I know that Science Of Sleep, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and umpteen hyperreal, DIYish music videos director Michel Gondry is just SO DAMN PRECIOUS, but his new movie Be Kind Rewind, planned for release on February 22 looks like a real hoot.
In it Jack Black’s brain gets mysteriously magnetized (if only that could happen to his screen persona, heh), and erases all the videos in Mos Def’s video store. hijinks ensue — including Black and Def (best duo name ever!) having to re-record all the movies in the store, including Ghostbusters, Robocop, and Driving Miss Daisy. They do this, pathetically hilariously, by “sweding” the films, which Jack Black’s character Jerry explains in the movie means “Taking what you like and mixing it with some other things you like thing to make a new thing.” Actually, Jerry, that’s called a mashup — or, really, the process of art in general.
Sweding, in fact, seems more like remaking something on a shoestring budget, and Gondry et al seem to be hoping that it will become a viral phenomonon (or at least provide a name for what everyone seems to be doing on YouTube in general, currently collected under the ephemeral umbrella of “video responses.”)
You can find a few fun swedes here. Now make your own and let the clever viral marketing begin!