Gets my vote for worst (aka most disappointing) video this month. And this track was so good on the album. Do I just need to watch it a couple more times to like it?

stream QT - stream win - stream real - youtube

         

how many treatments did they use, and why?? does have some good shots though, and the song's great. if a bit ruined …

(mudhoney was much worse, kev. don't watch, just believe.)

         

Dear Kevathens,

You may not like anything outside of your little indie circle jerk, but in no way can this be the worst video of the month. Dave Meyers may not fit into your poor, never gonna make money, blame everyone else for my failure, politically correct, liberal Gondry fantasy, but he is still a hugely successful director who makes creative, interesting videos for Missy. Sure he's done some subpar videos, but then again, so has Gondry. I'm sure you'd rather see some out of focus handheld camera on some cigarette butts or a white man's guilty conscience backpack rap plotline where light skinned "negros" with African influenced names engage in non threatening scenes - but that only works for a couple of whiteys on either coast. There are many different tastes out there and believe it or not, most people do not enjoy Jarmusch.

Please use accurate and fair criticism in the future or you can send me your email so I can sodomize you. Either is fine by me.

Thanks

         

hey, is it veegan or vaygan? (oh, and: you have so got the wrong guy there...)

         

it never occurred to me that Dave Meyers & Hype Williams represent the GOP of the music video world; while Jonze and GOndry are the democrats. But I can roll with it.

         

Wow. Someone it totally projecting.

         

touchy. funny how some people resort to personal insults when they fail to articulate themselves otherwise. Not that I would lower myself to that kind of mud slinging. Not a totally bad video, and quite startling to see missy being shot out of a tuba.

         

cool down "vegansrfullofshit"! :-) )

I love the dance performances in Missy Videos. In comparison with most Rap/Hip Hop videos they seem to shine out a special kind of optimism.

But after watching this video a have a bad aftertaste...Some elements are very stupid. For example the feeted head on the yard or the stickman-animation.

Furthermore there is far too much produktplacement in this video...A oversized Addidas commercial.

         

Missy's vids have always been teetering on the edge, and most of them have worked incredibly well. This one finally took it over the edge, imho.

Though, um, should we mention the caveat again that there are still a ton of videos out there that are worse than this?

         

Everyone else, stay out of it. I want Kev. You've all seen his website, promoting Gondry & Cunningham, two great directors no doubt. And his playlist of Athens which is overwhelmingly indie. Just giving him a quick colon check and let him know Im launching my own sort of Patriot Act against him and his "type".

         

? I don't dislike Dave Meyers, if that's what you're saying? I played many of his vids on my show. (Missy, Eve, VAST, No Doubt, LL Cool J, Dilated Peoples)

         

Just checking you "Kev". Making sure when you talk shit someone is there to make sure you are keeping it fair and square. Wanna prove you are fair and balanced. Post some of Gondry's awful commercials and weak videos. Start with that Adrien Brody Diet Coke commercial. Lets go lefty.

         

Ready to rumble, Kev?

         

I agree with you about fairness. Definitely call me out if you disagree with me. I love discussing directors' work.. I think Dave gets stereotyped as generic when really there are lots of vids more generic than many of his. He really puts a lot of spunk into his work.

Ultimately it's none of my biz how someone else makes a living, and Dave deserves as much respect for the work he does as Michel or anyone else.

Also, you won't find me posting Dave or Michel's weak stuff from the past, that doesn't inspire me. I posted this cuz it was new, and I love Missy.

         

Well lets see you post a negative piece of work from Michel. I personally think Michel is a great director, but Im trying to keep you honest Kev. Fair and balanced. You can't just spew out negative bs to a non-arty/indie/cool director without being watched by me anymore. Not trying to single you out either, Ill go after others. I bet you wont post anything negative about Gondry though. I'll also bet you'll find it interesting that in certain circles in France they find Gondry unoriginal, its here in America where he gets he original status. He also works for peanuts, if he wanted to work for more money like Dave Meyers, I wonder if his work would be as original. I think not.

Good luck Kev, Ill be watching you.

Peace

         

i'm still trying to figure out how somebody gets sodomized by an email address, but whatever...

         

i don't want to see shitty videos, be they by michel, hype or your aunt irma.

plenty other places to grill your seitan, v. (so - which is it: vee or vay?)

         

Vegan does bring up a good point: the text-based cock sucking of "cool" indie directors around here is a bit ridiculous sometimes.

         

Yeah, Dave Meyers SUCKS. Worst music video director out there. I think they were trying to be cool with all the treatment changes. And the black and white big lips Grace-Jones rip-off was L-A-M-E. The song was hot.

         

yeah, but why make kev the target of his attack? he hardly seems guilty of that from what i've seen around here.

         

bygones, familiar...

         

Familiar says it best "the text-based cock sucking of "cool" indie directors around here is a bit ridiculous sometimes."

And Kev has two directors on his site, Gondry and Cunningham. Thats what makes him my target, but there are others.

I do understand this is a more "indie" based site, but its a perfect place to attack indies who are always so preachy and pompous and patronizing, but just as full of shit as the more mainstream work they claim to be above.

Hogwash...

         

kev follows the work and careers of those two directors because (and i'm just assuming) those are two of his favourite directors. is he obligated to throw in a token "mainstream" director to even the playing field? it's his site. i don't imagine he profits by it.

i agree with your larger point, there is a lot of silly elitism when it comes to anything 'indie', but whatever. they're just opinions and i doubt dave meyers or hype williams or anybody else really needs protection from those opinions.

         

I was sodomized by an email once apon a time.

         

v, you are free to suck the cock of your choosing.

here's an idea, why don't you POST A LINK TO A COOL MUSIC VIDEO instead of soapboxing equanimous vitriol?

         

I agree with the wish for less cynicism on antville, but why respond so cynically?

And Chris & Michel are my fave directors ever! I'm so happy to even volunteer as their PR guy (and sometimes piss them off, I think).

         

"i doubt dave meyers or hype williams or anybody else really needs protection from those opinions."

Generally, when someone has achieved a level of confidence and success, they don't need the defense at all. I'd say that is true for both Meyers and Williams... and Gondry for that matter.

When it comes to criticism, it's the guys with something to prove - less confident in their skills, or with a lesser skill-set - who you will find to be defensive or reactive. Tell a good artist why something of theirs sucked, and back it up, and they should at least attempt to see your point of view.

I don't understand why some fans of artists (musicians, visual artists, etc.) take it so personally when their heroes are attacked. It's weird and obsessive.

         

i actually like this video, even though i don't necessarily like music or videos from this genre. call me a indie cock sucker if you like. i just find rap and hip hop videos to be a little to flashy for my taste. i also find that they are a bit cookie-cutter. so i admit that i tend to skip these types of videos, which makes me uneducated about this because i don't have a real basis for comparision. however, i am going to put my two cents in. i found this video a bit more edgy (although i hate the word edgy) and i like the style of this video, however i think it's a bit scattered. the end

         

the video felt like a.d.d. on amphetamines. missy is a character to be reckoned with. so why's this video just all over the place?

         

CHALLENGE: any one of you, please post a piece of work from Gondry that you feel wasn't as good. I challenge you to fairness.

         

as good as what? gondry was nominated for antville's worst/most disappointing video of 2005 for denial twist. his kanye vid got pretty lukewarm reactions here. and the preview clip from the science of sleep got anything but raves.

so: what now? are you vindicated? before you shit on folks, do your research. and: for chrissakes, chill.

         

veg, but u did read this post by kev, didn't you?

the web's a fine & private place, but none, i think, do there embrace ... nor do they chill.

sigh

         

ok, back to this video, what was posted (not this politics stuff). i like the effect of colors, but it's just so damn boring. i don't think the colors are even right for a missy video. her videos are usually wild, colorful and crazy, this is pretty bland. color theory anyone? that being said i didn't watch it all the way through because the stream was so slow, so i don't know if anything spectacular blew it out of the water at the end, but i don't really think so.

i'm not generally a fan of meyers' work. i think it is usually just not all it is made out to be. plus from seeing him on making the video, he just really really annoys me. he and joseph kahn are definitely birds of a feather, and i guess you could say hype is in that same family. they seem to rip ideas and then develop them to a certain point and then just flush it down. just my thoughts. i don't think it's really fair to compare them to gondry, cunningham, romanek or anyone of that level.

         

isaac, that was a screenplay oscar only. screenplay oscars are so artsy-indie.

         

Holy Fuck - This vag guy is a total instigator. Fuck all glorified bullshit vids of all varieties. Take all of the money for this vid and spread it amongst other acts instead. You all defended Kev, not at all. Lame.

Yo - tell me what you are listening to??

What have you POSTED?

We are watching you. Lets see some kick ass posts from you. Remember Quicktime.

         

Just keeping it fair.

Still waiting to see kev post something negative about Gondry. It wont happen easily. He's been sucking at the nipple of independent filmmaking too long. Well Im here to stop that flow. He actually believes Gondry isn't a thief of Svankmajer. You aren't Baudrillard and this isn't a Simulacra . Be fair and I'll be fair back.

A tout à l'heure !

         

I cant see what you are asking Vegan. You WANT someone to post something NEGATIVE. For what purpose? It doesn't make sense. Why should anyone post anything. And what has fairness got to do with this site. An objective site would be a boring read.

         

As per vegan's comment - I think that's where most people get me wrong. I don't really care that much about feature films or etc. I don't really know a terrible lot about film, or French New Wave or surrealism, at all. I've seen a fair amount of them but they don't hold my interest.

I'm a music video fan and maybe someday an expert, and ultimately an MTV afficionado and music fan, while I think many people here are film fans. I think that's a big caveat I should let everyone know (I thought it was obvious). Now that I say this, I would appreciate some fairness on this point.

Is this a point I should make clearer on my website, everyone? Do people really get the impression that I'm a film expert?

         

After all this, how about some soulful ease?

         

kev, i don't think there is a necessity to make this even more clear ... in any case, it says "sign up and post links to cool music videos" on the top, so everybody is free to post links to what is of his or her concern: you are, even veg is ;) even if you were a feature film geek, so what (i, for one, am such a thing, ups)

         

PS oh yeah, the sooulful ease fits perfectly!

(perfectly suits my mood, as i won a oneyearfreecinematicket today - did i already mention i was a feature film geek?)

         

Nice one! Yeah, Multiply is soooo niiiice. I'm looking forward to listening to it in the spring & summer.

         

Thanks for the defense. A buddy of mine tipped me off to this debate so I figured Id weigh in myself.

As for the haters, I actually try really hard, Kev, and am proud of the work I do.

I may not be your taste, but I can only do my best, and that seems to be okay for me.

You'll have a blast with this next Missy vid we're cooking up.

Have fun with it

Peace

Dave

         

Lookin' forward to it, as always.

         

does this video remind anyone else of Pleix Basement Jaxx vid for Cish Cash?

i know this is a bit late in the day but i really like Dave Meyers work for Missy Elliot its just everything else he does is shit

         

1. anyone believe that's Dave Meyers? I don't.

2. "Bombs over Baghdad" is one of my favorite videos.

3. Overall, I'd say he's better than Hype Williams; but he's done a ton of generic videos which cloud his better work.

         

Dave,

Your welcome!

I couldnt let these Cahier du Cinema wannabes get the best of you.

Your Missy work is great. Keep it up.

         

Veganfullofzhit; you and zis "davemeyers" have zee zame way of typing with zee spaces between zee lines. Zat fools no one!

I am, how you zay, l'outraged!

         

the blockbuster of music videos. always fun to watch.

         

mickelgondry, you have the funniest post award. you are a master of deduction. i want to sodomize you over the email.

         

"3. Overall, I'd say he's better than Hype Williams"

That's kind of like saying that Bush is better than Nirvana. Meyers IMO is riding off of many of the visual tricks Williams has implemented over the years, only with a much lesser grasp of what makes a good color scheme and/or a well lit/framed shot, or how to integrate CG and/or blue screen into the rest of the scenery. Most of his decent videos are those from Missy Elliott, and it's easy to see which half of the collaborations the inspiration is coming from.

As for Hype Williams, he's actually made some memorable videos, including Woo-hah... by Busta Rhymes and The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) by Missy Elliott. Even his more standard flashy fare tends not to disappoint when it comes to delivering something entertaining.

Michel Gondry, OTOH, even if he hasn't had a perfect record, has been creating awesome videos for over 10 years for artists such as Bjork, Cibo Matto, Massive Attack, and Beck among others, years before his collaborations with the White Stripes, all of which are fine, mind you.

         

Okay, I just watched this several times in very high fidelity and here's some analysis, fwiw..

The intro ("Bad Man") works well. The visuals sync pretty well with the music - marching bands, etc. And there's a single visual theme which carries you along.

Once "We Run This" begins, though, it gets very confusing. It starts oddly with Missy somehow learning gymnastics from a passive Dominique Dawes while balancing atop an i-beam connected to a run-down building, perched high atop an apocalyptic-looking Gotham City. Plus, in half of the scenes here and through the entire video, Missy's head has been obviously comped onto someone else's body, which Dave first did in "Lose Control."

The next section of the video introduces an entirely new setup, which itself contains two film styles: the well-filmed saturation of a typical rap video and inserts dumbed down to look like b/w Super 8 (or something). This, the dancing and the visual bombast distract you from the fact that Missy is learning more gymnastics here.

The video segues smoothly into the competition, where a disembodied Missy head is stuck on top of a sometimes wrongly-proportioned gymnast. Plus we get another film style: high-grain in a smoky(?) auditorium. Missy wins, and the final scene sees her atop a podium, with fireworks lighting up the war-like sky and too many other things going on to get any of it.

Overall, the video doesn't work well for me because - "Bad Man" intro aside - it feels extremely bloated and computer-generated. While I think they were going for over-the-top, I think this one fell off the cliff. Still, they deserve much credit (and I'm sure they don't need it from me) for putting a lot of hard work into the video, and taking a risk. That is a very admirable trait for any artist, and far be it from this reviewer, who has never made a music video, to take anything away from that.