We Heart; Lifestyle & Design Magazine » Entertainment

El Molino Café-Theatre, Barcelona

James Davidson — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:23:30 +0000

Casting aside any tendencies to nod towards the past of this historic cultural institution – El Molino was originally opened in 1898 – with retro or kitsch touches, Barcelona’s Fernando Salas has thoroughly embraced futurist design with his breathtaking interior restyling. Bright red Swarovski embossed seats surround the ultra-minimal, stark, black and red stage of the iconic café-theatre that has been closed for almost 15 years. Re-opened and revived by this bold, brave refit and state-of-the-art technical and lighting surprises, El Molino can, once again, become a cornerstone of Barcelona’s vibrant city culture and, even if it was just to admire Salas’ unique vision, or perhaps to drink in the über-stylish ‘Golden Bar’ – this long-standing institution is a must for locals and visitors alike…

OMS Stage, Winnipeg

James Davidson — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 17:04:53 +0000

Home to Winnipeg’s Jazz and Fringe festivals, Old Market Square is the hub of the city’s cultural activity, as well as a neighbourhood park outside of summer months. So, when the city set out an open competition for a stage to be a part of the square’s redevelopment, 5468796 Architecture – a local collective of young architects – were clear winners with “The Cube”, their innovative open-air performance venue that forms an interactive sculpture when not in use, thanks to the brilliant flexible metal ‘skin’ that’s “soft” enough to drape open like a curtain for events, and rigid enough to provide a solid barrier at all other times…

The Simpsons Opening Credits, by Banksy

James Davidson — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 09:00:00 +0000

You’re quite likely to see it everywhere this week, but, being rather massive fans of the world’s most elusive Bristolian – and who doesn’t love The Simpsons? – felt compelled to share Banksy‘s storyboarded and directed opening credits for America’s longest running sitcom. Typically laden with lashings of dark humour and political satire, the globe’s most eminent graffiti artist nods towards the show’s subcontracting of animation to South Korean studios and the slave-like conditions of those who produce mass merchandise – quite how this has got past Murdoch’s Fox Broadcasting Company, and at this point we’re not entirely sure it has, we don’t know, but what we do know is that it’s everything you would expect from the king of the stencil… challenging, thought provoking and decidedly naughty…

Via: Wooster Collective

Skream: Listenin’ To The Records On My Wall

James Davidson — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:00:40 +0000

Anyone with the remotest interest in electronic music will be eagerly anticipating the forthcoming release of Skream’s long-awaited second album, Outside The Box. This, the lead single, firmly stamps a mark on his new, more epic sound, an intriguing progression from the dubstep that he more or less single-handedly brought overground – first into the dance music arena with his 2005 classic ‘Midnight Request Line’ then into the mainstream last year with his iconic La Roux remix. If this along with some of the other snippets we’ve heard of the album so far are anything to go by, then lazy TV producers will be filing the record alongside DJ Shadow and The xx for all those moody montages and drama series trailers.

Continue reading for the full uncut video (semi nsfw) and making of documentary…..

So, not content with pushing the envelope musically, the video – amongst the dubstep scene’s first, certainly it’s most impressive – is a wonderfully eccentric vision of the Garden of Eden, in which Adam appears to give birth to Eve as an Alien may do so in James Cameron’s 1986 sci-fi classic. Being devout atheists, we’d be no doubt ranting now about monkeys and Darwin, but what follows distracts us somewhat. Director David Wilson – of whom we’re sure to hear more of – along with illustrator and animator, Joseph Mann and an army of assistants, employ a rarely used animation technique known as ‘strata-cut’ to unleash a torrent of vivid colour and visual-mindfuck that, when the making of documentary is viewed, astounds us with it’s intricacy….

Nike’s ‘Ballman’ World Cup Sculpture

James Davidson — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:30:58 +0000

Dominating the Carlton Shopping Centre in Johannesburg is ‘Ballman’, ot at least that is what the 3,000 football structure has become known as. Erected in what is not exactly the most visually appealing of shopping centres – we can only imagine this would be a whole lot more effective in Shepherd’s Bush’s beautiful Westfield – the structure, courtesy of Leicester’s Ratcliffe Fowler Design is nonetheless a reminder of just how dominated South African culture is currently by the beautiful game…..

Nike World Cup Advert

James Davidson — Fri, 21 May 2010 13:39:59 +0000

We, like so many others around the world, are struggling to contain ourselves with excitement about next month’s carnival of football – or ‘soccer’ for our US readers – and you can always heavily rely on the heavyweight champions of marketing to come up trumps with a piece of advertising/entertainment that perfectly sums up the feelings of the footballing world. Nike’s 2010 World Cup advert focuses upon the expectations of a nation and the potential for greatness that each of the competing athletes feels…. moments of glory snatched, shared and stolen. Sensationally shot, beautifully edited and perfectly written, the Oregon based sportswear giants have once more provided a golden moment of marketing that will be on everyone’s lips for the coming months……

Nike World Cup Advert

Also rather humorous is this, a teaser for the main World Cup advert – that will debut during tomorrow’s Champions League final. Perhaps we’ll see some further spin-offs from the advert in coming weeks, we certainly hope so….

Short Of The Week: I Met The Walrus

James Davidson — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:13:32 +0000

In 1969, when Jerry Levitan was just 14-years-old, he managed to sneak into John Lennon’s hotel room. If that wasn’t impressive enough, the teen then persuaded him to do an interview. Equipped with intelligent and relevant questions as well as a reel-to-reel tape deck, Levitan recorded an insightful conversation, capturing Lennon’s thoughts on the world and in 2007, produced this award-winning, thought-provoking short film, using the original interview as its soundtrack.

Written and directed by Josh Raskin, I Met the Walrus boasts the pen and computer illustrations of James Braithwaite and Alex Kurina, bringing to life Lennon’s passionate musings, which are just as pertinent today, over 40 years on. The recording – whilst understandably not of the best quality – is the perfect platform for this engrossing animation, which translates the Beatle’s words into evocative images, creating a flowing tale of snapshots within the mind of one of history’s popular and eloquent campaigners.

Short Of The Week: I’m Here

James Davidson — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:53:22 +0000

Spike Jonze, the writer/producer/director responsible for last year’s awe-inspiring Where the Wild Things Are, has since released his first love story: a short film in collaboration with Absolut Vodka about the give and take relationship between two robots. In a world where humans and robots co-exist, Sheldon (Andrew Garfield) is the lonely librarian robot who falls in love with Francesca (Sienna Guilleroy), a newer model robot who makes a habit of falling and severely damaging her body.

Ultimately an emotional tale of altruism, I’m Here explores the selfishness and selflessness of one particular relationship, documenting the repercussions of one’s actions through a dramatic yet entirely believable story. What is perhaps most surprising is how effective the actors are in revealing their emotions, with a robot’s exterior to contend with. Body language is used to perfection throughout, with facial expressions playing a key part in selling this convincing love story.

Beautifully shot, intelligently acted and extremely moving, this one comes highly recommended. Watch I’m Here at the official website; just make sure you get in there quick because Absolut has ensured that the virtual screenings are limited to a certain amount of viewings per day.

Short Of The Week: Logorama

James Davidson — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:44:04 +0000

What better way to kick off our brand new film feature, than with Logorama, the winner of this year’s Oscar for animated short. Created by French animation studio H5, Logorama sees a universe and its inhabitants created entirely from globally recognised brand names and symbols. The film opens to Dean Martin’s ‘Good Morning Life, revealing a Malibu island and MSN butterflies forming the landscape of LA, going on to show towering skyscrapers of Colgate, buildings of LEGO and even a Hot Wheels carnival.

The narrative takes off within this incredibly detailed and humourous animation, when two Michelin Man police officers spot the evil Ronald McDonald – a criminal on the run. Soon enough the chase is on, bringing the whole town into a state of panic. That is, until nature takes the matter into its own hands and brings the film to its climax…

Logorama is a brilliantly-conceived and witty piece, acknowledging the intrusive character of commercial branding in our day-to-day lives by taking product placement to a new – and frankly hilarious – level. Yet, in spite of its political message, the combination of colour, graphics and overwhelming familiarity in this logo-saturated world really draws us in…

Yeasayer ‘ONE’ by Radical Friend

James Davidson — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:40:05 +0000

Renowned for a disturbing, visually arresting style – their debut album ‘All Hour Cymbals’ depicted a hairy chested, faceless woman on the cover – Yeasayer have seemingly found good company in equally perverse video directing duo Kirby McClure and Julia Grigorian, aka Radical Friend. Following the naked bodies, faceless horserider and homo-erotic boxer from their last single, ‘Ambling Alp’, Radical Friend’s latest interpretation of Yeasayer’s fantastically twisted psych-pop – for new single ‘ONE’ – features gangsters with morphing faces, underwater gimps, mystical poker games and, errrm… well, just watch the video….

Circus, London

James Davidson — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:56:06 +0000

“Inviting, surprising, obscure, strange and beautiful”, that’s just how they describe the acts performing at London’s most exhilarating new venue… thanks to design-legend Tom Dixon however, they are words that could just as easily encapsulate the essence of his glamorous interior. From Shoreditch House to the Paramount Members Club, former Creative Director of Habitat, Tom Dixon is surely one of the capital’s key figures for flamboyant interior design, and his work at this new Seven Dials bar, restaurant and entertainment experience does not disappoint. High quality North American cuisine at surprisingly reasonable prices, innovative cocktails from the world famous Worldwide Cocktail Club and inventive, unique performances that encompass the venue ensure that Circus will be a hot ticket for years to come…..

Where’s Stig, Rod Hunt

James Davidson — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:48:17 +0000

Famous for his tongue in cheek, ultra-detailed retro artworks, Rod Hunt has worked on campaigns for Barclays, Vodafone, British Airways and IKEA to name but a few, as long time admirers of his brilliant illustrations we are more than excited about his new take on the ‘Where’s Wally’ phenomenon with this rather brilliant new book in collaboration with BBC TV series, Top Gear.

Three Frames

James Davidson — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:35:44 +0000

So, let’s get this straight, Three Frames isn’t going to be winning any accolades from high-brow press anytime soon, nor is it likely to win any awards, but for a uniquely subversive art concept it sure is entertaining. De-constructing famous, but for the majority by no means critically acclaimed, movies into a three frame (it’s all in the name you see) animated gif is a bold concept which, on the whole, pays off. Funny, bizarre and strangely cool, the low quality of the high compression file format, coupled with the use of tacky eighties straight-to-video movie clips, lend each image a uniquely retro feel that leaves you wanting more. Good job they’re updating daily then!

True Blood’s Innovative Marketing

James Davidson — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 05:33:06 +0000

Having premiered in the Autumn in the US, ‘Buffy for adults’ True Blood, has been scheduled for a UK debut this Summer and even if the show itself turns out to be another wannabe Hollywood bore-fest it certainly looks like we can expect some innovative marketing to be heading our way if past efforts are anything to go by. This brilliantly innovative billboard has been launched recently in New Zealand and takes ambient media to potentially dangerous new extremes, for vampires at least.

Previously, HBO themselves have used a cheeky campaign featuring a fake ‘blood’ beverage, Tru Blood, and their social network heavy official series website is laden with much marketing goodness such as the BloodCopy news blog and the fan’s Wiki. Here’s hoping that FX UK get themselves a top advertising agency and throw out some equally innovative marketing for the Summer launch of True Blood.

Heavy Metal In Baghdad

James Davidson — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:39:45 +0000

Back in the summer of 2005, Vice Magazine co-founder, Suroosh Alvi, along with regular Vice contributer, co-founder of VBS.TV along with Spike Jonze and budding filmmaker, Eddy Moretti headed off to Lebanon to pick up a once weekly flight from Beirut to Baghdad in search of Iraqi heavy metal band (yes, we said ‘Iraqi heavy metal band’), Acrassicauda, who the pair had ran a story on in the magazine a year earlier. A car bomb meant that flights were canceled, leaving the pair to send their warzone photographer friend to cover the gig, a true indication of just how dangerous life was in Iraq. The next year they finally made it to Baghdad at a point where some 300 people a day were dying in insurgent attacks, this is where Heavy Metal In Baghdad begins to take place, a unique film that captures the chaos and claustrophobia of the country at it’s worst.

The film follows the story of a unique struggle for four young Iraqi’s to achieve something any of us can do, be free to do as you choose. The band eventually get to record their debut album in Syria. Funded by Vice, The Damascus Demos which provide most of the films soundtrack are probably the only recordings of an Iraqi heavy metal band in existence. Heavy Metal in Baghdad gives a voice to the voiceless youth that so many Westerners misunderstand and is truly unique. Screenings are around the UK over the next month, get your tickets now!