Category Archives: Video

The Best Trailers From Sundance 2020

Every January, industry figureheads flock to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah to get a fresh fix of cinema. It’s in that peaceful lull toward the tail-end of awards season and during “dump month” that some of the best upcoming movies make their world debut. And while the runaway hit of the festival seems to be Zola, the wild tale of a girls night out gone south that was first brought to life back in 2015 by a viral twitter thread, it sadly doesn’t have a trailer. But here are some trailers from Sundance for films that are sure to make waves this year.

 

Crip Camp

This riveting documentary, produced by the Obamas, explores a camp for disabled teens that operated in the ’70s and how some campers eventually went on to become influential figures in the disability rights movement. Made up of both raw footage and new interviews, the film is a brilliant portrait of how a community movement was born.

 

Downhill

Will Ferrell and Julie Louise-Dreyfuss star as parents who embark on a family ski retreat following the death of a relative. Judging by the trailer, this disaster-comedy looks like a welcome addition to the dysfunctional family canon.

 

Impetigore

The best horror film trailers don’t really tell you anything — see above. But basically this Indonesian horror-thriller is about a woman who returns home to a village to find out that everyone wants to kill her. However, things seem to take a turn for the even more sinister.

 

Max Richter’s Sleep

Who would have thought that the key to a good night’s rest was being lulled to sleep by a live orchestra? Besides the point, this fascinating documentary explores composer Max Richter’s ambitious and seminal 2015 album that doubles as a sleep aid.

 

Diesel spring-summer 2020

Check Out Diesel’s Super Spring/Summer 2020 Campaign

Diesel is bringing back its famous “Successful Living” tagline for Spring/Summer 2020. First introduced in the ’90s, the motto was created by founder Renzo Rosso, who saw customers as equals, and quickly took off. Rosso also wanted to share his brand ideals of irony, provocation, eccentricity, and kitsch with these words — safe to say, wearing Diesel meant you were doing something right.

 

Reviving a classic, Rosso is now promoting uniqueness and individuality with a side of not taking oneself too seriously. The campaign is accompanied by a film by François Rousselet featuring a modern-day superhero still learning the ropes. Frustrated, he takes a moment to meditate and relax and performs the act in his trailer. Ultimately, the entire message focuses on the confidence that comes from within that gives one strength, and also the irony of the circumstances. Diesel wants to be part of every day, to be relatable, and there no matter the situation.

 

Watch the video campaign below:

Marc Jacobs & Charlotte Rampling are Givenchy’s Newest Faces

As spring campaigns from the biggest brands continue to trickle in, Givenchy has enlisted major icons Marc Jacobs and Charlotte Rampling to star in theirs. Dressed in key looks from the Spring/Summer 2020 collection, the two elicit memories of the ’90s in New York City and Paris when individual style was at its peak and fashion at its most liberating.

 

Photographed by Craig McDean, the campaign is a series of black-and-white portraits to celebrate the new faces of the brand. Each shot portrays an innate sense of wit and elegance. An accompanying video reveals a bit more about both individuals, their respective careers, and their personal style. The brand’s accessories such as bags and shoes take center stage while the stars are practicing an acting lesson. “Show me nuance, show me a bittersweet long lost love affair,” says Rampling, as they act out an acting lesson. The dramatic Jacobs eventually steals the show with his own histrionics. Definitely the campaign to watch ahead of the Oscars.

 

 

Givenchy Marc Jacobs

 

justin bieber changes

Justin Bieber’s New Album Drops on Valentine’s Day

He’s baaaack. After releasing his comeback single last month, the underwhelmingly syrupy “Yummy,” and embarking on a hard-to-watch campaign to get his song to top the charts, Justin Bieber announced on his new promotional docuseries (Seasons, which streams on YouTube every Monday) that his next album Changes will be out next month.

 

The record marks his first solo release since 2016’s wildly successful Purpose, the NBB (nothin’ but bops) album that made Beliebers out of all us. In the years since his cultural domination, he’s found God, gotten married, started a clothing line, and battled Lyme disease, all the while maintaining a near-constant presence on the charts by collaborating with artists like DJ Khaled, Ed Sheeran, and the apparent future of pop music Billie Eilish. In addition to the new album, he’ll embark on his first tour in three years. So even if the first taste of the album has been as yummy as the song’s title would hope, it’ll be interesting to see how the next Bieber era plays out. He still has a hell of a voice.

 

Changes will be released on February 14. Watch the video for “Yummy” below.

 

Jonah Hill Directed the Latest Adidas Video Campaign

For its latest campaign, Adidas tapped actor Jonah Hill to direct and star in a new video. He’s in good company — in the new campaign, titled “Change is a Team Sport,” Hill stars alongside Pharrell, Yara Shahidi, Blondey McCoy, and Jenn Soto. The visual is the first part of an ongoing brand initiative that will showcase new disruptors and rising stars across industries. In the video, Soto sports a pair of the brand’s Superstar sneakers as she maneuvers through the best first-day-of-school ever, all the while Hill shares words of encouragement over the intercom. Avoiding the general crippling awkwardness of the high school experience, the whole thing is pretty wholesome.

 

Watch Adidas’ “Change is a Team Sport” campaign video above.

Netflix’s New Fashion Show Stars Tan France & Alexa Chung

The Queer Eye fashion expert Tan France and designer/model Alexa Chung have teamed up for a Netflix exclusive fashion reality-competition, Next In Fashion.  The show, which has been touted as the streaming service’s take on Project Runway, consists of 18 aspiring designers going through a design Bootcamp orchestrated by the two hosts to ultimately win a $250,000 prize and the opportunity to launch their own line with Net-a-Porter. Contestants on the show have been cast from around the world, including talent from Los Angeles, Mexico, Italy, and beyond. The judging panel will feature a roster of celebrity guest judges, including Eva Chen, Monique Lhuillier, Elizabeth von der Goltz, Adriana Lima, Beth Ditto, and Tommy Hilfiger.

 

Next In Fashion will be available on Netflix on January 29.

Bjork

Björk Launched an AI Composition at Sister City in Downtown NYC

Björk, the Icelandic avant-pop fixture known for her innovative approach to everything, has launched an AI-powered exhibition with Microsoft AI at New York’s hi-tech hotel Sister City. The piece is a choral arrangement that works symbiotically with the outside environment of the city, finding new ways to present the artist’s favorite snippets from her career and the recordings of Iceland’s Hamrahlid Choir. A camera atop the hotel interprets the everchanging sky and generates a unique musical composition installed in the hotel’s lobby that’s looped 24/7. The immersive experience allows for the atmosphere and music to inform each other.

 

When the hotel opened back last April a similar experience was led by electronic musician Julianna Barwick. The hit score paved the road for Björk’s composition, which she responded to as “an AI call.” Being already highly interested in bird-migrations and nature’s ways, she is curiously infusing the deltas of the planet and that of her own musical experience.

 

You can hear the Björk x Microsoft AI composition now at 225 Bowery, New York, NY 10002.

 

 

 

jean paul gaultier

The Divine Spectacle of Jean Paul Gaultier’s Last Show

Less than a week after announcing his retirement, fashion’s favorite troublemaker Jean Paul Gaultier presented his final couture show. The designer, who originally launched his eponymous label in 1981, spent over four decades challenging convention and consistently expanding the limits within the industry through his over-the-top theatrical presentations. A spectacular celebration of his countless contributions, the Spring/Summer 2020 show was a glorious victory lap for a truly groundbreaking career.

 

In the awe-inspiring 174-look presentation, which featured supermodels of the moment like Karlie Kloss and the Hadid sisters alongside alternative icons like Dita von Teese and Boy George (who started the show with a rendition of Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black”), Gaultier masterfully referenced multiple eras of his career in a way that was both nostalgic yet fresh. The cheeky pinned clothes looks which opened the show were first seen in the Spring 2003 collection. A series of nautical ensembles in the middle of the presentation were redolent of the designer’s own personal style — he frequently sported a striped shirt with a tartan kilt — and a nod to his vast fragrance empire. Who could forget the campy homoeroticism of the early JPG fragrance ads as well as those torso-shaped bottles? There was even an update to the timeless cone bra immortalized in pop culture by friend and muse Madonna. The designer clearly had an abundance of material to pull inspiration from, and yet rather than feeling limited by his own material, Gaultier was able to repurpose his work in a way that was familiar to his long-time fans while simultaneously introducing his legacy to a new generation. Just like he did with last year’s Supreme collaboration.

 

The show felt like a greatest hits collection but also served as a reminder for how far the industry has come and the ways which Gaultier pioneered some of these changes. He always made an effort to cast a diverse range of models long before the idea of representation dominated the cultural conversation and Teen Vogue articles. He designed men’s skirts and dresses before current genderfluid style vanguards like Ezra Miller and Jaden Smith were even born. And, due to the limited budgets younger couturiers are forced to deal with at the start of their careers, he was always resourceful in using discarded fabrics and unconventional materials and transforming them into sensational creations. Nowadays this would be considered a sustainability tactic. Jean Paul Gaultier’s departure is a sad loss, but the impact he left in the industry is not likely to leave the collective consciousness anytime soon. That seemed to be the overarching theme of the show: maybe gone, but never forgotten.

 

Watch the Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 2020 Couture show below.

 

What’s Going On in the ‘Come to Daddy’ Trailer?

These days, it’s best to go into a movie knowing as little about it as possible. With spoiler alerts and the general overdose of information we’re confronted with these days thanks to smartphones, social media, and cryptically judgmental Co-Star notifications, it’s hard to foster any sense of mystery. After it was recommended that I watch the now Academy Award-nominated Parasite without reading too much about it, and being completely shook by the whole viewing experience, I was sold: when it comes to new movies — to (sorta) quote Tame Impala and Rihanna — the less you know the better.

 

Which brings us to Come to Daddy. Let’s start with what we know about the upcoming horror-comedy flick: Elijah Wood stars as a man with a severe bowl-cut who travels to meet his estranged, eccentric father in a remote cabin by a lake. While that premise is as promising as any premise can hope to be, that’s all we get. In the trailer, it’s clear that Elijah’s life clearly spirals out of control after reconnecting with his dad in ways that range from a little uncomfortable (like walking in on a stranger pooping) to a potential full-on homicide. How’s that for daddy issues?

 

Come to Daddy hits theaters on February 7. Watch the trailer above.

 

 

It’s All in the Details: Backstage at Dior Men’s Fall 2020

Embellishments were the clear star of Dior Men’s Fall 2020 collection, which debuted in Paris last week. Kim Jones cited British punk vanguard Judy Blame as the chief inspiration, and the presentation was framed as a tribute to the icon who passed away in 2018. Blame was pivotal in shaping Britain’s fashion scene in the ’80s and ’90s as a major editorial stylist for The Face and i-D, and his jewelry and other accessories made out of discarded objects from keys to animal bones have been repeatedly referenced over the years. As part of its tribute to the late Blame, Dior unveiled its own interpretation of his DIY creations by bejeweling coat lapels and knit sweaters and introducing a range of dangly necklaces and ornamented cluster keychains.

 

Take a look at some of the details up close in the video above. Watch the Dior Men’s Fall 2020 show here.