Remember Be Kind Rewind? The 2008 film by French director Michel Gondry holds a weird space in pop culture, in that few people really reflect on the movie itself but one element of the Mos Def and Jack Black vehicle has persisted for more than a decade now. The thrust of the plot is that two guys see all of the VHS tapes at their rental shop — 2008 feels like a century ago, right? — erased, and they decide to just film famous cinematic creations on their own.
This concept of “Sweding” has persisted online well after Be Kind Rewind left theaters. Stop by YouTube and you can find folks creating low-budget versions of everything from recent Star Wars films to Metal Gear Solid. Seeing as this site is called OTAQUEST, I’ll embed some YouTuber’s take on the Cell saga from Dragonball Z as one last example.
Idol rappers lyrical school are going full Gondry with the title of their next album. BE KIND REWIND the full-length comes out in September, but to get fans excited they’ve shared new song “LAST DANCE,” complete with a video riffing on the whole “Sweded” concept. Watch it below.
Catch all the movies referenced? Special shout outs to the Mission: Impossible scene and for the clever use of newspaper as clothing for the fairy twins from the Japanese monster flick Mothra. It’s a charmer, to the point where you might miss the great pop song lurking underneath the shots of an idol group using a power strip as a stand-in for a memory eraser. The group has always found a sweet spot between hip-hop and idol pop, without tipping over into corniness. Here, they deliver bouncy verses that lead up to a great chorus that goes thrifty with actual words, featuring some nice discombobulated synth notes. Enjoy the clip, but give some credit to lyrical school’s tune, too.