Pictures' new nature documentary division was that they would be making new nature documentaries, not just taking existing footage from the hit BBC miniseries Planet Earth and editing it down to a feature-length film. Videogum said it best when they hypothesized that it was a shot-for-shot remake, with Vince Vaughn as a polar bear. What truly baffles me is the release date. Does it seriously take Disney so long to edit the show down to 90 minutes that they have to push the release all the way to Spring 2009?

Oh, and the Sigur Rós soundtrack only makes me wish Disney were releasing Heima in theaters instead of this.

Redone Zodiac Credits

For my Motion Graphics and Effects final, I decided to create a new opening title sequence for my favorite film of last year, David Fincher's Zodiac. The whole thing was created using Adobe After Effects. Enjoy!