Ushering in the season of holiday cheer are six NBA stars decked out in this year's Special Edition Xmas Day Uniforms: Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Steve Nash and LeBron James. All but LeBron face a row of baskets with sleigh bells attached to each net. The players begin shooting balls from three-point distance in a choreographed fashion, each swish producing a different bell note.
Swish after swish, we begin to recognize it's a song they're playing–specifically, the holiday classic "One-Horse Open Sleigh." The emphatic final note (usually shouted as "Hey!") is sounded by an alley-oop by LeBron James.
This concerto of perfectly timed three-pointers promotes the Adidas Winter Court collection worn by NBA players exclusively during Xmas day games. Fans can now purchase the special one-game-only uniforms at nbastore.com.
Jonathan Klein of O Positive directed the holiday spot for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.
For Documentaries At Sundance, Oscar Nominations (and Wins) Often Follow
The Sundance Film Festival welcomed back three Oscar-winning documentary filmmakers to help kick off the annual independent film showcase in Park City, Utah.
On Thursday night at The Ray Theater, "20 Days in Mariupol" filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov, who won the Oscar last year, debuted his latest dispatch from Ukraine, "2000 Meters to Andriivka," a harrowing journey to the front lines of a 2023 counteroffensive. A few hours later, at the Eccles, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, who won an Oscar for "Summer of Soul" in 2022, unveiled his Sly Stone portrait, "SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genuis)." Earlier, "One Day in September" filmmaker Kevin MacDonald also showcased his film "One to One: John & Yoko," which debuted last year at the Venice Film Festival and will get an IMAX release on April 11 before hitting Max later this year.
Some critics reflected that "2000 Meters to Andriivka," a joint production between The Associated Press and PBS Frontline, was even more powerful than "20 Days in Mariupol." "SLY LIVES!" (on Hulu Feb. 13) was called "sublime" and "illuminating" in its examination of an underappreciated, shapeshifting genius.
"I've been coming here since 2000 and I thought the coolest thing you could do would be to DJ an after party," Thompson said before the screening. "I never dreamt this for my future, so this is really humbling."
It was a full-circle end to a day that began with a slate of documentary Oscar nominations all connected to the Sundance Institute in some way. Some were supported by the Institute, some debuted at the festival as recently as last year.
"Black Box Diaries," in which a Japanese filmmaker investigates her own sexual assault, had its premiere in Park City last year and was supported by the... Read More