Month: January 2005

VW ad destroys a classic

The UK Guardian has an article on Volkswagon’s latest marketing item involving a CGI Gene Kelly break dancing through his “Singing in the Rain” movie number:

Blingin’ in the rain: The advert for the new Volkswagen Golf GTI hits screens tonight and was the result of months of negotiations with the star’s family, the movie rights’ owners and record label EMI.

It remasters the scene using masks, wigs and a digital techniques to impose Kelly’s face on the dancers. …

“The idea of Gene Kelly doing this wasn’t disrespectful. If he was around it’s the kind of thing that he would do, he was very innovative,” said copywriter Martin Loraine, from the advertising agency DDB London.

Judge for yourself: video (5MB, Quicktime Format)

Personally, I find most of it creepy in that Gene Kelly’s face doesn’t line up perfectly with that of the dancer’s body and the whole thing comes across as an updated dancing zombie from Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

What do you think? Add your opinion to the growing list below …

 

Han solos with an M-4

I think this screenshot from Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, the new game for the PS2 and Xbox, answers the geek-cred question of “Who shot first? Han or Guido?”

This free-form combat game that takes place in a post-collapse North Korea plays like a Grand Theft Auto with air strikes and artillery. Since the game is from LucasArts, players who unlock the entire game have the opportunity to play as either Han Solo or Indiana Jones, leading to the screenshot taken above.

Truly confusing

One of the most basic pieces of advice given to people is to be true to yourself.

However, this simply piece of advice doesn’t give any hint as to how to apply it if one finds themselves changing over time. Should that person remain true to themselves in a way to prevent any change? If they’ve changed, should they be true to how they were, or how they are now. What if they don’t like how they are, should they still act true to that nature? Or should they be true to themselves as they wish they could be in the future?

Nothing is ever easy, particularly when “truth” is involved.