This week we’ve pulled together a veritable gold mine of irreverent, smile-inducing finds to make your 3-day weekend even sweeter. With Oprah off-duty, someone’s got to fill the entertainment void… Enter FIVE33.
The art show ‘Crazy 4 Cult’ (held at Gallery 1988, Los Angeles) is an annual opportunity for 100 different artists to reinvent the humble movie poster. Their new book Crazy 4 Cult: Cult Movie Art is a compilation of the best works from these gallery shows and we’ve already put our names down for a copy when it’s released on June 24.
Sticking with the art theme, this week our attention was drawn to the work of Manchester-based photographer Rosie Hardy. Her mix of the real and surreal made us feel like we had stepped inside her own private dreamscape.
Get ready for an unmissable documentary. Our favourite late night underdog, Conan O’Brien, has had a career spanning decades in the funny business, including writing on Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons before getting his first of many late night shows. While there have been countless laughs over the years, it’s been anything but a smooth ride for the redheaded barbarian. His very heated, very public falling out with Leno / NBC is the subject of the new documentary, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop which gives a fascinating glimpse into the more serious-er side of one of America’s most beloved comedy personalities.
We promised fun, and we don’t disappoint. Take a look at the new trailer for the upcoming Muppets film. Following on from the daring trick promo for ‘Green With Envy’ they are having fun subverting expectations again, with this fuzzy remake of The Hangover 2′s teaser. We have no idea what they have up their sleeves, but at FIVE33 we have a motto: In Muppets We Trust.
Twitter has been abuzz this week with a fashion secret . . . the Top Shop Secret Store. Open for just 2 weeks in their flagship stores (London and New York), a hidden door behind what appears to be a florist leads to a treasure trove of unique pieces designed exclusively for the pop-ups by designers such as Nasir Mazhar and Meadham Kirchhoff. Now that’s a secret garden!
So let’s sing ourselves into the weekend. It’s the second time that LA soulster Mayer Hawthorne has made the Fix. His cover of the ELO’s classic Mr. Blue Sky, recorded in one take at the Dour Festival Belgium, is guaranteed to set you up for a perfect weekend.
There you have it… don’t say we never did nothin’ for ya. Friday, you have been Fixed.
FIVE33 is front page news in Variety today, with their special report covering the impact of the On Stranger Tides mall takeover created by our Experiential Division. Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios tasked FIVE33 with bringing the action-packed world of Pirates of the Caribbean to life at retail partner Hot Topic‘s 657 stores nationwide.
Following the multi-million dollar success of Alice in Wonderland, our expert team of Experience Designers spent several months conceiving and constructing the Queen Anne’s Revenge crashing into the heart of Hollywood & Highland in LA, and a giant ‘Ship in a Bottle’ display bespoke for the Westfield Garden State Plaza on the opposite coast. Based on the reactions, the hard work has paid off in spectacular fashion.
Vartiety writer Marc Graser writes that, “FIVE33 is enticing the majors to take a completely opposite approach […] focused on ‘eventizing’ film marketing efforts… and courting aud[iences] who tend to gravitate toward physical displays they can touch and interact with.”
The two hand-crafted ship designs “have certainly increased traffic in Hot Topic’s stores and Westfield malls.” This is backed up by the retail giant: “The way FIVE33 is able to translate what film executives are saying is a remarkable feat… This type of thing isn’t done normally” says John Kirkpatrick, Hot Topic’s Chief Marketing Officer.
While thousands came out to experience the event firsthand, Variety addressed the amplifcation opportunities offered by FIVE33′s approach, wherein “thousands of fans have also taken photos of the displays and posted them on Facebook and Twitter, where they’re seen by millions of others.”
Hello weekend, my old friend. I’ve come to hang with you again.
This week we made our way over to our London style mecca, Selfridges. This time however, we weren’t just in search of fashion, we wanted to find out exactly what Project Ocean is all about.
From 11 May – 12 June 2011, Selfridges is partnering with more than 20 environmental and conservation groups to celebrate the beauty of the ocean and highlight the issues of over-fishing and threats to marine life. Naturally, Selfridges have managed to raise awareness in an incredibly stylish way with a sea-inspired takeover of the Wonder Room.
Talk of shopping always leads to shoes (it’s not just us, is it?) This week we’ve been discussing our love for the new ‘it’ shoe which for once isn’t a vertiginous high heel! Superga is taking the celebrity world by storm. Who would have thought that an Italian sneaker brand started in 1911 would be at the top of the fashion pack’s ‘most wanted’ list 100 years later? With Alexa Chung as the new face (and feet) of the brand, mark our words: it won’t be long before we’re all following in her footsteps.
Moving into the movie world, the first trailer for Europe’s favourite be-quiffed hero finally dropped this week, and it’s already dividing opinion. When you have the combined might of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson behind an entirely CG movie, you know it’s going to look mind-bendingly brilliant. And the final shot seems specifically placed to challenge critics of performance capture’s ‘uncanny valley’. There’s real life there in Tin-Tin’s eyes.
The world of video games took a thrilling leap forward this week with the release of Rockstar’s L.A. Noire. We’ve completed our first play-through and will just say this: believe the hype. Team Bondi‘s evocative blend of 40′s crime fiction and astonishing facial capture technology points to a bright new future for interactive storytelling. This is gaming for grown-ups.
Okay, let’s talk music. In fact let’s not talk, let’s dance. This week, there’s just one new music video, and everyone else better get out of the way. Beyonce’s ‘Run The World (Girls)’ has finally dropped, and it does not disappoint. Queen B worked with no fewer than 8 different choreographers to master the range of movement styles exhibited in Francis Lawrence’s jaw-droppingly brilliant video. It’s got a lion, it’s got jackals, it’s got slow motion explosions and it’s got Beyonce. Turn it on and turn it up.
If you are looking to lose yourself in some serious sound this weekend, here’s a shout out to one of our favourite mixmasters in the UK. Check out Jon Cox’s WILDABOUTNOTHIN’ podcast below, one of the most atmospheric and immersive to date.
That’s the down low on this week. Now get out there and go enjoy yourself some weekend! We’ll catch you on the other side.
The FIVE33 Group is a creative communications agency known for its groundbreaking International campaigns.
With a global business and enviable client base in entertainment, fashion, retail and sport, FIVE33 combine quality of thought with quality of execution, binding them together in new and unprecedented ways.
