the full length version... deserves it's own entry.

embedded quicktime

         

Much ado about nothing. This video has been announced a lot and it announces itself again - and yeah? arrogant.

         

direct link to mov.

         

okay: this one deserves a trailer. almost perfect.

         

i am not much of a chris milk fan but this was really excellent, easily the best thing he's done.

pam anderson didn't bother me at all, the cliche of her made sense in the context of the video.

otaku: the joke you didn't like was a callback to 'gold digger'.

         

erm... i found that all a bit embarassing. stylistically it seemed strangely like a rush job (the periodization was pretty slight) and it just sort of plodded along so predictably.

surprisingly i thought ms. anderson actually gave a perfect performance, much more than i'd ever have expected. (ok, to choose her in the first place was perhaps a mistake, but...)

i dunno - chris' audioslave video was so superb, that i'm... perplexed (to put it mildly)

         

This was great. Too bad that crash at the end was awful. yeah sure there are bits here and there that may not be everyone's cup of tea, but as a whole it's a lot of fun to watch. There are so many details developed about that kind of event. The kids, the TV news, the marching band, the crowds. It was well thought out. So how could they allow that cheezy ending? If they wanted to do it in a crappy 70's style, then they should've done that. But what is in the video was just plain bad. It would've been great if it was obvious stock footage or something.

I'm not a big fan of Chris Milk, and I'm still not, but this was a good job.

         

Best video I've seen in a while. Both funny and emotional, very tough to pull off in 5 min. I'd say even better than his Audioslave.

The "leave your ass for a white girl" is a funny reference to Gold Digger. A nice touch.

And i loved the 70's cheesy model crashing at the end. Looks like what they would have done back then.

All and all extremely entertaining.

         

I saw it on TV - there's some video and chroma key effects that don't really come across online.

Pam Anderson element was okay; but looking back - there has to be some buildup / behind the scenes drama - so i can see why it's there.

Really liked the clouds/fog performance footage - simple but effective.

the ending was a bit off for me- up till then, everything looks like it's shot from a documentary crew. But - it's funny and goofy; so I can roll with it.

Still - everyone can agree that this is better than every rap video out there - by far....

         

Otaku-house, big surprise that you're not a fan of the big-breasted attractive blonde in this video. Is it too much to ask for you to keep your gender politics to yourself. We know already, Otaku, you're here, you're queer, we're used to it for god's sake...

But your sexual preference aside Mr. House, your idea of replacing the entire Pamela Anderson relationship with close-ups of a "fucking awesome looking" Kanye "wondering if he could pull it off"?

Although it's easy enough to call your ideas boring, cliched and uninteresting (aside from entirely homoerotitic), I'm just wondering how you muster the chutzpah to write the amazingly presumptuous dribble you call suggestions for other people's work.

Oh wait a sec. As I was writing this, Chris called. We were just talking about your ideas and he totally agrees with you. He's re-cutting the video. Good call man. I'm sorry.

         

looks like somebody's pissed their death cab "directions" treatment got rejected.

         

I dig it so much the period depiction is spot on, the pablo ferro styled title sequence is gold, the cut in transmission during the skit, so many litle things that make it spot on. Well researched. The standard rhyming to the camera scene (with the smoke) blends well and doesn't jar unlike pam's performance which is a little jarring. I think he pulled off everything he was aiming for in the 5 mins.

         

pamela anderson is not the problem here (although i'd like her much better if she'd decide to grow some eyebrows), the video has made too little out of a good idea (the kayenevel-thing) and the song is lame.

         

I think the video made allot out of a good not great idea. Pam is just jarring for me because she seems to be the only thing for me that breaks the 70's aspect cause she is such a 90's icon. I f she weren't so famous i probably would have no problem with her, having said that she adds a bit of comedy.

         

It was very good, not great, but c-marc's right: Good Lord if everyone in rap followed Kanye's lead and did creative videos, we'd have world peace.

I still don't understand why other up-and-comers don't pay attention, and try. It's really easy to beat out your competitors, the bar is so low. Come on, Dr. Teeth, Fat Cats, Life Garland, Juwan Lee.. Watch this vid! You too, Benny! Busta's "Touch It" was boring!

         

Ok, after that trailer i was ready for some serious fuckin fire and gold chains, Seriously though... I though the end scene with the model crash was nicely done, the tv crew stuff was dull, overall it was my favorite Kanye, and 2nd favorite Milk video next to AS.

To answer kevathens question, its the fan base that dictates the treatment , you know? Certain bands have that lincense Kanye, outkast, biggie... but most of these rapper need to keep selling the cold G muscle, gun, bootie ghetto thug to get anyone to believe they have cred, you can only go out on a limb if your "shits tight". and anyways... Whats good is only appriciated with 10% or less of the viewers... and i think antville makes up about 9% of that.

ps is anville acting wierd for anyone else?

         

I would make the argument it's not Kanye's lead, it's Chris'. Kanye has done a bunch of stupid trite cliché hip hop videos ("Workout Plan"? I mean please). The creative videos he has done have been when working with Chris.

         

antville is having it's nightly hickups, some call it backups...(we normally sleep now on this side of the planet). plus, it's never been planned for what it is now, so the server maybe sightly underdressed...

as for pam: i agree with dec on that 90's icone thing. had she been dressed up and esp make up more 70s like, she'd fit better in. but the black girls with the fake afros don't look very authentic also... (i hate my crappy englisch)

         

the song is lame and the vid could be much better (well, if it were a much better song it should). thats about it.

         

Great video. In the hands of any number of other directors this treatment would have been a mess- either a schlocky gag-fest or a tired exercise in retro cliches. What Milk always brings is heart and terrific nuance. The emotional energy is there, especially the shot with 'Ye pointing to the sky at the edge of the canyon- (Iconic!) and even with the ironic ending the whole thing never loses its soul. Really, at a time when so many hip-hop videos offer little more than nice lighting and expensive mahogany, this feels like a huge breath of fresh air and a throwback to an era when videos were expected to be fresh and interesting.

         

love it all the way home. especially pam. genius touch, trashy enough and yet still feeling honest in some sense.

         

isaac, you made a point here. it's pretty good for a hiphop-vid. unless... the track si noct hiphop, it's lame cover-trash. he can do better.

         

And btw, why do people need to preface how they are not a fan of chris milk's before they go on to say how they like his video? Why is that?

And here is the real question, do you think there has ever been an art form where its own fans and supporters were this spiteful and hateful towards their artists? Do you think jazz was like this. Do you think the dada/surrealists were. So why now then? Because in today's society anyone can be anything. The 12 year old in his parents basement is only one afterfx project away from being Steven Spielberg. That is great, technology is great. Unfortunately the byproduct is that everyone feels it necessary to hate on everyone else's work. That sucks.

Guess what, this is a modern day classic hip hop video. In 10 years you will see that. But it is too fresh for you now. Back in the day playas used to hate on 2pac like crazy. Now he is a icon. You think anything roman coppola did is better that this? It ain't, it's just older. Give history a chance fellas. You'll be buying the remastered holograph dvd of this in 2026. Mark my words.

         

fell: i don't think i agree regarding this specific video, but: i love the way you put that. righteous.

         

To travel is always better than to arrive. It all started so well, but the finish. Oh why that finish? What's that for an ending? Why spend all that money only to sign off with that bobbins?

         

what a bunch of haters. this is a great video. well executed and completely infectious. chock full of clever moments. in my opinion, this is the best of chris' kanye vids. succeeds in every way...

         

it does not. it`s stuck halfway saying nothing. whats the point of all that? if he'd sat on a porch and talked about being kaynevel and 30secs of (rueckblende) and then some burning of the model stuff, it would have been much more interesting and original. as it is, i'd rather watch the "strasky and hutch" re-do trailer over and over again.

         

just watched this again on tv. it's pretty damn good, but i wish they hadn't used the toy rocket shots for the crash at the end - cute but lets down the rest.

         

trackback (includes chris milk comment)