The above image is a screengrab from a music video so stunning, it took us hours to fully process its awesomeness.

The video is for Jamie Foxx’ new single, “Blame It.” It was directed by Hype Williams, auteur of many classic hip hop clips.

Oddly enough for a video directed by the inventive Williams, the staging, plot, and ambience of this video are wholly banal; Foxx and his posse roll up to a party in a sweet ride, have some drinks with some ladies, a couple of girls kiss each other, T-Pain sings an awesome bridge, all the homies toast each other, the end.

That said, this video features Ron Howard as a key member of Jamie Foxx’ posse.

Playing himself. And every appearance he makes induces blurted laughter.

Here are some choice screengrabs of Opie rolling in the whip with Foxx, Forest Whitaker and Jake Gyllenhaal, then kicking it in the club with Sam Jackson and a bunch of video vixens.

This video would be instantly forgettable without him, but with the addition of Ron Howard, it becomes an instant classic.

Enjoy this piece of postmodern art as soon as you can.

When we first caught this video via Gawker, we were hugely amused and utterly astonished.

At first it seemed that the only rational explanation was as a brilliant piece of comedic irony. And yet that sort of move is pretty much antithetical to a hip hop video such as this one. And it’s evidenced nowhere else in the video’s approach. No, the video is completely consistent in its trite cliche of hiphopdom, with the single exception of the presence of Ron Howard.

After some research we found out the explanation:

Via Ace Showbiz:

The star-studded music video from Jamie Foxx has been released via BET on Wednesday, February 25. This would be the video of “Blame It” that features T-Pain and is lifted from his third studio album “Intuition” (2008)…

Foxx mainly lined up awards winners from his movie realm, such as Ron Howard, Samuel L. Jackson, Forest Whitaker and Jake Gyllenhaal. Not stopping there, cameos are also made by Quincy Jones, Cedric the Entertainer, Morris Chesnut, Clifton Powell, Alex Thomas, Tatyana Ali, Bill Bellamy, Clarence Avant, Tommy Davidson and more.

The idea of having so many stars in one music video roots from his inspiration of Notorious B.I.G. “We wanted to sort of relive the Biggie (experience),” Foxx said to MTV. “Remember when Biggie did the ‘One More Chance’ remix video? So, we relived that. But (we have) the most Oscar-nominated and Oscar winners in one video that you ever seen.”

The explanation is revealed. Ron Howard’s entree into the Jamie Foxx posse was his Oscar-winning prowess.

Ostensibly the next Jamie Foxx video will feature kids wearing airbrushed t-shirts with Heath Ledger’s face on them and someone spraypainting on a wall, “Mourn Ya Till I Join Ya.”

Meanwhile, the rumored Arrested Development movie is a lot like the proposed Cape Wind Project off the coast of Cape Cod; just about everyone agrees that it’s a good idea, but progress is imperceptibly slow…

However, one of Hollywood’s most legendary gingers is coming out with a movie next month that might just salvage his reputation in the ROTI offices: an adaptation of the Peter Morgan play Frost/Nixon.

The movie tells the tale of a series of momentous interviews with a post-resignation Richard Nixon conducted on a wing and prayer by British TV host David Frost, in which Nixon eventually came to accept (some) responsibility for Watergate and the coverup that followed. Stage veterans Frank Langella and Michael Sheen, a particular ROTI favorite, portray the principals.

The play (and ostensibly the movie) is a fascinating portrayal of the logistical end of the news business, but more than that, it’s a compelling take on the epic Greek tragedy that was Richard Nixon.

Variety quotes Brokaw at the premiere:

“I saw the play twice, and now the movie, and I will never figure Nixon out,” said Tom Brokaw, who covered the Watergate scandal as an NBC reporter. “He had demons that no one could plumb.”

(It’s pretty funny imagining Brokaw intoning “No one could plumb” in his drowsy baritone…)

The movie has actually been out in limited London runs for a while now, and a detailed plot summary is available on Wikipedia. This sounds like the best part by far:

Over the first four recording sessions (each at two hours in length covering Nixon’s Foreign Policy, Domestic Policy, a Biographical piece and Watergate), Frost is shown struggling to ask the planned “on the spot” questions to Nixon, with Nixon being able to take up much of the time for the sessions by making long speeches without enabling Frost to challenge him.

Frost’s editorial team appears to be breaking apart as the two American members (Zelnik and Reston) express anger that Nixon appears to be exonerating himself. Frost suggests that the four of them separate over a small break for Easter, after having been together almost daily for a month.

Four days before the final session on Watergate, Frost receives a phone call in his hotel room from a drunk Richard Nixon. Frost answers with “Cheeseburgers?” expecting a call asking about dinner arrangements. Nixon proceeds to bemoan his lot and suggests that, like Frost, people of a higher social class brought him down as they refused to accept him in a high position. Nixon tells Frost that they both know the final interview will make or break the other’s career. If Frost fails to implicate Nixon definitively in the Watergate scandal, then Frost will have allowed Nixon to revive his political career at the expense of Frost, who will have an unsellable series of interviews and be bankrupt.

And of course, Clint Howard is in it.