Director's Series - The Works of Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham, and Michel Gondry

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Summary: Best DVD idea in a long time!
Review: Spike Jonze may be the best known of the 3, but it's worth getting the trio for Cunningham and Gondry's discs. This whole set is amazing and well put-together. Best conversation piece in years!

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Summary: A Perfect Gift for the Music Video Lover
Review: This review applies to the DVD titled The Work of Director Michael Gondry.

If you enjoy watching music videos, this is one DVD you may wish to add to your collection. I bought it because I have always enjoyed watching the music videos for Daft Punk's "Around the World," and Lucas' "Lucas with the Lid Off". However, this collection not only includes these entertaining videos, but it also includes some other very creative ones as well, namely The Chemical Brother's "Let Forever Be" and Kylie Minogue's "Come into My World".

What is great about this DVD is that you can repeatedly watch these videos and still find something fun about them. You might often find yourself asking, "How did they do that?" I like to play this DVD when having parties because inevitably, someone will ask "What DVD is this?" or say "I have always loved this video!"

Add this DVD to your collection today so that you can watch these wonderful videos whenever you desire, not when your favorite music channel elects to play them.

Rating:
Summary: "Works" worth having
Review: Three unique directors. Three collections of music videos, documentaries, and other tidbits about those directors. Three DVDs in the "Director's Series - the Works of Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry" collection, a wild and wonderful look through three warped funhouse mirrors.

Spike Jonze (who directed "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation") is presented in less cinematic glory. Several videos are collected here, such as the jazzy Bjork "It's Oh So Quiet," the hysterical Beastie Boys spoof "Sabotage," and the pyrotechnic man-on-fire of Wax's "California." There are also documentaries, such as a funny look at a former Pharcyde member called "What's Up, Fatlip?", and an endearing look at a dance company.

Chris Cunningham shoots in a slightly different direction: He did Bjork music videos too (the CGI-infused "All is Full of Love"), but also the ethereal underwater "Only You" by Portishead, Madonna's coldly alluring "Frozen," and the hilarious, acid-laced Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker." We also get his commercials (for Nissan and Playstation among others), including some that have never been seen before.

And Michel Gondry (director of the wonderful "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Human Nature") rounds off the collection. Music videos include his wildly amusing "Hardest Button To Button" White Stripes video, where everything is made of Legos, the wonderfully jerky Chemical Brothers "Let Forever Be," and more ranging from Bjork (again) to the Rolling Stones -- as well as some commercials (much like his music videos) and a funny little nonsense film starring Jim Carrey and a bedmobile.

Each of these directors is blessed with a deliciously warped mindset -- Jonze is like a funhouse mirror, but Cunningham is darker and more nightmarish at times. And Gondry seems to blend surrealism and whimsy seamlessly. There isn't a dull moment in the whole collection.

There are also interviews and commentaries with the director and bands and behind-the-scenes photographs, sketches, artwork and so on. Not to mention great "making-of" specials for videos by Bjork and Pharcyde. These add an extra dimension to the videos themselves (like Jonze having musicians coached to sing backwards).

The collection isn't perfect, though. Cunningham's collection is very short despite the wealth of interviews, and Jonze's is missing several wonderful music videos. And Gondry's is missing some (hey, where's Radiohead's "Knives Out"?) as well. And some of Gondry's bonus material is... well, squirm-inducing (like the rather icky "One Day").

"Director's Series" showcases the good, the bad, and the really bizarre. This collection of early work by three excellent directors is well worth having. Highly recommended.