Posts
The Untold Story of Isabelle Simi
It is a 4-minute retelling of the early history of a California winery, in the style of a Hollywood Western, complete with Leone-Morricone-inspired riffs.
Make Bills Work For You
From Australia: electronic bill payment system, BPAY, has come up with a quirky spot to highlight its flexible scheduling feature.
Heineken’s Takedown of the European Super League
Heineken may have had a vested interest but its takedown of the poorly-judged, ill-fated venture is, nevertheless, pure gold.
Dead Bang (1989)
MOVIE REVIEW
This is an enjoyable but undeniably strange movie, with an inexplicable title.
Don Johnson plays a detective who, early on, is seen on the hunt for a cop killer. Over the first thirty minutes or so, the movie goes into great detail to establish how joyless and messed up his personal life is. During that time, two of the top billed cast- Penelope Ann Miller and Bob Balaban- also make impressionable appearances.
What then happens is that the movie gets transformed into a cross-country pursuit of a group of trigger-happy, well-funded neo-Nazis. More to the point of strangeness, none of what we are painstakingly told about Johnson’s character’s personal life is ever again referenced, and neither of the said top-billed cast is seen again.
Fortunately, from that point onwards, the movie makes for a gripping, if formulaic action thriller that is elevated by Johnson’s charisma, director John Frankenheimer’s craftsmanship, and some witty dialogue. The highlight for me, though, was a series of creatively constructed scenes that are as odd as they are astonishing and- to me, at least- hilarious as well. Here’s a link to one such scene where Johnson’s character sees a police shrink, whose evaluation of him is going to decide if he will be on the case and, maybe, on the police force as well.
Ding Dong Exposed
From Portugal: interior design firm, Ding Dong, has redone its online store, and expanded it to introduce a dedicated section for objectophiles- people who are sexually attracted to inanimate objects (for a profile of such a person, see this post from exactly a year ago). In line with that, the website presents supposedly intimate shots of household furniture and other items available at the store. Some items can also be savoured via live-cam.
The Chase
From Japan: Head & Shoulders marks the launch of its new line of anti-dandruff range with an anime-inspired, thrilling, action adventure commercial.
Caterpillar Cake War
In what has been described as the “battle of the caterpillars”, Marks & Spencer has filed an intellectual property case against discount supermarket chain Aldi alleging infringement of its ‘Colin the Caterpillar’ trademark by the latter’s ‘Cuthbert the Caterpillar’ cake.
What is not clear is why M&S specifically went after Aldi, given that almost every supermarket chain in the UK has its own version of ‘caterpillar cake’. To quote from a tongue-in-cheek piece from The Guardian:
More mysterious is why it has gone for Aldi. Every major supermarket has its own caterpillar cake, named to suit its brand. Tesco has Curly: simple, effective, a bit route one. Asda has Clyde, which sounds like someone came up with it on a hangover. Waitrose has Cecil, who you just know has strong views about Classic FM. Sainsbury’s deviates from the alliterative rule to offer Wiggles, which violates a key principle and brings off-puttingly to mind the movement of the insect. (As an aside, it’s curious that every chocolate caterpillar sounds like a war poet.) Why is M&S picking on Aldi rather than the others? I think we know: it’s German.
Meanwhile, Aldi took to Twitter with a series of rib-tickling tweets, including one about this “packaging update”:
Adding to the fun, Lidl Ireland shot off this tweet:
But Then I Saw You
That’s the title of a new commercial for Japanese sports drink, Pocari Sweat, that is making waves for its staggering blend of filmmaking vision and craftsmanship, with very little CGI.
Rant of an Eco-sensitive Boor
From France: a side-splitting and all-round brilliant ad for organic retailer, Greenweez.
WaterLight
From Colombia: a portable device that provides electrical power using only salt water. As explained here:
As well as functioning as a portable lamp – half a litre of salt water placed in the device provides an incredible 45 days of light – WaterLight is also capable of charging small appliances such as a cell phone or a radio via a USB port. Perfectly suited to seawater, the device also responds to fresh water mixed with salt and even – in emergency situations – urine.
Heartbreak Ice Cream
From Mexico: ice cream that “really helps” overcome a broken heart. As explained here:
The special edition ice cream pint features five delicious flavour profiles strategically layered to match the emotional stages of a breakup, including Matcha Tea for Anger, which raises serotonin, GABA, and dopamine levels, resulting in its millenary relaxing effects, or Dark Chocolate for Sadness, rich in amino acids to help the brain release endorphins that lower stress levels and trigger a general sense of happiness.
An Ode to a Pint
A terrific spec ad for Carlsberg, coinciding with the lifting of lockdown across the UK.
Assemble Your Own Pub
As an answer to the anticipated rush in pubs across the UK (once lockdown was lifted), last week, comedy channel Dave launched a limited-edition ‘flat-pack pub’- a 15-piece kit to help Britons assemble their own pub at home. From the product description:
- Bring the Pub experience to you with Dave’s Flat Pack Pub
- Set the mood with a realistic and removable pop-up bar backdrop
- Two sturdy bar stools
- Instructions and all fixtures included
- Grumpy locals sold separately
Dave put out a fun video to announce the product.
Harry and Tonto (1974)
MOVIE REVIEW
Art Carney plays the titular Harry, a 70-plus widower, who lives in New York with his cat, Tonto, as his only permanent companion. Circumstances force him to look for another place to stay. One thing leads to another, and he ends up taking a road trip across America.
That pretty much sums up the plot of this movie. The story is told via slice-of-life snapshots. What is most remarkable about it is the way that relatively ordinary people, and episodes, come across as interesting, amusing, and involving. It is a triumph of writing and acting.
Director and co-writer Paul Mazursky was known for his masterful ability to blend the funny and the serious into crafting intimate portraits of everyday people. This ranks among the best of his work. Aided by a splendid supporting cast, he surrounds Harry with a bevy of captivating characters. But, without a doubt, the star of the show is Carney who gives an impeccable performance. As it happens, he won the Best Actor Oscar that year against an impressive line-up that included Jack Nicholson (Chinatown) and Al Pacino (The Godfather: Part II).
An Envious Lizard and an ‘Auntie shamer’
From the Philippines: the creative agency behind last year’s utterly bizarre ads for R C Cola, has come up with two more bewildering commercials. One is for canned food brand, Mega Tuna, and features a lizard with a craving for tuna. The other, for bakery chain, Julie’s Bakeshop, has a warning for anyone who is thinking about mocking middle-aged ladies.
Links:
An Excessively Elaborate Pizza Name
From Hong Kong: Pizza Hut has partnered with one of the city’s iconic restaurants, Yung Kee, to offer a limited-edition pizza featuring the latter’s charcoal-grilled roast goose. In a nod to the elaborate names that many Hong Kong restaurants coin for their signature dishes, the name of this pizza is a mouthful in itself: ‘Pizza Hut x Yung Kee’s Super Exquisitely Handcrafted Victorious Best of the Best Flawlessly Exclusive Special Charcoal Roasted Flying Goose Pizza’.
David Simon’s Takedown of Piers Morgan
The trigger was Morgan’s appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show. Here’s the exchange as reproduced from Twitter:
David Simon: In an ocean of talking-head sewage, what are the chances that the two most pouty and puckered assholes in broadcast television would ever swim through the brown, find each other, and discuss the events of the day?
Piers Morgan: Talking of sewage, Dave... you were all over me like a sycophantic chap rash when I interviewed you. Yet now you play the vicious horrible illiberal liberal to appease your vile woke base. All a bit sh*t really. But on a positive note, I loved The Wire.
David Simon: You met me once, on a stage at Cannes with Richard Plepler & Aaron Sorkin on a panel I attended at the request of HBO. 1) Didn’t know you from a fart in high wind. 2) Was polite to said fart at Richard’s request as that man was a Medici to me. Now go lick some racist royalty.
Dogs on Drones
An April 1 prank announcement from South Australia Police about a new dog squad of dachshunds with a creative acronym- SAUSAGE. Among other things, it dangles the possibility of “chucking them under cars” and “attaching them to drones”.
Don’t Get Milked
A commercial for a Canadian comparison website imagines what it would mean to literally get “milked” on car insurance.
Flat Earthers vs. Earth Flatteners
Who would have thought that an ad for construction equipment could be such fun to watch?
Wanted- a ‘SpokesFist’
A stylish casting call for a hand model from whiskey brand, Fistful of Bourbon.
Link to campaign video
McMafia- Season 1
SERIES REVIEW
This is an 8-hour mashup of gangster rivalry and family drama. The series gets its name and inspiration from a superb, non-fiction book that portrays in great detail how the global trade in illicit goods and services has operated and flourished since the 1990s. However, unlike the book, the series (or this season, at least) offers only a glimpse of that. It prefers to use that as a distant backdrop to spin a story of two men who come into conflict with each other. One is a Russian crime lord and trafficker, the other a fund manager of Russian origin. They are linked together through a long-standing family feud. In large part, this is a character study of these men, and how they are similar and different to each other.
It’s classy without being too flashy. The thing that struck me the most is the confidence with which it has been visualised and directed. What also stands out is its air of authenticity and the performances. Georgian actor Merab Ninidze is especially terrific. On the flip side, the pacing is very slow- some might look at it as glacial. Also, there is a bit of narrative bloat on account of a few sub-plots that don’t add anything of value. On balance, I found it very gripping and worthwhile. However, I am not convinced of the merit in having a second season, work on which is underway.
Here’s a link to the trailer.
Where Babies Come From
IVF- as explained by Australian fertility clinic chain, Genea- via a NSFW, cheeky, animated short film that leaves nothing to the imagination. Viewer discretion strongly advised.
There is also a brilliantly visualised, illustrated ebook that offers a much more restrained explanation.