September 2007 Archives

The other day Heather and I watched Blood Diamond. Wasn't very good. Insult to injury, it was rather depressing, and the American-style uplifting redemption theme at the end didn't resurrect it. I don't mind depressing movies - as long as they're good. In any case, when we turned off the DVD player and saw that the Mel Gibson movie What Women Want was playing, we welcomed the opportunity. This - by most accounts - light-hearted and thin-intellected film seemed like just what the doctor ordered to brighten our spirits.

It was as predictable as you might expect. There were some funny bits, but little in the way of noteworthiness. Heather expressed her disgust at Mel's dance routine. It really is hilariously absurd. The dance starts at about 0:27. The song, at least, is in English. What an endearing little anti-semite! [link]

Yeah - a little hint to the ladies: straight men don't do that.

What was extremely noteworthy was the integration of the storyline of a Nike advertising campaign into the film.

It was brilliant. Long story short, the two main characters, played by Helen Hunt and Mel Gibson, are competing/cooperating coworkers - and developing love interests - at a major New York ad firm. The plot device centers on the chauvinistic Gibson's character acquiring the ability to "hear" the thoughts of nearby women. He capitalizes on his new-found ability to create what we are led to suspend to believe is the to be the mother of all women-focused television advertising campaigns.

The movie carefully takes us through the campaign's development, "explaining" it to the audience as the movie progresses, so by the time we see it, we'll be ready for it. It will seem natural to us. Inevitablly, we see the ad - narrated sexily by Gibson. We're also graced with the conspicuously approving expressions of Helen Hunt and the three Nike account contacts (all women). It's as if *gasp* Nike were programming you how to feel about their brand! [link]

And people actually paid to go see this movie - this feature-length advertisement, I should say! Nike, you're brilliant!

It's a far cry from their "slasher" ad, which, in contrast, was hilarious but ultimately ineffective in targeting its target female demographic. Rumor has it that it was actually banned in the U.S. [link]:

We also just watched the 1997 movie In the Company of Men. It was our inaugural time watching movies on the computer through the Netflicks service (very good service, by the way). The movie had good directing, good acting, good just about everything... but it seems like such a waste of a movie. I can't wrap my head around why anyone would make a movie like that. Perhaps it made sense in the cultural context (but this is only ten years ago we're talking, here!).

I've shared this video with quite a few people. It's footage of a battle between species in Africa. Thought I'd finally share it on my blog. As my buddy J.D. puts it, it's better than a television drama:

This weekend H and I watched that movie Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. 5 stars, definitely. Very interesting premise and excellent execution. Best movie I've seen since Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Better than even that one, possibly.