Between directing groundbreaking films like Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, backing well-known skate vids like Video Days and Yeah Right, and co-creating MTV’s Jackass, Spike Jonze has produced a few era-defining music videos in his time. This time on Youtopia, we’ll check them some out.

Born Adam Spiegal, Jonze has been making videos since he was 23 and has helmed about 49 projects since 1992 (including 12 videos in 1994 alone). His best work blends wit, spectacle, and thematic ingenuity into one sublime package, often transcending genre convention in the process. Jonze’s list of collaborators is ample evidence of his appeal: the Beastie Boys, Weezer, Daft Punk, Notorious B.I.G., and more.

Here’s a few of my favorite Spike Jonze projects:

Sabotage – Beastie Boys – 1994

“Sabotage”, like “Buddy Holly” below, functions as a rehash of ‘70s television, this time spoofing hammy detective shows Hawaii Five-O and Starsky and Hutch. The brilliance of “Sabotage” is its ability to maintain kinesis without any actual storyline –-a testament to Jonze’s frenetic editing. The Beastie Boy’s fake mustaches don’t hurt either. (Fun fact: Jonze’s one-time lady friend, Sophia Coppola, conducted the fake interview at the beginning of the video). (more…)