Cheap MTV Video Music Awards Collection - Hip-Pop & Rock (DVD) Price

MTV's relentless self-promotional machine rolls on with this 95-minute compilation of performances from the channel's annual Video Music Awards show (described here as "the only award show that matters"--easy for them to say, since they invented it), ranging from 1990 to 2002. Image is paramount to this operation, especially if there's a little titillation involved; thus we have the sex-kitten antics of Britney Spears and Shakira, the spectacle of a bare-chested Nelly wearing his jeans not only below his boxers but barely above his knees, and the sheer absurdity of MC Hammer's costumed cast of thousands crowding the stage for "You Can't Touch This." But there's also some good music here (Nelly's electrifying "Country Grammar," the Brian Setzer Orchestra's swinging "Jump, Jive & Wail," Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's entertainingly over-the-top "Crossroads"), as well as short features on "turntablism" and pop songwriting. Of course, some may argue that the likes of Jewel (who plays solo) and Pink don't exactly qualify as rock artists, but there are plenty of genuine rockers here. And even if they wear their influences on the sleeves, people like Lenny Kravitz (with the neo-Hendrixisms of "Are You Gonna Go My Way"), Silverchair (the Nirvana soundalike "Tomorrow"), and INXS (with the late Michael Hutchence coming on like Jim Morrison) put on a good show--as do the predictably outrageous Marilyn Manson (who's preceded onstage by a marching band), the loud bratty, and fun Blink 182 (appearing with a chorus line of midgets), and the always-reliable U2 ("Please," from 1997). Nothing amazing here, but entertaining nonetheless. --Sam Graham

CATEGORY:	DVD
THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE:	2003
MANUFACTURER:	Paramount Home Video
MPAA RATING:	NR (Not Rated)
FEATURES:	Color
TYPE:	Music Video - Pop/Rock
MEDIA:	DVD
# OF MEDIA:	2
UPC:	097360638943