Me and Mr. Jonze

From the first moment i was introduced to Spike Jonze i knew he was awesome. We met back in '94 through my old friends the Beastie Boys. The Sabotage video was so ridiculously great. Turning the hardcore/rap anthem into a 70's cop movie was so brilliantly and blatantly obvious after it was executed with perfection . Jonze cast his flick with precision. Nathan Wind portrayed Cochese with a delicate passion.  Vik Colfari was a clear choice for Bobby the Rookie. The Chiefs big heart and tough guy exterior was amazingly acted by Alasandro Alegre'. Sir Stewart Wallace obviously played himself because no one else could do him justice. All topped off with Fred Kelly's Oscar Award nominated performance as Bunny. 

Jonze just kept cranking out the creative craftiness in videos for Daft Punk's "Da Funk",  Bjork's "It's Oh So Quiet", the Breeders "Cannonball",  Wax's "Souther California", Weezer's "Buddy Holly",and the  YeahYeahYeah's "Y Control". He directed and starred in the "guerrilla style" video for Fat Boy Slim's  "Praise You", which could almost be a precursor to JackAss (BTW, he had an integral part in creating that too). Among like 20 others that i havent seen, Jonze also directed the FBSlim video with the dancing Chris Walken and i just found out he did the video for Ween's "Freedom of '76" too.

Besides film making, it is apparent in his body of work that Mr. Jonze also has a passion for skateboarding. He artfully and creatively films and produces skate videos for previously established companies like World Industries, GIRL,  and Laika. Alot of people might be familiar with the invisible skateboard scene which i think was part of his "Yeah Right" video. This is a must see if you havent already. (Note. if  you haven't seen any of these clips and your into cool shit you really should check em out. I only linked the best of the best.)

As ive mentioned before, i think music videos and short films are much more difficult to pull off. It takes a precise degree of creative concision and visual vivacity in order to make an impressive short. After Jonze mastered that medium, it was time to turn to full length feature. Adapting Charlie Kaufman's off-the-wall screenplay "Being John Malkovich" into an enjoyable viewing experience was a feat all its own, but to choose this for your first feature film and pull it off so masterfully was remarkable. To follow it up with the equally eccentric "Adaptation" was further proof that, not only is Spike Jonze an incredible director, but is always looking for a challenge. 

When i heard Spike's next project was an adaptation of Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" i was surprised. An animated feature? Interesting. Especially so considering i knew that Wes Anderson's (another favorite) next project is an animated version of "The Fantastic Mr. Fox". Then i found out Jonze was doing the "Wild Thing" live action style. I wondered how he would pull it off, but figured he'd be up to the challenge. WOW! After seeing this newly released trailer i am impressed. It looks fun, dramatic, stylish, and visually stunning. A great cast is in place including Katherine Keener, Chris Cooper, Lauren Ambrose, and Catherine O'Hara. The fact that Karen O (of theYYY's) is a co-music director and Tom Hanks and Maurice Sendak are given production credit doesn't hurt either. This has gotta be entertaining.