50 Ads Starring Oscar Winners

It's been commonly viewed that actors that do commercials are either washed up or itching for a paycheck. However, a majority of successful Oscar winners have done ads to prove this generalization wrong. Want to know which ones? Thankfully, Adfreak.com has compiled fifty ads starring these accomplished thespians ranging from John Wayne to Jeff Bridges.

Here's a recent ad starring Adrien Brody (who should definitely turn this into a movie role):

Check out the rest of the ads here.

Marketing The Oscars

This Sunday, February 27th, the 83rd annual Academy Awards will air. However what most people don't know is the amount of incredible marketing that goes into the campaigns for the nominated films. Movie studios spend millions of dollars on attempting to make their film win and this year, they're taking it to the streets. A recent NYTimes.com video explains that this year, the executives are spending money on billboards on highly populated highways hoping that Oscar voters will notice and therefore vote for that particular film. The video goes on to explain that by targeting the zip codes of where the voters live, they can better gage where to advertise and since Los Angeles' highways are always filled with traffic the billboards will give something to drivers and more importantly voters, something to look at.

Check it out:

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards will air Sunday, February 27th at 8pm est. on ABC. For more information and a list of nominees please check out www.oscars.org.

Zack Snyder’s Superman: Man of Steel

Kevin Costner, Oscar winner may be joining the cast of the new superman blockbuster: Zack Snyder’s Superman: Man of Steel. Deadline, Neflix News, E and many other sources have all confirmed a “heightened interest” in Costner from Snyder and his producing partners at Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures, though the report doesn’t specify or speculate as to his role in the upcoming superhero reboot. Let us hope it’s not a bust.

Now 56 years old Costner isn’t likely to don an all black leotard and cape to play the suspected villain, General Zod. Costner is rumored to be playing the role of Jonathan “Pa” Kent a more suiting role, father that adopted Clark Kent so know as Superman and raise the young superman, whom live in the town of Smallville, Kansas.

The only officially confirmed member of the cast as of now is British actor Henry Cavill as the titular Kryptonian hero. The search has been reportedly on for a Lois Lane, as well as Zod and his two superhuman accomplices, Ursa and Non.

Look for the Supermovie in a couple of years and let hope that it is not a flop.

With the Super Bowl Over A Week Ago, Which Brands Were Triumphant?

According to the annual YouGov Polimetrix BrandIndex study of the Super Bowl, Snickers and Doritos have come up with the biggest gains in positive buzz. The poll measures the brand buzz gained in the days following the game's commercials.

For a full breakdown, click here.

X-Men: First Class

On February 10th long-awaited trailer for X-Men: First Class finally arrived, and while it featured the young new versions of some familiar characters, such as Magneto and Mystique, it also introduces a gambit of new mutants too.

Last week, and the world finally got the chance to take a look at some footage from Matthew Vaughn's mutant prequel, X-Men: First Class. Set in the early 1960s, which charts the paths and choices of Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr also know as Magneto from friends to arch-rivals.

The younger versions of the new X-Men will feature new faces such as Jennifer Lawrence playing Raven Darholem or better know as Mystique, James McAvoy is playing the young Professor Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender playing the evil Erik Lehnsherr or Magneto. With this star studded cast this movie is sure to be a blockbuster hit.

53rd Annual Grammy Awards Recap

Lady Gaga arrived in an egg, Cee-Lo and Gwyneth Paltrow sang and danced with muppets and 'Best New Artist' went to Esperanza Spalding, a jazz singer who's debut album only sold 31,000 copies. Needless to say, this years Grammy Awards took fans, record executives and artists themselves by surprise.

Take a look at the full list of winners below:

Album of the Year: The Suburbs, Arcade Fire

Record of the Year: “Need You Now,” Lady Antebellum
Rap Album: Recovery, Eminem
New Artist: Esperanza Spalding
Song of the Year: “Need You Now,” Lady Antebellum

POP:
Pop Vocal Album: Lady Gaga, The Fame Monster
Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: Train, “Hey, Soul Sister (Live)”
Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Michael Bublé, Crazy Love
Female Pop Vocal Performance: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance,” The Fame Monster
Male Pop Vocal Performance: Bruno Mars, “Just The Way You Are,” Doo-Wops & Hooligans
Pop Collaboration With Vocals: “Imagine,” Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare, The Imagine Project
Pop Instrumental Performance: “Nessun Dorma,” Jeff Beck, Emotion & Commotion
Pop Instrumental Album: Take Your Pick, Larry Carlton & Tak Matsumoto

R&B:
Female R&B Vocal Performance: Fantasia, “Bittersweet,” Back to Me
Male R&B Vocal Performance: Usher, “There Goes My Baby,” Raymond V Raymond
R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: Sade, “Soldier of Love,” Soldier of Love
Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: John Legend & The Roots, “Hang On In There,” Wake Up!
R&B Song: John Legend & The Roots, “Shine,” Wake Up!
R&B Album: Wake Up!, John Legend & The Roots
Contemporary R&B Album: Raymond V Raymond, Usher

RAP:
Rap Song: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind,” The Blueprint 3
Rap/Sung Collaboration: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind,” The Blueprint 3
Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz, “On to the Next One,” The Blueprint 3
Rap Solo Performance: Eminem, “Not Afraid,” Recovery
Urban/Alternative Performance: “F*** You,” Cee Lo Green

DANCE:
Dance Recording: “Only Girl (in the World),” Rihanna

Electronic/Dance Album: La Roux, La Roux

A quick little update!

Hi everyone!

Sorry we've been MIA for a little bit, the office has been hard at work producing Parade Magazine's 'What People Earn' issue. We have found some great careers to highlight in this upcoming issue that we think you'll enjoy. Keep a look out for it!

Ben Affleck’s Next Directing Endeavor

Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that Ben Affleck is currently in talks to direct the Warner Bros. political thriller Argo. Argo, is based that appeared in an article in Wired magazine. George Clooney and his producing partner Grant Heslov, are the ones pushing for the project at the studio. The story centers on a unbelievable but very real CIA rescue operation during the occupation of the American embassy in Tehran in 1979, when six U.S. diplomats were held hostage by Iranian militants. The CIA hatched a scheme involving disguises and a fake Hollywood film crew on a location-scouting mission to help get the captives out of the country.

Argo would be the first directing assignment for Affleck since The Town. When heist picture set in Boston opened to critical praise, Affleck’s name started popping up seemingly every, from a long absence. He seemed to be attached to one high-profile film after another, but his reps continued to shoot down the rumors. If his current discussions with Clooney and Warner Bros. pan out, it would mark the first time Affleck and Clooney have worked together, although Affleck’s good friend Matt Damon and his brother, Casey, were both in Clooney’s Oceans 11 films.

Is Spending $3 Million Dollars On A 30-Second Superbowl Spot Worth It?

Tor Myhren certainly thinks so. Here's what he said in Adweek:

"One commercial, 2.9 million bucks. Who buys this stuff? Crazy, outdated advertisers who haven’t been told that TV is dead? Or the smartest marketers on the planet, taking advantage of the biggest bargain in today’s scattered media environment? I say the latter. And here are three reasons why.

Game time
110 million viewers, all experiencing the exact same thing at the exact same time. The Super Bowl is America’s last campfire. It’s the only event left that we as a nation sit down and watch together. All those emotions you feel watching the game, and watching the ads, are being shared by 110 million other people at the same time. And shared experiences make for better stories. Period. More than one-third of all Americans watched the game last year, and more will watch this year. In this way, the Super Bowl is an anomaly in today’s fractured media landscape, which is why the actual 30 seconds you’re buying is worth its weight in gold. TV isn’t dead, but must-see TV is—with one exception: the Super Bowl."

See the rest of the article here.

JAY-Z and Will Smith to remake Annie

JAY Z and Will Smith have recently announced their collaborative plans to join together on a new film project. Jay Z will join Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment production company to create a new film adaptation of the Broadway musical “Annie”.

“We are excited to partner together to develop and produce a wide variety of films with our longtime friend JAY-Z, with whom we share a common global vision, both commercially and philosophically, and look forward to collaborating once again with the incredibly talented executives at Sony," said Overbrook Co-Founder James Lassiter.

If one millionaire father isn’t enough, Willow Smith will be able to experience two! She is set to be cast as “Annie” the adopted daughter of Daddy Warbucks in the upcoming film. The new version of Annie has been discussed as a vehicle for Willow’s career and she has also been signed to JAY-Z's record label, Roc Nation which produced her first single titled "Whip My Hair". Good Luck to JAY Z, Will and Willow with their new film effort “Annie”!