by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC & Freelance Dreamer So “Inception” is this action-packed, visually stunning film that appears real. Too real. Indeed, although the premise is based on dreams, it isn’t very… well, dreamlike. Who has linear dreams that are essentially action films? Whose dreams appear shot from a third-person perspective [...]
Tags:dreams·films·Hollywood·Inception·Leondardo Dicaprio·movies
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC and Marketing Demonologist It was brilliant. Not the film, but the marketing campaign that turned a $15,000 amateur horror flick into a $100 million box office smash. The problem? Serious anticipointment…
Tags:anticipointment·buzz·college market·Eventful.com·Hollywood·horror·marketing·movies·Paramount Pictures·Paranormal Activity·Wired
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC Hollywood is experiencing a “Freaky Friday”: in the 1976 movie, a mother and daughter magically swap bodies. After a series of icky moments milked for laughs, they predictably come to understand each other. Now, unpredictably, the entire movie industry is experiencing a similar switcheroo…
Tags:acting·actors·casting·celebrities·City Garage·Hollywood·Ionesco·movies·plays·Santa Monica·stage·theater·theatre
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC The following is a satirical work of fiction. Those easily offended should surf to safer territory now… In the wake of Michael Jackson’s massive, media-saturated funeral, several Hollywood celebrities are reportedly looking into how they can make sure their own forthcoming funerals are as [...]
Tags:celebrity·CNN·ego·Hollywood·journalism·media·Michael Jackson·satire·spoof·television
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC So here I was flipping through the Calendar section of the L.A. Times. (Only in Hollywood is the entertainment section of the major newspaper called the “Calendar.” No, we don’t do anything else in this town but entertain or be entertained.) My eye caught [...]
Tags:advertising·films·Francis Ford Coppola·Hollywood·movies·Tetro·Vincent Gallo
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC When “Battlestar Galactica” concluded, its fans lamented that the series had to end, but some were thrilled that it departed on a good note. Compare that to the fans of “Lost,” who are saying “WTF?!” after its later episodes. Then there are the still-hurting [...]
Tags:Battlestar Galactica·Blade Runner·Dollhouse·entertainment·Firefly·Hollywood·JJ Abrams·Josh Friedman·Joss Whedon·Lost·satire·sci-fi·science fiction·screenplay·script·spoof·Star Trek·television·Terminator·TV·Versus
Just like in the interactive zombie film The Outbreak, you keep running from the creatures, and just when you think you’ve found a new sanctuary, they sniff you out and keep coming and coming and coming… The creatures I’m talking about here are Hollywood stars and studios, and the “you” is the independent movie producer [...]
Tags:advertising·Brooklyn's Finest·Hollywood·Hulu·Lazy Sunday·Pop Rocks·Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire·Steelers·Sundance·UGC·user generated content·William Morris Agency·YouTube
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC + Member of the Living (for now) To prep for a video I’m producing, I watched Undead or Alive, the 2007 comedy-horror flick about zombies in the old west. It’s moderately entertaining, with Chris Kattan as a cowboy wannabe and Navi Rawat as the intellectual kung-fu [...]
Tags:Ann Coulter·Annalee Newitz·Hollywood·horror·Jed Rowen·movies·new zombie movies·Night of the Living Dead·Republicans·The Outbreak·The Worldwide Scoop·Undead or Alive·Zombie walk·zombies
"Common sense is the little man in a gray suit who never makes a mistake at addition, but it's always someone else's money he's adding up."
- Raymond Chandler
Let's hear it for uncommon sense: that inner itch that inspires you to stray from the herd, ditch the training wheels and leap into the fast lane. As we all know, it's the risk takers who get their faces on the cover of Wired magazine and their words on National Public Radio. No one ever remembers who won "honorable mention"...
Cool Rules Pronto celebrates uncommon sense in marketing and media. It's written by Freddy J. Nager, the Founder of the L.A.-based creative strategy agency Atomic Tango LLC, and marketing instructor at UCLA Extension and Robert Kennedy College of Zurich, Switzerland.
