My 15 All-Time Favorite Music Videos (12-10)

12). "The Universal" (1995), Blur / directed by Jonathan Glazer

As a director, Glazer manages to mesh a soft surrealism with all-out aggression. For "The Universal," he pays homage to one of the great directors who managed to do the same, letting the style of Stanley Kubrick set the visuals for the postmodern themes of the song.

11). "Hurt" (2003), Johnny Cash / directed by Mark Romanek

Johnny Cash's work with producer Rick Rubin found him tackling a number of covers, altering them and making them his own. None was more poignant than Cash's chilling cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt." The video captured Cash and June Carter in their final days together, cut with footage from his past. With dignity, the video does not shy away from showing the frailty of Cash's condition. After Cash's passing, the song became his farewell, while the video serves as a haunting final tribute to the man in black.

10). "Jenny From the Block" (2002), Jennifer Lopez / directed by Francis Lawrence

I'm not sure if it was intended to be interpreted the way I do - but that does not really matter. It has become pretty clear in the tenure of George W. Bush as president, that the United States is hated pretty much worldwide. No film, painting, or video portrays the spoils of American excess with such entitlement as Jennifer Lopez' "Jenny From the Block." The song (which is undeniably catchy) is a self-important self tribute, where Lopez boasts about her riches, while also commenting that they have not changed her as an individual. Members of the community - or "block" - where Lopez grew up felt otherwise. The video plays on themes of voyeurism and celebrity obsession with security camera footage of Lopez, and tabloid-style freeze frames of her and then fiance Ben Affleck relaxing on a yacht, pumping gas, and other activities. Affleck frequently looks to the camera with a boastful expression. The joke is on Lopez as, for the entire video, she fails to realize the hollowness of her self-importance. The video could be seen as disposable, but can also be viewed as a fine example of the problems in American culture.