See Clive drive

In 2001 and 2002, BMW came out with a series of short online films collectively called "The Hire", starring the hot, hot, HOT Clive Owen as a driver who goes on missions that vary from the dangerous (transporting people for the FBI and the UN) to the glamorous (chauffeuring rock stars) to the ludicrous (drag racing with Satan). Directed by first-rate filmmakers like Ang Lee, Wong Kar-Wai, and Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, the shorts feature performances and cameos by celebrities like Forest Whitaker, Gary Oldman, and Madonna.

After watching the films, I only have 2 things to say: 1) this was a bloody brilliant marketing campaign by BMW, and 2) the people who cast Daniel Craig as James Bond are IDIOTS.

Here are my 3 favorites:

Chosen, directed by Ang Lee, with a cute inside joke towards the end


The Follow, directed by the masterful Wong Kar-Wai and featuring Forest Whitaker, Mickey Rourke, and Adriana Lima (watch out for a silent-but-oh-so-sexy scene that is vintage WKW)


Beat the Devil, directed by Tony Scott and featuring the fabulous Gary Oldman, the late James Brown, and a hilarious cameo by Marilyn Manson


If you want to check out the other shorts, click on the links:

• Ambush, directed by John Frankenheimer
  
• Star, directed by Guy Ritchie, and featuring his wife Madonna, who gamely pokes fun at her own superstar status
  
• Powder Keg, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, and featuring Stellan Skarsgård
• Hostage, directed by John Woo
  
• Ticker, directed by Joe Carnahan, and featuring Don Cheadle, F. Murray Abraham, Ray Liotta, and Dennis Haysbert (involves a terrific helicopter-car chase sequence that would make 007 and his Aston Martin turn green with envy)