Oscar Ads Not So Bad, 'Crash' Wins
I didn't watch the entire broadcast of The Oscars but I will tell you this: many of the ads during the broadcast were, far and away, superior to those that aired during the Super Bowl. Miller ran an ad that actually treated beer drinkers as intelligent people. American Express (say what you will about celebrity selling out to that campaign) created an amazing and very quirky commercial featuring M. Night Shamalan. It was brilliant. The ad is currently viewable on the My Life My Card site.
Aside from the ads, the presentation of the honorary Oscar to Robert Altman by Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin was one of the best presentations in Oscar history. The performance put teleprompters and most other actors to shame.
The one downer during the broadcast was the occassional degradation of the DVD coupled with the pompous assumption that the movie theater is the only place to see a film. If it weren't for the idiots who talk through an entire film, parents who bring their entire family including the screaming two year old to and R rated movie and the ceaseless barrage of pre-roll ads, maybe, just maybe, we'd agree with that sentiment.
Oh, and by the way, the only best picture nominee we saw this year was the film that won: Crash. What a horrible acceptance speech for that film though.
Comments
The Oscar snooze-fest was pleasantly invigorated by that two-person 'adlib' by Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep. Well done.
And I also give a hats off to Jon Stewart for his unique approach to Hollywood in his opening monologue.
First, you have to spell his name right, "M. Night Shyamalan". Next, if you have never seen Mr. M. Night Shyamalanan and you don't know what he looks like, the commercial's first 50 seconds was a waste. It was well done, but it doesn't sell anything.
It was not a waste on me. While I do know Shyamalan, have seen him before, it didn't register with me that it was him until the end. I still got it. I still think it was great.
I too think it was great.
Not everything needs to be about 'sell' as is the case in these series of AMEX ads.
Kate Winslet's spot doesn't sell anything - it's about the message and the position (to me, anyways). It's their card, it's your card, it's whatever you want to do with it.