Proper Attitude

I am planning on checking out Downtown Abbey, at some point, but Damian Lewis and Gina McKee are fantastic in The Forsyte Saga. The series is a soap opera (remember those?), way better than anything involving the Kardashians. Lewis is especially diabolical as the character of Soames, a despicable husband to McKee's Irene Heron. Sigh, the days when books, the theater, opera, and dancing superseded all forms of entertainment, and it took at least a few days for news to get anywhere. Whereas now, we have knowledge of what international policymakers had for lunch in mere hours. Or if not, someone knows somewhere and will post as such in the very near future. The allure of incessant voyeurism should wear off at some point, at least. Here's hoping.

"My Week with Michelle", Disappointing Casting

I haven't seen the Golden Globe-nominated film "My Week with Marilyn" yet, but I don't really have any interest to, either. For basically one reason in particular:  I hate the movie poster, just despise it.

Michelle Williams was amazing in "Blue Valentine", as was Ryan Gosling. She has a knack for conveying a raw vulnerability, the kind I would liken to a doe walking in the woods while a hunter is watching, sniper window at the ready. She is a master at this vulnerability, and it is authentic. But man, those posters. They just are blatantly Michelle Williams Acting as Marilyn Monroe, that finger in the mouth. Ick, so contrived. I don't have to watch the film to know she didn't inhabit the character at all, because she was miscast.  

Marilyn was a sex icon, and always will be in a different way than Sophia Loren, Liz Taylor, or Jane Fonda, as she was immortalized before her time. But you don't become a sex icon on vulnerability alone. My impression is the former small-town girl Norma Jean was tough, brassy, saucy, lethal, and intelligent, all rolled into one at her core. Vulnerable and unbalanced are really just surface adjectives for her appearance to the world around her and at-large. Williams does more justice to Monroe's surface view, rather than the troubled actress's inner life, especially on this freaking poster.  

Christina Hendricks would have gone gangbusters on the role of Marilyn. Not only does she better fit the physicality of Marilyn, but it would have been a perfect stepping-stone for her from the character of Joan on "Mad Men". Right now (in rapt anticipation of the next season), Hendrick's character trajectory on the show has been Joan does not always win in love, but she refuses to let it keep her down. She remains a harbinger of hope for shrinking violets. Joan breaks down walls set up in place for woman during that time period of the '60s, balancing her sexuality with authority in the workplace, a rare feat. Even in current times, sad to say, her presence would probably raise some eyebrows, as her feminine curves would be construed as "wiles". But instead of using her sexuality to "win a man" so she can marry and have children, as was apropos among secretaries at the time (at least on "Mad Men"), she wields it to her advantage. Not to mention, does so with dignity, savvy, humor, and sophistication.

The resemblance is uncanny, is it not?

Sounds pretty similar to Marilyn, in a sense. Marilyn exposed herself for all of the world to see, comment on, and judge her identity, which I daresay is brave, if nothing else. She could not preserve her self-identity in it all, but who's to say she didn't try? Rendering her as unbalanced and needy, with self-descrutive vices, is both simplistic and disappointing. It's a cheap way to expose her vulnerability within the character of a film. Award-winning film, apparently, nevertheless. Marilyn was once a real person, not just an idea simmering in the cultural lexicon, of which there are plentiful derivatives, one in particular Lindsay Lohan. Lohan more and more seems as if trying to emulate Marilyn in her downward spiral, eyeing the cameras on court dates, while burying her inner life deeper and deeper past day-to-day reality.

And why in the world was this film nominated for a comedy on the Golden Globes? Just goes to show, if anything, The Weinstein Company is an ace at making pretty good films and doing some pretty damn good business. And at entertaining Hollywood-borne archaic notions of women as talent in the meanwhile.

Lemons into Lemonade

Print ad from Amsterdam Ad Blog meant to convey the natural ingredients used in this brand of ice cream. There is some really great creative out of this country, am I right? Question:  Does it have anything to do with wooden clogs?

Making-of Heineken commercial, awarded Eurobest's Winner for 2011's film category, by Wieden and Kenney Amsterdam. Advertising a lot of times works with huge budgets, and the amount of detail that went into this actual commercial is staggering. Especially because it breezes by so fast, you don't quite catch all of the detail.  

Clogs by fashion designers Viktor and Rolf. Their website is so wackadoodle, it's OFF THE HOOK. 

As of January, cannabis cafes are not open to tourists anymore. The Red Light district still gets a green light for foreign perusal of other vices? Tad contradictory if so.

Chicago Heart

I saw on Roger Ebert's Twitter feed Maggie Daley recently passed away from breast cancer. I worked on a behind-the-scenes video for Dreaming Tree Films when I lived in Chicago on one of the schools involved in After School Matters. This is such a great program and contribution to the city, it really helps out talented kids that wouldn't have opportunities to think about extracurriculars like art, otherwise. I remember interviewing the kids involved, and my co-producer and I noticed some of them didn't have much, but with positive emotional support from their family, they were happy. And that's what matters anyway, right? A sentiment that speaks to the holiday season, but which Maggie Daley encompassed for the people of Chicago, not just her own family.

Image source

Creative Delays, IST

My impression is there are still a lot of Westerners when they think of India, they visualize cows in the streets, overpopulation, an absence of traffic lights. Those impressions are actually not too far off the mark, but what makes India unique is its breadth of creativity, enabled by the freedom to pour forth from its oceans of people. Except now, I seem to have spoken too soon. Tricky in a democratic society, to conclude it's possible to censor public dialogue about government officials, but not Bollywood stars. Meanwhile in China, artists like Ai Weiwei can't even Tweet without the government getting all 1984 about it.

Nevertheless, I am a total fan of the Wieden +Kennedy Dehli office blog page. They did the advertising campaign for IndiGo, the only airline in India I hear right now that isn't getting plagued with delays. And they've also put together this great resource for hip, trendy, and artistic things to do, see, shop for in India, The India Tube. There are some archaic elements about India that probably won't change anytime soon, this is all but certain. But it's always a nice idea to appreciate what I think is an Indian cultural mantra; stop watching the rain and wait for the sun to break through the clouds instead.

Post updated 12/06/11.

Photo from W + K Dehli

Hillary Humbled

Wow. So not even considering another presidential run, in any capacity, whatsoever. That leaves Republican Michele Bachmann to represent the ladies thus far? Ouch. The Hillary of times past seems to have disappeared: What's with the shoulder-length hair, bright toothy smile, and "Oh my goodness, no" look in her eye at the suggestion? And sense of camaraderie with that model-perfect Today newscaster? Ugh. Make me wistful for the ball-breaking hard-ass Hillary of yore.

Well, in other news, Bobby Jindal was re-elected governor of Louisiana. An underdog by default, he was the first Indian-American governor, elected in 2007. My bet there are a fair share of Republicans eyeballing Jindal with a greedy look in their eye for party considerations down the road. Probably a little more legit cause than Herman Cain and his abortion stance.

Think Different. Words of Wisdom by Steve Jobs (and ad agency Chiat Day).

Apple did a revolutionary commercial TV spot in 1984. 1984 was the year of George Orwell, Apple's ground-breaking Superbowl ad, and IQ84 is the title of Japanese author Haruki Murakami's latest book, the English translation over 900 pages. It was an inspiring year, marked by great works then and now.

Apple's headquarters held a tribute to Steve Jobs in Cupertino, CA, which you can watch on the company's website, here. During the tribute, Cook also quoted from Jobs (Steve Jobs, not the religious text--I will paraphrase the quote) simplicity can be harder to achieve than complexity. That's why the tagline "Think Different", the very definition of Apple as a brand, encapsulated both the company and what its achievements meant and would mean to the world, in such a perfect and I daresay American way. It's not just where we've been, but where we're going together that matters.

The company's successive CEO, Tim Cook, said the spot following that mind-blowing Superbowl ad was initially supposed to be narrated by Steve Jobs. But then Richard Dreyfusss did instead, to ensure the meaning of the ad stayed with the company, rather than glorify Jobs's role. I have to say, the Jobs version is way better, but the creative choice was probably apropos at the time. Text from the narrated spot enclosed below, as well as video:


Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do. – "Think Different", narrated by Steve Jobs