THE WORK OF SPIKE JONZE

Over the past five years of doing tastes like chicken we have received quite a long list of promotional items, from music to movies to books. More often than not, we either get stuff that I am not, at first, all that excited to see, or we get something that I am downright terrified of. Like something with a "hip new thing" sticker on it, or some crappy garage band's demo disc. Every once in a while, though, something comes along that I am really insanely happy to get.
This past Saturday was a milestone day for me. It was the day I received the one item I can honestly and absolutely say has been my favorite freebie in all of the last five years. It was the day I received The Work of Director Spike Jonze DVD that was put out by Directors Label.
You know Spike Jonze, don't you? Born Adam Spiegel of Spiegel Department Stores fame, he quickly took the silver spoon out of his mouth and decided to try his hand at photography and directing. Now he is responsible for some of the most clever and innovative work to date. His films aside (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation), Spike is to blame for some amazing music video work, and this DVD collects the best of the best.
Chances are you've seen most of these videos a million times on MTV back when they USED TO FUCKING PLAY MUSIC VIDEOS. For those of you that have never gone a day with cable television, good for you. Some of these videos will be just as new and exciting to you as they were to me ten years ago.
Bjork's "It's Oh So Quiet", The Pharcyde's "Drop", and the ever-famous "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys are some of the best. Following behind that are Daft Punk's "Da Funk", Weezer's "Buddy Holly", and quite possibly two of the best videos ever made, Fatboy Slim's dance-fevered "Praise You" and the flying Christopher Walken video known as "Weapon Of Choice". As if that weren't enough, you can watch these videos on their own, or with commentary from the musicians.
And that's just the first side of the DVD.
On the reverse side you have three 30+ minute documentaries, an Oasis video that never made it to production, and a few short films. It also comes with a 52-page book of Spike's drawings and storyboards. Goddamn!
Seriously, this is the best thing I've ever gotten to review. And if I hadn't received it for free, I willingly would have spent my cash on this in a second.
Directors Label was started by Jonze along with fellow directors Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry, who will also be releasing their own DVDs on the same day as Spike. I have also seen some of the Gondry DVD, and it looks equally amazing. I can't wait to see all of his and Cunningham's DVDs in this series. There are also plans to release more titles in Spring of 2004, so this is a gift that keeps giving.
If you are a fan of good music video directing or any of Spike's other work, I strongly encourage you to pick this up. Jonze is one of the most creative/freakish minds of this century. And this DVD is proof positive of it.
VISIT DIRECTORS LABEL HERE.
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