Good Hope FM’s new brand ad, shot by Slim from Egg Films, comes with one, unmistakable message: if you don’t have Good Hope FM, you have no hope.
The deliciously tongue-in-cheek spot makes a great meal of a simple truth: Capetonians live in one of South Africa’s greatest cities; and boy do they know it. It is exactly this wry humour that attracted Slim to the job in the first place: “I really digged the exaggeration and comedy; it gave us a chance to completely take the mickey out of ourselves as both Capetonians and non-Capetonians,” says Slim, ironically a non-Capetonian himself.
Letting the comedy speak for itself, Slim purposely chose to avoid too many tricksy morphs and let editor Ricky Boyd work his magic, allowing the cut to reveal the change from cool Cape-Town-land to uncool-place-of-no-return, after our guy mistakenly strays beyond the signal of Good Hope.
The concept, dreamed up by 140BBDO creatives Ivan, Alexis, Gareth and Alex, proves that those wine-guzzling rascals can laugh at themselves after all. We didn't actually get to interview any of them but we'd imagine that if we did, they'd say something like, "It's, like, the truth. And if you don't, like, find it funny, you're probs from, like, Jo'burg. Eeuw."
Credits: Creative Ad Agency: 140BBDO Title: Beyond The Fence Client: SABC / Good Hope FM City: Cape Town, South Africa Agency producer: Sarah Southey / Jo Weiss / Megan Sturgess Executive creative director: Ivan Johnson Creative director: Alexis Beckett Copywriter: Alex Goldberg Art director: Gareth Cohen Production company: Egg Johannesburg Director: Slim Director of photography: Willie Nel Production co-producer: Nicci Cox Executive producer: Colin Howard / Nicci Cox Post production: Deliverance Editing: Deliverance Editor: Ricky Boyd Audio: Milestone Studios
The highly anticipated 2013 Subaru BRZ rear-wheel-drive sports coupe makes its debut in Canada with the launch of a new campaign ‘Scorched,’ and car aficionados and passionate drivers will agree, car porn has never looked so good.
Developed by DDB Canada’s Toronto office, the national campaign features a 60-second online film, ‘Scorched,’ shot with Phantom camera technology, creating extreme slow-motion shots. The suspenseful story unfolds inside a garage where an unknown source of heat melts everything in its path. Amplified by a dubstep track, “Execute” by Excision, the final shot reveals the heat source to be the Subaru BRZ emerging out of a drift, demonstrating that the BRZ handles as incredibly as it looks.
“The Subaru BRZ is a hot car, with a great deal of excitement already surrounding its release,” says Todd Mackie, creative director, DDB Canada. “We wanted to create a visual story to mirror that anticipation while captivating both existing fans and reaching new ones.”
Print, online, ambient, social media, public relations and targeted blogger outreach round out the campaign; each highlighting the sizzling sports coupe. Selectmedia and bloggers also got the opportunity to feed their gear head inside by attending the ‘Scorched’ shoot, to get a rare, behind-the-scenes peek at the Subaru BRZ in action.
“This is Subaru’s first rear-wheel drive sports coupe and with limited quantities available in Canada this year, it’s the most highly anticipated launch in the category,” says Geoff Craig, director of marketing, Subaru Canada. “We challenged DDB to accelerate the buzz and launch the BRZ with creative that’s just as hot as the car.”
A hologram lenticular in The Grid and attention-grabbing creative in national newspapers and magazines reveals the BRZ burning through the pages. Similarly, online advertising burns up computer screens and tablets to unveil the hot new sports car.
The Subaru BRZ turned heads at the 2012 Montreal Grand Prix (June 8-10), with an ambient street-art installation produced by DDB Public Relations. The BRZ was showcased as part of an eye-popping, movie-style set featuring a burnt mailbox, singed bike rack, melted street lamp and a massive 32’ heat-blasted brick wall. The result was a surreal replica of a Montreal street corner that appeared to have been utterly “scorched” by the hot new sports car.
To enhance the installation DDB Public Relations engagedCanadian NFC tech firm, TAPmeTAGS Inc. to provide NFC enabled tags as part of a test-pilot program to encourage consumer interaction onsite. Singed wild postings surrounding the installation encouraged passersby to “tap or snap” using their NFC phones. This directed consumers to a dedicated BRZ landing page where they could learn more about the vehicle, view images and book a test drive.
The Montreal ambient installation is the first of a series, with more coming to major cities across Canada this summer.
Credits: Advertising Agency: DDB, Toronto, Canada Creative Directors: Denise Rossetto, Todd Mackie Associate Creative Directors: Paul Riss, Adam Bailey Copywriter: Adam Bailey Art Director: Paul Riss Agency Producer: Ken Rodger Account Team: Michael Davidson, Peter Brough, Julia Morris Media Company: OMD Production Company: Radke Director: Common Good Common Good Creative Directors: Eric Makila, Jamie Webster, Jordan Clarke Executive Producers Common Good: Marie-Pierre Touré, Stefanie Kouverianos Executive Producer Radke: Miriana DiQuinzio Line Producer:Dwight Phipps Director of Photography:Chris Mably Editorial: Ross Birchall, Bijou Editorial VFX: Common Good VFX Supervisor: Alex Avram Post-Production: Alter Ego Colourist: Erin Whipp / Alter Ego Online Editor: Darren Achim Music: “Execute” by Excision
Allstate Insurance Thanksgiving ad campaign says thank you to their agents for all their efforts after Super Storm Sandy. Three new commercials, two of which will highlight Allstate agents (below) Frank Vento and Lilian Rodriguez.
Sandy was one of the most devastating storms to hit our country in the last 50 years. Over 50 million Americans in 20 states were impacted. Today, Allstate would like to thank the over 1,000 Allstate Agents who worked around the clock, helping customers before, during and after, super storm Sandy. All of you truly are, Agents of Good. Share their good works with others.
Staten Island, NY was heavily impacted by Sandy. Allstate would like to thank local Allstate Agent Frank Vento whose hard work & dedication made a difference in peoples' lives. Frank truly is an Agent of Good.
Allstate Agent Lilian Rodriguez's home was flooded during Sandy. Despite her own problems, she put her customers' problems first. Allstate would like to acknowledge her efforts. Lilian truly is an Agent of Good.
DPZ Propaganda has thought up fine ideas for the Brazilian competition of advertising. «The good idea is capable to win any» — a slogan of prints of the international competition of a print advertising "the World award of publicity" opens idea of competitions: not important from what you the countries and as long you work in advertising — the main thing, are how much good your Idea.
Print advertising competition «Premio de Propaganda o Globo» is founded in 1996. The committee from nine judges which number includes the most known advertisement makers of Brazil, selects winners in nine categories.
The Excellent Idea is Pleasant to All!
Prints inform on value of good idea and conclusive appeal to any person. The Argentina football fan with good idea (a burning bulb — the international symbol of idea) drinks beer with the Brazilian fans. The Motorcyclist-idea withdraws the girl directly from under a wreath. The nice girl acquaints with the father ugly (but "ideological") the guy.
King Arthur Flour, a 220-year-old Vermont business, shares enthusiasm for the tradition of baking through the Web, and inspires bakers to discover new items, recipes and techniques. The Power Of The Web... Good's agency arm Good/Corps has officially partnered with Google for a series of television spots that promote small businesses. The campaign, which began with Good's presentation to Google about the two organizations' shared vision regarding social value, currently has two spots. The first one, Frank Restaurant, about a mom-and-pop establishment, debuted earlier in the fall. The second, King Arthur Flour, is about a centuries-old startup that gained a new lease of life with its partnership with Google.
The aim of the campaign is to connect Google, an economic powerhouse in its own right, with small businesses with a huge history, like King Arthur Flour, and how these businesses have reinvigorated themselves with the help of Google.
IKEA is launching a new campaign in the UK and Ireland, titled ‘Make Room for Your Life’, which examines how good storage can improve your life at home. The work continues the brand’s new strategy to demonstrate an understanding of the everyday challenges that people face in their homes.
‘Make Room for Your Life’, which launches on 19th January, explores IKEA’s storage ranges and highlights a wide range of smart solutions for everyday storage problems. The campaign uses the insight that poor storage doesn’t just cause mess and clutter, it also affects our relationships and the people we live with. By illustrating the effects of poor storage, the new spot demonstrates that making room for your life through good storage can be the first step towards happiness and wellbeing.
The campaign launches with the TV ad ‘Living Together’ in the UK and Ireland on 19 January. The spot, created by the agency Mother, shows a couple kept apart by a maze of mess. However, thanks to smart storage solutions from IKEA, the couple can tidy their way through the maze, removing the clutter from their lives to finally meet across a KIVIK sofa bed.
‘Living Together’ features a cover version of the Bee Gees song ‘Living Together’ by the band An Escape Plan. Three versions of the TV advert have been produced and include 60” and 30” adverts that run until 23 March on TV as well as a full length music video running online at http://www.youtube.com/ikeauk. The campaign also features outdoor, press ads and two filmed documentaries that will be launching on 11 February on the IKEA UK YouTube page.
Peter Wright, IKEA UK and Ireland Marketing Manager, said, “With the second burst of our new brand campaign it is our ambition to continue the revitalisation and transformation of IKEA brand in the UK and Ireland. ‘Make Room for Your Life’ demonstrates our understanding of everyday life at home and the problems that a lack of good storage gives everybody. We hope to show that we are more relevant than ever to help with consumers’ everyday challenges and ultimately for more consumers to choose IKEA more often for their home furnishing needs.”
The campaign is also integrated into the IKEA FAMILY loyalty programme with a series of editorial-style e-newsletters, direct mail and product focused online content, created by agency LIDA. The emails direct members of the programme to further online content packed with ideas and tips to help them ‘make room for your life’ and suggest how they can cut out clutter and get sorted with storage in order to be more organised for the year ahead. They also give a taster of the new products launching in-store.
Freddy Mandy, Creative Director, at Mother, said: “The idea for the campaign came from the observation that mess and clutter in our homes keep people apart emotionally as well as physically. We decided to illustrate this in our TV spot which shows a couple unable to get to each other because their stuff forms a maze keeping them apart. They have to clean up their home in order to be together.”
“We all have that space in our homes that really isn't a space – it's a dumping ground. The direct mail piece homes in on this insight and shows that with a little help from IKEA's ingenious storage solutions, you might actually see that carpet again” says Nicky Bullard, Executive Creative Director of LIDA.
In some respects the business world has never been smaller. Globalization, mass communication and the internet have all put new markets within reach for businesses of all sizes. But linguistic and cultural barriers still remain, and marketers need to take care when venturing across these divides.
Lost in translation There are numerous instances of companies whose message has been lost in translation. When Pepsi took their slogan “Come alive with the Pepsi Generation” to Taiwan it was mistranslated as “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead” — a claim that even the staunchest of Pepsi fans might have difficulty backing up. Not to be outdone, Kentucky Fried Chicken's famous “Finger lickin' good” was translated into Chinese as “Eat your fingers off.” Companies are advised to check that their actual brand and product names give the right impression abroad. Ikea, for example, brought out a mobile work desk for kids. The name 'Fartfull' suggested speed and mobility in Swedish, but caused more of a stink elsewhere. Good quality translation is clearly essential when taking your brand abroad. This ideally means working with native speaking translators. They will not only avoid linguistic errors, but can also identify any cultural issues and nuances that might otherwise be missed. Attention to detail is obviously important in a major international marketing campaign, but the same rule should also be applied even if you are just localizing your website. Automatic translation tools such as Google Translate can be useful for getting the gist of foreign texts. But they’re prone to misunderstandings, contextual errors, and do not deal well with colloquialisms, slang, linguistic variations or commonly used acronyms and abbreviations. English might remain the single most widely used language online, but it still represents only around a quarter of total usage. Studies have shown that customers place far more trust in websites in their own language. Localization can help you break into new markets, but a badly translated site can do as much harm as good. Cultural issues There can also be issues arising from a lack of cultural understanding or foresight. As well as translating the language, consider the use of images carefully. Sexually charged images and innuendo can end up being more risky than risqué, and even images that may be considered relatively innocuous in your home market can cause grave offence in another. Even the use of color can have different connotations within different cultures. In most of the western world, for example, white is associated with weddings and purity, while in India, Japan and China it is more likely to be associated with death and mourning. In Ireland, orange can have political and religious connotations. Using an inappropriate color scheme is unlikely to cause rioting in the streets but it can set the wrong tone and trigger a negative subconscious response in viewers.
A knowledge of slang, colloquialisms and naughty words in particular can also come in handy. Like many other companies, Swedish medical suppliers Locum sent Christmas cards to their customers. It's a little touch that can mean a lot — but their seasonally loved up logo took on a different meaning in North America and the UK. The above example might have been no more than a faux pas that raised a chuckle and provided a few red faces, but some mistakes are far more serious. They can also occur not just when dealing with foreign markets but also within a single multicultural market. In 2002 the British sportswear company Umbro (which would later be bought out by Nike) was forced to withdraw its Zyklon range of running shoes and issue a hasty apology. 'Zyklon' means 'cyclone' in German, which may have been an appropriate name for a running shoe if not for some unfortunate and horrible connotations. Zyklon B was the trade name of the poison used by Nazis to murder Jews and other concentration camp victims during World War II. Dr Stephen Smith, co-founder of the Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre in Nottinghamshire, said: "Commercial appropriation of words carrying connotations of mass murder is utterly unacceptable.” It’s important to give careful thought to potential cultural oversights and misunderstandings. Native-speaking translators can again help avoid mistakes and faux pas and, at the very least, material should be tested with a sample group from the target market. Without a little attention to detail it can be relatively easy for a company to either make itself a laughing stock or, even worse, to cause serious offence and alienate a huge swathe of potential customers. About the author Christian Arno is the founder of Lingo24, a top translation service in the USA. Launched in 2001, Lingo24 now has over 150 employees spanning three continents and clients in over sixty countries. In the past twelve months, they have translated over forty million words for businesses in every industry sector, including the likes of MTV, World Bank and American Express. Follow Lingo24 on Twitter: @Lingo24.
Computer animated coffee isn't very good, at least according to the Gecko's first-hand account. However, GEICO's customer satisfaction is good. Really good, in fact: it's at 97%.
Credits: Advertising Agency: The Martin Agency, USA Chief Creative Officer: Joe Alexander Group Creative Director: Steve Bassett Senior Copywriter: Bob Meagher Senior Art Director: Pat Wittich Account Director: Liz Toms Account Coordinator: Carter Crenshaw Project Manager: Jason Ray VP/Agency Executive Broadcast Producer: Molly Souter Agency Producer: Alex Scheer-Payne Production Company: The Director's Bureau Director: Roman Coppola Executive Producer: Lisa Margulis Head of Production: Elizabeth Minzes Editorial Company: Cosmo Street Editor: Tiffany Burchard Executive Producer: Maura Woodward Telecine: Company 3 Animation / VFX: Framestore VFX Supervisor: David Hulin Executive Producer: James Razzall Senior Producer: Graham Dunglinson Animation Lead: Kevin Rooney Animator: Tyler Heckman Audio Post Company: Rainmaker Studios
Fashion brand Bebe’s “The Best Part of the Day is the Night” ads rolling out now nationwide in print and online, add to a high-energy, multiple touchpoint marketing campaign introducing consumers to a new Bebe.
Created by New York City – based advertising agency JWalk (www.jwalkny.com), this newest national creative campaign will be seen in fashion books including Glamour, Elle and Cosmopolitan; online, with high-impact digital homepage roadblocks on sites including Instyle.com. Other components include mobile ads, video ads in taxis – even branded t-shirts, printed with campaign slogans (“good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere”).
The branded rollout follows a month-long, unbranded mystery hash tag teaser campaign, #be9to5, that introduced girls to the idea of the real 9 to 5 – 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. – and got people talking about who or what was behind it. Unbranded ads on billboards, bus stops and beer coasters with provocative lines like, “he was a good idea at the time” generated excitement; copy directed viewers to an unbranded microsite, http://www.be9to5.com/. As buzz built around the hashtag, among fashion bloggers and followers, and speculation grew about who or what was behind it, Bebe earned some much needed 9 million impressions, 120 percent above projections, a renewed cultural cachet and a ton of social engagement.
Early stages of the branded phase are showing similar momentum. The campaign has generated over 6 million impressions on Twitter and Instagram. Moreover social engagement is translating into sales increases. One example: over 1,000 t-shirts, carrying the messages "Good Girls Go to Heaven" in white and "The Best Part of the Day Is the Night" in black, sold out in one week — a 250% increase over typical t-shirt sales of 200 in a week.
Ingrid Michaelson stars and sings "Good Day Sunshine" in great new commercial for Tropicana entitled "Ready To Shine."
Not only is the much loved Ingrid performing and looking beautiful in the ad, but they actually hoisted her up in the air while playing the piano.
Credits: Agency: Juniper Park Brand: Tropicana Geo: Americas, Canada Advertising Agency: Juniper Park, Canada Copywriter: Terry Drummond Art Director: Alan Madill Agency Producer: Janice Bisson Agency Assist Producer: Wendi Hamilton Production House: Weilands UK Director: Paul Weiland Director of Photography: Bojan Bazelli Production House Exe Producer: Ivana Bohuslavova Production House Line Producer: Francine Weiner Dance Choreographer: Michael Rooney Editing House: Poster Boy Editor: Griff Henderson Online: Crush Audio / Music Company: Pirate Audio / Music Producer: Chris Tait Music Track: “Good Day Sunshine” by The Beatles adapted by Pirate Toronto
We know come Super Bowl XLVII Budweiser is going to run they're big Black Crown ad, so to start building some hype they released two teaser spots...and to be sure we get a really good look the first spot is simply a woman holding two bottles of Black Crown walking towards us, and to be sure we got a really good look from all angles they gave us the second spot where the same woman is seen from behind.
Come on Bud, you could have given us a little than this.
XXXX have got an island for Australian mates to experience the good life. So check out a slice of Island of free-love where rules are rules, everyone is equal and visitors are free from all of the fancy 5 star treatments. It's not Club Med - it's more Club Shed. Simply kick back and enjoy a beer with your mates.
Category: Drinks;
Client: Lion;
Agency: BMF;
Art Director / Copywriter: Alex Booker;
Executive Creative Director: Shane Bradnick;
Art Director / Copywriter: Philip Sicklinger;
Photographer: Kent Matthews;
Retoucher: Vanessa Brownlee;
Art Buyer - Basir Salleh.
A love-struck protagonist cat and a feel-good car are the makings of the one of best commercials I've seen this year, the best one starring a cat that is. This fantastic new commercial for the 2013 Toyota Corolla entitled "Feels Good Inside" features a curious cat who seems to have some bad luck with his curiosity, from being run over by a lawn mover to diving into wet cement. But the best part is this cat's dive attack on the dog. The ending, well let's just say this cat will be back.
Credits: Ad Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, New Zealand Client: Toyota Executive Creative Director: Antonio Navas Creative Director: Corey Chalmers, Guy Roberts Creative: Sarah Litwin-Schmid, Emily Drake GAD: Mark Cochrane AD: Emma Guadagni Production Company: Goodoil Director: Hamish Rothwell Producer: Sam Long DOP: Crichton Bone Editor: Peter Sciberras Online: Nigel Mortimer Audio Post: Liquid Studios Music Composition: Elliott Wheeler Music Composition: Turning Studios Audio Post: Liquid Sound Engineer: Craig Matuschka
Artists Louise Chappell & Becky Bolton are Good Wives and Warriors who provide an intimate look at their creative process and original artwork inspired by the Chevy Spark city car.
Credits: Creative Advertising Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners/Commonwealth, Detroit, USA
Its only been out for 6 hours and I'm already sick to death of hearing about The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to actually be alive and old enough to experience a full-blown movie phenomenon as I missed the boat with Star Wars and Indiana Jones. At least I understood the frenzy behind The Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter movies and didn't want to light myself on fire every time it came on the news. But this... this has got even the most hardcore fan inside of me screaming "that's freakin' enough Twihards, settle the frak down!"
Sigh. At least the guys over at Film Drunk feel my pain and have put together a brilliant piece on the absurdness of Twilight fans and their signs at the New Moon premiere. I strongly recommend you read the whole thing in its entirety here. Otherwise, the best bits are below:
"I’m only picking a few of my favorites, but clearly this represented a cross section of America’s finest. Like this guy. He likes America, sleeveless shirts, and vampires that sparkle. I think that was a Bob Seger song. Or this girl, the one behind the girl in the front. She wants to be “a stupid lamb.” Or possibly a stupid lamp, it isn’t entirely clear. Regardless, it’s good to have ambitions. Then there’s these girls,who support the Cullen diet, while standing behind a lady who doesn’t seem to support any diets. Diversity is beautiful. Meanwhile, the girl in the front right is enjoying her one day of the month outside. Anyway, I just thought you guys should enjoy some of these photos, because a lot of good cats went hungry for this."
Well said.
In other vampire news, the poster art for Daybreakers hit the net today and it looks siiiiiiick. And how's the quote from Variety; "Take The Matrix and 28 Days Later and you've got Daybreakers". That's a bloody brilliant line about the film and the poster art looks very slick. Very awesome. Very promising and hopefully a far cry from the romantic notion of vampires, I want to see more bloodsuckers darn it. Daybreakers is an Australian film shot in Queensland earlier this year on a budget of $25 million and stars Ethan Hawke, William Dafoe, Isabel Lucas and Sam Neil. Set in the not too distant future (2019 to be exact), a plague has turned most humans in to vampires who are now faced with a dwindling blood supply. Shot by the Spierig Brothers, I really hope this is a successful attempt by them to cross over in to Hollywood mainstream. If the trailer is anything to go by...
Lurpak Butter makes comfort food look so good in new advert featuring dishes like Shepard's Pie and some hearty Macaroni and Cheese that could only be served with a sturdy spoon.
MoneySupermarket is set to launch its biggest and most epic ad so far with the latest iteration in its ‘You’'re So Money Supermarket’ campaign with epic Alan starring in the "Astronaut" advert.
An extension of the feel good theme – Save Money, Feel Epic! – the new ad due to launch this Monday (January 7) was created by Mother London and takes money saving into space!
As the brand looks to continue to amplify just how awesome it feels to save money, the latest ad follows the transformation of everyday man ‘Alan’, who feels epic after saving £300 on his car insurance.
Filmed on location, Alan and his family join a crowd of spectators waiting to see a rocket launch. Having grabbed his son’s lunchbox and a cycle helmet, Alan marches straight through security in the direction of the launch pad. In a scene reminiscent of Apollo 13 or Armageddon, no one seems to mind that Alan is wearing a cycling helmet as he walks across the gantry and into his seat.
As the rocket takes off, we see Alan’s wife look for the car keys; failing to find them, the ad cuts to Alan looking on calmly as he notices the key float up past his head.
The action is set to the famous Top Gun soundtrack of “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin.
Mother has created a full-length 60” and 10’’ ad for the launch, which focuses on car insurance. There will also be a radio version of the ad.
The campaign will also have additional marketing support with activity across PR, CRM, and social media channels.
Paul Troy, Director of Consumer Marketing, MoneySupermarket, said: “Times are pretty tough out there right now for families in the UK. Comparing the cost of household bills can make a real difference to every day family budgets. Saving money, particularly in January when you’re trying to get the new year off to a good start financially, can feel amazing and give you a great sense of achievement. In the ad Alan saved £300 on his car insurance, however, the average amount MoneySupermarket customers can save by using the site is an even more heroic £394. What better way to demonstrate the euphoria you can feel when you get a great deal than to watch our hero waltz onto a space rocket and launch into space?”
Tim McNaughton, Creative Director said: “In this ad our hero Alan from Stoke-on-Trent saves money on his car insurance and feels so totally epic that he strides past the security at Cape Canaveral Space Center and leads a crew of lantern-jawed, Yankee astronauts into space. Go Alan, you sexy, money-saving hero! Go!”
Credits: Creative Agency: Mother, London Director: The Glue Society Production Company: Independent Producer: Jason Kemp Editor: Adam Spivey @ The Playroom Post Production: The Mill Audio post-production: 750mph DoP: Don Burgess MEDIA Media Agency: Mediacom
Everyone loves a good biff, especially when it has absolutely nothing to do with The Footy Show. Here, I’m speaking about the one and only Brisbane International Film Festival also known as BIFF. The Gold Coast, being the cultural vacuum that it is, us film geeks eagerly await the annual BIFF where a selection of films from around the world are screened over the course of one and a bit weeks. This year I’ve been lucky enough to work with some of the BIFF crew by putting together articles on various films for the website and daily newsletter. With dozens of movies crammed into the 11-day event it would be easy to miss some of the real gems. The good news is I’ve taken a look at the complete line-up of films screening at this year's festival and even watched some of them early. So, the following is my list of the films you MUST SEE or die at this year's BIFF.
For you international readers this can be a handy guide of limited release films you should keep an eye out for in the coming weeks/months.
An Education — the opening night film starring Peter Sarsgaard and set in the 60s. The Sars-man in a film with romance, drama and intrigue sounds like too rare an opportunity to miss.
BALIBO — the notorious tale of five young, Australian journalists who were executed while reporting on Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor in 75. An impressive Aussie cast including Gyton Grantley, Nathan Phillips and Anthony LaPaglia expose the Australian and Indonesian governments shameless efforts to cover-up this important story.
Coraline — has been covered extensively on this blog given its beautiful visuals and dark storyline. Directed by Henry Selick, director of the classic Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline follows the adventures of a young girl who discovers a secret door leading to an alternative reality.
500 Days of Summer — a last minute addition to the festival line-up, this quirky, nontraditional love story deserves to be seen purely because it features the talents of my favourite Joseph Gordon Levitt. It also stars everyone’s favourite indie film star Zoey Deschanel.
CHE: Parts One & Two — director Steven Soderbergh’s stunning two-part opus based on the life Che Guevara and starring Benicio Del Toro in the title role. You’ll be hard pressed to catch this screened back to back anywhere else in Queensland.
Away We Go — highly peculiar, yet, interesting film which looks at the journey of two thirtsomethings who discover they’re going to have a baby. Instead of settling down and preparing, the couple take to the road to visit old friends. This is the latest thing from the amicable Sam Mendes and marks a return to his off-beat indie roots.
The September Issue — one of the most anticipated documentaries of the year, this film delves into the life of legendary Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour in the lead-up to the massive September issue.
Jules And Jim — this French film from the 60s is a classic love-triangle with arguably the most recognisable face in French cinema — Jeanne Moreau.
Moon — one of the films I’m most looking forward to, this sci-fi thriller i
s the debut feature from David Bowie’s son Duncan Jones and stars Sam Rockwell in what is said to be the performance of his career.
The Missing Person — a private detective is hired to follow a missing person but what started as a simple job rapidly develops into a complex mystery. Full of double-crosses and classic noir moments, this is a film not to be missed by lovers of all things noir.
The Strength of Water (below) — having Maori parentage, I like to pay special attention to films from indigenous New Zealand filmmakers. The Strength of Water is definitely worth the gaze. A unique look at the complexity of grief through the eyes of a 10-year-old living in an isolated Maori community. Beautiful, naturalistic, creative and moving. A must-see.
Van Dieman’s Land — the infamous tale of Australia’s very own Hannibal Lecter gets the big screen treatment from a filmmaker heading for the stratosphere.Subdivison — Brisbanite Ash Bradman (from Nova radio fame) wrote and stars in this appealing comedy set in semirural Hervey Bay. Fans of Aussie films like Crackerjack, The Castle and Kenny are likely to enjoy this.
The Cove — along with Cathy Henkel’s The Burning Season, this has to be one of the most important documentaries of the year and looks at the culling of dolphins in the picturesque town of Tokyo, Japan. Part horror film, part espionage thriller and part environmental documentary, The Cove is all part's essential viewing.
It Might Get Loud — there’s no time for air guitar in this documentary which takes the audience on a candid trip into the world of three of rock’s most iconic electric guitarists; Jimmy Page (Led Zepplin), the Edge (U2), and Jack White (The White Stripes).
Black Dynamite — if I even have to explain to you the plot of this film, given the sheer volume of posts about it on this blog, then you deserve to be pimp-slapped into a China cabinet. Here’s your chance to see what all the fuss is about.
Dead Snow — Tarantino and Rodriguez fans, like myself, are likely to adore the work of the Norwegian lads behind this low-budget, horror slapstick about Nazi zombies. Writer/director Tommy Wirkola and writer/star Stig Frode Henriksen have been pipped for big things since their debut short Kill Buljo and their first feature doesn’t disappoint. Catch their work before it explodes as their next film Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters has been picked up by The Weinstein Company (bada-boom).
Storage — a tense, edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller from Brisbane filmmaker Michael Craft and starring Gold Coast actor Matt Scully in the lead role. An impressively clever debut from Craft who shot the film in storage facilities in and around Brisvegas. Creepy.
The Horsemen — containing what is said to be one of the `most amazing fight scenes captured’ is there really any other reason to see this?
Ticket prices are cheap as chips compared to a normal outing at the movies and BIFF is running a series of workshops where you can meet the director, producer, writer and/or stars of some of the films.
Koko Productions is a sound house that claims it can make anything sound good. So we asked: anything, anything? Yup, turns out it’s anything. Even this.
Credits: Advertising Agency: DDB, Vancouver, Canada Creative Directors: Dean Lee, Cosmo Campbell Associate Creative Director: Daryl Gardiner Copywriters: Amina Halim, Daryl Gardiner Art Directors: Daryl Gardiner, Amina Halim Agency Producers: Sue Bell Account Services: Sue Bell Film Company: Transmission Inc. Director: Joe LaFleur Director of Photography: Mike Hawley Line Producer: Joe La Fleur Post Production Co: Transmission Inc. Editor: Bradley Smith Post Facility: Transmission Inc. Online Editor: Bradley Smith Colourist: Bradley Smith Audio House: Koko Productions Audio House Producer: Steve Lowe Audio House Engineer: Murray Price Composer / Actor / Flautist: Murray Price
Following on from the launch of Carling’s new ‘Refreshingly Perfect’ campaign last weekend, the second in a series of ‘It’s Good... But It’s Not Quite Carling’ ads will hit screens this Saturday with the new Carling duo swapping the pool hall for the village green cricket pitch.
In the latest Carling advert, we find Dylan and Jon about to enjoy a pint and a game of cricket on the village green. When the ball is hit for six, Jon attempts to come to the rescue and make an impossible catch, but will it all end in glory and the reward of a refreshing pint of Carling?
The first ad saw ‘Dylan’ attempt a jaw-dropping trick shot while original pairing of Stephen Frost and Mark Arden looked on. In ‘Catch’ ‘Jon’, the other member of the Carling duo takes centre stage when a cricket ball is hit for six and heads straight towards a group of unsuspecting nuns. Viewers find out if ‘Jon’ can save the day and earn a refreshing pint as his reward.
