Olympus Has Fallen

Action films are typically THE easiest film genre to predict. Hot guy with dark history + deep conflict that risks the existence of the world + lots of fighting and guns = solid gold.

When you throw in the White House and the United States president though, you're playing in a whole new ballpark. OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN has taken the standard action genre format and fine-tuned it to perfection. Audiences are riveted from the first 5 minutes and are entrenched for the remainder of the film with each minute serving up one amazing scene after another after another.

Olympus Has Fallen tells the story of former Secret Service agent Mike Banning who lost the career of his life after a serious accident involving the death of his boss' wife - the President of the United States. Move on 18 months and Banning now works for the Treasury Department within excruciating proximity to his former work place, The White House. At the same time, heat is rising between North and South Korea (aptly timed for the current political climate). A visit from the South Korean Prime Minister initiates the epic action that fulfills the remainder of the film which, as promised by the title, involves the invasion of the most secure building in the world.

The seamlessness of this film lies in Antoine Fuqua's direction and Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt's writing talents. A story set in a previously inaccessible location that audience imaginations could only describe the inner workings of, coupled with a careful consideration of the various subplots in the film, are truly effective. I can honestly say I have never been more attentive in a film before. Credit must also be given to Gerard Butler who carries this film like a champ with him appearing in almost every scene. I am also giving him credit for mastering his American accent (finally!). 

Olympus Has Fallen is out in all good cinemas and at MA15+, won't be one for the kiddies but I seriously recommend it for any of you who want to go to the movies for an experience, rather than just something to do in your spare time whilst you hang out on Twitter. 

Trance

Not since Inception has a single film managed to confuse the crap out of me until the very last frame. Now, Trance can claim that throne by throwing up one of the one most complicated storylines I have experienced in the cinema of late (except for Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 - that's still a mystery to me).

Trance tells the story of a young, troubled art auctioneer with a penchant for gambling who becomes involved with a £25million art theft that was planned to perfection until Simon suffers a knock on the head that misplaces his memory about where the valuable piece has been stashed. Slightly inconceivably, the crew involved with the heist decide to send Simon to a "random" hypnotherapist so that she might retrieve the memory that conceals the location of the painting. It's when Elizabeth, the hypnotherapist, involves herself within the gang's plans to sell the painting and split the profits that shit starts to get real. Before long, Elizabeth become more than just a Sherlock Holmes for Simon's thoughts. Soon, she sleeping with not one, but two of the cast involved in the discovery, Simon and Franck (the ringleader of the gang). The film continues with Elizabeth submitting both Simon and the gang to a number of exercises in order to release the memory from Simon's brain. It is not till towards the end however, that we discover the true story that is taking place with it being revealed that Elizabeth and Simon once knew eachother before Simon's accident. It is from here that the film takes a wrong turn down memory lane.

There are so many layers within this film to analyse. The biggest of which was the question, "if you could keep some memories over others, would you?" Boyle actualizes this concept through Simon's gambling addiction, arguably the catalyst for the whole film and the consequences that follow. By Simon involving himself in the gambling world, he takes a chance on his happiness everyday, the same gamble Elizabeth makes by deciding to erase Simon's memory - a decision she thinks will make her life better. The conclusion of the film sends out the message that there is a reason we should not mess with our memories for each one makes us who we are in the end and without them, we become empty vessels.

Production value on this film is impeccable and typically unique of Boyle's direction. Many of you will enjoy the pace and tone of this film which will keep you on the edge right to the very end and have you thinking beyond your exiting of the cinema.

Social Media Predictions 2013

I stumbled across one of Slideshare's most downloaded presentations the other day which just so happened to be an awesome collective of the world's most respected marketers and their opinions on where social is expected to head for 2013. With the document ranging across 18 different slides and covering 3 separate topics, I decided to consolidate some of the schools of thought being considered into this blog post with the option for everyone to read the extended interview in the embedded document too. So, for all you social media nerds out there, here we go:

2013 Predictions Overview

1. Anita Campbell - @smallbiztrends - Founder, Small Business Trends
1. Social Media Channel Primed to Grow: Google+
2. Advice For Brand-Customer Connectivity: Identify the players behind your team.
2. Ann Handley - @marketingprofs - Chief Content Ocer, MarketingProfs
1. Social Media Channel Primed to Grow: LinkedIn.
2. Social Media Behavior You Would Like to See More Of: B2B companies embracing social media tools and platforms.
3. And Less Of: Social Spam.
3. Gaurav Mishra - @Gauravonomics - Asia VP of Insights, Innovation & Social, MSLGROUP/ Publicis Groupe
1. Social Media Channel Primed to Grow: Facebook (older social media platforms)
2. Advice For Brand-Customer Connectivity: Create social products and platforms that solve a problem or connect around a shared purpose.
4. Geo Livingston - @geoiving - Author & Marketing Specialist
1. Advice For Brand-Customer Connectivity: Cultivating online and offline relationships.
2. Social Media Behavior You Would Like to See More Of: Organic linking and sourcing of information.
3. And Less Of: Slamming of brands online.
5. Lee Hopkins - @leehopkins - HopkinsFounder & Social Media Strategist, Better Communication Results
1. Advice For Brand-Customer Connectivity: Consistent communication of values, insights, discoveries and experiences of organisations over time.
2. Social Media Behavior You Would Like to See More Of: Businesses taking social seriously.
6. Lee Odden - @leeodden - CEO & Author, TopRankOnline Marketing
1. Social Media Channel Primed to Grow: Pinterest, Google+, YouTube.
2. Social Media Behavior You Would Like to See Less Of: #followfriday; hashtag spam; hashtags use outside of its effective platform (ie. Facebook, cafe blackboards)
7. Michael Brito - @Britopian - Senior VP of Social Business Planning, Edelman
1. Advice For Brand-Customer Connectivity: Be human. Use your employees.
2. Social Media Behavior You Would Like to See More Of: Relevant creative and real time content creation
3. And Less Of: Overally branded content.
8. Paul Gillin - @pgillin - Social Media Trainer, Consultant & Author, Profitecture
1. Social Media Channel Primed to Grow: Myspace, Instagram, Google+
2. Most Overrated Social Media Metric: Fan and follower numbers. 
3. Most Underrated Social Media Metric: Engagement metrics (sharing, comments, likes etc).
9. Philip Sheldrake - @Sheldrake - Managing Partner, Euler Partners
1. Social Media Behavior You Would Like to See More Of: Active Listening
2. And Less Of: Flawed metric design.
3. Most Overrated Social Media Metric: Output metrics uncorrelated to outcome metrics. 
4. Most Underrated Social Media Metric: Metrics uniquely designed for your company.
10. Ray Wang - @rwang0 - Principal Analyst & CEO, Constellation Research
1. Social Media Channel Primed to Grow: Pinterest and private social networks. 
2. Advice For Brand-Customer Connectivity: Authenticity. 
3. Social Media Behavior You Would Like to See More Of: Relevancy
4. Most Overrated Social Media Metric: Share of voice.
5. Most Underrated Social Media Metric: Interactions.
11. Rohit Bhargava - @rohitbhargava - Founder & Author, Influential Marketing Group
1. Social Media Channel Primed to Grow: Slideshare and LinkedIn
2. Advice For Brand-Customer Connectivity: Being human. 
12. Shel Israel - @shelisrael - Author & Consultant
1. Social Media Channel Primed to Grow: The idea of social in general. 
2. Social Media Behavior You Would Like to See More Of: Conversational interactions.
3. And Less Of: Incivility (ED: "hear, hear")
4. Most Overrated Social Media Metric: Likes.
13. Toby Bloomberg - @TobyDiva - Director Social Media Integration at Cox Media Group Digital & Strategy Team
1. Social Media Channel Primed to Grow: Pinterest, Tumblr. 
2. Most Overrated Social Media Metric: Fan and follower numbers.  
3. Most Underrated Social Media Metric: Quantitative analysis of your fans’ comments.
14. Valeria Maltoni - @ConversationAge - Author & Senior Director of Strategy, Empathy Lab
1. Social Media Channel Primed to Grow: Google+
2. Social Media Behavior You Would Like to See More Of: More active role in value exchange.

Social Media Predictions for 2013 from Dell Social Media