Take a lonely, conflicted young man in a frozen Midwest setting. Add an anatomically correct, blow-up doll named Bianca. Put them both in a chaste church setting. And somehow, the creators of Lars and The Real Girl produce one of the sweetest, most transcendent films of 2007.

Lars and the Real Girl is a sheer delight. Like the gentle character Lars Lindstrom, it is rare, refreshing and deserving of special attention. This modest movie needs to be savored and nurtured. At first it may appear off-putting, but patient viewers will be rewarded with a sweet satisfaction.

 

A lot of new commercials came out the opening Sunday of the NFL regular season. Some were funny, some were interesting and some were just flat out works of art. Below is one of my favorite, it's a Nike ad staring Shawn Merriman of the Chargers and Steven Jackson of the Rams and directed by Michael Mann and produced by Nike in cooperation with advertising agency Wieden & Kennedy. The transitions are amazing, along with the with camera view that is locked on each player. As other people and objects pass in front of the camera it breaks my gaze as it is stuck on Merriman/Jackson, which makes my eyes fight to stay focused on the Merriman/Jackson. Not only do the background, opponent and weather change, but so do Merriman and Jackson's uniforms. While the visual images are amazing, it is the audio that really makes this video special. The sound of the hits is intense, but it is the building music in the background (The Kiss from the movie "The Last of The Mohicans") is what makes this short video seem epic.

What began as a Sundance indie film gained a budget, allowing the next installment in the 28 Days Later zombie franchise to find new (un)life. But this is more than a simple horror film, as zombie films have always had a knack for intelligence. 28 Weeks Later's upcoming October DVD release will have plenty of people talking about terror and the real embodiment of evil.

28 Weeks Later is about the repopulation of London after all those infected with the Rage virus have died. But one infected woman survived, immune to the virus, and, of course, the virus reenters the population. The U.S. military, leading the repopulation effort, decided that the threat was out of their control and began killing everyone. In true zombie movie fashion, this film is more about the response to zombie take over rather than the zombie threat itself.

Horror films are truly the last untapped resource for intellectual conversation. They're both entertaining and smart. Horror has always had a very telling take on current events.

It is hard to imagine whoever is reading this has not seen the short film "Evolution" from the Dove Beauty Campaign. When the video was posted here (on rednow) in July, we mentioned at least 3 million views via YouTube. Now.... that number is estimated somewhere between 15 and 20 million. This same campaign released their latest ad/short film this week with the title "Onslaught" - which will make perfect sense the moment you hit play.

If you ever check out the blog section on this site and happened to catch Eric's "Brands of More" post, you'll recall an intriguing discussion on the "more" concept. Eric makes mention that a desire for "more" can mean one of two things: increasing something that one already has or obtaining something that one does not have. Both are the foundation of consumerism and without the concept, advertising would not exist.

Every so often a certain advertising campaign comes along that transcends marketing. Sure, it's all advertising and the bottom line is still money; however, this does not negate the artistic possibilities of visual communication. The "Bravia Play-Doh" (Bunnies) ad is Sony's third installment to their LCD television campaign. Each ad focuses on the beauty and brilliance of colour (it has primarily remained a European campaign) while elevating the creativity level amongst T.V. advertising along the way. (See Bravia's "Bouncy Ball" ad if you doubt.)

The latest "Play-Doh" creation (below) continues this tradition by revealing a convergence-of-sorts of still and live motion. This is done primarily through the use of claymation - involving over 200 bunnies, 150 cubes, a giant 30 foot rabbit and a 20 foot tall purple wave - all made from 2.5 tonnes of plasticine. Shot in New York City, it took over 40 animators three weeks to obtain over 100,000 stills - all for a mere 90 seconds of viewing pleasure. Darren Walsh headed the animation process alongside production house Passion Pictures. Music has played an integral role in the Bravia series and Sony has chosen the Rolling Stone's "She's a Rainbow" to accompany the bunnies' travels through NYC.

Whether you "wanna revolution," need to cheer up your friend Jude, or hope to find out if you're a walrus, Across the Universe has enough Beatles songs to make a cover band envious. While director Julie Taymor's latest film has been met with comparisons to Moulin Rouge, the only similarity is the use of preexisting song material and the simple fact that both films are musicals. Across the Universe is a musical film based entirely on the music of the Beatles-and as the Beatles would agree, it's all about love. And if love songs are the undoing of this world, then the message of Across the Universe will undo all across every city, border, and, of course, the universe.

Across the Universe brings the spectacle of the stage to a tormented ‘60s that doesn't know how to cope with war and civil unrest. What better way to reflect this inner and external turmoil than to highlight the ‘60s ambiguous need for love. Despite differing views about politics, social change, sexual confusion, and mind expansion, "all you need is love." We might not know how to change the world, but we know we need love, and until we can truly vocalize the specifics of that love, we'll keep speaking in broad terms.

Almost a year ago, I saw a preview of the powerful film, TRADE. It is based upon a New York Times investigation by Peter Landsman, about the horrors of sex trafficking entitled "The Girls Next Door". An avalanche of controversy followed, questioning the veracity of Landesman's reporting. Amidst all the claims of journalistic license or excess, the victims of the sex trade were tragically lost. Evidently, we'd rather argue about how many sex slaves their might be than get involved in stemming the tide.

The cinematic version of Landesman's article, TRADE, arrived at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival with a fair amount of anticipation. Written by acclaimed Motorcycle Diaries scribe, Jose Rivera, directed by young German filmmaker, Marco Kreuzpaintner and starring Kevin Kline, TRADE looked to be an early contender for serious, important film of the year. TRADE's distribution company, LIONSGATE, rode an equally small, independent film like CRASH from the Toronto Film Festival to an Academy Award for Best Picture. Would lightning strike twice for Lionsgate?

Okay, I’m a girl, so when my brother treated me, my mother, and his daughter to see The Bourne Ultimatum for a “family” night, we were obviously blindsided. I don’t live for action movies the way my brother does. What I do live for, however, are movies that say something…something about who we are as a community, as a society, as a country, and as a people.

And what is The Bourne Ultimatum saying to us?

… a philosophy that’s all too common in American culture and perhaps influential in world culture. A philosophy that muses… We are on a constant quest to know who we are. We want to live forever (we are afraid of death). And some of us don’t trust the American government.

First a disclaimer. I like Don Cheadle. Think he's a great actor. The flawed detective in Crash . His portrayal of the heroic hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda . Even as the yuppie dentist opposite Adam Sandler earlier this year in Reign Over Me . So expectations were high as I walked into the theatre by myself a week ago to see Talk to Me . Yeah, by myself. I told you I like Don Cheadle.

Talk to Me is the story of Ralph Waldo 'Petey' Green, a former convict and real-life DJ at WOL-AM in Washington DC. DC in the mid 60's experienced much the same racial and social tension as many other U.S. cities. One of the most heartbreaking scenes in the film takes place when Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis. As citizens respond to the news by rioting in the streets, the distraught and angry Petey Green decides to go on the air and plead for people to honor the memory of Dr King. Cheadle absolutely nails the moment, capturing Green's rage at those who killed King and compassion for his people, his city.