First Fincher, now this? Nike has some serious cash to burn.

It's almost becoming the cool thing to do to get big name directors to do commercials.

It's always been the cool thing.

And Lil Wayne was in this one too (30 sec.)

Nike has always dominated with their commercials.

Big directors have always done commercials. Ridley Scott's 1984 Apple ad being the first I can remember. Usuaully movie sites don't feature the ads. So you might think it is becoming a more regular thing, but truth is its been going on for a while, we've jsut recently been focusing on it.

So LeBron's secret is cocaine?

I have yet to see Speilberg do a commercial yet. If you know otherwise i'd love to see it.

Also note the only words in the commercial are "the candyman is back"...

also, he did closer, which is an amazing movie. peter will probably find it so-so, but that's because he's tasteless.

kool

Nicely played

Nice commercial but, like, was it just me or is the guy eating a donut at the end a tad out of place in the context of the whole commercial?

There were several shots earlier in the commercial of powder being sprinkled on the donuts.

Meaning?

oh they aren't bear claws? no I got that. WATS A DONUT? I just don't see how a nike commercial succeeds if it encourages even a small number of people to consume more powdered donuts.

Nobody in that commercial was smoking. If there were an elderly man sitting at a park bench tossing his ashtray into the air in a celebratory manner, I wouldn't be making this argument. But I think I'm seeing a double standard here. Obesity is being called an "epidemic" these days. Bruce Willis was a boxer in Pulp fiction and he smoked. Proof.

Most of these guys started out as commercial and music video directors. It's not some sudden thing. This has been going on for decades.

Nike always has stressed creativity in their TV spots; in addition to Fincher and Romanek, they have had commercials directed by Michael Mann, Terry Gilliam, and Guy Ritchie in the last few years (check them out on YouTube).

Even their commercials that are directed by "unknowns" (see: the SPARQ one featuring the Saul Williams song) or by the athletes themselves (Steve Nash's "Training Day") are memorable/impressive/unique.

This one is cool. I now feel compelled to do The Lebron whenever I get my haircut or if I'm ever near a chalkboard.

i love Nike's commercials

not huge on their shoes though

I love the Sparq one....sweet commercial and Saul Williams rocks to boot.


I think the direction was perfectly fine in this commercial, but I just don't like it as much as Fincher's or Mann's where it has Merriman and Jackson hitting/running through people.

I understand that a lot of directors start out in commercials. I was simply stating that it seems a little cliche for them to go back to commercials and for those commercials to get all this recognition just because of who directed it.

Steady paychecks will always bring directors back to commercials - especially with the combination of hefty payloads and short turnarounds. Groups of directors often get together to start businesses for commercial product. I remember John Landis, Tarantino and Rodriguez used to be part of one...

Yeah, I play basketball best when I'm under the influence of coke, too.

they should have have tyrone biggums go after the crack after exposed to air. that would be funny..

How is it cliche going back to the background you started in? If an artist goes digital and then goes back to clay does it really matter if the artist is famous or not?

Just as long it's done well. I don't understand how there's a line for them "not to cross" if they left one area in their life to pursue another.

bring back the spike lee and jordan commercials.

I just saw this commercial on the tele, and now it brings me to the question how much of the creative process do these directors have on these commercials. Nike seems to have a set brand of style for their commercials and probably have the ideas and concepts all planned before any hiring takes place. It's still a good commercial none the less though. I'd like to see his features.

I'm just waiting for the DVD set of the greatest commercials by famous directors. You know it could happen.

Kudos to Nike for doing commercials like this. They're always great and little shorts like this from competent directors are a blast to watch.

Meaning that Nike really puts a lot of money into commercials, when I don't see how they can make that revenue with a single expensive commercial.

umm are you saying Romanek made Closer, because that's actually a Mike Nichols' film... hate to be that guy (actually I love it)

This commercial is not as good as some other Nike spots... my main gripe being that Kevin Garnett was doing the whole "chalk thing" way before LeBron was... I really dug One Hour Photo, looking forward to more features from Romanek.

Crack?

Are you being serious?

I don't really have anything to say about the commercial--pretty catchy I suppose. But what's with the trolling? On Slashfilm now? Come on!

if you see any trolling, please hit the REPORT button on the comment

I have a question for Peter. Do directors usually have one of those important looking photos of themselves behind a camera taken just in case people arent sure exactly how important they are? Like a narcissistic unneeded headshot.

Those photos are usually from a feature film's production photos. They are not set-up, but taken impromptu during production.. So the answer to your question is: NO

Funny thing is for this spot he probably made 100k on basically recycling his Jay Z 99 problems video

What is the significance of the various white powders being thrown in the air?

You missed the inherent semiotic relation. Powdered sugar.

... what?

I feel like they should have had that shot from The Departed when Jack Nicolson threw the cocaine in the air.

I feel like they should have had that shot from The Departed when Jack Nicolson threw the cocaine in the air in the commercial.

I feel like they should have used that shot from The Departed where Jack Nicolson threw the cocaine in the air.

That's "Mars Blackmon" to you!

"It's Gotta be the SHOOOOOOOOES!"

Also, don't forget the BMW commercials: Guy Ritchie, John Woo, Ang Lee, Wong Kar Wai, John Frankenheimer, etc. etc.