Fatboy Slim's 1999 video for "Praise You" was directed by Spike Jonze. Jonze appears in the video under the pseudonym Richard Koufey and purports to be the leader of a fictional dance group called "Torrance Community Dance Group". the video was filmed outside of a movie theatre in Westwood, CA without permission from the property owners and security guards/movie goers tried turning off the boombox in the middle of their routine (see in video).
i remember watching the 1999 VMA's when "Praise You" won best choreography & best direction in a video...a classic mtv moment. Spike Jonze went on stage as "Richard Koufey" and accepted the award while Fatboy Slim watched from his seat and laughed hysterically. too bad i can't find a clip of it!
my favorite dance sequence is at 2:07, just before their boombox is shut off....reminds me of the bollywood dance my roommates and i did to chaiyya chaiyya two springs ago for our "India in Film" final exam.
so here it is:
Fatboy Slim - Praise you
on
Monday, August 10, 2009
1 comment:
At 3:40, I'm convinced Jonze was giving a choreographic shout-out to this timeless classic of physical comedy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wippooDL6WE
The original was, of course, meant to satirize the insane bureaucratic clusterfuck that was British government at the time, but there's absolutely no way Spike Jonze didn't know these guys' stuff backwards and forwards, so I think my theory holds water.
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