The 5 Best Videos Of The Week
This week, I imagine that a lot of us spent some time thinking about Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” a vivid and surreal little piece of work that imprinted itself deeply in many of our heads. Once upon a time, that thing would be on every time you came home from school and flipped on MTV. And as great as many music videos are today, they’re just never going to have that kind of cultural reach again. Chris Cornell has a long and varied legacy, and we should remember that part of that legacy is a five-minute-and-twenty-second short film that rearranged the brain molecules of an entire generation. This week’s picks are below.
5. Katy Perry – “Bon Appétit” (Feat. Migos) (Dir. Dent De Cuir)
This is an absolute godawful mess, of course, but it’s an absolute godawful mess in the best way. So Katy Perry pushes the whole “Cherry Pie” food-as-sex thing way beyond its natural conclusion, imagines bakers stretching and kneading her entire body on some pure body-horror shit, and then leads some sort of revolt of the oppressed. Also, a clam yells the word “Offset.” I just can’t be mad.
4. Muse – “Dig Down” (Dir. Lance Drake)
Few things are certain in this life, but here’s one of them: If the second half of a music video turns into a competently-executed homage to the hammer-fight scene in Oldboy, that video will find its way onto this list.
3. Fleet Foxes – “Fool’s Errand” (Dir. Sean Pecknold)
If you get the job to direct a Fleet Foxes video, it’s never a bad idea to just write the words “Wicker Man” in big letters at the top of the whiteboard.
2. Francis And The Lights – “May I Have This Dance (Remix)” (Feat. Chance The Rapper) (Dir. Jake Schreier)
When was the last time we had a great rap star who loved dancing this much? Missy Elliott? Big Daddy Kane? It’s been too long.
1. Vince Staples – “Big Fish” (Dir. David M. Helman)
The Shallows would’ve been a very different movie if it had starred Vince Staples instead of Blake Lively. Staples would’ve just given the shark a cold, indolent, bored glare, and the shark would’ve just swam away confused, wondering why it couldn’t be as cool as that guy.