Click on the photos to see how these livable streets super stars use Streetfilms to influence change.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
I see a lot of films. And since so many are shot on the streets of New York City, I'm quick to pick up on things that are inaccurate (or cool) about our quickly evolving transportation landscape.
I recently got the latest "Resident Evil" chapter on Netflix. Why? Well as I've told many people - I see prefer to watch bad movies because 1) you learn more from very bad movies than mediocre ones and 2) only from watching plenty of potentially bad movies do you discover the 10% of them that are truly great gems you can recommend to friends and look like a film genius. This film is not one of those.
In "Resident Evil: Retribution", there's a scene about halfway thru where Milla Jovovich our heroine-clone-computer simulation (or whatever she is) is in Times Square getting ready to kick some monster ass. She walks around a recreated Times Square except this 2012 video game world eliminates ALL the pedestrian space and crams it with parked cars.
Later when the world goes boom, cars are shown occupying what is usually a great pedestrian environment. (more...)
Looks like we might have a trend! Following my posting featuring a commercial bashing bicycling as a mode of travel, this holiday season I saw two more ads locally making fun of bicycling/alternative transportation. One which isn't on the internet anywhere is a 30 second spot with a guy who loses a chance at a date cause he rides the bus and doesn't own a car. But I found this recent CarLoanPal.com commercial (which might be airing in other markets outside NYC) which features an angry, car-less, bike-riding woman telling the camera, "You think I like riding this bike to work everyday?!"
Do you think that woman could shake the handle bars a few more times to show how rickety and dangerous her ride seems?
To be honest, car commercials have been poking fun at bicycling for a hella long time. Here's an annoying one from Hyundai in 2011 which portrays bicycling as an outdated mode equivalent to the Zepplin, vintage cellphones, and using a typewriter on your lap at a coffee house.
Although in 2012 I spent a large amount of time recovering from surgery from an auto crash I was in, I still was able to take some interesting photos I'd like to share. The above photo is my favorite livable streets shot which I took by chance while in Times Square. Apparently these gals were waiting for a photo of themselves to go up that they had somehow submitted. The funny thing is: I had no idea. Not until I got home and looked at my photos did I put together what was on the screen with the six of them.
The days and weeks following Superstorm Sandy were rough for NYC. There wasn't too much to be happy about, especially for kids. Halloween was essentially cancelled for many children (and adults). But one amazing event "Trick or Treat in the Street" went on in Jackson Heights, Queens in the ever-popular 78th Street Play Street. It probably attracted nearly one thousand folks. The enthusiasm was incredible and it just showed how important having a permanent public space to hold events is to a community.
A couple of times per year there are usually some ridiculous NYC ads that tout car ownership over the "troubles" of riding transit, being a pedestrian or bike commuting. Most of them are laughably bad and involve much aggrandizement, but the newest one from LIC Hyundai goes straight for the sex appeal: if you're a male bike rider you'll have tough luck with the ladies...so better upgrade yourself to a car so they'll be falling all over you!
The narrator forebodes," This is a story about down and out Andy. Andy never had a car and never had a girl." A ridiculous statement of course, but let's delve closer to see how absurd this commercial is. For example, it appears to have been shot on a greenway or waterfront multi-use path, so why would any woman care whether you were riding a bike or not?
If you've been watching holiday tube you've probably seen this trio of horrid ads for Acura which show celebrities speeding, driving distracted and generally behaving like complete maniacs after scooping up unsuspecting shoppers and freaking them out while "counseling" them during a 30 second joyride. The name of the campaign is the "Season for Reason" and it's supposed to be oh-so "Ho! Ho!" funny.
The link below is the first ever commercial to feature tv personality Dr. Phil McGraw. A spokesman for Acura says in this article for MarketingDaily that McGraw, "liked the humorous approach to a non-nonsense attitude." Humorous?! What possessed Dr. Phil (who has done numerous shows on the dangers and tragedies of texting) to make THIS his commercial debut is a little bit baffling.
But he's not the only guilty party. Financial self-help guru Suze Orman also gets behind the wheel and proceeds to scare her passenger to death - and it has nothing to do with the size of her 401k or credit score. Listen up girlfriend, keep your eyes on the road!!
