John Hillcoat just doesn’t do uplifting. He has a pretty good handle on the heartbreaking and emotionally affecting, but raising your spirits just doesn’t seem to be his bag (at least in his feature films; remember that Levi’s ad?). While we wait patiently for Hillcoat’s next feature “The Wettest County” (or are we calling it “Lawless” now?) to arrive in theatres, here’s an ad he’s directed for the U.K.’s National Lottery.
Titled “Hero’s Return – A National Lottery Good Cause,” the ad shows a World War II vet named Jack Jennings transported back to wartime Burma while visiting a lottery funded “Life Changing” site. It’s Hillcoat by the way of “Platoon” and “Apocalypse Now,” but also brings to mind the cloying final scene in “Saving Private Ryan.” Anyway, we quite like this from both a visual and emotional perspective so you should definitely check it out.
Next up is an ad for Emporio Armani from Ridley Scott‘s daughter Jordan Scott (via Fashion Etc). You may have caught her debut feature “Cracks,” and if you haven’t then do, as it’s really quite good. There she worked with the stunning Eva Green and Juno Temple, and she’s making a habit of working with beautiful ladies (she just did some steamy spots for Agent Provocateur) because her muse here is none other than “Battleship” star and umbrella enthusiast Rihanna. It’s an artsy black and white affair which shows off the Barbadian singer tossing and turning in bed in her underwear, before slipping on some Armani jeans and heading off the the airport. Very stylish, very sexy, and it’ll do the job for Armani – but fairly unremarkable otherwise. But we expect that if you have a Y-chromosome you’ll probably be watching regardless.