Movie Review: Bruno

Ok, I'll admit it. I'm a fan of Sacha Baron Cohen's films. I liked Borat quite a bit -the scene at the rodeo brought back a lot of memories of my time in Dallas where I was a regular attendee at the Mesquite Rodeo. And I love seeing how Americans deal with his outrageous behavior - some as I would like them to and some not so much.

Bruno is a more extreme movie than Borat since it deals with a flamboyant gay character, Bruno, who comes from Austria to be a celebrity in the United States. I will point out - he comes to become a celebrity, not an actor. The movie ranges from the disgusting to the hysterical. My favorite parts are when he adopts a child in Africa, when he joins the military and when he becomes involved with a gay deprogrammer. As Mike said - I didn't know there were level 1 and level 2 deprogrammers - I wonder what the difference is?

Some parts of the movie obviously don't work - there are some things you just don't need to see- I'll leave it at that. But parts were amazing - and set a few stereotypes on their head. A segment where Bruno goes hunting with some "good old boys" could have been very ugly - instead the 4 hunters merely tolerate his bizarre behavior.

As a marketer my favorite scene was the focus group for Bruno's potential interview show. I've sat behind that glass wall and watched people turn six months of work to nothing but for me the focus group was hilarious. And Bruno did what every marketer dreams of doing - getting out of the glass booth to go explain to the focus group exactly why they are wrong.

So, my suggestion is rent Bruno, make sure the kids cannot possibly enter the room, and prepare to laugh and cringe. More reviews tomorrow - July was a very busy month movie wise.

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Let me start off by saying that I am a definite Harry Potter fan. No, I don't dress up as a witch and go to the movies and yes, I once accidentally ended up in the midst of a Harry Potter party at Barnes and Noble - we stopped after a movie for a dessert and got caught up in the insanity. But I did love the books. I vaguely recall Mike steering me through the Honolulu airport after I'd begun one of the books and I didn't look up till I finished and we were back in SFO.

So, did I enjoy the movie - yes I did. I'd really forgotten the plot given that I'd read the book several years ago. This made the movie entertaining and occasionally surprising - how could I have forgotten horcruxes. I'm such a muggle.

I won't summarize the plot since if you're a fan you know it and if you're not it will be rather meaningless. Suffice it to say it's quite entertaining to see Harry and his friends deal with Death Eaters, assorted evil doers and snogging. And yes there is quite a bit of snogging in this movie. Rupert Grint provides outstanding comic relief - and foreshadowing of his career for the next 20 years. Daniel Radcliffe is always excellent as Harry - especially when he is under a luck spell.

I must reserve some special praise of Alan Rickman - what a delight the man is. He makes a single sentence drip with loathing so vividly he really never needs to say more. I shall miss his Snape more than anyone I think once the movies conclude.

My only complaint is that when the movie comes to an end you get that slight I've been left hanging feeling. Somewhat like the end of Empire Strikes Back - you realize everyone is simply waiting for the next movie - as are we all.

As a marketing aside - kudos to the studio for deciding to split the final book into two movies. With a 400 million dollar take in the first five days world wide I think that the last two movies are a guaranteed revenue stream for 2010 and 2011. Given that few of us could sit through a 5 hour movie and there are so many pieces people would object to omitting I can understand it. But 2011 is a long time to wait for closure.

Movie Review: The Ugly Truth

Hi Everyone. I'm woefully behind in all my movie review writing so hopefully this week I can get caught up. I've seen a ton of movies in July. So I'm going last in first out. Tonight Mike and I went to see the Ugly Truth. And we had a good time. Mike was a good sport - be warned guys the theatre is about 80% women. We both thought the movie was very funny. Basic story is simple - uptight tv producer (Katherine Heigl) and rough neck tv commentator (Gerard Butler) meet and fight and well you'll have to watch it to see what happens. He decides to help her get a new boyfriend - her very attractive neighbor - and she does. The movie isn't too long - only 96 minutes - but great fun and perfect for a hot summer night. Could the movie be better - yes - it is fairly shallow. For the Californians - the movie is set in Sacramento and of course Mike was thrilled that our hero attended San Jose State. Gerard Butler is British so his American accent is a bit forced.

By the way - we came home to watch At The Movies - and both commentators said skip it. I think it would be best if At the Movies replaced one of their male reviewers with a woman so we could get a bit of diversity in their reviews. Anyway, if you like a nice romantic comedy - see The Ugly Truth. Beware - the language is a bit racier than usual in these movies but that just adds to the fun.

Catching Up After Vacation

Somehow I always underestimate how long it is going to take to catch up after a vacation. I spent the week before the 4th of July in the Eastern Sierras - hiking in Yosemite, cavorting around Mono Lake and tramping through Bodie (an old ghost town that is now a state park in danger of being closed by the Governator). When I returned I had about 900 emails - I always think there will be more but then I realize when you aren't responding to email you aren't getting the five that always follow the first one.

So last week was spent catching up - running to meetings, making calls, and trying to reboot my brain on all things Marketing. Fortunately I had left myself a giant to do list of all the things that need to get done and this week those items are getting broken down into their components for implementation.

I'm sorry I've been remiss in Blogging but I realized that a vacation couldn't truly be a vacation without cutting all ties to technology. The vacation took place somewhere with no WiFi, no dial up, and no cell phone service. I was able to let my sore shoulders take a break from all the typing and just enjoy the beauty that is the Sierras.

But I promise to catch up and this week I'll get caught up on all my Movie reviews - so be on the lookout for reviews of My Sisters's Keeper, The Proposals, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and from this weekend - Bruno.

Movie Review: The Hangover

I should preface this review by mentioning that normally I do not like movies that mention or show bodily fluids. However, The Hangover is the exception - this movie is a laugh riot from beginning to end. I'm sure many of you have seen the previews - the basic premise - 4 friends go off to Vegas for a Bachelor Party - after almost everyone has repeated the mantra what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Fast forward and three of the friends wake up in their luxury villa and discover one friend is missing, a tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet and one of the 3 is also missing an incisor. From there they work to find out exactly what took place since none of them remembers a thing.

The movie has great performances by the entire cast - the only ones remotely recognizable is Bradley Cooper from He's Just Not That Into You and Ed Helms from The Office. And of course Mike Tyson. But the humor comes largely from the great story and surprises that await the crew at every turn as they try to find out what happened and find their lost friend. Mike and I laughed like crazy.

Is The Hangover great art - not really. Is it a great way to spend a few hours - absolutely. Big thumbs up.

I do want to note I give a thumbs down in advance for whoever scheduled the trailer for The Final Destination 3 D that preceded the movie. The trailer totally freaked me out - I am not a fan of that kind of movie and between that and the terrifying trailer for the Orphan I was a little jumpy by the time our movie started.

Oh, and The Hangover is definitely a hard R - not for children. And the woman three rows in front of me who brought the screaming two year old should be ashamed of herself - who in their right mind brings a two year old to the movies - but especially one like this.

Marketing in China: Traveling to a New Culture

Recently I've been engaged in a number of discussions about markting to another culture. I've done quite a bit of that. I spent two years working for a Chinese company and four years for one that was essentially an Indian company. This first story is about my first trip to China.

I went to work for LinkAir in January 2000. In fact I was the second employee in the US. I'd actually gotten my job offer first but the HR/Accounting person had to be hired first so I could get processed in properly. My job was to take this Beijing based company and effectively launch it in both countries. Those are stories for another post. This is about my first business trip over.

So I was hired and spent the first month or so hiring those essentials - a design/collateral firm and a Public Relations firm. The design firm was great - though not the best listeners. One thing we told them was that anything fire related was bad luck in China - their first proposed police of collateral had flames on it and looked like it had been singed. They thought fire was good luck in China. Ack.

My first trip to Beijing was when I had been in my job only about 2 months. It was a long flight - I changed planes in Japan and had a 4 hour layover - I'm not sure Mike ever quite recovered from a long distance call from Tokyo saying I'm bored and I have three more hours - talk to me.
When I finally arrived I had been awake for roughly 24 hours and I was desperate for sleep. Somehow I'd managed to arrive towards the end of the day and my firm sent me greeters - the office manager, my translator and my driver.

To prepare for the trip I had done extensive research - I read 4 books about China, consulted the members of Allexperts.com and did a lot of web research. So when I arrived I was prepared with copious numbers of gifts in my bag for everyone I encountered. I had also learned that Watermelon was a leading national crop. What I was not prepared for was the reluctance of my greeting committee to let me just go to bed. They insisted on taking me to dinner.

Finally I succumbed - it seemed they would never let me go. I was faced with an enormous menu in Chinese though there were some photos. I was in despair - I speak no Chinese and frankly would never even attempt to read it - and so I desperately pointed to one item which I took to be a large sausage . "What's that?" I asked. The translator looked at the item and immediately began an intense discussion with the rest of the group in Chinese. Finally he spoke, "Braised Ass Penis".

I thought I would faint. "Seriously?"

"Yes it is a great delicacy in our culture. Men eat it so they can give their wives many children."

"Never mind".

"No no, it's ok. It's just very expensive - 1000 Yen."

I was even more horrified. What must they think? 1000 Yen was the equivalent of rougly $80 at the time - and more than most people make in a month.

the more I protested the more they insisted but I would not give up. i insisted I just wanted a salad. The waiter suggested Caesar salad. I agreed and we were able to move on. That is until my salad showed up - consisting of soggy lettuce with a large fish on top - the fish was completely intact - scales, fins and eyes. I couldn't help myself - i just had to ask. "What kind of fish is this?"

"Anchovy".

I did my best - between chopsticks and the unscaled fish I was doomed to go hungry - but I remain convinced to this day that I had been offered the Moby Dick of all anchovies - but better that than eating.....

Movie Review: A big thumbs up for UP

I am a self professed Pixar fan. I love all their movies and have seen them all more than once. Well except for the rat movie but my aversion to rats is one I have no pressing need to overcome.

UP however is one of the most satisfying movie experiences I've had this year. I laughed, I sobbed, I cheered, I clutched my seat - it was wonderful.

The basic story is simple, a lonely old man decides to move his house to Paradise Falls, a remote location in South America, to honor a promse he made to his dear departed wife. He does it by attaching 1000's of helium filled balloons to the house. On the way there he discovers a stowaway and the adventure begins.

The movie is a visual delight - the colors are amazing from the balloons to the giant bird they encounter, named Kevin, and even the house itself. The voices are terrific - gruff Ed Asner, a favorite of mine from the days of Mary Tyler Moore and Lou Grant and the boy who voices the stowaway Russell to the villain voiced by Christopher Plummer. Looks good, sounds good and the movie engages your heart.

I won't spoil the fun, I just think that everyone should run out and see UP. Our theatre did not have 3D (which always gives me a headache so no problem) but if anyone does see it in 3D let me know what it's like.