andPOP » Spike Jonze

Arcade Fire, Spike Jonze Team Up For ‘The Suburbs’ Short Film

@coltondaniel — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 12:32:23 +0000

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Fresh off their Grammy-win, the good old Canadian band Arcade Fire have teamed up with Academy Award-nominated director Spike Jonze to create a short film inspired by the album entitled: Scenes from the Suburbs. The first public glimpse at the film was released in a trailer on Monday.

A story of battles. The battle of adolescence, social circles and love – and war, thanks to Jonze. The film stars stars Sienna Blau, Sam Dillon, Zoe Graham, Zeke Jarmon, Paul Pluymen, and Ashlin Williamson living in an ordinary suburb with a lingering militaristic presence, reminiscent of 1984.

The film is set to play this Wednesday at the South by Southwest (SXSW) interactive music and film festival in Austin, Texas. It has already premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and, according to the trailer, is soon coming to DVD. Both Arcade Fire’s front man Win Butler and manager Scott Rodger were executive producers of the film, and Win’s brother and bandmate Will co-wrote the script with Mr. Jonze.

Arcade Fire and Jonze’s history goes back to his use of “Wake Up!” in the trailer for his critically acclaimed 2009 film “Where the Wild Things Are”. Since, Jonze directed the music video for the band’s title track to the Suburbs.

Spike Jonze and Arcade Fire Team Up for Film

Sara Harowitz — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:08:24 +0000

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Now here’s one collaboration that has “awesome” written all over it!

Popular Canadian alternative band Arcade Fire are working with film director Spike Jonze, reports NME.com.

Jonze, who used the band’s song “Wake Up” in his 2009 film Where The Wild Things Are, is said to be casting the film in Austin, TX.

The filmmaker’s spokesperson confirmed with MTV News that the project was definitely a-go, saying, “Spike will be in Austin shooting a short film which is a collaboration with Arcade Fire.”

There is talk that the project is about friends who grow apart and that it is going to be a short film, but these things have not been confirmed.

Arcade Fire is set to release a new album soon, and they are due to premiere it during their headline appearance at this August’s Reading And Leeds Festivals.

Kanye West’s Bizarrely Original Short Film

Stephen Baldwin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:20:33 +0000

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Kanye West teamed up with Oscar-nominated director Spike Jonze this summer to create a unique, mind-bending and often confusing short film. We Were Once a Fairytale was shown at the LA film festival in August, and was intended for A September 8th iTunes release, but it made its international debut on Monday, Oct.19.

The release comes less than a week after the premier of Spike Jonze’s fantastical big-screen rendition of Where the Wild Things Are. This may alleviate some confusion over the video’s bizarreness.

The short film parallels the tone of West’s 808s and Heartbreak album. It’s strange and even boring at first, but when you understand its direction, you understand its art. It’s dark but ultimately moving…not to mention catchy as hell.

The first half of the video contains a drunken Kanye West in a nightclub, singing and dancing along to his 808s and Heartbreak hit, See You In My Nightmares – which is playing in the background throughout. The video was reportedly intended to be the track’s music video, but instead set the stage for a 10 minute short film.

The second half includes Kanye fooling around with a girl in his drunken haze and then passing out. After waking up in a pile of pillows he then heads to the club’s washroom and projectile vomits a bed of flowers. When there are no more flowers to spew he slashes his stomach open with a blade and pulls out a furry mouse-like creature.

The video may be a reflection of an artist’s loss of self, or it could mean something completely different. Like most of Kanye’s music, there is no absolute definition. Whether you dig this video or not, you have to commend its originality, or at least remember that your dislike won’t even scratch the surface of West’s bulletproof ego.