Saturday Night Fever

• Bee Gees - O.s.t. - Saturday Night Fever Brazil Import

First, he was bugged by the almighty burger, now Oscar®-nominated renegade filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) is biting the hand that feeds him by exposing Hollywood’s dirtiest little secret: the games they play to get advertisers’ products strategically placed in movies and on television. Spurlock uses his irreverent comedic style to infiltrate corporate boardrooms and ad agency pitch meetings to show how far they will go without our even knowing it! Since the advent of recording devices and on-demand services, consumers have been bypassing commercials like never before, so advertising agencies have stepped up their use of product placement. In The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) renders the process transparent as he documents his attempts to get Madison Avenue to fund his film. ! After a flood of rejections, he takes a series of meetings with companies willing to align their brand with his--and make no mistake, Spurlock is as much a brand as Donald Trump or Outkast's Big Boi, who show up to talk about product endorsement. The director's entertaining and enlightening journey even leads him to a juice purveyor that opens its wallet for placement above the title--hence the name of the pomegranate beverage which appears on all promotional materials. As one observer puts it, "You're selling out, but not selling out." For perspective, Spurlock solicits commentary from progressive thinkers, like Ralph Nader and Noam Chomsky, and Hollywood types, like J.J. Abrams, who created Lost, and Quentin Tarantino, who admits that a certain all-night diner rejected his offer to appear in Reservoir Dogs. Spurlock even travels to São Paulo to take a look at their ban on outdoor ads: no billboards or messages on cabs and buses, rendering the city clean and! downright dull for those accustomed to American-style marketi! ng. The film as a whole resembles a full-length version of a Mad Men pitch meeting--but funnier. --Kathleen C. FennessyFirst, he was bugged by the almighty burger, now Oscar®-nominated renegade filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) is biting the hand that feeds him by exposing Hollywood’s dirtiest little secret: the games they play to get advertisers’ products strategically placed in movies and on television. Spurlock uses his irreverent comedic style to infiltrate corporate boardrooms and ad agency pitch meetings to show how far they will go without our even knowing it! Since the advent of recording devices and on-demand services, consumers have been bypassing commercials like never before, so advertising agencies have stepped up their use of product placement. In The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) renders the process transparent as he documents his attempts to get Madison Avenue to fund his film. After a flood! of rejections, he takes a series of meetings with companies willing to align their brand with his--and make no mistake, Spurlock is as much a brand as Donald Trump or Outkast's Big Boi, who show up to talk about product endorsement. The director's entertaining and enlightening journey even leads him to a juice purveyor that opens its wallet for placement above the title--hence the name of the pomegranate beverage which appears on all promotional materials. As one observer puts it, "You're selling out, but not selling out." For perspective, Spurlock solicits commentary from progressive thinkers, like Ralph Nader and Noam Chomsky, and Hollywood types, like J.J. Abrams, who created Lost, and Quentin Tarantino, who admits that a certain all-night diner rejected his offer to appear in Reservoir Dogs. Spurlock even travels to São Paulo to take a look at their ban on outdoor ads: no billboards or messages on cabs and buses, rendering the city clean and downright du! ll for those accustomed to American-style marketing. The film ! as a who le resembles a full-length version of a Mad Men pitch meeting--but funnier. --Kathleen C. FennessyOscar nominated, boundary pushing director Morgan Spurlock's POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold that looks with humorous insight into the world of product placement and marketing. Providing the soundtrack to this insightful and humorous documentary are a wide array of artist, including two originals tracks recorded specifically for the soundtrack, a spoken word piece from director Morgan Spurlock and a track entitled "The Greatest Song I Ever Heard" by the band OK Go, who isn't shy about their associations with brands and product placement.Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing. Warner.The double-disc soundtrack to the blockbuster Saturday Night Fever (available on a single CD) marks both the zenith and the nadir of disco. It was such a popular sensation that it catapulted the music to stratosph! eric levels of mainstream popularity, and the album was the bestselling movie soundtrack of all time (until The Bodyguard, and then Titanic). But "Disco Fever" became so hot, it could only flame out just as quickly (along with the careers of the Bee Gees). With this record, disco became a phenomenon and a fad. The Bee Gees' contributions are the strongest, especially the once-ubiquitous "Stayin' Alive" and "Night Fever," and they still hold up. Then there's Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven," a trivial piece of pop ephemera that may have set new standards for ephemeral triviality. How often will you listen to this record--and how much will you play when you do? There's no telling--but it remains a classic piece of pop history, and when you're in the mood it's a good thing to have around. --Jim Emerson