What do you get when you add together Spike Jonze, Jill Garvey from HBO’s “The Leftovers,” Sia’s choregrapher, and multiply it by Sam Spiegel and Ape Drums (featuring Assassin)? One of the more thrilling perfume commercials in recent memory.
Yes, Jonze’s latest directorial effort is technically an ad for Kenzo perfume, but the three-minute “ad” is more music video than anything else, with just one mention of the product ostensibly being hawked, right at the very end.
The video starts with Margaret Qualley, who was a dancer before she was Jill from “The Leftovers,” bored at a gala. (Even French galas are boring, turns out.)
Then Spiegel and Ape Drums’ “Mutant Brain” kicks in, and Qualley shows off her mad dance skills, which run the gamut from hyperstylized robotic movements, to classic ballet-type acrobatics, all the way to full-on gymnastics with a hands-free cartwheel.
The last film Jonze directed was 2013’s “Her,” but he’s been busy of late getting cable channel Viceland off the ground. He serves as the network’s co-president and producer on many of its series, like Ellen Page‘s “Gaycation” and Gloria Steinem’s “WOMAN With Gloria Steinem.”
With the Kenzo spot (if a three-minute video can be called a “spot”), Jonze gets back to his music video roots — from The Beastie Boys to Daft Punk to Björk, you can always count on Jonze to bring his A-game.
Kenzo has worked with film and music luminaries in the past, too. Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein directed a video for the company’s fall and winter fashion lines (featuring Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon), and David Lynch helped design Kenzo’s AW14 show in 2014.
9 Most Unforgettable Moments at 2016 MTV Video Music Awards (Photos)
Any show that gives Kanye West four minutes of time to riff on whatever he wants is bound to be crazy. And the 2016 Video Music Awards did have its moments. Click on to see....
The show opened with Rihanna. Here's hoping you really like her, because you would see her perform multiple times throughout the evening, performing medleys of her many hits.
Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj offered up a duo early in the show. This was a fairly subdued VMAs, although there were plenty of bleeped-out profanities during some numbers.
Alicia Keys came out and noted that it was the 53rd anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington in 1963. Then she began delivering a poem that evolved into full-throated song.
The show had no real "host," but comedy team Key and Peele appeared throughout the night as a social-media-obsessed pair of emcees. You had to listen carefully to catch all the banter.
Kanye West delivered four minutes of .... well, what exactly? Hard to say. This was the pop star at his most restrained, giving shout-outs to former girlfriend Amber Rose and his wife, Kim Kardashian. But he did compare himself to Steve Jobs and other geniuses.
This was supposed to be one of the evening's main draws. Britney Spears was appearing at the VMAs for the first time in more than 10 years. Fairly subdued performance by MTV standards, but it gave the Brit-Brit fans what they craved.
Beyonce was a big winner for the night. She took home Moon Man trophies for video of the year, female video and breakthrough long-form video.
Jimmy Fallon enlivened the show by making fun of some guy named Ryan Lochte.
Drake and Rihanna closed the show. Drake delivered a tribute to Rihanna, whom he called one of his idols, and she accepted the Michael Jackson Vanguard Award.
From Beyonce to Jimmy Fallon, the freewheeling award show had something for almost everyone
Any show that gives Kanye West four minutes of time to riff on whatever he wants is bound to be crazy. And the 2016 Video Music Awards did have its moments. Click on to see....
