Television commercials work, that’s why they are still around - and why advertisers are still paying top dollar for 30 second slots of television time during popular programs, sporting events and news broadcasts. Even now, during the age of TiVo and the DVR, television commercials still manage to make an impact. If the medium was obsolete, there wouldn’t likely be so much uproar over “offensive” TV ads.
When I heard a news teaser yesterday about a new Burger King ad being pulled off the air for being “offensive” I knew exactly which one it was. I had seen it several times, and thought it was mildly funny, but I knew that it wouldn’t be long before some people would be up in arms about it.
Oh, I get it. SpongeBob SQUARE pants! And as a product of the MTV generation, I know that song well. But I figured that many parents would think it inappropriate, as the ad is for a Kid’s Meal.
But guess what? That’s not the ad in question at all - apparently no one has a problem with using booty shaking and an extremely sexual song to promote a product geared towards children.
Nope, the ad that has been banned by Burger King is this one, for BK’s Texican Whopper:
My first thought was that it is “offensive” to professional wrestlers, but apparently that’s not it. According to the Houston Chronicle, the ad is “offensive” in “half a dozen ways”, including the argument that the cape worn by the luchador looks too much like the Mexican national flag, and that the pool scene looked as if it were implying that the Mexican character was swimming across the Rio Grande.
I’m speechless. Maybe I’m insensitive, but I watched that ad five times, and never made either of those connections.
While neither of these BK ads really offends me, it’s the first one that I would have suspected of drawing the fire… But what the heck do I know?
Posted in Television, Yada Yada | 2 Comments
Judd Apatow has made a living by creating hilarious and quirky comedies using unique and undiscovered talents (Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill, Jason Segal, James Franco) to make likewise hilarious and quirky films that mix a unique blend of immature comedy and often heartwarming romance - of the quirkiest kind.
I don’t know much about his new film, Funny People but the new trailer was recently introduced and it looks promising. Adam Sandler joins Seth, Jonah and the Apatow gang for what looks to be not only funny, but also a little tragic.
Check out the trailer for Judd Apatow’s Funny People:
…and now your blog bonus feature, the Apatow directed Oscars spot featuring a montage of some of the best and worst comedies of 2008
Posted in Yada Yada, Events, Movies | Comments Off
Here are the winners from last night’s 81st Annual Academy Awards ceremonies.
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Best Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Original Screenplay: Milk
Best Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Costume Design: The Duchess
Best Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Music (Original Score): Slumdog Millionaire
Best Music (Original Song): Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire
Best Sound Editing: The Dark Knight
Best Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Animated Feature Film: WALL-E
Best Foreign Language Film: Departures
Best Documentary Feature: Man on Wire
Best Documentary Short: Smile Pinki
Best Short Film (Animated): La Maison en Petits Cubes
Best Short Film (Live Action): Toyland
Slumdog Millionaire — 8
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — 3
The Dark Knight, Milk — 2
Departures, The Duchess, Man on Wire, The Reader, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, WALL-E — 1
Posted in Events, Movies | No Comments
The Oscars are only a couple of days away, and since this is the least hyped Academy Awards season EVER, I thought I’d share some memorable Oscar Moments of days gone by.
Obviously some of these are before my time, but they are all poignant and have molded the Academy Awards show into what it is today:
So, the Academy is ridiculous, so the rest of these aren’t embedding properly, but if you double click you can watch them at the YouTube Page.
Posted in Tribute, Television, Yada Yada, Movies | No Comments
Dear Arrested Development,
I miss you. Please begin filming Arrested Development: The Movie soon.
The End.
Posted in Tribute, Television, Yada Yada, Movies | No Comments
So tonight, with the release of the mediocre-ly anticipated remake of Friday the 13th, comes the first look at the full-length Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen trailer. While no “official” copies are on the internet yet I knew a bootleg would surface on YouTube eventually… and here it is:
I don’t expect it will be up long before it is forcebly taken down, but for now you can catch a glimpse without having to…er getting to watch Jason kill folks at Camp Crystal Lake.
It’s no secret that movies based on video games rarely do well. Remember the Mortal Kombat movie, or Hitman? What about Street Fighter? They even made a game based on the Super Mario Brothers - and it has been one of the most successful game franchises in history… Still nada.
But hold to your helmet! This summer, from the creators of Oregon Trail and Tetris: The Movie, comes DIG DUG: Rise of the Pookas.
Tickets go on sale in March at all Game Stop and Play N Trade locations. Dig it!
Posted in Yada Yada, Movies | 2 Comments
You may or may not know that Rent: The Broadway Musical closed its curtains for the last time in November. In commemoration of the show’s 12-plus years on Broadway, the final show was recorded and available in theaters across America this past fall.
Many wondered if a Rent: Filmed Live On Broadway DVD would follow, and today I found out that it not only will, but that it will be released across the country on Tuesday, February 3rd. Grab your copy and hold on to the Rent legacy forever.
No day but today.
Posted in Tribute, Yada Yada, Events, Movies, Music | No Comments
I have heard about Fanboys for a couple of years now through various blogs, etc. But I was wondering if it was ever going to happen.
Today I saw this new preview for the geekiest movie of the year. Definitely could be funny!
Fanboys hits the theaters this summer and stars Princes Leia, Lando Calrissian, Darth Maul, Shooter McGavin, Those warehouse guys from The Office, The Guy from Tropic Thunder, Jay, The Guy from Die Hard 4, The Hot Chick from Sin City, and Captain James T. Kirk.
Kristen Bell, Seth Rogan, Jay Baruchel, and Will Forte also appear. Check it out:
Posted in Yada Yada, Movies | 1 Comment
This is awesome, so I thought I’d share. You can catch Three Guitars and a Tractor at a Cracker Barrel near you.
Posted in Yada Yada, Music | No Comments
I loved Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, and I was a big fan of the WWE and WCW when I was a kid, and the movie brought back a lot of memories. I particularly remember some of the novelty matches when non-wrestlers would have ‘arguments’ with some of the stars and become part of the action at the next pay-per-view event. Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone, Jay Leno and Lawrence Taylor were a few that I remember specifically.
Now it looks as if Randy ‘The Ram’ may be the next to enter the pay per view world as Mickey Rourke seems to be taking his personae into the WWE. Rumors have persisted for the last few weeks that the WWE may be looking to capitalize on Rourke’s success by bringing his character into the storylines leading up to WrestleMania - certainly The Wrestler would naturally share a huge fanbase with the WWE and vice versa.
On Larry King Live last night one of the WWE Superstars, Chris Jericho, “called out” Rourke, further implying that a match may be imminent.
I am all about viral advertising and I know how rabid WWE fans can be, so I think this could be a huge partnership for the WWE as well The Wrestler, which I consider to be solidly in the top three films of the year.
Posted in Television, Sports, Events, Movies | 1 Comment
The SAG awards were held last night in Hollywood. I like the SAGs because they offer the actors to adjudicate their peers for their work in both film and television. No awards for writing or directing - only for acting performances.
Here are the nominees and winners (in bold) from last night:
Posted in Television, Events, Movies | No Comments
Watchmen fans are gonna love this.
Check out this new viral marketing campaign for Watchmen in the form of a news reel from March 11, 1970.
I don’t know very much about Watchmen yet, but this is pretty clever and definitely piqued my interest in the movie and the Dr. Manhattan character.
Posted in Tribute, Movies, Politics | 1 Comment
With the Oscar nominees being announced yesterday, we seem to have ushered in one of the most controversial Oscar seasons in recent history. The internet has been bombarded with “Are you *bleeping kidding me’s” and “Those guys are gonna pay’s” from well-meaning Batman fans who feel that their FAVORITE movie of the year should be considered by the Academy as the BEST movie of the year.
I absolutely loved The Dark Knight, and I am extremely impressed that it is now the second highest-grossing film of all time. However I still think that it is overrated. Keep in mind that something can be overrated and still be extremely good. But based on the incredible, ridiculous amount of hype that The Dark Knight garnered, I don’t think there is any way it could have possibly lived up. I can’t help but wonder how the film would have made out if Heath Ledger had not died.
Additionally, only one of this year’s nominated films has had a wide release prior to the Oscar deadline and that one (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) has only been released for a month. I think if more people had a chance to see the other nominated films they wouldn’t be as quick to chastise the Academy for leaving out their favorite. There really are some great films out there this year (I personally would have loved to see Gran Torino and The Wrestler get more love) and The Dark Knight is certainly one of them - but certainly not the only one.
By the way: Slumdog Millionaire, The Reader, and Frost/Nixon all open nation-wide today.
History will be - as it always is - the judge of where The Dark Knight fits into the 2008 film hierarchy, and even more so, where it fits into the annals of film history. The good news is: the film will live on as an Oscar winner as Heath Ledger is a sure thing to win Best Supporting Actor - it won’t even be close!
Posted in Tribute, Events, Movies | No Comments
You may have heard by now that a live-action Thundercats movie is in the works. It currently is set to be released in the summer of 2010.
While no trailers have been released yet, someone did send me a fan made trailer that might give us an idea of what we might be in for. Check it out and see if you can figure out who all of the actors are and which movies they used to create the trailer.
Posted in Movies | 3 Comments
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