We Are All Jealous of Casey Niestat

I might be late to the game, but it didn't occur to me who Casey Niestat was and what a big deal he is until I connected the face in a video I saw yesterday about "$13,238.86 left in a taxi" from the New York Times to the same face in a video I watched a while back called "Make It Count" for Nike Fuelband.

I thought the same thing after watching both videos--this guy is a storytelling genius. Watching his videos, you feel a weird mix of jealousy and admiration, where you're jealous he gets to travel the world and film his experiences, but you credit him for being able to leave you feeling slightly enlightened after a few minutes. I'm getting the sense he does a lot of branded or endorsed work, but at the same time, he doesn't let it get in the way of his storytelling (watch the Nike video below).

I'll probably watch Casey and his brother's HBO show The Niestat Brothers sometime soon i.e. after the Olympics, to get a sense of his other work.

If you have a few minutes and want to see why "video storytelling" is the best thing, if not the next best thing, watch the videos below:

Ted is Real, His Name is Oscar

Funny, after watching the "Ted" trailer with Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis and Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane as Ted the teddy bear, I couldn't help laughing about how similar Ted is to my boyfriend's childhood teddy bear Oscar (he's a bear, NOT a monkey). I know crazy right? If you thought the movie was weird, think again, because a living teddy bear is not that weird. Oscar sleeps next to me every night in the corner with his pudgy foot often times kicking me in my face. Like Ted, Oscar has a giant head larger then mine, finds joy in the occasional drink and is a staple at house parties. Oh, did I tell you he likes to watch Mad Men too? I can't wait for the movie to come out in the summer, it looks like a riot. Oscar said he's excited too.

Judd Apatow Can Thank Me For Bridesmaids

Two years ago when The Hangover came out, I had written a post ("Why Can't Girls Get Hangovers Too", 6/15/09) about the differences in male- and female-centric comedies and the ditzy, valley girl stereotype of female comedians. In my post, I challenged Judd Apatow or Todd Phillips to create a Hangover for women, and guest what?! Two years later we have BRIDESMAIDS produced by Judd Apatow himself! I'm really excited to see the movie, despite my dislike for the title and awful pink bridesmaids dresses, but PLUS SIDE, the manliest man alive Jon Hamm is in the film and he has great things to say about his female costars and the comparisons to The Hangover:

"I think funny is funny. It doesn't have a gender assigned to it." - Jon Hamm

The Greatest Movie Marketers Should Watch About Themselves

I am really looking forward to seeing Morgan Spurlock's--the Director of Super Size Me--new documentary The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, opening on April 22nd. It is a movie about product placement funded by product placement... genius idea right? I'm curious to see what angle Spurlock will take, whether he associates Brands with greed or with entrepreneurial passion. As a person who works in media planning for Corporate America, I often see media plan over media plan that focuses on mass reach, impression volume and GRPs (TV metric called Gross Rating Points), forgetting that Americans today live in an overly saturated advertising landscape and have been trained to tune certain ads out. It is not to say that Brand Awareness isn't important, but to stand out, Brands have to think differently--and this is where Spurlock's awesome TED talk comes in.

For anyone in the advertising and marketing industry, I highly recommend watching Spurlock's 20-minute TED Talk about the importance of Brand Transparency and Taking Risks. My favorite quote of the talk is "if you take chances, if you take risks, that in those risks will come opportunity..."

However, if you really just want to see a movie about product placement, then re-watch Talladega Nights with Will Ferrell ("Hi, I'm Ricky Bobby. If you don't chew Big Red, then f-*bleep* you."), especially the family dinner scene where eight brands: Domino's Pizza, Taco Bell, Country Crock, Wonder Bread, Powerade, Budweiser, Coca-Cola and KFC are consecutively shot in the first 7 seconds of the clip below:

How to Steal A Million the Old School Way

Call me old school but I love old TV shows and movies, especially from the 60s, probably because I was only allowed to watch Nick At Nite after 9 p.m. growing up. I have exhausted Hulu's I Dream of Jeannie episodes so tonight I'm downloading Audrey Hepburn's 1966 movie How To Steal A Million on iTunes to provide me with some pure, fun escapism. There's a simplicity to old movies that I find extremely soothng--no CGI, vampires or apocalyptic story lines--plus I watched the trailer and Audrey's Givenchy wardrobe is to die for. Maybe I'll also learn some tips on how to steal a million.

11-11-11, How My Biggest Fear Isn't Just Turning 25 Anymore

I have been looking forward to the year 2011 since 2000...why 2000? Because I knew we had survived the Y2K and that the 2000s were real, but... why 2011? Because not only is my favorite number "11" (I waited for my University's graduation countdown clock to hit 11 days 11 hours 11 mins 11 sec), I turn a quarter of a century on 11-11-11! Yes, this beyond awesome date happens once every hundred years and I turn 25 (ahhhhh mid twenties) on it. I'm not super religious or spiritual but I am somewhat of a math and symmetry nerd so obviously the date 11-11-11 has great significance to me.

I had big plans for this wonderful 11-11-11 Friday birthday, possibly party in the City with Diddy or most likely eat a ton of food with my closest friends followed by some (drinking) games.  Whatever we end up doing, the plan was to make it a day of celebration, UNTIL THE DIRECTOR OF THE SAW SERIES DARREN LYNN BOUSMAN DECIDED TO CREATE A HORROR FILM INSPIRED BY THE DATE "11-11-11".  WTFart.

There are very few things that I dislike: 1) Scary Movies, 2) Roller Coasters, and 3) Kasha.  Yes, that earthy grainy stuff Ukranians eat.  Being intentionally scared and voluntarily putting myself through traumatic, disturbing experiences is not what I call fun.  I absolutely hate scary movies, I even have to close my eyes during the previews on TV.  And now, Bousman has turned my numerically symmetric date into a money-making thriller that will probably come out only in 3D (or 11D?).  Of all things to make a movie about, why couldn't 11-11-11 be a romantic comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and a hot actress! Why a scary movie?!

I'll admit there are some intriguing and crazy theories about 11-11-11 that are worth pursuing.  I'm a huge believer in chance happenings--the most significant moments of my life were all by chance like meeting my boyfriend randomly at a Carnival, BU scoring 2 goals in less than a minute in the National title game which also happened to be the last hockey game of my college career and the birth of my lovely, beautiful sister--anyways, maybe this film is a test.  Maybe I need to face my fear of scary movies in order to fully grow up, or it could just mean your mid-twenties is absolutely SCARY.

All I know is this date means a lot to me for one reason or another, and for the rest of you crazy, scary movie fans you have something to look forward to too.

Happy Harry Potter Premiere Birthday

I might as well be celebrating my twelfth birthday today, considering I spent 10 hours camping out in Leicester Square for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 World Premiere with the ENTIRE British teenage female population.  I had a head cold and sore throat last night but somehow pulled myself together to arrive at Leicester Square around 8 am to wait in the miserable wind, rain and cold until 5 when the cast arrived (I might have cheated and ate lunch at Burger King followed by some dessert at Haagen Daz... it was really cold and rainy okay).  Even though I probably now have the flu, there was no way I would not have went to the premiere for the last Harry Potter movie in London ON MY BIRTHDAY.  I didn't make it into Leicester Square Gardens which was gated off (the people who made it in camped out for two days...) but I was still able to get close enough to Harry, Ron and Hermione for photos and autographs.  While I am a bigger fan of the books than the movies, Harry Potter in any shape or form has had a huge impact on my growing up and it is quite fitting that as I turn 24 today, I am also witnessing the end of something really significant from my childhood.

Yay! World Premiere of HP7 in London

Lines at 8am, wrapped around the square

 The premiere wasn't even set up yet

 Is that facial hair Harry?

 So is Draco Malfoy...

Japanese Newscaster Mr. E interviewing a crazy fan

Rupert!

 Emma Watson is looking hot, so is her brother

 Always so classy & elegant

One of the Twins!

 Ginny being Ginny, skipped autographs and went straight in

Oh Harry

Fashion Forward Jackasses

"Hi I'm Johnny Knoxville.  I'm also a very well-dressed, good looking fellow, and WELCOME TO JACKASS!"  

High-top Chucks, Dickies work pants, classic Ray Ban wayfarers, vintage cardigan and tee--since 2000, Johnny Knoxville has been rockin' the "I wake up in the morning and look this good" look harder than Don Draper.  Jackass (one of the best TV shows), for the past decade, has made the lumberjack skateboarder look more fashionable than Chuck Bass' bowties and Snooki's poof with plaid flannel, 90s neon, witty t-shirts, skate shoes and the occasional man thong/sailor hat combo.  Oh and don't forget the fat suit.

Whether it's dressed as a panda or a butt disguised as a hilly terrain, I have always enjoyed the Jackass crew and their entertaining outfits.  Certainly this is America, a place full of different disguises, swearing, poop--a place where pretty much anything goes.  

God I love America, and America loves Jackass (not kidding #1 in the box office with $50 million this weekend).

Why I Love Ben Affleck's Boston

There are so many landmarks, symbols, colors, things that define the city of Boston, and almost all of them show up time and time again in Ben Affleck's movies.  I saw The Town today, and from the very first scene--bird's eye view of Boston with the Garden in the center--I couldn't help but miss that city.  I'm pretty sure people from the Boston area look at movies like The Town in aversion the way I look at the remake of Hawaii Five-O, but to me, the accents, the Bruins and Sox jackets, the Irish bars, the yellow and orange Fall trees reminded me of all the reasons why I love Boston.

It wasn't until I lived in Boston for college did I understand how it felt to love something so much (like BU hockey) that you would do anything for it or understand how it felt to love something so much that is hurt like hell to lose it (like BU hockey).  I had the fortunate pleasure of working with great people from the Boston area that I would easily call family and the pleasure of witnessing a World Series win along with a National Championship.  Boston is a city where bonds and traditions are strong, and Affleck's The Town perfectly captures the romantic notion of duty, brotherhood and passion.

It always confuses me how a city like NYC can never live up to its movie persona, because the actual NYC is less glamorous, more dirty and smelly and people don't live in 3 bedroom apartments with giant living rooms.  Boston movies, however, always seem more real.  Less icing, more cake.

The Town was an awesome movie and I recommend seeing it.  Now I can't wait for hockey season to start!

Whos says NYC is more romantic than Boston?

Sex and the Prom Dress

I attended a pre-viewing of Sex and The City 2 last night with Tremor Media (Thanks Carrie!).  Attendees were encouraged to dress up for the event (I love when invites request specific attire), so I DECIDED to take out my high school BCBG lime green prom dress!  The viewing was at a theater in Chelsea and the lounge was packed with mini cupcakes, pop chips (!), nail polish and drag queens.  Very SATC.  Spent some quality time with my girlmate Hannah and met new friends.  SO SATC.  I'll recap more on the movie later!

Summary of my feelings about the movie: Better than the first (and the arguing begins!)

I Hope They Show This Movie In Hell

I cannot believe it. Tucker Max's ego just might explode, because now, his book I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell has been made into a movie. I hope they push the R-rating as far as possible because the story in Vegas (sex + bathroom + frosted window) is my favorite.

The movie looks like a failure, because 1) Tucker Max doesn't dress like an overgrown boy, he's a trained ladies man (at lease dress him in khakis and tucked-in baby blue button down). 2) Why is the cute brother from Bring It On Slingblade? For some reason I didn't see him as being that cute.

Anyways, if you've read the book, you're probably more inclined to check the trailer out. If you haven't, you should read it, and SKIP THE MOVIE.