Does it get any better than this? With a flashback narrative featuring Mads Mikkelsen acting, and Rihanna covered in blood, don’t think it does. I am really impressed with her for putting it out, although it seems a new direction for her.

By far my favorite dance video this year. Choreographed by Ryan Heffington, who had quite a year, doing all of Florence’s videos and another Sia video. This video is a boatload of fun (pun intended) and has a really great flow to it. I love the seeing Win Butler's talent being paired with other collaborators who create an incredibly enjoyable experience.

The guiltiest pleasure of my year. Ain’t even mad about it. Joseph Kahn is one of those directors who you know will go big, but you hope he does as many passion projects as possible, before he gets sucked into the Hollywood machine (But go watch Detention NOW).

The healthiest ratio of simplicity to amazing I can think of. The filmmakers at the Made Shop really pulled out the stops with this video to push the limits of stop motion filmmaking. There isn’t a narrative, but the symbolism transfers from the lyrics to the frame in such a perfect way.

Definitely the horror video of the year for me. The narrative is ambiguous, terrifying, and cohesive. Watching it multiple times helped me figure out how to connect the dots, because they are there. The character development is some of the most original I have seen.

A peek into a dystopian future where robots are sadists; but the humanity still shines bright. The narrative is well written, and has a lot of specific things to say about society through the characters. Among other things, the visual effects work is astounding, and pushes the limits of green screen based filmmaking.

The beauty of this video astounds me every time I watch it, and seems to stand as the most representative of the “How Big How Blue How Beautiful” video series. Though the other videos are similarly amazing, "St. Jude" seems to leave me with the most to consider after watching. It's beautifully shot, choreographed, and written with a perfect ratio of ambiguity to relatability.

Definitely the abstract pick of the year for me. This one hits from multiple angles but remains cohesive. There are three story vignettes - all different but are linked. This video has such a commanding pseudo-narrative, and really makes me want to know more about the two main characters. The setting is also extremely mysterious and visually engaging.

I loved the duality of tone in this vid. Such a huge juxtaposition of sadness and joy through music. This one really impressed me, and is critically underseen in my opinion. It takes place in the 1950’s and deals heavily with the current hot topics of police brutality and racism in a way that gets the point across without a heavy hand.

This video really blew me out of the water with the simple idea, engaging performance, and specific directing choices. There is a lot of subtle excellence packed into this video, but you have to pay close attention to get more out of it than is on the surface.