Sun-dried miscellaneous
So last Saturday I went to the Cannes International Advertising Festival 2006 showing with various peoples. Some random observations:
• Every year, you get half a dozen ads that everyone laughs at, then they stick in a public awareness one that, while well done, obviously isn't funny. So it's like "hahahaha oh you mean millions of people are dying of cancer? I guess I'll shut up now then." Anyway, there seemed to be fewer of that kind this year. Only two that I recall.
• There were too many long "campaigns" this year. It's one thing to see all of these one at a time over several weeks (or fast forward through them), but it's quite another to see them all in a row. A more annoying case, however, was Adidas. Their campaign that won had at least half a dozen one-minute-plus commercials with international soccer players looking for teammates in various cities. One guy in our group almost left during these.
• One of my favourites was a bronze winner, for Amora Hot Ketchup. (There was one more in the series, but the first one in that clip was my favourite of the three)
• This amusing Japanese "Ask Milk!" ad took bronze. A (Korean? Chinese? I forget) beauty cream ad campaign took gold, but I can't find it.
• Unfortunately, while the Sony Bravia "Balls" commercial took gold, the Tango ripoff parody took silver, so the parody ad was shown before the original. I think I was the only one that got the joke. :| (Incidentally, if you haven't seen the Bravia "Paint" ad, it's here)
• I forget if it was gold/silver/bronze, but the Berlitz German Coast Guard took an award. :)
• The Grand Prix winner was by Guinness, though I personally prefer the one for Carlton Draught..
• It didn't win an award, but the Ellen Degeneres "Animals" AmEx ad is pretty cute. (This version is longer than the one I saw on TV)
I got a newsletter from EBgames last month and was confused at one part because the alt text on an image was set incorrectly. The picture was of the Xbox 360 "Oblivion" box, but the alt text was something different. The image didn't load at first, so I saw this...
Ok, Who Left the Gate Open?
[Game name] This is an 'M' rated game.
We've got demons running around killing everything they see. You better figure out who's behind all this, buster, or the destruction of Tamriel is going to be on your hands.
"Game name" was Viva Pinata.
From krk...
The assignment is to list 10 movies: your 5 favorites & your 5 guilty pleasures. Also include an explanation on why you love these particular movies so much. After you've finished that, pick 5 of your friends and tag them. No tag backs. This explanation should be included.
It's going to look like all I watch is sci-fi movies. That's not the case, but I guess I remember them more fondly due to my geekiness excessive technology use.
Favorite movies:
Blade Runner: I love the atmosphere, characters, soundtrack... everything.
I recently saw a clip of an interview with William Gibson, and he had this to say about the movie:
"Well the first time I saw it, I didn't see it all because I fled the theatre almost in tears, because it looked so much... I was 3/4 of the way through writing Neuromancer, and Blade Runner looked so much like the inside of my head but *better*, in higher resolution and way more artfully imagined than I had ever been able to imagine it. I just thought 'Oh no, I only ever had one idea in my life and now this guy Ridley Scott has gone and done it'.
It's probably the only science fiction film that's ever actually changed the way the world looks. It changed architecture; it changed fashion; it seeped into a billion rock videos... It's this kind of seminal pop artifact."
The Fifth Element: The Mystery Science Theatre Blockbuster Review claimed it's "like injecting LSD straight into your eyeballs". A bright shiny future compared to Blade Runner's dystopia, it has the right balance of sci-fi, action, and comedy. Some find Ruby Rhod (Chris Tucker) annoying, but not me. I am a meat popsicle. (MULTIPASS!)
Star Trek: First Contact: It's a toss-up between VIII and II (which I like for the shield-lowering maneuver), but the Borg would just assimilate Khan and his 2-dimensional thinking. :P They kick ass.
One of the Borg from the movie came to our anime convention a year ago, but I didn't make the connection from his voice work to acting until it was mentioned at-con.
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure: (No, this isn't going in the second section :P) The combination of time travel as comedic mechanic with the slacker parody equals awesome. (to me) I also really liked the sci-fi comedy in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, but I greatly preferred the TV series for that one.
I heard of an interview with Harlan Ellison where he was asked what his favourite movie about time travel is. He replied with this Bill & Ted, and they rolled a clip. When the clip finished, the interviewer apparently looked rather disappointed in his choice. :)
Kiki's Delivery Service: There's gotta be one anime movie in here right? :P I know everyone loves Totoro, but there's something about the setting and characters in Kiki's that I like more.
Guilty Pleasures:
The Matrix Trilogy: Um, yeah 1 is popular but everyone hates on 2 and 3. I liked seeing more of the world. Don't hate me. :|
Johnny Mnemonic: "I WANT... ROOOOM SERVIIIIIIICE!!!!!!!"
Rush Hour 1&2: Maybe I'm not getting the definition of "guilty pleasure" down properly, but these are funny. :P
Labyrinth: It's been so long since I've seen it, but I remember it liking it despite being cheesy.
Santa Claus Conquers The Martians: Hmm, maybe not, but I gotta get some sleep.
I tag: brotherriparius, ersatzinsomnia, kusoyaro, nopictures, spate
Do it if you wanna. :)
PS: haha * 2
• Every year, you get half a dozen ads that everyone laughs at, then they stick in a public awareness one that, while well done, obviously isn't funny. So it's like "hahahaha oh you mean millions of people are dying of cancer? I guess I'll shut up now then." Anyway, there seemed to be fewer of that kind this year. Only two that I recall.
• There were too many long "campaigns" this year. It's one thing to see all of these one at a time over several weeks (or fast forward through them), but it's quite another to see them all in a row. A more annoying case, however, was Adidas. Their campaign that won had at least half a dozen one-minute-plus commercials with international soccer players looking for teammates in various cities. One guy in our group almost left during these.
• One of my favourites was a bronze winner, for Amora Hot Ketchup. (There was one more in the series, but the first one in that clip was my favourite of the three)
• This amusing Japanese "Ask Milk!" ad took bronze. A (Korean? Chinese? I forget) beauty cream ad campaign took gold, but I can't find it.
• Unfortunately, while the Sony Bravia "Balls" commercial took gold, the Tango ripoff parody took silver, so the parody ad was shown before the original. I think I was the only one that got the joke. :| (Incidentally, if you haven't seen the Bravia "Paint" ad, it's here)
• I forget if it was gold/silver/bronze, but the Berlitz German Coast Guard took an award. :)
• The Grand Prix winner was by Guinness, though I personally prefer the one for Carlton Draught..
• It didn't win an award, but the Ellen Degeneres "Animals" AmEx ad is pretty cute. (This version is longer than the one I saw on TV)
I got a newsletter from EBgames last month and was confused at one part because the alt text on an image was set incorrectly. The picture was of the Xbox 360 "Oblivion" box, but the alt text was something different. The image didn't load at first, so I saw this...
Ok, Who Left the Gate Open?
[Game name] This is an 'M' rated game.
We've got demons running around killing everything they see. You better figure out who's behind all this, buster, or the destruction of Tamriel is going to be on your hands.
"Game name" was Viva Pinata.
From krk...
The assignment is to list 10 movies: your 5 favorites & your 5 guilty pleasures. Also include an explanation on why you love these particular movies so much. After you've finished that, pick 5 of your friends and tag them. No tag backs. This explanation should be included.
It's going to look like all I watch is sci-fi movies. That's not the case, but I guess I remember them more fondly due to my geekiness excessive technology use.
Favorite movies:
Blade Runner: I love the atmosphere, characters, soundtrack... everything.
I recently saw a clip of an interview with William Gibson, and he had this to say about the movie:
"Well the first time I saw it, I didn't see it all because I fled the theatre almost in tears, because it looked so much... I was 3/4 of the way through writing Neuromancer, and Blade Runner looked so much like the inside of my head but *better*, in higher resolution and way more artfully imagined than I had ever been able to imagine it. I just thought 'Oh no, I only ever had one idea in my life and now this guy Ridley Scott has gone and done it'.
It's probably the only science fiction film that's ever actually changed the way the world looks. It changed architecture; it changed fashion; it seeped into a billion rock videos... It's this kind of seminal pop artifact."
The Fifth Element: The Mystery Science Theatre Blockbuster Review claimed it's "like injecting LSD straight into your eyeballs". A bright shiny future compared to Blade Runner's dystopia, it has the right balance of sci-fi, action, and comedy. Some find Ruby Rhod (Chris Tucker) annoying, but not me. I am a meat popsicle. (MULTIPASS!)
Star Trek: First Contact: It's a toss-up between VIII and II (which I like for the shield-lowering maneuver), but the Borg would just assimilate Khan and his 2-dimensional thinking. :P They kick ass.
One of the Borg from the movie came to our anime convention a year ago, but I didn't make the connection from his voice work to acting until it was mentioned at-con.
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure: (No, this isn't going in the second section :P) The combination of time travel as comedic mechanic with the slacker parody equals awesome. (to me) I also really liked the sci-fi comedy in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, but I greatly preferred the TV series for that one.
I heard of an interview with Harlan Ellison where he was asked what his favourite movie about time travel is. He replied with this Bill & Ted, and they rolled a clip. When the clip finished, the interviewer apparently looked rather disappointed in his choice. :)
Kiki's Delivery Service: There's gotta be one anime movie in here right? :P I know everyone loves Totoro, but there's something about the setting and characters in Kiki's that I like more.
Guilty Pleasures:
The Matrix Trilogy: Um, yeah 1 is popular but everyone hates on 2 and 3. I liked seeing more of the world. Don't hate me. :|
Johnny Mnemonic: "I WANT... ROOOOM SERVIIIIIIICE!!!!!!!"
Rush Hour 1&2: Maybe I'm not getting the definition of "guilty pleasure" down properly, but these are funny. :P
Labyrinth: It's been so long since I've seen it, but I remember it liking it despite being cheesy.
Santa Claus Conquers The Martians: Hmm, maybe not, but I gotta get some sleep.
I tag: brotherriparius, ersatzinsomnia, kusoyaro, nopictures, spate
Do it if you wanna. :)
PS: haha * 2