Monday Morning Quarterback Part I

By BOP Staff

February 4, 2014

Who's too short to be an NFL quarterback now?

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David Mumpower: I agree with Edwin in that if I described this movie, it would be Friends with Benefits meets 21 and Over. Obviously, the meme of That Awkward Moment possesses a high level of awareness. Looking at a funny picture is entirely different from paying $10 to watch a motion picture, though. While the behind the scenes struggles of That Awkward Moment (three titles and counting!) in no way impact its opening weekend, they aptly reflect the difficulty in providing an identity to the project. This situation is similar to The Monuments Men, an upcoming Clooney film that has suffered through a similar identity crisis with regards to marketing. Being a one trick pony seems to be an easier sell for cinema. In trying to fill two niches, That Awkward Moment failed to differentiate itself with either one. Also, it is a terrible movie. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Kim Hollis: What were your favorite and least favorite Super Bowl ads? What did you think of the halftime performance?

Edwin Davies: The one I found the most entertaining was the one with Terry Crews and The Muppets, because I love them hugely, though I'm not sure if it was the BEST ad, just because I can't actually remember what it was advertising (I'm going to guess...the concept of joy?). I was just really entertained and delighted by it. I also thought that the Coca-Cola ad with people singing "America The Beautiful" in different languages was sweet and affecting in a way that didn't feel cloying or cynical.

Least favorite was probably the Axe ad that seemed to suggest that the ills of the world and the crimes of dictators can be forgiven thanks to love. Kind of felt that was sickening.




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Max Braden: Dogs won the ads. Doberuaua was disturbing but funny, the cowboy kid riding his dog to get the Doritos from the groceries was great (as was Doritos' fake time machine trick), and Bud's puppy and horse romance was adorable.

But Bud's Don Cheadle/Arnold mashup seemed like a perplexing waste. Radio Shack's quick assembly of '80s icons was much more fun. Star Trek's use just seemed like blatant name-dropping. Rade Serbedzija is always a welcome appearance, and Stephen Colbert wins for just being himself (Wonderful Pistachios).

The ads for 24's return to TV were almost like a first-person-shooter console game ad, but were too vague. The trailer for Transformers seemed pretty...flashy. I'll see it for Wahlberg.

I'm a car guy, so hell yeah on the Need For Speed trailer, but with the complete failure of Getaway, and the firmly established F&F franchise, it will need to deliver something more impressive than a few clips. I'm a fan of Maserati, but that ad tried too hard to be deep and impressive and it just wasn't. The Jaguar "it's good to be bad" theme with the Brit actors was very cool. In fact, I'd say that's the type of ad Don Draper would have come up with if he were in his prime today.


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