HBO created a little guerilla film (mock documentary) delving into one of the subplots of How To Make It In America. If you’ve been watching the show, you’ll remember the skate decks that Cam (Victor Rasuk) invests in, which he can’t sell. Cam’s debt and overstock of useless skateboards launch the two main characters into the TV shows main plotline — starting another business venture, a denim line.
What can we say about the mysterious Wilfredo Gomez? The fictional character is part delinquent, part joker, part freak, part amazing athlete, part derelict — but all legend. Wilfredo is a composite of that brilliant talent we all know in the skater world that slipped into the dark path of obscurity with his personal demons.
The short film ends with the phrase, “Legends Never Die”, which was the mantra for our dear friend Harold Hunter, whose knucklehead spirit is still around the streets of New York City today. We still miss him. Sniff. Sniff.
(RIP Harold Hunter)
Special shout-outs go out to Eli Gessner, Atiba Jefferson, Jumonji, Alex Corporan, Dave Ortiz, Todd Jordan, and Mark Gonzalez — who spoke for all the skaters that stormed through this world but left their deep mark on us.
This week, we met with someone who works at a brand I consider a classic — Faber-Castell. She had casually mentioned an advertisement they created in 1957 that had won an advertising award at Cannes back in 1957. The commercial was entitled “Ballgame” (2:29) and the objective was to introduce a new writing instrument — the ball point pen.
I find that the modern viral videos today are more abstract and flippant than the average broadcast commercial — so when I see these 1950’s spots, I’m reminded of the spirit of creativity that once was — way before it got formulaic. These ads were also created for broadcast TV which would be unheard of today. They almost seem like short films.
The second spot, “Jousting Knights” (2:24) is another animation but with a plot line. The narrative of this commercial is a battle of the old writing instrument (the pencil) going head to head with the new writing instrument. Faber-Castell’s corporate logo is the jousting knights, so here is an example of integrating corporate identity with some “out of box” thinking.
In their own little way, there is a grandeur to these tiny spots… a certain weight, craftsmanship, and attention to detail. We hope to see a return to this way of thinking in terms of online advertising, where the rules are “looser” and not beholden to cookie cutter approaches. Whenever in doubt, just look back. Our grandfathers did it best.
Gone are the days of risk-taking. Poo Poo on Joan Rivers for scaring away the daring ones. It seems this years Oscar Ceremony on Sunday, March 7, 2010 has a bevy of elegant potential winners. We can’t wait to see them shine on the carpet. Here is the rundown. Let the betting pools begin…
Actress in a Supporting Role
Mo’Nique in Precious
Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
Penélope Cruz in Nine
Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart
Actor in a Supporting Role
Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
Matt Damon in Invictus
Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
Actress in a Leading Role
Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia
Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Helen Mirren in The Last Station
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious
Carey Mulligan in An Education
Actor in a Leading Role
Morgan Freeman in Invictus
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
George Clooney in Up in the Air
Colin Firth in A Single Man
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker
Animated Feature Film
Up (Pete Docter and Bob Peterson)
The Princess and the Frog (Ron Clements and John Musker)
Coraline (Henry Selick)
Fantastic Mr Fox (Wes Anderson)
The Secret of Kells (Tomm Moore)
Foreign Language Film
Ajami (Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, Israel)
A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, France)
The Secret of Her Eyes (Juan Jose Campanella, Argentina)
The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, Germany)
The Milk of Sorrow (Claudia Llosa, Peru)
Directing
Avatar (James Cameron)
The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow)
Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
Up in the Air (Jason Reitman)
Precious (Lee Daniels)
Writing (adapted screenplay)
District 9 (Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell)
An Education (Nick Hornby)
Precious (Geoffrey Fletcher)
Up in the Air (Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner)
In the Loop (Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche)
Writing (original screenplay)
The Hurt Locker (Mark Boal)
Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen)
Up (Pete Docter and Bob Petersen)
The Messenger (Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman)
Best Picture
Avatar (James Cameron and Jon Landau, producers)
District 9 (Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, producers)
An Education (Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, producers)
The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, producers)
Inglourious Basterds (Lawrence Bender, producer)
Precious (Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, producers)
A Serious Man (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, producers)
Up in the Air (Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, producers)
The Blind Side (Gil Netter, Andrew A Kosove and Broderick Johnson, producers)
Up (Jonas Rivera, producer)
Art Direction
Avatar (art direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; set decoration: Kim Sinclair)
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (art direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; set decoration: Caroline Smith)
Nine (art direction: John Myhre; set decoration: Gordon Sim)
Sherlock Holmes (art direction: Sarah Greenwood; set decoration: Katie Spencer)
The Young Victoria (art direction: Patrice Vermette; set decoration: Maggie Gray)
Cinematography
Avatar (Mauro Fiore)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Bruno Delbonnel)
The Hurt Locker (Barry Ackroyd)
Inglourious Basterds (Robert Richardson)
The White Ribbon (Christian Berger)
Costume Design
Bright Star (Janet Patterson)
Coco Before Chanel (Catherine Leterrier)
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Monique Prudhomme)
Nine (Colleen Atwood)
The Young Victoria (Sandy Powell)
Documentary (feature)
Burma VJ (Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller)
The Cove (Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens)
Food, Inc (Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein)
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith)
Which Way Home (Rebecca Cammisa)
Documentary (short subject)
China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province (Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill)
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner (Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher)
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant (Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert)
Music by Prudence (Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett)
Rabbit à la Berlin (Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra)
Film Editing
Avatar (Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron)
District 9 (Julian Clarke)
The Hurt Locker (Bob Murawski and Chris Innis)
Inglourious Basterds (Sally Menke)
Precious (Joe Klotz)
Makeup
Il Divo (Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano)
The Young Victoria (Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore)
Star Trek (Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow)
Music (original score)
Avatar (James Horner)
Fantastic Mr Fox (Alexandre Desplat)
Up (Michael Giacchino)
The Hurt Locker (Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders)
Sherlock Holmes (Hans Zimmer)
Music (original song)
Almost There, from The Princess and the Frog, by Randy Newman
Down in New Orleans, from The Princess and the Frog, by Randy Newman
Loin de Paname, from Paris 36, by Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas
Take It All, from Nine, by Maury Yeston
The Weary Kind, from Crazy Heart, by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
Short Film (animated)
French Roast (Fabrice O Joubert)
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty (Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell)
Logoramam (Nicolas Schmerkin)
The Lady and the Reaper (Javier Recio Gracia)
A Matter of Loaf and Death (Nick Park)
Short Film (live action)
The Door (Juanita Wilson and James Flynn)
Instead of Abracadabra (Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström)
Kavi (Gregg Helvey)
Miracle Fish (Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey)
The New Tenants (Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson)
Sound Editing
Avatar (Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle)
The Hurt Locker (Paul NJ Ottosson)
Inglourious Basterds (Wylie Stateman)
Star Trek (Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin)
Up (Michael Silvers and Tom Myers)
Sound Mixing
Avatar (Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson)
The Hurt Locker (Paul NJ Ottosson and Ray Beckett)
Inglourious Basterds (Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano)
Star Trek (Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J Devlin)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Greg P Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson)
Visual Effects
Avatar (Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R Jones)
District 9 (Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken)
Star Trek (Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton)
Author:Jauretsi | Posted: February 23rd, 2010 | Filed under:Music, TV |
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(Aloe Blacc, soul singer for the opening song of HBO’s How To Make It In America)
If you’re watching HBO’s new show, How To Make It In America (On Episode 2 now), you’ll notice this NY based show begins with a soulful anthem — sort of a throwback to Bill Withers. After all, the inspiration for the main characters’ denim line is inspired by 1970’s New York era, which is going draw upon a rich history of early funk, hip hop, latin boogaloo, and punk rock.
Anyway, the voice you hear on the opening title is new artist Aloe Blacc, an American soul singer, rapper, and musician. His first album entitled “Shine Through”, was released by Stones Throw Records in 2006, the same label that brought you Peanut Butter Wolf, Madlib, J Dilla, among other respected underground artists.
(The crew hanging out at Freeman’s Restaurant off the Bowery)
With this new HBO show (compared to the NY version of Entourage) we don’t have the wonderfully complex foil such as Jeremy Piven’s character, Ari Gold… but we DO have the NY equivalent, Luis Guzman (with this sordid gangster past) who is trying to chain down his demons post-prison — wrestling his “inner thug”. Like Jeremy Piven, it seems Luis will present an endless amount of fascinating subplots with his shady past unraveling before our eyes…. ohhhh, the possibilities.
(The new Ari Gold. Luis Guzman is the seasoned actor acting as anchor of this show)
In general it appears each actor has an inherent love for the soul of New York. Most are born and bred here. Cred Casting. I gotta admit, I seem to relate more to the characters for this series, considering the fact they multi-industry peers (gallery owner, clothing designer, interior designer, etc). Socializing in New York means befriending people with diverse passions. Toss in the fact people are rocking Alife, eating at Freemans, and hearing War’s “Me and Baby Brother”. HBO did an authentic job here. Props.
If you don’t live in NY, you can purchase the song, walk around with your headphones, and feel “the hustle” of the city. Read more about Aloe’s work at StonesThrow.com. The 12-inch vinyl for “Dollar” will be in stores April 2010. There is an advance digital release, which is also available on iTunes. Instrumentals for both tracks are included. His album “Good Things” will be released in 2010.
(Aloe Blacc, soul singer for the opening song of HBO’s How To Make It In America)
(The crew hanging out at Freeman’s Restaurant off the Bowery)
(The new Ari Gold. Luis Guzman is the seasoned actor acting as anchor of this show)