Iconoclastic director Harmony Korine unveiled what may be one of the most twisted spring break movies in recent memory with a screening heralded by a roving motorcade of scooter drivers in bikinis and ski masks and lasting into the wee hours Monday at the South by Southwest film festival.
“Spring Breakers,” positioned as both a celebration and an indictment of the annual bacchanal, follows four bikini-clad college students through a series of improbable adventures. After financing their excursion to the Florida coast with a robbery, the young women descend farther into the criminal underworld than intended.
The movie has been highly anticipated thanks to a widely viewed online trailer showing former Disney starlets transformed into heavily armed, lightly clad mean girls bent on having a good time at all costs.
As the venue for a domestic premiere, the promoters chose South by Southwest, held in the college town of Austin.
Asked whether the whole affair should be read as satire, Korine said, “I more want you to have a physical experience.”
And the movie?
“It does have its cake and eat it too,” said James Franco, the wide-ranging actor best known as a villain in the Spider-Man series and starring as a cornrow-headed thug in “Spring Breakers.”
The film also features Selena Gomez, the 20-year-old pop music singer known as Justin Bieber’s ex-girlfriend and for her role on Disney’s now defunct “Wizards of Waverly Place.”
When the lights went down, Korine’s fever dream of gunplay, body shots and girls gone wild found a receptive audience.
In a Q-and-A session, an audience member asked Korine about the open-ended final scene.
“I end it there because I want you to dream on it,” he said, adding, “Why do you want to be told everything all the time?”
Ben Edwards and Guy Hobbs Set To Return To FCB London As Exec Creative Directors
Multi-award-winning senior creatives Ben Edwards and Guy Hobbs are rejoining FCB London as executive creative directors. They will assume their appointments in February 2025. The duo will report into chief creative officer Owen Lee, and partner closely with ECD Kyle Harman-Turner. Edwards and Hobbs will work across the entire portfolio of the agency’s client roster including Skoda, Andrex, Intuit Quickbooks, and new client, global confectionery brand Perfetti Van Melle for which FCB London has just been awarded lead agency for creative and strategic responsibilities for a portfolio of its gum brands. The appointment of Edwards and Hobbs follows a remarkable year for FCB London which has secured a raft of new business wins not only for Perfetti Van Melle but also Kellanova’s advantage brands including Pringles--as well as launching a number of celebrated campaigns including “Get Comfortable” for Kimberly-Clark’s Andrex. The creative duo join from Wonderhood Studios where they have been ECDs for nearly three years working with Three, Coral, and premium car brand Ineos Grenadier, among others. Prior to this they had a three-year stint at BBH firstly as sr. creatives, then associate creative directors, working across brands such as Tesco, Samsung, and Barclays. Edwards and Hobbs first teamed up eight years ago while at FCB London. During their time, they produced an array of award-winning work, including the acclaimed “This Girl Can” campaign for Sport England and “Pay it Forward” for The Big Issue, which won a host of awards including a Grand Prix at Eurobest; Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards at Cannes Lions; and a Gold Pencil at The One Show. FCB London CCO Lee said, “Everybody loves a boomerang. We’ve been wanting to tempt Ben... Read More