Judge A Movie By It's Cover

The Crow with Brendon Lee is my favorite movie poster. It used to be taped on the wall in my room and I'd look at it for hours and just admire the design. Looking at that poster made me feel that something cool was coming and as much as it sounds goofy it was like a portal into a different the world. The photography, layout and type treatment all just tied together so nicely. The fact that the movie was fantastic made the poster even more amazing.

I guess my interest in movie posters started when I was a kid in England where I first saw The Empire Strikes Back, Goonies, and Ghostbusters. I remember going to the "pictures" (theater) and seeing those posters up on the walls and being blown away by how eye catching they were. There was a sense of importance with the marquis lights around them and the large scale. I quickly began to see the good from that bad and noticed how it influenced my opinion of a movie. The phrase, "never judge a book by it's cover" never applied to me. If the poster sucked, the movie sucked. That belief has stuck with me ever since.

So while I was gone for a week in England a whole host of posters came out. I thought I'd write a quick review of each and compare them once the flicks actually.

Batman: When Heath Ledger died it caused an unfortunately scenario of "Do we advertise the Joker or don't we?" The marketers didn't want Warners Bros to be seen as taking advantage of his death as a way to promote the movie. So they wisely backed off for a good long while. By doing that they of course lost a ton of momentum they had been creating by teasing us all with the "Joker". It's a shame he's gone because Heath's "Joker" is freakin' electrifying, he's the star plain and simple. Back to the poster, they did a damn good job on the treatment and I love the "Ha". It's simple and brilliant. If I were 15 I'd put this on my wall!

Mutant Chronicles: I remember seeing another poster for this movie a while back which was way better than this piece of crap. It's got "B-Movie" written stamped in the middle of it. Every movie has one of these, they try to emulate the Star Wars and Indiana of their day? I guess it dots all the I's and crosses the t's so there's something for everyone. My feeling is that they are nervous about it and want to sell it as a silly but serious action flick. If I were 15 I'd throw this in the trash!

The Spirit: I previously wrote about the other Spirit movies here. This is by far my favorite one of the lot and I'm really happy they did a character poster because the movie was missing something. Scarlett Johansson looks incredibly sexy; the photography and execution are really well crafted to make a very eye catching design. It was once a comic book written and drawn by Frank Miller so I like the touch of comic book text on her face. If I were 15 I'd put this on my wall!


Sex Drive: A little tongue and cheak huh! It certainly gets your attention and its very punny. I'm not usually a fan of white backdrop posters because they immediately scream comedy. I guarantee that every Eddie Murphy family comedy from the last 15 years has a white background. If I were 25 I'd be curious about it.



Trans Siberian: I like this for many reasons? The white space, use of type, the eerie photography, an ominous train and lastly the great name. You just know by looking at this that the film is a world of layered characters and deceptions. If I were 15 I'd put this on my wall.




Blood Car: Crapola... it's fairly well executed and I guess the girl is about to flash us which good in my book? Looking at it make's me think that they should have made the Honda a VW Bus instead and the name should have been "Little Miss Sunshine Goes On A Killing Spree". If I were 15 I'd throw this in the trash.



Your Name Here: It's obviously an Independent movie staring Bill Pullman. I don't know about Bill Pullman but the poster makes the film look pretty damn good, I have to watch it! The treatment is so muli-layered with inconography, very Saul Bass. I also like the type treatment plus the name is very perplexing, what does it mean? If I were 15 I'd put this on my wall.