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Rubber Johnny (2005)
10/10
Awfully Deep
12 October 2005
Chris Cunningham's works have shaped the music industry. He's probably the best and most influential music video director ever. He did videos for Aphex Twin, Madonna, Bjork, Portishead and many others, but now he is retired from industry. Now he works for himself.

His independence lets him to experiment a lot and to realize himself better. Chris's world is a strange, but interesting place and it can't be censored or cut. It is a thing to be examined. Once you got into it, you become a part of it, you see everything in an absolutely different way. Just try it.

"Rubber Johnny" is a 6-minute experimental short film and a 40 page book. All in one package, both absolutely genius. Some people say that book is too nasty and film is too short, but they are only half-right. Book is nasty, of course, but everything is not that simple in Cunningham's works. To see what's behind those scary pictures, you'll have to look deeper. I'm not gonna spoil you, you've got to find out yourself what's great about it.

But the real treasure is a short movie. It is frightening, disturbing, entertaining and amusing at once. The movie is shot on a simple home camera, but "Johnny" features some stunning visual effects. Believe me, it worth watching. "Rubber Johnny" is the fastest damn thing i've ever seen and the editing is something unspeakable. And, as a rule, it is deeper than you could ever imagine. It's like reading a good book: one must use his imagination to see the author's idea. In 6 minutes Chris puts a story witch could have been a full-length film. He shows a work of a true master: we're gonna be disturbed, entertained and (most important)we're gonna examine the depths of Johnny's character. And everything in 6 minutes! Unimaginable!

"Rubber Johnny" kind of movies may turn out to be a new form of art: 2000's are fast times and fast times require fast art. Not fast-created, but short-length, clever, entertaining and deep-minded. Chris Cunningham does it first (as usual) and he does it better than anyone in this world.
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7/10
Spike is genius but lazy.
25 June 2005
It is very difficult to rate this DVD. On the one hand Spike Jonze has directed such awesomely genius videos like Beastie Boys "Sabotage" and FatBoy Slim's "Weapon Of Choice". But on the other he did such usual works, like "Cannonball" by The Breeders. While watching this DVD I've noticed that Spike's main problem is that he is not a perfectionist, like other directors, presented in Director Label's series. In fact, Spike is a lazy director. Just think about it: the idea of "Sabotage" belongs to Adam Horowitz of Beastie Boys, the concept of Notorious B.I.G. video has been developed by Spike's former girlfriend director Sofia Coppola. And "Praise You" has been co-directed by Sofia's brother Roman. When Spike Jonze was assigned to do the Dinosaur Jr. clip he met Macsis of the band and asked him about what did Macsis want to see in this video. And there's even a documentary placed on the disc about Spike hanging around London asking ordinary people about the Oasis video of their dreams. Does this guy have any of his own ideas? Yes, he has. It seems like when Spike really interested in working on a good video, he makes it perfect. But most of his videos (non-classic) are simple ordinary works. And, of course, there's no use to say that Slim's "Weapon Of Choice", Weezer's "Buddy Holly", Bjork's ""it's Oh So Quiet", Chemical's "Electrobank" and some other videos and shots presented on this impressive FOUR HOUR, DOUBLE-SIDED DVD are worth paying for. The DVD also contain different interviewees and commentaries, but the quality of their sound is rather bad. And traditional Director's Label 52-page book is not that interesting and stylish as Michel Gondry's and Chris Cunningham's. Though this is not a perfect realize, It's imperative having Beasties and FatBoy Slim's clips in every good DVD collection. So, you'll have to buy The Work Of Director: Spike Jonze.
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10/10
"The Work Of Director" series should be renamed "The Work Of Genius"!
23 June 2005
Michel Gondry is a very respective figure in video, movie and commercial business. He's a forty year old french man who still has childish eyes and he sees the world in a very unusual way. Have you ever dreamed about being strong, like Dave Grohl in Foo Fighters video or little, like Bjork in "Human Behavior"? To feel the warmth of a little space, just as the heroes of Massive Attack clip, or to see everything in a rhythm symbiosis, like in Chemical Brother's "Star Guitar" video? The right answer is "YES", but you could have seen it a long time ago, when you were about 12. Well, Gondry has been 12 forever, and a big 2-part documentary placed on this great DVD realize gives a rather detail explanation of everything that influenced on Gonrdy's unusual directing style. Besides this interesting documentary, this impressive double-sided DVD contains a lot of music videos, commercials and even a couple of short films! Not to mention amazing 52-page booklet. Ordinary human brain just can't stand too much of weird Michel Gondry's world, but if you try, you'll see, that world is a great place to be. And a main human problem is that we simply grow up, forgetting our childish dreams and become hungry for materialistic things. This stunning DVD will help you remember yourself, find yourself and enjoy one of the best videos ever made. It helped me already. No DVD collection would be full without "The Work Of Director^ Michel Gondry". Serious.
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10/10
Outstanding!!!
22 June 2005
Chris Cunningham is one of the best video directors in the world. He is frightening genius, stunning innovator, video-shocker and a true perfectionist. He did only 19 videos and only 8 of them are available on this DVD. I don't know why he decided to put only half of his works here, but I think it is because of his psycho perfectionism. Maybe he wants people to see his best works only. His DVD is the best one among all "The Work Of Director" series. Even Michel Gondry's. Cunningam is mostly known for his genius Aphex Twin collaborations, and you can find them all on this amazing DVD. Personally, I fancy 10 (ten) minute long "Windowlicker" - this is my favorite video ever. I also recommend "Come To Daddy", "Only You" by Portishead, "Come On My Selector" by Squarepusher and "All Is Full Of Love" by Bjork. These are true essentials. Besides music videos, this DVD contains a documentary about clip for Bjork, amazing commercials and (prepare!) two never-before-available video installations "Monkey Drummer" and "flex". Don't forget about very interesting and informative 52-page book and this realize becomes ONE TO WATCH!
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