2009 Super Bowl ads: Best, worst, and original

Like so many of us I too had a bit of a hangover after watching the Super Bowl yesterday. I honestly did not think that would happen as I had expected Pittsburg to win. By the end of the 1st quarter my expectation was that it would be a blowout game. The 100 yard run by James Harrison at the end of the first half locked that idea in my mind. [Unlike the voice in the video, I think Harrison did a phenomenal job.]

Up to the middle of the 4th quarter there was nothing to question a Steelers win. Then it got interesting. And then the drinks came.

Such was the experience that most of the people in the bar with me had as well. So I think we all can understand being a bit slower today than usual.

Still I think some of the commercials in the Super Bowl were the result of some people celebrating far too soon. Generally I would say that this year’s commercials were by and large uninspired. Either that or spending $3 million a spot left no money for the writers to think with.

Of course there were a few good ones. To me the best were the following:

Conan O’Brien was spot on here. Sarcasm, wit, self-depricating humor. This was the best to me.



Following closely was the competitive and way over the top commercial for Cash4Gold. Who knew that Ed McMahon and MC Hammer could be so funny?



Doritos makes the better half of these commercials only for the final seconds of the commercial, which had me laughing out loud.



Normally Budweiser is the king of Super Bowl ads. They tend to have some of the best ideas and most unique way of displaying that idea. This year Bud missed out on each try, except this one. Considering the cost I would have expected a bit more.



And another big winner was Bridgestone. They had the music, the feel, the idea of 4-wheeling on the moon, and getting your tires jacked. It just worked great.



E-Trade had commercials just not worth reliving. Pepsi bombed. And Godaddy was cute, but boring.

The worst may well have been the ‘revisioning of the classic Mean Joe Green Coke ad. It was horrible, and felt every bit the ripoff it was. Yet another reason I hate revisioined anything (which Hollywood seems to adore versus original thought these days).



Of course there is the new Transformers sequel movie trailer. It too looks as boring and uninspired as the original. Sure to make tons of money since as a friend says, “It has lots of explosions and big graphics. Who needs a plot.”



Under a similar theme is the trailer for Fast and Furious. Overall the trailer was ok, except for Michelle Rodriguez and Vin Diesel in the last seconds. That alone makes the movie seem interesting. But box office smash? I doubt it.



But the most original 2009 Super Bowl ad had to be the one from Careerbuilder.com. This was an original idea, got the message across, was entertaining, and funny.



So there you go. That’s how I rate the 2009 Super Bowl ads. What did you think?

Frenchman disses 24 and American movies

Well here is a strange thought. A French man is complaining about America. Your shock must be intense.

To be more exact the complaint against America is about the movie studio, 20th Century Fox I believe, which helped to fund and distribute the movie Babylon A.D. The French man is Mathieu Kassovitz. If you are wondering who he is, you are from anywhere but France. He is a Frenchman that is an accomplished actor; in America that means he was in films no one except a handful of film critics have ever seen. And they were paid to watch them.

Mathieu Kassovitz is the director of the new Vin Diesel film, Babylon A.D. and his complaint is that the film sucks. He stated this in an interview as the film is released.

But how bad could it be? Remember this is a director that is French. The land that brought Jean Reno and The Professional. With a movie based on a top French novel. With 2 top A-list actors, 1 of which is a huge international star - Michelle Yeoh. All my hopes of this being a good film were quickly dashed when I heard this though.

“It's pure violence and stupidity," he admits. "The movie is supposed to teach us that the education of our children will mean the future of our planet. All the action scenes had a goal: They were supposed to be driven by either a metaphysical point of view or experience for the characters... instead parts of the movie are like a bad episode of 24.”

Now pure violence is exactly what I was hoping for. If I want to help kids get educated then I would send them to school. If I want to study metaphysics I go to a philosophy course in college. And 24 is far more popular and widely viewed, than every French television program – none of which I have never heard of.

So in a single statement I was told that this director had hoped to make a long (the film was mercifully cut down to 93 minutes by the movie studio) slow paced wordy French version (in English) of say Wuthering Heights. And for some reason he thought that this would be popular, or even seen, by U.S. audiences.

John Woo gets it. Timur Bekmambetov got it. Guillermo del Toro usually gets it. But when it comes to French directors it just seems that there are more misses than hits. They barely understand the thrill Americans like in a film, and several remakes of their films have done fantastically here in America, done by non-French directors and actors. Unless you think the adaptation of Hitman last year was anything but a complete bore and seemingly directed by someone who has never played a videogame in his life. But I do give credit to Luc Besson (Fifth Element and The Professional).

Now I don’t mean that I feel this way about all the French. In fact there are several French actors I like. There is Jean Reno as I mentioned. Great in The Professional, good in Ronin, he was even good in Mission Impossible. Solid actor.

And there was Julie Delpy in Killing Zoe – alright you may not have seen that film but you should.

And?? Gerard Depardieu? I wouldn’t count him but I’m out of French actors. I’m sure there must be more, right?

Ok, so the French don’t get it in general. They may do outstandingly well in France, but I’m not aware of them doing well anywhere else.

Still I did have hopes for this movie. But when this director comes out and trashes his film because it’s not art house enough, well you just have to hope that the movie studio really reworked it. I have no doubt that the director’s cut will do well in France. And I expect that Vin Diesel will get initial groups of fans into the film and sell the DVD. But beyond that I have mixed thoughts.

So far I see that Yahoo shows the film having grabbed $12 million over the holiday weekend. That loses to Tropic Thunder but keeps it at 2nd place. Unless you factor in the number of theaters it was in. Because then it loses to The Dark Knight, Traitor, and The House Bunny. It lost to The House Bunny in its second week.

I haven’t had the chance to see the film yet. I was going to see it this week. But after the comments of Kassovitz I’ll push it back a bit. Traitor is more reliable I’m sure and I like Don Cheadle.

But if you have seen the film I’d love to know who was right. The director’s version or the movie studio’s? Just consider the movie you saw, double the time, imagine yourself in a classroom for the extra time, and kill the action.

You tell me.

Movie Preview: Babylon A.D.

Vin Diesel (Mark Sinclair Vincent) will have a new movie out this summer, and as an added bonus he is going back to the roots of what made his film career flourish. The latest film will be his 10th and is a sci-fi film.

The world of the film is reminiscent of William Gibson’s Mona Lisa Overdrive. Sprawls exist, as do bio-enhancements of both the chemical and mechanical varieties. In this crowded, violent world upgrades to strength speed or enabling connections to computers seem to be necessary for anyone that wants to move up from the dregs of society. Of course in a world where people are more resilient weapons become more deadly.



That’s where the plot comes in. Based on Babylon Babies, there is also the element of other films here. Gloria or the more recent (and horrendously bad revision of Gloria) Ultraviolet, come to mind. As does a bit of Mad Max, Soylent Green, and maybe a dash of D.O.A.

Essentially, from what I have read of the film, bio-weapons are common in this world. Unlike the randomness of say anthrax, these future bugs are very specific in nature. That’s why Vin Diesel’s character – a loner out for himself (ala Han Solo maybe) – is given a job of transporting a woman form Russia to Canada and then America. This woman is not ordinary at all. She is enhanced with defensive tools and carries the ultimate prize – a baby unlike any other in the world.



The question becomes how deadly is her baby, does she want to give up her child, should Vin Diesel complete his contract, and what is actually the best thing to do for the world. Of course his one immediate question is what is best for him, and does the fate of the world include or conflict with that answer.

The video clips of the film look interesting. It’s gritty, dark and seething with impending doom. This is the Vin Diesel we all have come to enjoy. The Triple X/Riddick style of quasi-good guy that he does well. I expect that there is no good guy in this film, just gradations on bad. And Diesel shines in that kind of role.




Of course he is not alone. Michele Yeoh is in this film as well. Likely as a sometimes competitor/ally that is familiar with some aspect of the world that Diesel needs to complete his mission. Which means she will be kicking ass in a major way. If Jackie Chan thinks she can do her own stunts, then any film not allowing her to bloody up a few opponents has failed. According to the trailer they didn’t fail in that respect.

Add in the fact that Lambert Wilson is in the film. You may recall him from the 2nd and 3rd Matrix movies. He has a nice polished Euro-trash villain look so that could be a bonus as well.

And for those tattoo enthusiast, or those that notice details, the tattoo Diesel wears is from the Necronomicon as designed by Khem Caigan.

Is this going to be a blockbuster film? Possibly not. It’s coming at the end of the summer season. Meaning that Hollywood execs didn’t think it was strong enough to compete with Iron Man or Dark Knight films. Yet Pitch Black was in a similar situation and while not on the record-setting pace of some films it was a huge success.

Sill I look forward to seeing this film. Vin Diesel and Michelle Yeoh are pretty well known for picking good films to be in (with the glaring exception of the Pacifier). That ups the odds of this being a solid film. But it’s only another 25 or so days til the movie hits the theaters so we won’t have long to find out.