Customer Reviews

Director's Series, Vol. 2 - The Work of Director Chris Cunningham

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is definitely worth picking up, but it's lacking quite a few things that would have made this a worthy package like the Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry dvd. I cannot believe only 5 minutes from Flex was used! I've seen the whole video and its brilliant, where's the rest of it?. Here's a list of whats missing.

1.Auteurs: "Light Aircraft on Fire"(This is seen on DVD menu page with the dog holding a guitar)
2.Auteurs: "Back with the Killer Again"
3.Auteurs: "Dubstar"
4.12 Rounds "Personally"
5.Jesus Jones: "The Next Big Thing"
6.Lodestar: "Another Day"
7.Gene: "Fighting Fit"
8.Jocasta: "Something To Say"
9.Nissan: The complete commercial
10.Dubstar: "No More Talk"
11.Holy Barbarians: "Space Junkie"
12.Life's Addiction: "Jesus Coming In for the Kill"
13.XFM : "Clip Clop" commercial for UK radio station
14.ITV : "Sport Is Free"commercial
15.Flex: the full 17 minute short film.(this is unforgivable, its the real reason I bought this dvd in the first place).

...

Cunningham's work, to say the very least, is breathtaking. It's the kind of surrealism that balances danger against the sublime. You're not quite sure if the cacophony is going to spill out of your TV like the skin & bones Richard James creature in "Come To Daddy". And then on the other hand it would be nice to have Bjork's robots spill into your life with their perfect loveliness. All these videos and shorts are amazing visions that are deeply affecting. They stay with you long after your initial viewing. I'll just chime in with everyone else and say that I was disappointed with the abbreviated "Flex" and the omission of "Back With A Killer", one of my very favourite Cunningham videos. The fact that "Killer" and the other Auteurs videos were shown in the trailer for this DVD (as were more graphic excerpts from "Flex") was a big factor in my purchasing it. I was displeased that they weren't there and actually consider this to be false advertising. Hopefully a more compleat version of this will surface one day.

I received this DVD with the Director's Label box set that also came with the Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry DVDs. I think if I had bought the Chris Cunningham DVD as a standalone, I would have been disappointed simply because it doesn't come with that much (or as much as it could have)! Sure, it has the videos that he is most famous for (Aphex Twin ones, Bjork) but those are also the ones that you, as a music video buff, have probably already seen a few times. Not to say that it isn't great to watch crisp, clean, high quality DVD versions of them, but I don't know if it will be worth your money.

And the most annoying thing is that they show little millisecond clips of these unincluded videos on the DVD menu! It's like, come on Director's Label people, why flash bits of videos that aren't even included, except as some sort of rude tease? You end up watching everything and thinking, where were the cat-headed dudes I saw in the menu? Did I miss something? And why only a excerpt of Flex?

Okay, besides all that, his work is totally genius and talk about jaw-dropping, absolutely flawless special effects! Better than any special effects you'll see in a Hollywood blockbuster, that's for sure. But overall, I recommend the 3 DVD box set because Jonze and Gondry are great too.

Wow. This left me totally speechless. Unlike Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry, Chris Cunningham is all about the visuals. Part Mark Romanek (but really, really disturbing) and part Floria Sigismondi (but slightly less nightmarish and with a dark sense of humor), his music videos are more than just astonishing eye candies -- they are more like mini horror movies. I loved all the videos but the standouts are the 2 Aphex Twin videos (spooky "Come to Daddy" and twisted but hilarious "Windowlicker"), and Björk's "All is Full of Love" which is the best and most realistic CGI I have ever seen.

The music videos range from the hilarious ( the Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker" ) to the incredibly beautiful (the stunning "All is Full of Love") to the downright spooky ( "Come to Daddy" also by the Aphex Twin, which made me turn the lights back on in the house it scared me so much ). Most of the music is techno ( drum and bass, trip hop, etc ) and the visuals always manage to compliment the music perfectly, as if they were created at the same time, by the same person. I found myself several times thinking one would be useless without the other. The short films in the bonus section are also very good, especially the one with the mechanical looking monkey with the multiple human arms, playing drums along to an Aphex Twin ( there he is again ) track, which tickled me to no end. Even the 30 second commercials warrant repeated viewings ( and THAT is really saying something.) I showed this to a friend the other night, and at the end he had a blank look on his face and finally said "WOW...that was a TRIP"

I saw this DVD for sale in Urban Outfitters, and decided to use the money I got from returning another gift to the store to get it, after I confirmed on Amazon.com that the running time was long (they say 400 minutes above!). I was worried because it didn't list very many works on the back cover, but I thought maybe they didn't list everything.

Well, I just pulled it out now and after an hour and a half at most, probably more like an hour, I'm done watching the entire DVD. I feel kind of cheated, if what the other reviewer here says is true, that Chris Cunningham actually has a lot of other music videos that weren't put on this DVD. The "flex" video was particularly disappointing, it starts off with so much potential and then suddenly ends, so that it's obvious that they cut it off.

To make things more insulting, the booklet that they include with the DVD, which is full of pictures from his videos and some interviews, includes lots of still frames from videos that aren't on the DVD. There are all these cool shots of videos that I would love to see, but they didn't include them. Nor is there any attempt to explain why they're not there. In fact, in some cases (for example, "Engine") it appears that they actually cut out scenes from the videos on this DVD.

What they do have is great, which just leaves me wanting more. "All is Full Of Love" is mesmerizing, I had to watch it twice it was so good. "Leftfield," "Windowlicker" and "Come to Daddy" manage to be both funny and haunting at the same time. Portishead's "Only You" is a bit of a disappointment, but I could see how others would like it. Madonna's "Frozen" is also beautiful. Anyway I don't want to get more specific lest I ruin it for those who haven't seen it already.

At any rate, I would not recommend this purchase for most people. For *SOME* people it might be a good purchase, if like me you've seen maybe one of the videos and really liked it and want to check out some more of his work. But if you're looking for a complete collection of Chris Cunningham's work, this unfortunately isn't it, and I don't think it will be worth your $20 to get it since all the main features are things you probably have already seen several times.

Also - don't be fooled by the fact that it says it's a "collection of music videos, short films, video installations and commercials." There is one short film (a 5 minute interview with him and Bjork) and 2 video installations (a video called "Monkey Drummer" which is not all that great, and flex which gets cut off). There are 3 commercials, none of which is all that good, except maybe the "mental wealth" one (if you can understand it which I can't).

Anyway, somebody from Amazon.com should fix that runtime listing.

(Incidentally, it looks like the rest of the Director's Label DVD's don't suffer from this problem, they have a lot of content.)

Of the three Director's Label DVDs, Chris Cunningham's is by far the least of the three. The work included here is great, but there are only eight videos and not a lot of extras, interviews or commentary.

Most baffling is the fact that there are stills of videos in the booklet and in the DVD menu graphic that aren't included on the DVD. The clip for the Auteurs' "Light Aircraft On Fire" is the most confusing omission. I'm not sure if Chris didn't want them included or what, but the fact that so much of Michel Gondry's older work is included on his disc suggests that the director had control of what went on the disc and what didn't, and Chris decided to skimp on the content.

Like I said, what's here is great, but if I could only buy one of the three discs it wouldn't be this one, if only because of the low quantity of material.

To be honest I didn't find the DVD lacking at all, to consider previous concerns: the videos that are not on the DVD suck. That's the bottom line. You wouldn't want to sit through those videos and they are better left alone to be re-run late at night on MTV2. Again the clip from FLEX is far more enjoyable than the entire film, which I have seen. I think that is is far better to have a sweet taste than to have the magic wear off after 5 minutes. That is the best section of FLEX and the rest is marginal. I think that many people are missing the point of this release. It is hand picked by Cunningham and it is his choice what is to be seen of his work. We are lucky enough to even have this on the shelf or in the player. To be more specific to the concerns above, the clip for the Auteurs 'light aircraft on fire' is terrible and all the best moments are in the stills on the directors file website and in the booklet. All the other videos that are not on the DVD are as bad (good) as your friends first paintings or demo tapes, just that, rehearsals for the real thing. I must agree that the Nissan commercial is a poor addition as the original is AMAZING! The content on this thing is a short cut and even bothering to mention that the music is by Boards of Canada is a bore, I'm sorry, anyone could have made the music to that clip. The booklet is interesting although not a far cry from a glossy magazine interview and offers little to no information on the videos. This DVD is fantastic to say the least although in today's market where we have to learn what size underwear the producer wears from our DVD-info-factoid-pills this DVD is lacking, I am sooooo pleased about this, because there is so little that you can actually learn from this information other than just that, and I don't give a damn what size underwear Cunningham wears. As far as the content from the MTV2 documentary, I mean commercial, Thank God it's not on there! That was the worst junk that I have ever seen! And the interviews with other directors? Oh my! Spike Jonze is the most BORING interview subject in the world! SNORE!!!! and to fill anyone in on the content of those interviews, here is EXACTLY what EVERY interview was like: (subject turns to person off screen) "Hey you remember that video I showed you? The one with the Creepy children?" "No." "Well, uh, that was cool huh huh." That was it! And Spike Jonze is bringing in this cheap looking latina and asking her about the video and she hasn't even seen it! It was a nightmare! Imagine the depth of a boring snooze fest Spike Jonze sitting with some latin goth kids on a sidewalk (one descibes Cunningham like a Slayer video) and spouting this junk.... This is the problem with the DVD addiction and as well the CD reissue craze, sacrificing quality for content. So what, it's missing hours and hours of worthless crap, GOOD!
This DVD is fantastic and do yourself a favour BUY IT! NOW!
Peace.

Here are the exact contents as listed on the case:
Autechre - second bad vibel
Aphex - come to daddy, windowlicker full and bleeped version.
Portishead - only you
madonna - frozen
leftfield - afrika shox
squarepusher - come on my selector
bjork - all is full of love, making of documentary
shorts / commericals - monkey drummer with afx, flex clip with afx, mental wealth (sony), photocopier (levis jeans), Engine (nissan short version), Drukqs clip with afx music.
ENJOY! !!!!!!

Chris Cunningham's collection of videos is the shortest one in the series (the others being The Works of Director Spike Jonze; and Michael Gondry)- only eight of them, as well as a `making of' and some short extras (commercials, video excepts, etc). So if you are looking for quantity over quality for the price, you might be disappointed. Yet those who frankly appreciate the artistry of producing images that correspond comfortably with the music will unquestionably admire Cunningham's unique inspired visions. He essentially realizes his dark, hallucinatory visions so well, the compositions start to depend on their videos' shocking content, rather than the contrary.
At that, it is obligatory to point out that the artists, whose tracks Cunningham converted onto the screens, are atypical in the contemporary dominance of idolized pop music. Aphex Twin is notorious within his own fan base (IDM - Intelligent Dance Music), and has composed trippy soundscapes since he was 14. His work ranges from incomprehensive and pompous to subtle and unnerving. He can be disturbingly lyrical, but also aggressive beyond reason.
Cunningham perceives the nucleus of Aphex Twin's opuses. The `97 `Come to Daddy' video has been famously banned from day-time MTV, as well as numerous other networks. I myself saw it in Moscow at around 2 am, and understood the reason - despite lacking offensive language, graphic violence and sex, the surreal, sputtering images enhance the terror of the song to an almost-unbearable effect. Little girls, all with Richard D. James' faces? Old grandma with a pit-bull? Watch out for that sickening creature crawling out of the unplugged TV-screen! As for `Windowlicker', Aphex Twin's hip-hop influenced acidic fable - Cunningham's vision is a masterpiece, a short film of otherworldly pallid glow that takes place in LA. It disturbing, pitch-perfectly edited to the track (with occasional random acid-flashbacks to `behind the scenes' in the midst of the action) and sardonic of its subject matter. You will never forget this one.
The most accessible videos on this compilation are Madonna's trancelike `Frozen' (possibly her best video yet); Portishead's `Only You' (filmed underwater for a glorious effect); Leftfield's `Afrika Sjox' (also banned in some countries, but in all honesty it is not all that disturbing - rather peculiar and heartbreaking, but not disturbing); and the beautiful, inventive `All is Full Of Love' from Bjork that's bound to send shivers down multiple spines.
Autechre's video is interesting to study as Cunningham's first, `95, venture into filmmaking. It is more experimental, and the track `Second Bad Vilbel' is as incomprehensive as its name, yet Cunningham nonetheless manages to grasp the quintessence - there is a conclusion to the video that is both frightening and thought-provoking. As for Square pusher's `Come On My Selector', if you thought Tom Jenkinson's speckled crazed beats cannot be portrayed visually, think again - this is one awesome video, pardon the minimalism of the statement.
Check out the DVD's booklet also for the art, but as for extras, there really isn't much to say - I think it's for the better. Spike Jonze has reached popularity in Hollywood ("Being John Malkovich", "Adaptation"), and so has Michael Gondry ("Human Nature") - hence the numerous extras in their packages. Chris Cunningham is yet to emerge, yet to reach the apex of his popularity, and his videos declare: "What an apex it'll be!"

First off, this is a great collection, and we're lucky it was put together at all, so any complaints seem nit picky. But..... one of the dissapointments about this wonderful collection is that there isn't more of it. At the risk of sounding greedy, I wish it was as densly packed as the other two discs. But mainly, (and is there anyone else totally upset about this) I wish the FLEX short was here in total, all we get is the first 5min of this astonishing piece and, in my opinion, his best. My guess is that (having been lucky enough to see the whole thing) it was really too graphic to be on a DVD so widely distributed, and also, it being an "art" piece it has to remain an excerpt so as to still bring in an audience on the exhibition circuit - both, I guess, are understandable reasons. Its just too bad - that so many people are missing Cunningham's finest work and I really wish they would find some way to make it accessible. Aside from that I'm glad its out, although the trailer is really misleading - as it includes the edited pieces of FLEX as well as several videos and commercials that are not on the DVD, too bad.... thanks anyway guys...