If you haven't gone over to check it out yourself,
go now. I'll wait. Voting it tomorrow, so don't forget to register if you haven't done so before.
Okay. Here's my review.
Overall, I find myself terribly impressed with the quality of these ads. All of the finalists are done so well that they look like the finished product, not the rough cut.
I find myself liking most of the ads related to the war. Polygraph, Bankrupt, Army of One, and Human Cost of War are all good. Of them, I'd probably go with Polygraph. I wish one of them would more directly confront the policy of pre-emptive war instead of the specifics of Iraq.
Childsplay is nicely done, as is Wake up America, but neither really rings my bell. Desktop is a lot of fun, though I worry that it might be too techie-oriented.
I don't like Imagine. The statements are too broad, and it's overproduced -- like trying to listen to an acoustic track backed up by the old Phil Spector Wall of Sound.
Hood Robbin is too cute for it's own good.
Several of the others are okay. I'd laugh if I saw them on the screen, but they don't really leave an impact.
Of the bunch, it comes down to two that really work for me. The first is In My Country. It's neat, dark, and even if you see the ending coming, extremely effective. The acting, writing, and camera work are spot on. People need to hear this. The makers of this spot should get very high marks, and I'd certainly not be upset at all if it was to win.
That said, my overall top score goes to What Are We Teaching the Children. Sure, it's tempting fate to use the cute kids, but the dry, direct humor, the reaction shots of parents and teachers, the rising tenor of the statements, the gleeful delivery of the kids. Wow. This is a good spot. This is a spot that people will remember and talk about. If this spot doesn't win, I'd be willing to kick into a fund to see that it airs anyway.
In fact, I hope that MoveOn gives us the chance to put in more cash. There's at least four of these I'd love to see on the air.