The 5: Great Music Videos Directed by Oscar Winners

It’s Oscar Time and by now you’re probably sick of reading about 1917, The Joker, Parasite and Brad Pitt. So instead of giving our predictions and winner lists, we’re taking a break from comedy and getting nostalgic, while looking back at five of the greatest music videos that were directed by Academy Award winners.

Weapon Of Choice – Fatboy Slim. Directed by Spike Jonze.

There’s several videos that could have been chosen from Spike Jonze, but this is the one that is still being talked 20 years (!) after its release. Jonze, who won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for the film Her, is in peak quirky form as Christopher Walken – in full Walken mode – hoofs it up in an empty hotel.


I Don’t Know What To Do With Myself by The White Stripes. Directed by Sophia Coppola.

Usually a clip featuring a scantily clad Kate Moss pole dancing would be slammed for being sexist and exploitive. But when in the hands of Sophia Coppola – a Best Original Screenplay Oscar winner for Lost In Translation – it becomes a. sensual adventure that is artful and tasteful.

Bad – Michael Jackson. Directed by Martin Scorsese.

After redefining the medium with ‘Thriller’, Michael Jackson turned to Martin Scorsese to direct the title track to his 1988 follow up. As you expect, Scorsese took to the streets of New York that combines the pace and the grit of the times with a bit of West Side Story and On The Town thrown in.

(Long version)

(Short version)


Fight The Power – Public Enemy. Directed by Spike Lee.

For his 1989 opus, Do The Right Thing, Spike Lee asked Public Enemy didn’t just want a song, he wanted an anthem. The Strong Island crew more than delivered and for the video, Lee – who finally received an Academy Award for co-writing Black Klansman – turned the streets of Brooklyn into one giant block party of empowerment.


Touched by the Hand of God – New Order. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

Before making history as the fist woman to win the Best Director Oscar, Kathryn Bigelow was tapped by New Order to direct the video for their 1987 single. The clip – which took on the many cliches that were found in glam metal videos – gave us a glimpse of Bigelow’s talent that would come into fruition in such films as Point Break and The Hurt Locker.

 

 

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Earl Douglas is a writer/photographer based in New York City. A frequent contributor to The Interrobang, Earl is also Executive Director for the New York chapter of The Black Rock Coalition. Earl worked in radio for nearly two decades at WNEW-FM and XM Satellite Radio, which included being the on-air producer for Carol Miller, Scott Muni and Ron & Fez, and a contributor to Opie & Anthony. Earl has also independently published a number of books including Black Rock Volume 1, Urban Abyss, Mobile Uploads, and For Shimmy. His latest project is the photojournalism magazine PRAXIS, which is available exclusively through Blurb.com.
Earl Douglas
Earl Douglas
Earl Douglas is a writer/photographer based in New York City. A frequent contributor to The Interrobang, Earl is also Executive Director for the New York chapter of The Black Rock Coalition. Earl worked in radio for nearly two decades at WNEW-FM and XM Satellite Radio, which included being the on-air producer for Carol Miller, Scott Muni and Ron & Fez, and a contributor to Opie & Anthony. Earl has also independently published a number of books including Black Rock Volume 1, Urban Abyss, Mobile Uploads, and For Shimmy. His latest project is the photojournalism magazine PRAXIS, which is available exclusively through Blurb.com.