Movies pop up on here once and a while, and I was wondering if you have any favorites that are relevant to design in any way ( ulterior motive: I want some new choices to watch! )
Several that have been mentioned on Core77 recently: 1984, Moon, Brazil, Blade Runner…
I’ll kick this off; I just saw “How to get ahead in Advertising” last night and it was hilarious. An Advertising man is so completely freaked out by designer block and a super tight deadline for a new pimple cream, he gets a boil on the side of his neck that has it’s own sinister advertising personality. Completely & ridiculously awesome.
to be honest objectified disappointed me .
here are some other good movies, not totally about design, but go tangent.
Next Industrial Revolution
this one is from William Mcdonough on cradle to cradle design
Manufactured Landscapes
about China’s mega projects and it’s effects on landscape
Us Now
In a world in which information is like air, what happens to power?
Future by Design
the Life long work of Jaques Fresco
Walmart - the high cost of low prices
The Corporation
THE CORPORATION engages in a lively, critical exploration of the dominant institution of our
time — its inner workings, curious history, controversial impacts, and possible futures.
I had pictured in my mind more “movie” movies, that had a strong design
theme, but you guys are right about those others being design related.
Some good one’s in those veins are:
Andy Goldsworthy - Rivers and Tides (2001)
Sketches of Frank Gehry (2005) <–Haven’t seen it, but wouldn’t mind
LOUIS KAHN - My Architect (didn’t really like so much myself)
a quick search turned up this as well…Raymond Loewy: Father of Industrial
Design 1979 and a similar thread at PDF here (link)
any other stuff you might have seen recently or heard of?
If you were thinking more “movies” movies the first film that popped into my head was Sin City which has a strong theme throughout the film. Is this more what you meant?
“Alien”, “Aliens” etc.
Interesting to see how James Cameron took over from Ridley Scott, especially in the look of the world (the exo-skeleton lifter, Ripleys Reeboks, the APC). The story of “Alien 3” is interesting in how David Fincher salvaged the great ideas of Vincent Ward (the wooden planet)- Empire have a great article on it:
If you are talking about great product design in movie movies my choice has to be Minority Report. Awesome future gazing… especially love the ‘spiders’
“Avatar” is looking like another cool Ridley Scott movie coming up soon… I really loved all the space marines hardware in “Aliens”. “Empire Strikes Back” is such a classic too
Another really inspiring one was “One Man’s Dream” about Mike Britten, the guy that designed, produced, raced, and broke the landspeed records with his self designed super-motorcycle. I’m not even a motorcycle guy and really liked it
Yep, That was the idea… entertaining movies with strong design included. I wasn’t thinking of documentaries, but I’m glad they were added - Walmart and others are on my “To Watch” list now
Most of the “Director Label” videos are good too - short films and music videos by some great directors
continuing on the “one man’s dream” film, you might like “love the beast”
it’s definitely a car-guy movie, its a documentary about eric bana and his first car, a ford falcon that he bought when he was 15. he’s had it now for 25 years, and he and his friends rebuilt it 3 or 4 times, eventually turning it into a rally car. what i enjoyed about it is they end up exploring the relationship that people can have with inanimate objects… Dr. Phil (that one) makes an appearance where he states that with all the distractions and noise we have now, it’s increasingly difficult for people to have meaningful relationships with other people, let alone objects like broken-down cars, scratched up guitars, or for me, it’s hand painted goalie masks.
you might like it, Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear and Jay Leno are in it too talking about their own versions of car-love.
I know there’s some bike freaks on these boards, but actually I’d recommend The Flying Scotsman to everyone:
It’s the story of Graham Obree, who famously broke the World one hour record (twice) using a bike built from parts salvaged from a washing machine. Most of the reviews concentrate on it as a sports movie, for obvious reasons, but I really like the way it shows Obree looking past what’s generally perceived as a ‘bike’ and concentrating on the problem of ‘efficiency’. The petty minded bureaucrats who continually obstructed his designs and riding positions (in part, the film implies, because the established manufacturers didn’t like it) also struck a chord with the ‘no, that’s not the way it’s done’ objections I sometimes find myself up against.
.
