Monday Morning Quarterback Part II
By BOP Staff
February 8, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Kim Hollis: What was your favorite non-movie Super Bowl commercial?
Josh Spiegel: The Snickers ad with Richard Lewis and Roseanne. While I know a lot of people like the Darth Vader as a child ad, it was cute but did not make me laugh. Both ads win for not being crass or juvenile or needlessly complicated, but as awful as it is, I laughed at Roseanne's appearance at the end of the Snickers ad. Which may have been crass and/or juvenile. Okay, my criteria don't make sense, but these were the most notable ads of the night that did not suck and/or involve Oscar winners.
Brett Beach: I wasn't sure I would come up with anything until I saw the insect-themed ad for the 2011 Beetle. It kept me watching to see what the product was going to be, and I found it to be visually exciting, and, more importantly, it imparted a real sense of exhilaration. The worst was the ad for the new digital newspaper The Daily that made use of Joey Ramone's cover of "What a Wonderful World." Whoever in his estate allowed that song to shill for Rupert Murdoch should be keelhauled.
Reagen Sulewski: It doesn't fit the usual "be funny" paradigm of Super Bowl ads (although, neither did Pepsi's! Hi-yo!) but from a short film aspect, the Chrysler 200 ad with Eminem was very well done. I also like the "Kid in a candy store" ad for CarMax, which really had fun with its theme.
Bruce Hall: I am probably the only guy in America who finds the ads AND the halftime show an irritating distraction from the game, but yes I liked the Vader Kid. What can I say. I spent a lot of hours at the breakfast table trying to bend cereal spoons with my mind after seeing Jedi five times.
Jim Van Nest: I liked the Vader ad, but much prefer the full 1:00 add that's been on YouTube for the last few days. I agree with Reagen on the Eminem Detroit ad...I thought that was very well done. Probably third for me was the Old West-Tiny Dancer Budweiser ad. But that could be because it was the only sorta-Clydesdale ad of the night...effing InBev.
Kim Hollis: I also liked the Eminem live-action ad, and the Tiny Dancer ad. Anything that invokes Almost Famous is all right with me.
David Mumpower: Upon reflection, the ad that impressed me the most in terms of making me want to buy the product is the Motorola Xoom. They somehow managed to take a shot at the Samsung Galaxy AND the iPad at the same time. Otherwise, I rarely line up with the Super Bowl Ad Meter with regards to likes and dislikes. I found the dog commercial insipid other than the poker joke at the end and even that was a bit obvious. I admire the honesty of the Pepsi "IwannasleepwithherIwannasleepwithher" ad, but it didn't make me want to buy Pepsi. Then again, I wasn't stoned enough for the Coke ad with the dragon or several others this year. A lot of World of Warcraft players seemed in charge of the 2011 Super Bowl ad campaigns. My favorite overall ad was that strangely gripping Audi spot where they broke out of Rich Person Jail.
Well, the Transformers ad didn't have any robots or dogs humping, so...
Kim Hollis: What are your impressions of the movie commercials from the Super Bowl?
Josh Spiegel: I'd say that most of them looked uninvolving, but there were a few winners. My favorites were Super 8 (Coach Taylor gets to be in a blockbuster!) and Cowboys and Aliens. Both offered similar stuff to the other blockbusters, but something about the footage in these two seemed more special. Super 8, of course, gets extra points for not only being directed by JJ Abrams, but also being technically original, something pretty much every other summer movie can't claim. Sign me up.
Max Braden: Cowboys & Aliens looks great to me, but I wonder if there were a large part of the audience thinking Hollywood has lost its mind. Transformers 3 looks darkly good, but I think I was probably impressed by the trailer for 2 but was let down by the movie itself. Pirates 4 was the same way - I keep wanting to see them because of the trailer but except for the 1st movie they've been letdowns. There was a second Chevy Transformers tie-in after the game that was decent. The Captain America ad made me want to see it, because of the WWII scientist vibe and warfare action. Thor less so. Super 8 was interesting in that they were playing fairy tale music over the dramatic images from the movie. That gave it a real Spielberg stamp, but I preferred the teaser from last year which went for the scare factor. And I've been waiting for Battle: LA since the first trailer. One thing I like about it and other monster movies like District 9 is when they give you very wide shots of the aliens/craft/and battles as part of the overall environment; it helps add to the realism for me.
Brett Beach: No interest in more Transformers. No interest in the super hero movies. No interest in the latest Independence Day mutation. Less interest than that in the latest Jack Sparrow. Cowboys and Aliens gets me excited because I take it on faith that Jon Favreau has once again made a blockbuster that is at least worth considering. I didn't get a chance to see the Super 8 trailer.
I don't know when else I may have a chance to just let the disappointment roll out all at once so - glancing at this year' major slate of releases, weekend by weekend, as it stands now, leaves me less interested with what they are offering than at any point I can recall in my post-adolescent and adult life. April 8th could be uncharacteristically awesome (Arthur, Hanna, Your Highness). I am eagerly awaiting the latest Malick on Memorial Day weekend. There are blips of excitement here and there, but I am guessing I am going to be turning to independent films whose names I don't even know yet for most of my cinematic satisfaction.
Reagen Sulewski: Personally I thought it was a solid bunch of movie ads. Pirates of the Caribbean will fare much better relieved of the burden of trying to cram the Keira Knightley/Orlando Bloom storyline in, and just have fun with its adventure setting. Super 8 definitely has that feel of 1980 action-adventure, though it probably doesn't fit well in a 30 second spot. I'm intrigued to see what they can pull off in a longer trailer. Battle: Los Angeles has had me since that wordless first teaser, but this is the non-shaky cam Cloverfield that I think we've all been looking for. I'm also quite jazzed for Cowboys and Aliens, though that has a lot of potential to fall on its face.
On the negative side, Transformers again seems to be about throwing a bunch of crap up against the screen, and I'm already penciling it in for a spot on my worst of 2011 list. And Rio looks like the most lifeless bit of candy-colored animation since Happy Feet.
Bruce Hall: I'm going to go with Brett and dish out a heaping helping of pessimism. I despise Pirates of the Caribbean so much they could put Jason Statham AND Optimus Prime in it and I'll stay home wash my car instead. Speaking of Optimus Prime, another trailer for another Transformers film was about as good for me as a handful of Tylenol PM. Speaking of my car, I am happy any time another Fast and Furious film is made. Also encouraging - I finally saw a Cowboys and Aliens spot that was more interesting than baffling. Back on the downside, Super 8 made me wonder why I shouldn't just snag a copy of Close Encounters on Blu-Ray. I can't be the only one who sat there with my brow furrowed thinking "Aliens, strange stuff happening down by the railroad tracks, cute kids on bicycles, music that REMINDS me of cute kids on bicycles, lots of lens flare...paging Spielberg-Abrams, party of two. Your plate of rehash is ready."
It might be good, but I'm not convinced; I need more than names and self congratulatory pomp. On the bright side, Battle: Los Angeles looks very explodalicious (in a good way, not an "Independence Day" way). Thor looks like something I want to see and I can't explain why. Maybe it's because the super macho trailer grew hair on the backs of my hands. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was the fact that Captain America now looks interesting. Two comics I avoided like the plague as a child are two of the films I'd kind of like to see the most this year. I guess you really can go home again.
Daron Aldridge: My apathy for Transformers wasn't killed by this new ad. While I was already interested in Captain America, I am so much more so now. That fact that we got to see there will be an actual transformation with the Super Soldier serum is exciting to me. And I am not particularly a fan of the Captain America comic.
David Mumpower: I thought there was a strange start to the proceedings as Brooklyn Decker’s bathing suit camel toe was given international exposure. That commercial reminded me of how 10 was sold back in the day by having Bo Derek run in slow motion on the beach. So, this is a strategy that can and maybe will work for an otherwise weak looking Adam Sandler comedy.
Battle: Los Angeles did everything it could to make people think of Cloverfield and I think it largely accomplished this goal. I will note that I also found myself thinking of Skyline at a couple of points. There is nothing that the producers of Battle: Los Angeles can do to avoid this as it took them a lot longer to film than the cheap knockoff. I did find myself wondering if other consumers would make the same connection, though. My inclination is that Battle: Los Angeles will be a hit. If it’s not, the sense of being a derivative project of an idea that hasn’t done very well in recent movies or television programming (V is has one foot in the grave) is what hurts it.
David Mumpower: The Kung Fu Panda 2 commercial failed to distinguish it from the original, which is intentional but a bit worrisome. More of the same is rarely enough for a sequel, even if Kung Fu Panda is an adorable premise. And the Transformers sequel merits absolutely no conversation based on the failed quality of its predecessor. I look forward to more leg humping from the worst major director in Hollywood.
Conversely, Fast Five recreated the triumph of Fast and Furious by including a breathtaking stunt at the end that encapsulates what consumers want from the franchise. Plus, they made the correct decision to focus upon the outsider perspective of The Rock in evaluating the returning players. The Rock chasing Vin Diesel is going to make people want to watch this; I expect Fast Five to be massive.
The Cowboys & Aliens trailer is too trippy for me, but I’m willing to give Jon Favreau the benefit of the doubt. Man, Harrison Ford looks old, though. James Garner is 82 years old and I still think he’d take Ford in a fight. I was surprised by the Super 8 commercial in that the spot was supposed to remind me of E.T. yet I found myself considering the huge disappointment, batteries not included, instead. J.J. Abrams is a filmmaker I trust and his interviews thus far indicate he thinks he has knocked this one out of the park but that ad in no way shows me the movie he has seen from the dailies.
With regards to the two major Marvel superhero movies, I maintain significant concerns about Thor as a standalone movie, even as I enjoy the juxtaposition of him being an Oklahoma doctor and a Norse deity. It doesn’t help any that any time I see Australian actor Chris Hemsworth talk, I cannot understand a word he says. I know that we have a lot of Australian writers as well as an Australian staff member, so I want to stress that I’m not speaking about the accent in general, just his. It’s thick…and I’m Tennessean. I know all about those. Captain America is the title I am sure will perform solidly if for no other reason than the fact that this character is extraordinarily popular with military personnel. The reverence shown to Cappy’s Shield is enough to build a blockbuster around. The commercial is a bit paint by numbers, but this the rare instance where that is appropriate for non-comic book readers/videogame players.
And I’m just happy to see Captain Jack Sparrow again.
Kim Hollis: I guess I'm the only person who gets a serious Wild Wild West vibe from Cowboys vs. Aliens. I kept looking for the giant spider. I think Thor looks more interesting than Captain America, although I can't explain why. Kung Fu Panda 2 is cute as heck, but I was sold before I ever saw a trailer. I haven't seen a Fast and the Furious movie since the first one, but this one looked kind of fun.
And Ian McShane as Blackbeard in Pirates 4? That's all you had to show me, thanks.