The release of a Smith and Wesson 9MM pink pistol to benefit Breast Cancer Awareness was the last straw for many who are ’sick of all the pink.’  Referred to as ‘Pinkwashing,’ the new term suggests people are being misled: they think they are contributing to a charitable cause when, in fact, those companies sporting pink may be putting unpublicized caps on their donations, profiting from the sale of the items and shifting the focus away from what’s truly important about the cause.

In the other camp, a successfully marketed organization like Susan G. Komen for the Cure has raised over $1 billion dollars for breast cancer research, education, and health services. Given how difficult it can be to motivate the average person to donate to a charitable cause, especially in these economic times, it’s not surprising that it takes a powerful marketing engine and excessive branding to get a message across.  The person who buys a pink blender instead of a silver one doesn’t likely research and donate to charities on a regular basis, so even if only a minute fraction of the sale goes towards research for the cure, is that better than nothing?

Whichever side you land on regarding the color pink, it seems like a good thing that women are uniting for a month each year to communicate about detection, share secret Facebook updates, and feel even more connected to loved ones who have survived the disease.  Some nonprofits, like Save the Ta Tas, have fully embraced the motto ‘laughter heals’, and claim to generate “fun and funds to fight cancer” through social campaigns and humorous apparel.

It only seemed appropriate that MOVIECLIPS embrace the entertaining element of awareness (movies are entertainment, after all, right?) and remind women everywhere to be proud of their pillows and to take care of their ta tas. So share a laugh (thanks to a mashup of some of the best breast moments in movies) and spread the word that your rack rules… BOOB POWER!

Share the exclusive ‘Boob Power’ Mashup on Facebook and Twitter to show your support this Breast Cancer Awareness Month…

You may not find that the new Brad Pitt film Moneyball is an out-of-the-park home run, but it definitely gets on base.
(We’ll try to spare you any more baseball metaphors… we had to get it out of our system!)

Based on the non-fiction book by Michael Lewis, the film tells the story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt). Ten years ago Beane decided he could not compete with teams like the New York Yankees by trying to outbid them for players. (The Yankees at the time had more than four times the annual budget of the Athletics.) Beane and his new assistant GM, (played by Jonah Hill) make their own system: it is a system based entirely on statistics. Beane goes after the cheapest players with the best hitting and fielding averages. This may seem like common sense, but apparently it is very a normal practice for baseball scouts to factor a player’s age, physical fitness, looks and personality just as high as a player’s stats. Beane ignores all of this and goes hunting for the most undervalued guys in the league.

He assembles a team based on this theory for the 2002 MLB season. This is done amid a great amount of trash talking from the rest of the baseball community, including a few people from the A’s staff. To the surprise of the entire country, the Athletics accomplish something in that season that has never been done before in the history of baseball. To find out what that was you will just have to go see the movie. (Or search for it on the interwebs.)

Does it score with the MOVIECLIPS staff?

“It made me smile a lot.” – Vanessa

If the above summary of the plot made you think this movie might put you to sleep, you should think again. Moneyball is actually less of a movie about sports and more of a movie about corporate wrangling and intrigue. Beane lives in a world where your career can disintegrate if your team underperforms. He has to hire, fire, negotiate and lie, all to get the roster he wants. This dynamic of competitive negotiating is where the movie gets its tension. Brad Pitt seems to really understand the desperation of Beane. The character wants so badly to win, and you feel for him every time he loses.

“As many have noticed, it’s not really about baseball–it’s about innovation and having the courage of your convictions. I actually believed Brad Pitt as the underdog, and he and Jonah Hill made for a surprisingly effective team.” – Eric

“Solid. Solid all around. Well-crafted and entertaining. Bennett Miller had a surprisingly deft touch with the material. I was concerned that he would drop the ball in terms of the baseball action, but he was astute enough to keep the drama mainly off of the field, and place it behind the scenes , in locker rooms and scout meetings.” – Phil D.

“My favorite film of the year so far.  A surprising amount of humor kept me smiling throughout.  The statistical aspect of the story was simplified enough to allow the film to move along without feeling too dumbed down.  Brad Pitt gave a fine performance, but the stars were really the screenwriters and the director.” – Varkey

Jonah Hill turns in a funny performance and has good chemistry with Pitt. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Wright also shine in smaller roles. The adapted screenplay, co-written by The Social Network’s Aaron Sorkin, is sharp. Sorkin’s keen ability to make any vocation seem intense and enthralling is on display here. Whether you are from Oakland or not, you will be rooting for the Athletics by the time the film’s players hit the field.

“With Brad Pitt’s movie star persona and a standout performance from Jonah Hill, there’s enough material in Moneyball for both baseball fans and non-fans alike.  A tip of the hat goes to Zaillian and Sorkin for the screenplay, and to Bennett Miller for his nuanced direction.  While the baseball moments felt true, what keeps the movie going is the drama that’s off the field and behind-the-scenes.” - Naveen

“It could have been twenty minutes shorter.” – Rich

The film’s only real weakness is it’s pacing. It takes it a good twenty minutes to get the plot rolling along. The ending also meanders for a while. The last five scenes all felt like they would be the last one. There is a solid twenty minutes of film left after the climactic scene in the movie. The long wind-up and wind-down of Moneyball’s plot is really the only thing keeping it from being a really great film. (Based on its early success, Moneyball has already opened up a few more doors for Michael Lewis with his next project, Liar’s Poker, already in the works.)

The film is ultimately a compelling look into a man’s personal journey woven within the world of professional baseball. Non-baseball fans will be entertained and enjoy several stellar performances from the winning cast.

Thanks, Connor and our film fanatics for your critical contribution. However, with all this baseball talk, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t keep picturing the rag-tag lineup in Major League…

Tell us what you thought of the film in the comments here or join the conversation already happening on Facebook and Twitter!

As not to discount the meaningful memories and milestones achieved at the Main St. office, we held a sniffle-worthy ceremony to say a proper ‘Goodbye’ to the place most called home for over a year. Naturally, we made a time capsule (I mean, we’re not above a late 90’s middle school end-of-year project, are we?). In this capsule of time we put mementos of our favorite (read: most irritating) things about the office including but not limited to:

• • a misting mini-fan to ‘beat the heat’ when the AC goes out
• • a can of Coke Zero (a.k.a. the fuel that runs the company)
• • a bathroom key (of which there were about 50, but somehow always hard to find)
• • a parking ticket from the lovely city of Venice Beach (and Santa Monica too!)
• • a model airplane to reflect the jet-sounding servers in close proximity to our desks and, namely, our phones (“where are you?”)
• • a slew of borderline-insulting tokens of personality quirks and embarrasing stories shared with our beloved coworkers

We filmed (and professionally edited, of course) the ceremony, and the video may be released (we need to consult our legal department first).

So without further adieu…

Welcome to the world of MOVIECLIPS, Stronghold style.

It’s true, this is the place we get to call ‘work’ every day. Sadly, we had to replace a few cozy couches with desks, but the old-school style remains complete with exposed beams and exposed brick, vintage collectibles, a few chalkboard walls and some sweet private-eye-style signage on the doors…

And yes, before you even ask, we will be hiring a pianist on occasion to rock the shiza out of that old piano and no, nobody has been injured on the giant moose antlers.  In fact, we think we’ll stay a while, where moonbeams paint the sky…

We’ve certainly settled in nicely and are moving full-steam ahead in an exciting time to be a part of MOVIECLIPS!

Thanks to all of our YouTube subscribers, Facebook fans, Twitter followers, and all around MOVIECLIPS super-users for all the support that has gotten us this far (and into such a super sweet office).

Yes (no drumroll necessary), along with a lot of other movie-goers (Contagion was was the first movie to oust The Help at the box office in several weeks), MOVIECLIPS was generally pleased with the film and a lot of us might even say we are big fans.  The initial buzz outside of the theater had everyone applauding director Steven Soderbergh on his pragmatic portrayal of an international crisis (“[his] cameo on the cell phone was also a nice touch”) and making some early comparisons to Academy Award-winning film, Traffic:

“The movie is faster paced than Traffic and is just as engaging. By not going over-the-top it felt more grounded and real, which ultimately made it more frightening.”
- Connor

“In Soderbergh’s best work of the last decade (i.e. Traffic, Che) he paints on a large political and international canvas, but at their core lies idealistic individuals who risk their own safety, and work tirelessly, for the betterment of others. A belief in the heart of the common individual, and a re-affirmation in the possibility of the human spirit.”
- Philip D.

“Stressful as a father and husband… but really a great movie. I really enjoyed Soderbergh’s style.”
- Zach

“Overall it was good; well-acted and compelling.  The biggest issue I found was that the plot was so large and followed so many characters that some of the threads were left half-finished or poorly developed.  In some ways it felt like [Soderbergh] wanted to make a 3 hour picture and trimmed it to 2.  This wasn’t enough to make it a bad film, but kept it from making the jump from good to great.”
- Tim

“Though Contagion was a little light on story given its sprawling nature, I thought the movie depicted a realistic and harrowing vision of what a ’super bug outbreak’ would feel like.  And Soderbergh should be commended for his restraint, as a lesser filmmaker would have turned the film into a chaotic action movie by the end.”
- Naveen

“The heart of the film lay in the three characters played by Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, and Jennifer Ehle. All three selfless, and, dare I say, noble in their convictions.”
- Philip D.

“All the actors gave good performances (especially Kate Winslet, who never fails to impress), and the many celebrities were not too distracting (except for Demitri Martin, who seemed out of place).”
- Varkey

The exceptional star of the film proved to be the disease itself, taking center stage in every scene and haunting the audience as much as the masses on film; viewers developed a hyper-awareness of touching their faces, shaking hands and, in the case of this agitated audience member, biting nails.

“Engaging, tension-filled, and able to get under your skin. An innocuous cough was like an unexpected gunshot.”
- Philip D.

“A germaphobe’s worst nightmare. ”
- Eric

“At the beginning, I was feeling squirmy, what with the coughing, general wooziness, and a particularly harrowing scene with Gwyneth Paltrow, but after a certain point (pretty early on) I became engrossed in the story and really enjoyed it.”
- Vanessa

Another triumph from Steven Soderbergh, Contagion manages to capture a realistic picture of an authentic global fear anchored to individual experiences all the while suggesting that ultimately, the human spirit of a few can prevail and ’save’ us all.  While this concept borders on schmaltzy, the film distinctly does not have that vibe (one of its great successes), and overall proves captivating and suspenseful.

“Drew me into the scenario right from the start and kept me engaged throughout.”
- Varkey

“[Contagion] was interesting enough to keep my wife awake through the entire film, that’s rare.”
- Philip S.

“Captivating movie… I know if I go to hong kong, I wont try pork.”
- Sunny

Feel free to extract social commentary from the film about big pharmaceutical companies, government obscurity and holistic medicine– I won’t be going there in this particular review; but Soderbergh did manage to sneak in a little dig to the likes of yours truly interjecting, “Blogging is not writing, it’s graffiti with punctuation.”

So, after a completely voluntary, thoughtful and positive blog post about his latest work, I’ll close with one last review as a feigned attempt at retribution:

“Meh.”
- Brandon F.

Don’t forget to get more great ‘graffiti’ from MOVIECLIPS on Facebook and Twitter (sometimes sans punctuation).

]]> http://blog.movieclips.com/2011/09/stop-biting-your-nails/feed/ 0 http://blog.movieclips.com/2011/09/stop-biting-your-nails/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MovieClipsBlog/~3/GH0wzPyahro/ http://blog.movieclips.com/2011/09/you-need-to-be-doing-stuff/#comments Mon, 05 Sep 2011 09:24:18 +0000 ericaa http://blog.movieclips.com/?p=786 I approached this week’s Labor Day blog post with the entirely original intention of writing about dirty jobs and horrible bosses, going on about how this is a much-needed escape from our working woes… in essence, a “work sucks” diatribe. Then I recalled that last week I argued a movie-backed case for how much teachers and school suck.  Considering we pretty much transition straight from school to the working world, it seemed like an all-too-cynical perspective on life, especially when the unemployment rate is nearing record highs. (Don’t worry, we still made a movie mashup featuring some cynical scenes from your favorite characters on the job.)

I decided to venture deeper into the true meaning of Labor Day.  I admit I even googled the holiday that unofficially marks the end of summer (and no, I won’t tell you what Wikipedia said, I can’t do all the work for you).  The compelling legislative history gave me about as much inspiration as ‘Flag Day,’  so instead, I decided to take a cue from Confucius (as told through MOVIECLIPS of course):

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.

The first step is figuring out what you love, which isn’t always as easy as it sounds.  In Office Space, for instance, it isn’t until Peter seeks hypnotherapy that he finds his true calling… leisure (hopefully, most people will pick a more productive passion). A good question to ask yourself is, “what would you do everyday if you had $1 million?”

Once you’ve found something your are passionate about, that ‘I love doing it so much I could do it every day for the rest of my life’ kind of activity, run with it. It likely won’t be effortless, and you’ll certainly have to take risks,  but listen to the likes of Jerry McGuire who faced fear and uncertainty in return for something “real, fun and inspiring.”

Now, the next challenge (and possibly the hardest to overcome) is manufacturing a way to get money for performing said activity… here’s where you have to get creative. Let’s take a look at Josh’s totally typical dilemma in Big as an example: having no other skill set to fall back on (being a mere 13 years of age makes it tough), he milks his mastery of messing around with toys and turns it into a corporate career.

If you aren’t one of the lucky ones who lands a job testing toy robots, and if you feel like ‘the man’ is keeping you down,  heed the R-rated recommendation of Little Miss Sunshine, “Do what you love and f*#% the rest.”

After all this talk about striving for professional paradise, let’s not discount the sheer joy that comes from providing for a family, simply earning a paycheck or feeling like you actually contribute to something worthwhile. Sometimes that is our true calling and all it takes in The Pursuit of Happyness.

Take the custodian from Seattle who actually did get a million bucks ($3.4 Million in the state lottery to be exact) and continued his job as a janitor and track coach, “You need to be doing stuff: That’s my philosophy.”

So maybe Labor Day isn’t about escaping anything at all, but simply of reminding ourselves why we wake up every morning, try to tolerate traffic, and continually caffeinate our bloodstreams… and if it takes a magical Monday off and a backyard barbecue to do so, so be it.

If all this intense introspection still leaves you wanting more out of your job, look no further than a MOVIECLIPS mashup for inspiration (OK, that may be a *tad* ambitious) or to at least make your day fly by a little faster (following us on facebook and twitter helps too!).

To honor our benevolent bestowers of brightness and the start of the school year, we present a teacher tribute in the form of a brand new movie mashup featuring your favorite film faculty. Stay tuned following the video for an in-depth analysis of core teaching values as portrayed by our Top 5 teachers of all time.

MOVIECLIPS Mashup: Teacher Appreciation

Top Tenets of Teaching: As depicted in film…

1. MOTIVATION

Who says a third-grader is too young… to be motivated to achieve greatness? An exceptional educator tests the boundaries of traditional teaching to find a way to truly connect with students on a personal level. Through skilled motivation tactics, one can help students shed layers of insecurity in order to reach their full potential.

Veronica Vaughn, Billy Madison

2. ENTHUSIASM

It is important for teachers to make subject matter engaging for the students to increase their chances of retention. This can be accomplished in several ways, not least of which is passionate presentation and an upbeat tone of voice.  Enthusiasm in the classroom leads to attentive students.

Economics Teacher, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

3. COMPOSURE

Educators must never forget that they are leading by example and serving as primary role models in students’ lives. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to maintain poise and composure, even in the face of frustration.  Exercising restraint can be a valuable teaching tool.

Detective John Kimble, Kindergarten Cop

4. PERSISTENCE

In the sage words of Timbaland and the late Aaliyah, “If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again.” While important to instill in our youth, the same can be said for our teachers. Students will undoubtedly learn at different paces, so teachers will never give up on a student, even if they must revisit a lesson time and time again.

Mr. Myagi, The Karate Kid

5. AUTHORITY

When all else fails, an instructor cannot be afraid to execute authority.  We have put our children’s education in the capable hands of teachers everywhere with the assumption that they will do what’s best.  Our educators are expected to keep children in line to maintain a structured learning environment, and sometimes a strict tone is necessary.

Professor Terguson, Back to School

So, to the teachers of the world, welcome back to work (we hope you enjoyed your three month vacation); to the parents, pack up those lunches and buy twenty textbooks (do kids even use those anymore?); and to the students out there, say ’sayonara’ to summer because school is back in session… and guess what? By all movie accounts, it pretty much sucks.  Especially high school.

MOVIECLIPS Mashup: High School Sucks

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more back-to-school movie banter…

Along with a warm welcome was an introduction to our curious cast of characters; however, just when I thought I was getting a handle on everyone’s names, an email appeared in my inbox from a Michael Shumway (whom I couldn’t quite place).  Best of all, it was a one-line email entitled “Representing” that said “Taking the MOVIECLIPS shirt on it’s first free fall…” accompanied by these incredible photos:

I confirmed that, in fact, I hadn’t met him yet, as he works remotely from Utah, and upon further interrogation, I learned that Mike is one of the earliest members of the MOVIECLIPS team… like, first three early.  As Creative Director for MOVIECLIPS, he is responsible for designing the infamous tee, so it’s not surprising that he thought to show off his handiwork and company pride on his well-documented descent from a moving plane.  Mike is not a self-proclaimed daredevil, but he and his wife do have plans to continue ‘representing’ the shirt while bungee-jumping, snowboarding, river-rafting, and hang-gliding (“Life is short and we want to try everything that we’re afraid of!”).  It seemed only natural that we’d take a sneak peek into his thrill-seeking brain, in the form of MOVIECLIPS, of course.

Mike’s Top Action & Adventure Picks:
The Bourne Identity – The Paris Chase
Top Gun – Watch the Birdie

… or, of course, you can choose your own adventure.

So stay tuned to the renaissance of the MOVIECLIPS blog for continued coverage of our amusing antics, the journey of the MOVIECLIPS tee, industry insight and general film fodder for your next dinner party discussion. While you’re at it, follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more movie morsels to share with your friends!

Happy Friday!

…The Social Network would take home the Best Picture statuette. End of story. Granted, we won’t know if the Academy agrees till a week from Sunday. But here at Movieclips, we’re not Academy voters. We’re not pundits. We’re just movie fans. So we don’t track what the journalists and media bloggers and industry insiders are saying about the big night. In fact, we track the one opinion that gets consistently overlooked this time of year — the opinion of the movie fan. And according to our data, the fans have spoken. Being the hub for movie clip consumption online offers a unique window into the public’s actual interest in a film. When our on-site viewing statistics are combined with external search engine data (both up and down stream) along with internal search patterns, the resulting trends offer a uniquely accurate general interest measure. In other words, it becomes real easy to see what what moviegoers are into. So we took that data for the 10 best picture nominees, normalized it, scaled it* and plotted it (see above graph for top 3), and bam! We got ourselves a winner. The Social Network. You loved it. We loved it. Let’s hope the Academy does too. And for those of you who are still up in the air on your Oscar picks, never fear. We’ve got you covered with specially made mash-ups of each of the major categories. So get out there and win that office Oscar pool. And be sure to check back after the ceremony for mash-ups of all the winners.

Best Picture

More Oscar Nominee Mash-ups…

• Best Director
• Best Actor
• Best Actress
• Best Supporting Actor
• Best Supporting Actress

*Data was normalized to account for varying release dates and an equal base of media availability, then scaled over a 12-week period from 12/1/2010 to 2/15/2011.

If you need to prep for your office Oscar pool, want to jazz up your own blog or just love movies, be sure to check out our new Oscar Nominee Mashups featuring the best movies and performances of 2011:

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress