Genius Marketing #24 Striking Resemblances #2 Burn After Reading

I guess a simple "homage" tag may be a better phrase than "Striking Resemblances" but I wanted to go ahead and bump up that number a bit before eventually writing about how the 2008-09 Grizzlies will resemble the 2006-2008 Hawks (only they'll be better cuz they'll be more varied and they'll have Ovinton at off-guard). But enough of that. This is about how the Coens, aside from controlling every step of production, must have a say in their marketing campaigns, too. The goofy trailer makes Burn After Reading look like a funny version of the DC-specific elements of Syriana, Raising Arizona-style but this poster makes BAR (?) look like a goofy update on this old Saul Bass creation. I guess the movie could be similar, too, in that the Preminger picture took place in DC, but wasn't that some kind of self-aggrandizing exposé type of flick -- and Pulitzer-winning book? In any event, the poster is simple, the tagline funny, and my fanboy-mode is in full gear. I trust the Coen Brothers to make a picture about the current American "intelligence" quagmire sooner than I do a lot of other pompous lefty sloganeers like, say, Stephen Gaghan or Tony Gilroy -- because they're funnier, better and, on the whole, smarter filmmakers. They know about movement. Among other things. Like guns and dumb blabbermouths and language and editing and hypocrisy and America and low-angle set-ups and hiring Emmanuel Lubezski for their first picture without Roger Deakins since Miller's Crossing. They know their shit. --RWK

Songs #21: In Love With You -- UPDATED. AND AGAIN.

This is both more inside-baseball promotion (peep Claire's newest post) and a reminder that French Touch is relevant to everything, in every moment. Alan Braxe and Fred Falke should work together again. Or, I hope they do. They made some amazing stuff. Also, some really cheesy stuff. As Carlton said the other day, if the girl you're dating digs this song you know she's awesome. Because this is next level snobbery: embracing embarrassing sentimentality as pure sentiment, aka eating the cheese with a grin. Ultimately, though, this is what I sing in chorus with Claire to Tippi. --RWK

Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - In Love With You (zshare)

[Pix are dead giveaways in the link above. Melanie Daniels!]

UPDATE: Seen on The Cinetrix's Pullquote, a Tippi Hedren Barbie doll.

Claire just said in the "Murderous" comment thread: "Um, wow. If I were one to want things like that thing, I would want that thing. Instead, all I want is that 'Naomi Watts thang.'"

UPDATE THE SECOND, 7/24/08: From the 2008 Comic Con coverage at Spout Blog.

What Community? #37: The Yankees' grooming rules.

When Jason Giambi left so many Oakland Athletics fans crying there was a lot of fake news about how he'd have to clean up his look from everybody's nightmare of a biker (sleeveless t's showing off scary tats, long greasy hair in the face, a goatee for days) into one of the shrewd elite Steinbrenner demands his players transform into overnight. A similar discussion popped up about Johnny Damon's idiotic caveman look going away when he turned traitor to his beloved Sawks fans. Well, now they both live and work in New York and classy they have become. Or, maybe just Johnny Damon; at least he looks clean. Giambi, on the other hand, has taken a new route back to crazy. If you remember Don Mattingly (or see him on the bench), you know that the organization tolerates mustaches. Seems like Giambi bought into that. But what began as a kind of faint, vaguely funny look is now a scary, outright insane lifestyle choice. For all we know he could be riding that Harley upstate after games to blow off steam -- and murder happy, young couples necking on lovers lanes all over the NorthEast. Or, you know, he could simply be using the look to intimidate pitchers. Look at that on-air stat: since growing the 'stache, he's been on fire. Don't try to tell me his facial hair hasn't gotten into the heads of hurlers the country over. I know he's the best post-roids player ever but, sheesh, this is just another advantage he's using right in plain sight, an advantage condoned by the league and his team without comment, an advantage I'm surprised hasn't caught on across MLB. Just wait. By the next decade, everybody will be wearing a stache. Then it'll be the clean cut guys who look crazy -- and, of course, girly. --RWK

[Pic 1 is from June 24th, Pic 2 is from May 28th. There's talk that he's gone and died the stache for the ultimate in crazy.]

Encounter #88: They'll connect this time over in China.

I defer to Shoals:

If you didn't see or don't remember Kidd's FIBA performance, it was absolutely flawless, and something I can't wait to see recreated on an even bigger stage. The statline he ended up with doesn't appear striking (1.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, and 4.6 apg in 15.9 mpg), but his two most important numbers were the just 10 shot attempts and 5 turnovers over the course of the 10 games. That second stat is especially staggering when one thinks back to the ridiculous array of passes he attempted. In particular, two of his botched passes stick out to me more than all of his successes: at one point he attempted a full-court bounce pass that weaved between three defenders, barely beating his streaking target to the spot. Even more impressive was the highlight of the entire tournament: the failed off-balance, off-the-backboard alley oop to LeBron from the 3-point line. Had LeBron connected (and he arguably should have), it would have gone down as the greatest pass I've ever seen.

--RWK

(NOT) Genius Marketing #23: Batman does not drink milk. Bruce Wayne drinks milk.

I just don't buy it. Actually, I don't buy milk anymore, either. But I do buy yogurt. Sweet, sweet Greek-style yogurt for my granola. I bet Bruce Wayne gets Alfred to order Greek-style yogurt straight from Greece, not Trader Joe's. Do you think there's a TJ's in Gotham? Like, right near Union Square? Er, Wayne Tower?

Also, this is the "new suit" Wayne asked for in the trailer? How much more high tech does it need to be? I know Nolan is after some amount of "realism" or whatever but this is borderline retarded. Luckily the movie will not be lit like this ad, though, and it will hide the designer's wet dream of gadgetry. --RWK [via]

Encounter #87: Jerk It

Thunderheist. Chickens. Leopard print. And, um, some sexuality. It's a hit. --RWK

Headlines #2: God accused of selling cocaine near church.

The report, in its entirety:

Police said a man named God was arrested near a Tampa church for selling cocaine.

Authorities began investigating God Lucky Howard in April, and he was arrested on Saturday. Police said he sold the cocaine to undercover detectives in his neighborhood. When officers searched his home, they reported finding 22 grams more of cocaine and a scale.

Jail records show Howard was charged with several counts of drug possession and distribution, which include increased charges for being within 1,000 feet of a church, a school and public housing.

Dude is not lucky. --RWK [via Keith]