The latest from Google’s “The Web is What You Make of It” series promoting their Chrome browser, “Jess Time” is every bit as captivating & lump-in-the-throat inducing as their first spot, “Dear Sophie,” which remains one of my very favorite pieces of creative from 2011.
Both ads tell such touching, relatable stories — capturing the moments as you watch your child grow up, staying close to your kids when they go off to college (I thought there was also such a beautiful underlying sadness to the “Jess Time” spot, with saying without saying it that this is also a family in mourning) — it’s remarkable that both spots also somehow manage to demonstrate the features of the product in such an inspirational way. I love that it actually inspires imagination, without any sense of manipulation. Isn’t that what really great creative is supposed to do?
Google is notably new to traditional advertising, and has put a lot of promotion into Chrome, which finally overtook Internet Explorer (who themselves have a solid, if not as emotionally resonant spot in rotation) in the browser wars earlier this year. In addition to “Sophie” & “Jess,” the Chrome campaign includes spots with Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber & “It Gets Better,” a chronicle of the movement that began with Dan Savage’s inspirational video message, which is an especially wonderful in that it’s a true life example of how technology can change lives.
[Note: Don't worry, I made a very deliberate attempt to keep this post as spoiler-free as possible.]
About a week ago, when the embargo lifted on press reviews for JJ Abrams’ Super 8, I actually started to get worried because my expectations for this movie had seriously reached impossibly high levels. There was literally no way this movie could be as good as it’d set itself up to be. It’s not like I was ever a maybe to see this film. From the moment the teaser trailer broke, with the names JJ Abrams & Steven Spielberg attached, I was in. I own Alias the complete series on DVD, I’m the kind of Lost & Fringe fan that listens to podcasts about those shows & reads their wikis to make sure I don’t miss anything. Basically, this movie was tailor-made for geeks such as myself.
So when, in the midst of a last-minute publicity play by Paramount to build word-of-mouth buzz among the younger movie-going generation (of which I’m actually technically a part of) for whom the Spielberg nostalgia factor is less relatable, a free advance secret screening was offered via a couple of my favorite film blogs (/Film & First Showing), I decided to go despite the minimum three hour wait in line (it ended up being more like four for me, with more than 200 people ahead of me & another 300 or so behind).
Honestly, I can’t really think of another film in recent times I would have done this for this close to the release date. And you know what? I don’t regret it at all. Because dammit, I loved Super 8.
It’s not perfect. It’s not even close. But it was exactly what I wanted it to be. It was funny & scary & emotional & somehow both nostalgic & original at the same time. I watched most of it smiling & when it was over, I immediately wanted to see it again. It was mint, y’all. (You’ll get that after you see it. I think we should all work together & make mint happen.)
The kids were the best thing about it. I love Kyle Chandler from all the way back to his Early Edition days & I think, because of the depth of emotion he was able to convey in just a few scenes, there could have been a whole (very different) movie just about Jack Lamb & his struggle to overcome his grief while learning to connect with his son. But this isn’t Jack Lamb’s story. It’s a story about these kids & these kids were perfect. Seriously, could not have been better casting, particularly Joel Courtney & Elle Fanning, for different reasons. Joel Courtney, who makes his acting debut here, is perfect because he feels real. Joe Lamb is really just a kid dealing with a bunch of stuff someone his age shouldn’t ever have to deal with, if the world was fair. Elle Fanning, on the other hand, is luminous, perfect in that way that only girls boys have crushes on at that age can be. You can actually see her becoming a movie star right before your eyes.
There’s something so incredibly real & un-Hollywood about the interactions between all of the kids in the film, especially Joe & Alice, and Joe & Charles. Innocent, pre-teen love, & a rift between friends because you both like the same girl. It’s just so perfect, it’s easy to think JJ Abrams must have lived through these characters, must have had friends like these.
All the auxiliary characters were colorful & wonderful too, Donny the film store guy, Charles’ big crazy family. The other kids in Charles’ movie, especially Cary the pyromaniac. In fact, everybody in this movie felt real & three-dimensional except for, unfortunately, the monster. There’s an admirable attempt to give the monster a story too, which is more than you can say about the one in Cloverfield, but it doesn’t quite work for me, except for in the ways in which it affects the kids. In other words, I never care about the monster & I think I was supposed to.
Still, I found Super 8 an immensely enjoyable, wonderful summer movie & I hope it makes a ton of money just so studios will maybe take more chances on non-franchise projects again. This is a movie you should see with your family, your friends. It’s for anyone who remembers the childhood friends you would have done anything for and for anyone who just loves films & film-making. See it the way I did, smiling & humming “My Sharona” all the way to the car.
More random thoughts on Super 8:
No post-credit sequence, but something awesome runs during the actual credits, so stick around.
The crowd cheered at both the Amblin & the Bad Robot bumpers. My kind of crowd.
Michael Giacchino’s score was, once again, wonderful. It rang so true to those old Spielberg films without running directly into John Williams.
The opening scene of this movie are among the most affecting images you’ll see in a film. So simple, yet tells an entire story in just a few frames. A brilliant way to set up the rest of the film. A different writer would have written out an entire scene that actually showed what happened, it’s remarkable how effective it was to do it this way instead.
Loved the trademark JJ humor. The dialogue was great & honestly, the credit scene is the most delightful thing ever.
The train crash really was great, better than anything you see in the trailer because, again, it’s framed around the kids, their terror & panic. You’re right in the middle of everything, it’s great.
Watch closely to catch all the JJ Easter eggs & staples, including Slusho, Building 47 &, apparently, both Greg Grunberg & Amanda Foreman.
Also trademark JJ? Lens flares. At this point, I find them more delightfully familiar than distracting. He certainly does have a visual style.
I would kill to see JJ Abrams & Matt Reeves’ old super 8 films.
Upfronts are over & the five major networks (I’m feeling generous to the CW today) have released previews to all their new fall projects. I’m not going to lie to you. There are some seriously horrible-looking TV shows in there. Like, there were literally some where, based on the premise, I couldn’t bring myself to watch the two-minute preview. There’s one so offensive, I’m going to share it here with you today, just to prove that somebody who works for a major TV network actually thought it was a good idea that people would be psyched to watch.
But before I do, here are five pilots that actually look pretty great:
1) Awake (NBC, Midseason)
The single most fascinating thing on the entire NBC programming slate, obviously, it got banished to midseason. (Falmpalm, NBC.) Awake (formerly known as REM) has a great dual-reality premise & hopefully it can execute on that potential. I think it would be interesting for it to do an every-other-episode format, like Fringe did with its alternate universes early this season. Additionally, the idea that his realities cross over, with his cases-of-the-week on one side affecting the other, is a really interesting one. I really hope this show is as good as it looks, because it looks really, really good.
2) Person of Interest (CBS, Thursdays at 9pm ET)
It should come as no surprise that my list will include not one but two JJ Abrams mystery dramas. The surprise for me is that Person of Interest, his CBS procedural collaboration with Jonathan Nolan, actually looks a little more interesting to me than Alcatraz, his FOX island-centric time travel mystery. There’s a lot to like about the POI preview, the most obvious being Michael Emerson being his brilliant, morally-ambiguous self. The action looks really solid & the premise has both the obligatory case-of-the-week aspect that should satisfy the CBS audience & the foundation for a really interesting JJ Abrams mythology. What more can you ask for?
3) Alcatraz (FOX, Mondays at 9pm ET – Midseason)
Alcatraz also looks interesting enough, altogether this trailer kind of reminds me of the first Fringe trailer in that in it of itself, it doesn’t particularly make me salivate to see more. It’s more that it has some elements that are somewhat interesting: good casting, good pedigree, good production values, a sci-fi-skewing premise. Let’s face it, it’s JJ Abrams. I will be watching. Like POI, it sounds like they are going to try to make Alcatraz more standalone than serial, but then, they said the same thing about Fringe & look how good that got. Plus, you have to trust FOX to let JJ be JJ more than you can trust CBS.
4) Terra Nova (FOX, Mondays at 8pm ET)
The reports about how hard it’s been getting this show going are kind of worrisome, but the trailer looks fun. It’s got that Jurassic Park Spielberg vibe & I like Jason O’Mara as a lead. Funny enough, one of the most interesting parts of the trailer IMO is one that’s most likely not going to be part of the show at all, which is the vision of the dystopic future, where everyone is wearing masks to breathe & apparently trying to escape a dying world. That’s a future I would have like to see more of. But, it is an inherently interesting premise, the idea of sending people to the past to escape the future & who doesn’t like a good dinosaur chase? Could be fun.
5) Ringer (CW, Tuesdays at 9pm ET)
I kind of wanted to include a CW show & the two most promising ones are Ringer, which was rejected by sister network CBS (for which it would have been completely inappropriate for), and Secret Circle, the latest from Kevin Williamson, which, like Vampire Diaries, was also adapted from an LJ Smith series of novels. Because of the good will Williamson has built up with Vampire Diaries, which rises above its premise to actually be a very good drama, and the casting of Thomas Dekker, who was very good in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I will definitely at least give Secret Circle a shot. But Ringer definitely looks like a better bet for a good story & it’s nice to see Sarah Michelle Gellar back on TV.
The fact that this was thought up by somebody & somebody else thought enough of it to order it as a pilot & somebody else thought enough of it to order it to series is unfathomable to me. Apparently delusion runs rampant during pilot season among network execs because this show? Appeals to nobody. I am actually offended by this is being offered to us as entertainment & I am telling advertisers right now, I will think less of your brand if you show a commercial during this show.
Look, I love TV & I just want it to be good, that’s all. It makes me sad when I see trash like this being introduced when quality shows like Parks & Recreation (which, btw, had a brilliant season finale) have to fight to stay on the air every year. So what I’m trying to say, networks, is try harder.
For a full breakdown of the fall TV schedule, go here.
[Pause for collective exhale. Seriously, thank God.]
To the rest of you — and here, I am aware I am speaking to the majority of the American television viewing public — I just want to re-emphasize that you are missing a great show. I might even call it the best drama on TV right now. It certainly has some of the best acting. Its mythology is as richly developed & possibly better executed than even Lost at its best. And most impressively of all, all the parallel universes & doomsday machine shenanigans is just a very clever disguise for what is actually a very simple, very human story.
I know it’s kind of unrealistic to expect anyone to jump on board now…I imagine it might be slightly confusing to tune in to find two parallel universes about to go to war with one another if you don’t have some backstory. Luckily, now that the fourth season has been secured, you have all summer to catch up. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
Also, all those people who won’t stop saying that Fox doesn’t support genre programming? I think you can let that go now. First Terminator gets a full two seasons, then Dollhouse somehow gets a second year, now Fringe is getting a fourth? It really doesn’t get more supportive.
Anyway, time to start getting psyched for the finale (PS: how amazing are those episode titles??) & thinking about wish lists for season 4 (Prime-verse Lincoln Lee joining the Fringe team, more Astrid & of course, another 80′s flashback episode, so we can see the awesome opening sequence again)…
PS: Community, Parks & Recreation AND Fringe all renewed? That’s three of my four top shows on TV right now (#4 is Justified, which is looking good for renewal on FX also). Hooray for the continuation of quality television!
The Mechanic Movie Advertising Agency: CBS Films/Millenium Films/Nu Image Entertainment/GmbH
So I’ve been walking by street advertising for the new Jason Statham movie The Mechanic for a few weeks now & just today noticed the QR code embedded in the guns-in-a-gun image on the signage & posters. While it can’t be that effective since it’s hard to notice unless you’re looking closely, it acts like kind of an Easter egg for those who do. The code, which in it of itself is designed to look like a target, leads to the mobile version of the official movie website, including the trailer & the definition for the term ‘mechanic.’ It’s an interesting & well-done use of the technology, at least for those who see it.
If I yelled at you unnecessarily or maybe just acted generally hostile last week, I’m sorry. I think it’s safe to tell you now…my cable & internet were out. That’s right, the whole week! I KNOW! Do you see why I was so grumpy now? It’s lucky I didn’t set anything on fire.
Anyway, now that I’m back online, it’s time to make a petty observation. In between waiting on hold with customer service & waiting for the technician to show up three hours late, I obviously spent some time venting on Twitter about my deep, seething hatred for Time Warner Cable. I did it more than once. Don’t think I didn’t notice that nobody from Time Warner bothered to contact me. As much as my brother out east complains about Comcast, I’m pretty certain that if I had done the same thing with them, that wouldn’t have been the case.
So I realized that it’s come to the point where consumers like me will not only not hesitate to blast your brand all over the internet, but will expect you to notice when we do it & find a way to fix it. What can I tell you? I’m a social media customer service brat.
Anyway, that’s all I wanted to point out. If you need me, I’ll be catching up on all the Hulu I missed last week.
This is a few weeks old, but I really wanted to give FOX some kudos for this clever & rather brave promo they released in response to the outcry over the recently announced move of Fringe to the supposed Friday Night Death Slot (as opposed to where it was before, otherwise known as the most competitive timeslot on TV). The 1:00 spot tongue-in-cheek threatens to “reanimate” Friday nights while actually quoting from the numerous blog and media posts lamenting the demise of the show. While, as a fan, I’ve been in the exact same state of emotion since the announcement—something in between unreasonable anger & self-pitying resignation—& as a pretty close observer of media trends, I cannot buy the idea that FOX can actually attract the teen demographic they are claiming to be going after, as an advertising & marketing junkie, I really admire FOX’s guts in putting out an ad like this.
As for Fringe’s chances of actually reanimating Fridays, I’m actually still clinging to a bit of hope. It’s no secret that the consensus is that this is Fringe’s best season yet creatively & it has a ton of critical support right now. I also think it’s pretty reasonable to think that its audience will follow it to Fridays, considering that, since they abandoned all notions of being a non-myth-arc-based show this year, the only people left watching are the die-hards anyway. As expected, the producers are spinning the move as positively as possible, but I do actually believe them when they say they’re still getting a lot of network support for the show. So, when Kevin Reilly says it’ll be a big win for FOX if Fringe can hang on to its existing (low) ratings on Fridays, I believe him. This is, after all, the man who renewed Dollhouse & gave Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles a full 22-episode second season. I also think that, with Fringe’s pedigree (I do think JJ’s name pulls some weight in this situation, particularly because Abrams’ Alcatraz is among FOX’s fall pilots), the idea that FOX might tell the producers up front that they’ll get a fourth season & it will be the last, for sure, isn’t out of the question.
At the very least, I expect FOX to give the writers enough notice to wrap up the story this year if it comes to that. And that will have to be enough. After all this, the move to the Fridays isn’t the one that upsets me. It’s the one to Thursdays, which I still don’t think should ever have happened. But what’s done is done & we might just have to be happy with three seasons of a great show. Let’s hope it’s four though.
Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback & current NFL on FOX analyst Troy Aikman is a promotion veteran, selling everything from Samsung phones to Acme Bricks, but for all the times I’ve seen him sell stuff, particularly living in Dallas, this is the first time I laughed out loud.
Part of FOX’s series of ads, which also feature Aikman’s broadcast partner Joe Buck, being a good sport about being insulted by Dr. Phil & watching Troy party with Usher & Hugh Laurie, this spot also uses Buck’s exasperation as the punch line (“Can I just get a water? Somewhere?”). Another spot features Buck slumming in line at TSA while Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long & Jimmy Johnson cruise through the special red carpet “Super Bowl Ring Holders” line (with Jimmy almost-but-not-quite getting stopped for carrying a samurai sword…or is that a machete?). Very funny stuff.
Got my Businessweek in the mail today with the promised, somewhat unnecessary IMO rebrand to “Bloomberg Businessweek” in full effect:
There’s nothing really wrong with Bloomberg adding their name following their acquisition of Businessweek back in October. Both are perfectly respected business brands. The identity work is little bleh. I find the lack of the red color bar makes the cover a lot less instantly recognizable & makes the magazine seem a lot more of a financial trade rather than a mainstream news type publication. Which is interesting considering the goal of the rebrand was apparently to broaden the audience of the magazine.
From a communications standpoint, I know that BusinessWeek had been losing money lately, but I have really liked their presence online & am sad to see Steve Baker in particular moving on from their Blogspotting blog. It will be interesting to see how their content changes with their new look.
I imagine that advertising geeks like me will never get tired of watching & going crazy over Nike advertising. Sometimes, I feel like it is as much art as any well crafted feature film. If I didn’t think it would be going slightly overboard, I would crank out a post like this every couple of weeks.
The newest ad from Nike & its longtime agency W+K is about adversity & resilience, two of the most popular themes for the brand in its self-imposed mission to celebrate athletes. The spot has so with an interesting stop photography trick & music—in grand Nike advertising tradition, they have found the perfect song. It’s called “Ali in the Jungle,” by the Hours, & it’s unlikely you’ve ever heard of it.
“It’s not how you start/it’s how you finish,” it goes. “Everybody gets knocked down/how quick are you going to get up?”
As with one of my other favorite Nike spots, it features a variety of sports & in this case, both famous & unknown athletes. Notably, it also does not feature the Winter Olympics, despite Nike being an official sponsor of the Games. Despite its star sponsorees, Nike has never been about any one sport, it’s always been about the spirit of the athlete.
