A Grease Reunion?: Music Video Roundup
Every other week, writer Mara Hyman takes a look at the buzzworthy short films coming from the music video universe. Here's her latest picks:
John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John - "I Think You Might Like It"
Grease's famous dynamic duo came together for a new Christmas duet with a country twang song called "I Think You Might Like It." It's the first single off of their Christmas album, "This Christmas: John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John." The song itself is cute and is about coming home for the holidays and reuniting with family and friends. The accompanying music video, which may seem a bit cheesy, is pretty entertaining. We see John and Olivia do a square dance, dramatically run towards each other to reunite, and drive away in the distance. The video unfortunately seems to have had a low production budget with the extras as well as the overall visual quality. The music video is clearly intended to be upbeat and family-friendly, but it has received plenty of media criticism for appearing "awkward" and "sappy." What are your thoughts? Are you happy to see these two singing together again or was this the wrong place and time for them to reunite?
Maroon 5 - "Daylight"
Maroon 5's latest single, "Daylight," is an interesting song off of their album "Overexposed" which talks about living in the moment and feeling as if life is moving too quickly. The music video for "Daylight" has been getting a significant amount of attention because neither Adam Levine nor the rest of Maroon 5 are present. Rather, it highlights his fans who have come together to collaborate and share their stories. The video goes back in forth between showing dances and covers of the song to highlighting people's confessions. It is a very powerful and emotional video showcasing everything from what people hate to a man's coming out story. The video is definitely unique and represents a sense of unity among Maroon 5's fans and, utimately, society as a whole. Should Maroon 5 release a second version of the video with them performing or does it stand on its own?
Taylor Swift - "I Knew You Were Trouble"
Taylor Swift is back with another single off of her fourth album "Red" called "I Knew You Were Trouble," which isn't anything like what we've heard from her before. With a dub-step quality, the song has no traces of country and is much more raw, both in terms of lyrics and musicality. The recently released music video also shows a completely different side of the singer. The first couple of minutes show a voice-over monologue of her describing a bad relationship she was in as she stands in a rubble wasteland with edgy clothing and pink streaks in her hair. The video allows her to showcase more of her acting ability as we see Taylor go through a series of events with a rock star and the downward spiral of their relationship. The video has interestingly been criticized for being too similar to Rihanna's "We Found Love": what do you think? Also, are you surprised by this more edgy, intense side of Taylor, or is it a nice change of pace from her "Teardrops on My Guitar" days?
David Guetta feat. Taped Rai - "Just One Last Time"
David Guetta's latest creation, "Just One Last Time," is an interesting electronic dance song about wanting to go back in time and repair a broken relationship and salvage what is left. The music video stays true to Guetta's common theme of incorporating futuristic machinery or sci-fi elements as it acts almost like a mini-movie. Taped Rai is in his bed and has a machine plugged into his ears and take him back in time to where his girlfriend is right next to him. He then gets notice that his house is on fire while he's out playing pool and tries to rescue her, but while she survives he dies in the process. The video incorporates a lot of really interesting visuals, particularly which the scene with the time-travel machinery. Whwt are your thoughts? Is the concept too complicated for a music video or does that make it interesting?
Rita Ora - "Radioactive"
Rita Ora recently released the video for her newest single, "Radioactive," off of her album "ORA." The song has a strong dance-club, electronic vibe with interesting techno elements while still showcasing her vocals. The music video accompanies the song very well with futuristic visuals - everything from holograms to robots. It plays a lot of color, incorporating a lot of neons and bright colors which help make the video appear very futuristic and out-of-this-world. Rita Ora never fails to dissapoint and seems to stay true to her style. Do you like the song or does it sound too over-produced?
Reach Staff Reporter Mara Hyman here.