I came to Cannes a bit apprehensive about being on the Film jury. A few colleagues had warned me that it would be an ego-laden, political-agenda ridden, “bloody awful” experience. I’m happy to report that my time spent on the jury was in fact one of the best experiences of my career.
Now, that’s not to say that the week wasn’t filled with a good deal of debate, a fair amount of jeering and the occasional “cough, cough, crap” over well, crap. But, that said, two weeks after the fact members of the 2009 Cannes Film jury are still asking each other how a completely disparate group of individuals from all four corners of the world could have been thrown together in a dark stuffy room with bad French coffee for seven days and walk away not just a better creative, but a better person.
Importantly, a good amount of our discussion during the week centered on the strategic idea, the role the product played in the work and the role the work played in evolving the category. Jury favorites such as “Pure Waters” (for James Boag’s Draught out of Publicis Mojo, Sydney), “Day in the Life of Chennai” (for The Times of India via JWT India) and “Love Distance” (Sagami Condoms out of agency GT, Tokyo) rose to the top. Two ideas that we elevated from Bronze to Silver were “John West Row” (for John West Row Fresh Fish from U.K. shop Cheetham Bell JWT) and K-SME Credit (the spots “Long” and “Quick” out of Ogilvy & Mather, Bangkok). Both had simple strategic ideas at the core, were focused on the product benefit and were a fresh approach in their respective categories.
Of course, one entry that received a good deal of discussion was Philips’ “Carousel” (Tribal DDB Amsterdam). A fantastic film in and of itself, but what made it truly amazing was that it was created specifically for the Philips Cinema 21:9. The lighting in the film was carefully executed in order to affect the TV’s ambient light. The film was viewed in the context of the product on the Philips site. Further, films within the film showcased the product features allowing viewers to experience 21:9. Although the film went viral and took on a life of its own, it was ultimately a brilliant product demonstration that took the idea to a whole new level. And for that reason we unanimously voted it the Grand Prix.
We also flat-out dismissed ideas if they appeared to be “scam”. If we had never heard of the product or if a jury member from that country was confident it never ran, that had serious implications on the outcome. The Wassup True Vote film was one of the best we viewed and yet we elected not to award it a Lion. It was well executed and obviously a crowd-pleaser, but it was not a client-commissioned film and therefore did not adhere to the entry rules that everyone else had to abide by.
We lowered a few Bronze back to Shortlist, raised a couple of Silvers to Gold and when it was all said and done our decisions and the show that resulted from them was incredibly rewarding. More of a reward than any piece of hardware could ever be. The ultimate goal of this group of 22 people was to recognize a body of work that would hopefully inspire our peers and our clients to take risks, and to put work out into the world that makes people talk about and see the product in a whole new light. That gives me hope. Hope that at least a portion of our industry is being led not by jaded, award-hungry creative leaders, but by individuals who are passionate, honest, respectful and determined to give our clients work that reflects these values.
Review: Director Bong Joon Ho’s “Mickey 17” Starring Robert Pattinson
So you think YOUR job is bad?
Sorry if we seem to be lacking empathy here. But however crummy you think your 9-5 routine is, it'll never be as bad as Robert Pattinson's in Bong Joon Ho's "Mickey 17" — nor will any job, on Earth or any planet, approach this level of misery.
Mickey, you see, is an "Expendable," and by this we don't mean he's a cast member in yet another sequel to Sylvester Stallone's tired band of mercenaries ("Expend17ables"?). No, even worse! He's literally expendable, in that his job description requires that he die, over and over, in the worst possible ways, only to be "reprinted" once again as the next Mickey.
And from here stems the good news, besides the excellent Pattinson, whom we hope got hazard pay, about Bong's hotly anticipated follow-up to "Parasite." There's creativity to spare, and much of it surrounds the ways he finds for his lead character to expire — again and again.
The bad news, besides, well, all the death, is that much of this film devolves into narrative chaos, bloat and excess. In so many ways, the always inventive Bong just doesn't know where to stop. It hardly seems a surprise that the sci-fi novel, by Edward Ashton, he's adapting here is called "Mickey7" — Bong decided to add 10 more Mickeys.
The first act, though, is crackling. We begin with Mickey lying alone at the bottom of a crevasse, having barely survived a fall. It is the year 2058, and he's part of a colonizing expedition from Earth to a far-off planet. He's surely about to die. In fact, the outcome is so expected that his friend Timo (Steven Yeun), staring down the crevasse, asks casually: "Haven't you died yet?"
How did Mickey get here? We flash back to Earth, where Mickey and Timo ran afoul of a villainous loan... Read More