OK, I’ve just been writing some more serious stuff about dealing with people, so as an antidote for myself, here’s something really trivial that’s been bugging me for a while. Is it me, or are there a disproportionately high number of appearances of Volvos in films. Here’s a list of ones I’ve noticed (so far).
- School of Rock – This is a true Volvofest. The car park at the school where Jack Black works has, at various points at least two XC70s, an S80 in the background, a V70, and a V40. One of the fathers drives an XC90. When Jack arrives for the parents evening the first five cars he drives past are Volvos. Right at the end a V70 drops a child off for the new school. You’d think it was filmed in Sweden…
- Freaky Friday – Jamie Lee Curtis drives an S60
- Garfield – his owner drives another S60
- Two Weeks Notice – Sandra Bullock drives an S80
- Cheaper By The Dozen 2 – Steve Martin’s daughter drives what looks like a V70, although you don’t see much of it
- The Fly – Jeff Goldblum’s girlfriend drives a 200 series estate.
- The West Wing - CJ’s Dad has an old 200 estate when she visits him in series 4
- The Sure Thing - John Cusack initially gets a lift from Tim Robbins in an Amazon estate
- Mrs Doubtfire – Sally Field drives a red 850 saloon
- New Moon –
Robert Pattinson drives an XC60. Even vampires drive Volvos… - Eclipse
- Twilight – …and change them quite regularly it seems, as in the first film he drives a silver C30.
- Back To The Future – Near the start, where Michael J Fox and his girlfriend are in the town square, you can see a 240 in the background
- Son of The Mask – Again near the start, there’s a big explosion at a party, and two 240s get turned over. There might be some more Volvos in the film, but frankly, I couldn’t take more than a few moments of this one…
- Must Love Dogs – Diane Lane’s boyfriend drives a gold C70
- Music And Lyrics – Hugh Grant’s agent drives an S60
- Sydney White – at the hustings for class president (or whatever it is) there’s a black XC60 prominently behind Amanda Bynes
- The Shaggy Dog – I literally only saw 30 seconds of this, honest, but the dog was being driven around in an XC90…
- Something’s Gotta Give – Diane Keaton drives a C70
- Marley And Me – Owen Wilson drives a navy blue S80
- Never Been Kissed – Drew Barrymore’s friend drives a 240 estate
– my daughter tells me there’s a different one in this as well. Currently unconfirmed.
This list also gives a slightly embarrassing indication of the sorts of films I watch, doesn’t it? I cite a 1211 year old daughter as partial defence, m’lud. Street cred improved slightly by New Moon, I think, but then Son of The Mask messes that up a bit.
The answer, no doubt, is that those clever Volvo marketing types are placing their product squarely in front of their target market – parents. People like me, in fact. OK, so The Fly and The West Wing don’t quite fit this theory.
There’s a strange sort of mystique about project management and what it involves. Clearly project management is about getting your documentation right – plans, risk registers, PIDs, issue logs , change requests, progress reports. No. Most of the really good project managers I’ve had the privilege to work with have used these things. But all of the project managers I would judge as less successful have used these as well. There is an unfortunate tendency to mistake intense activity completing all these things for actually getting something done.