10. Zach Galifianakis in Fiona Apple's "Not About Love"
We still have hope that these two will find love if only to see how eccentric and outlandish their offspring could possibly be. Apparently they met while performing repeatedly at the same club in Los Angeles, which means that the opportunity for the great reality show "Zach and Fiona Act Brilliantly Weird Together" goes fulfilled only in our heads.
9. Macaulay Culkin in Michael Jackson's "Black or White"
We could have gone with George Wendt for this one, but in 1991, no one could touch Macaulay Culkin after "Home Alone." After the stereotypical "turn the music down" parental yell, Culkin does what every 12-year-old kid wanted to do at the time. He will later show up as a hip-hopper and look tougher than Michael Jackson. Too bad the song is kind of lame, though. Eh. There's always the morph scene.
8. Chevy Chase in Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al"
The normally high-minded singer/songwriter Paul Simon goes the low-concept goofball route by throwing himself and Chevy Chase in a white room and engaging in awkward, white-guy-at-wedding dance moves. It doesn't hurt the comic effect that Chase has about three feet on the diminutive singer.
7. Scarlett Johansson in Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around…Comes Around"
See, that's the thing with hooking up with a person who's already dating someone else. If they cheated on that person with you, don't be surprised if you're the next victim. Then, if this video is any indication of real life, they will die in a horrible, fiery car accident. The end.
6. Jamie Bell and Evan Rachel Wood in Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends"
This single from 2004's "American Idiot" deftly speaks on the emotional consequences of having a loved one away at war. In stark contrast to "Heart-Shaped Glasses," Wood displays the same level of gravitas that made her role in "Thirteen" so memorable.
5. Johnny Depp in Petty's "Into the Great Wide Open"
You can go to roundtable discussions. You can read Passman's book. But really, all you'll ever want to know about how the music industry operates -- its perpetual elevating and dismissing of anyone who's ever written a hit song -- is contained in these six-plus minutes. Petty had 15 years of recording locked in before penning this cautionary tale. Trust him on this one. Look for appearances by Gabrielle Anwar as the girlfriend, Faye Dunaway as the manager and a pre-"Friends" Matt LeBlanc as the guy getting a tattoo in the video's closing seconds.
4. Justin Timberlake in Elton John's "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore"
This uncomfortably honest 2001 song sees Sir Elton waxing on getting older and what happens when your perceived best years are behind you. As 1970s John, Justin Timberlake transcends role-playing into embodiment, nailing not only the visual aesthetic of the flamboyant singer, but the emotional heft of the lyrics. Look for Pee-Wee Herman as John's longtime manager John Reid.
3. Dominic Monaghan and Megan Fox in Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie"
Everyone knows that one couple that is constantly breaking up, getting into fights, punching walls, throwing sharp or heavy objects and then eventually getting back together. After a while, it gets kind of annoying. But somehow, Dominic Monaghan and Megan Fox make it seem interesting, stealing bottles of vodka, fighting in bars and eventually becoming engulfed in flames. We're guessing she went Method and visualized Michael Bay's face during the fight scenes for added realism.
2. Zach Galifianakis in Kanye West's "Can't Tell Me Nothin'"
Does anyone even remember the "official" video for this directed by Hype Williams? This is proof that creativity will always trump budget; just put Galifianakis and singer Will Oldham on the comedian's North Carolina farm and see what happens. The incongruity between Kanye's urban, urbane demeanor and Galifianakis' lovable hick facade made this an instant classic.
1. Christopher Walken in Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice"
It's debatable who has the most fun in this: director Spike Jonze and Fatboy Slim for getting Christopher Walken to dance throughout the whole song, Walken, a trained musical theater dancer who rarely gets to show off this particular talent, or the viewer, who once again can revel in Jonze's surrealistic, absurdist tendencies. This wasn't Walken's first video -- he appeared in Madonna's 1993 song "Bad Girl" and Skid Row's 1995 power ballad "Breakin' Down" -- but this is his video magnum opus. A simple concept executed to perfection.
