Archive | December, 2010

Top 5 Movies of 2010

17 Dec
Jean Dujardin

Jean Dujardin

So the nice thing about having a blog is that I can take what has always been a mental ritual every December- making a list of my favorite movies of the year- and actually write it down.  I went to IMDB, perused the list of all movies released this year to refresh my memory, and came up with…well, not even ten. Okay, not a lot of movies knocked my socks off this year.  But five did.  The brief list, as well as a brief justification for my eclectic taste in film. In order of release date:

Dear John. I think 90% of romantic comedies are a giant waste of Hollywood’s best actresses (see: Amy Adams), perpetuate romantic myths (he’s so mean to her so…they must be meant for each other!) and are usually just woefully unfunny. I do, however, love a good romantic drama.  Dear John told the story of two young people falling in love that was not ripped from a Disney fairy tale…ok, it was ripped from the pages of a Nicholas Sparks novel. But it was well-told, heart-warming, and brought back the old art of letter-writing.  A bit of a guilty pleasure, and I loved it.

OSS 117: Lost in Rio. The French don’t always do arthouse cinema, though many would be forgiven for thinking that. Trust me, I lived there. Often, they do achingly bad comedy (just ask Thierry L’Hermitte).  And occasionally, original, enormously funny comedy.  This is the second movie in what I hope is a long series.  Think Austin Powers, but extremely politically incorrect, in exotic locales, and with a very handsome leading man, Jean Dujardin. And with lots of Nazis. Hilarious.

El Secreto en Sus Ojos. This movie tells a simple story- cop is obsessed with hunting down the one murderer that eluded him.  Cop is in love with the young lawyer he works with.  Cop and lawyer hunger for justice.  But this story is so well-paced, well-acted, and the ending is so twisted and satisfying, that if you enjoy crime dramas, it’s one of the best you’ll see in the genre.  The words “Usted dijo perpetua” lingered in my head for days after this movie.

Mesrine: Killer Instinct. Vincent Cassel is one bad-ass movie star.  He’s got the sex appeal of George Clooney, the acting chops of a young Robert DeNiro, and the masculinity of a young Marcello Mastroianni. He plays the real-life criminal legend Jacques Mesrine, who ruled the French criminal underworld, escaped from prison multiple times and orchestrated a kidnapping and a massive prison break, on three continents over two decades. This was the best action movie I’ve seen in a long time.  And Cassel deserves an Oscar for playing Mesrine so effectively.

The Social Network. Yes, it’s on everyone’s year-end list.  Yes, it tells the story of the little blue and white website that could.  Yes, there may inevitably be a “Social Network” backlash- it’s almost too praised, there have to be some flaws, right? Well, yes, there are inaccuracies.  The real Mark Zuckerberg has had the same girlfriend since before Facebook started. But allow creative genius Aaron Sorkin a few liberties as he crafts the story of how an anti-social computer geek started a tool that connected the world…and lost his closest friend in the process. I loved the pulsing soundtrack by Trent Reznor (yes, THAT Trent Reznor), the acting by Andrew Garfield, Jesse Eisenberg, and even Justin Timberlake. The story of a young entrepreneur gaining an empire and losing his soul is as old as Citizen Kane. But although there may be nothing new under the sun, what matters is how the story is told. And “The Social Network” had me at the opening chords of “Ball & Biscuit” by The White Stripes. This movie deserves all the accolades.

The Reinvention of Domino’s: A Marketing Success Story

17 Dec
Mmm, Domino's Pizza

Mmm, Domino's Pizza

The new rebranding campaign by Domino’s has achieved something truly remarkable- it has made me want to eat Domino’s pizza. As marketers, it can be easy to watch brands like Nike, McDonald’s, and Apple coast their way to brand dominance.  But it is much more difficult to resuscitate a failing brand, and I admire those who do it without tricks or gimmicks.  Ok, call Domino’s full-on effort to improve its product a bit gimmicky.  But, like the brilliant Old Spice Guy commercial, it takes a once-popular product now considered very passé, and rebrands it.  And it does so using the essentials of social media marketing.

Domino’s has convened focus groups of people who are not fans of its pizza, listened to their feedback, and implemented changes to its recipe.  They have since gone to great lengths to ask consumers to provide feedback on their Domino’s experience, and taken skeptics to the dairies and tomato farms where their toppings are produced (for the purposes of his article, we’ll leave aside the controversy surrounding the Department of Agriculture boosting cheese production by encouraging Domino’s to put more cheese in its pizza.  We’re looking at marketing, not government cheese.).  Surprise! Domino’s is listening.

Yes, they show the most critical members of the focus group having their concerns personally addressed; the customer in Minnesota who sent in a picture of his too-cheesy pizza stuck to the top of the pizza box is personally assured by the CEO of Domino’s that it will NEVER happen again; and focus group participants who wonder aloud where Domino’s pizza toppings come from are told that-voila!- they are in the middle of the dairy and tomato farm, respectively, where Domino’s ingredients grow in the Earth. Now, these are all TV commercials in constant rotation.  But they all take from rule number one of social media marketing: listen to your customers.

Starting a corporate Twitter account is one thing; starting a corporate Twitter account to respond to customer complaints is another thing.  It is good to see a brand willing to revamp its product to improve lagging sales. There are no spokespeople, no taglines, no gimmicks (certainly no disgusting cheesy bites like at Pizza Hut. Yuck). Just a pizza chain telling customers it is listening to them and using their feedback to actively improve its product and service. It’s refreshing to see.  And it may even make a convert out of me.

 

Tradiciones Navideñas

5 Dec
Menudo- Coma y No Hagas Preguntas

Menudo- Coma y No Hagas Preguntas

Todo el año, soy media mexicana, pero durante la Navidad y el Año Nuevo, las tradiciones de mi familia se vuelven más importantes, y soy más mexicana que nunca. Esto no tiene nada que ver con la cultura mexicana en sí; es decir, todas las culturas tienen sus tradiciones más arraigadas durante la Navidad. Ayer asistí a una Feria Navideña Sueca, que contaba con la participación de una amiga estadounidense de padres suecos.  Estaba obviamente orgullosa de su cultura- los disfraces tradicionales, la comida, el idioma, los cantos.  No importa si seas sueca, mexicana, o de cualquier cultura.  Esta temporada navideña es la hora de celebrar nuestra cultura, poco importa de donde venimos.

En mi casa, en vez de ser biculturales, somos, digamos, triculturales.  Tenemos la cultura libanesa, la cultura mexicana, y la cultura estadounidense, la que prevalece. No miramos el fútbol; miramos, apasionadamente, el fútbol estadounidense. Preparamos el puré de papas más a menudo que…bueno, más que el menudo.  Pero durante la Navidad, preparamos los tamales.  Durante todo un fin de semana, mi madre emplea un ejército de ayudantes, y toma el papel de coronel, manejando la cocina como si fuera su zona de batalla.  Admito que muchas veces no se me permite quedar por mucho tiempo, por falta de destrezas con la elaboración de la masa.  “No, no, mira, así no se hace!”, grita mi madre.

Así que no es un proceso democrático, pero resulta en un lote increíble de tamales verdes de pollo.  Bueno, también hacemos rojos, pero prefiero los verdes, y los de pollo.  Los dulces, para mí, no sirven para nada- es un mal uso de piña y pasas, en mi opinión.  Los tamales los comemos la mañana de Navidad con chocolate mexicano- hecho con Ibarra– y no empezamos a abrir los regalos hasta que todos tengamos el chocolate, y un plato de tamales con huevito en las manos.  Esta tradición se repite en Nuevo Año.  Pero hay una tradición que no tiene nada que ver con la comida, pero sí tiene que ver con el Nacimiento. Y es la más importante de todas.

Nacimiento 2007

Nacimiento 2007

El Nacimiento toma lugar al lado del árbol navideño, y usamos figuras de todas partes- aún tenemos algunas de México, que datan de más de 50 años, aunque todas las figuras originales ya son “mancos”, con brazos pegados con un pegamento sencillo.  Hemos incorporado juguetes infantiles, decoraciones de pasteles de cumpleaños, todo. Pero una figura importante falta.

Tras llegar a casa después de la Misa de Gallo, cantamos una canción de cuna al niño, todos le besamos en la frente, y lo colocamos al lado de José y María.  Cuando vivía, mi bisabuela se encargaba de esta tradición, cantando más alto que todos.  Y ahora, al preservar esta tradición a lo largo de los años, tiene más importancia que nunca.  Y siempre arrullo al niño con una lágrima en los ojos.

Cuáles son tus tradiciones navideñas? Dime en los comentarios. Y que tengan un muy Feliz Navidad.