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Movie Posters

Film

Beautiful Pre-Code Movie Posters Unconvered in a Pennsylvania Attic

By Jason Bailey on

As you may have noticed, we love old movie posters. There’s something refreshing about the warmth and artistry of vintage film art, particularly when compared to the focus-grouped, Photoshopped, floating-heads nightmares that pass for movie posters today, and that’s why this item from MUBI about “the Berwick discovery” caught our eye. (Yes, it already has a cool-sounding nickname, and it deserves one.)

Here’s the story: 30 or so vintage posters from the “Pre-Code” era (that strangely lenient period of early talking pictures released before the active enforcement of the Motion Picture Code, which stringently censored implications of sexuality, violence, and abject morality) were discovered last fall in an attic in Berwick, Pennsylvania. The posters had been displayed in a local theatre; they had been glued on top of each other as new posters (and films) arrived at the venue, and then the whole stack was — get this—stuffed into the walls of the attic as insulation. And there they remained, until the contents of the house were sold in an estate sale. … Read More

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Pop Culture

Hilarious Movie Parody Posters Starring the Simpsons

By Judy Berman on

The Simpsons are among pop culture’s most protean characters; if they weren’t, the show’s writers surely would have run out of story lines over a decade ago. So it’s no surprise that the Internet has taken one of America’s most iconic fictional families and run with it. In the past few months alone, we’ve seen The Simpsons mashed up with Breaking Bad, portraits of the sitcom’s characters as famous works of art, and — most bizarre of all — bizarre photo manipulations that transform celebrities into Simpsons. But we are especially amused by DeviantArt’s Claudia-R, who has created a series of posters that cast Simpsons characters in classic and popular films, from A Clockwork Orange to The Dark Knight. Click through to see ten of our favorites, and visit Claudia’s DeviantArt page for the rest. … Read More

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Film

10 Memorable Movie Poster Controversies

By Jason Bailey on

[Editor's note: While your Flavorwire editors take a much-needed holiday break, we're revisiting some of our most popular features of the year. This post was originally published August 3, 2011.] As Roger Ebert says, “It’s not what a movie is about, but how it is about it,” so who knows, maybe The Change-Up isn’t going to be an inane R-rated update of a 20-plus-years-stale narrative. (But it sure as hell looks like it.) We can’t say we’re too hopeful, though, particularly considering its numb-skulled print campaign, which high-lariously juxtaposes Jason Bateman’s miserable handling of twin infants with Ryan Reynolds’s delighted groping of twin models. They’re both in white! Which do you want — babies or babes? HAW HAW! (Indiewire’s @erickohn twit-pic’ed a piece of “subway film criticism” that nailed the issue fairly effectively.)

The movie poster is a tricky form, a very specific merging of art and commerce that must sell a product but hopefully also convey the essence of the picture in question. Occasionally, the marketers and artists responsible for them can run afoul — either in the court of public opinion, or in the boardrooms of the MPAA, who not only rate films but control their advertising. After the jump, we’ll take a look at ten movie posters that stirred up some controversy — sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. … Read More

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Design

The 30 Best Movie Posters of 2011

By Judy Berman on

As a brilliant series of collages recently demonstrated, movie posters are prone to cliché. You’ve got your quirky Sundance breakthroughs with their sunny yellow backgrounds, your romantic comedy heroines in their bright red dresses, your freaky horror-movie eye close-up. So it’s always refreshing to see a poster that strays from the norm, whether it be a funny parody, a nostalgic style homage, or a bold still from the movie that piques our curiosity. After the jump, we’ve collected some of our favorite film posters of 2011, from movies both wonderful and terrible. … Read More

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Design

Visual Representations of 15 Over-Used Movie Poster Clichés

By Emily Temple on

Have you ever felt like you’re seeing the same movie poster over and over again? Well, you are, in a way. As it turns out, film posters have several very simple tools (color, text size, figure placement, etc) to signify what kind of movie they’re advertising without you really even having to read its name or tagline. The ever-observant Roxane Gay linked to this article over at HTMLGiant, which led us to these incredible visual representations of some of the movie poster clichés and tactics that are reused over and over (and over) again, masterfully compiled and designed by Christophe Courtois. Click though to see fifteen incredibly repetitive movie poster design clichés, and let us know if you can think of any more! … Read More

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Art

The Complete Saul Bass: Four Decades of Classic Movie Posters

By Emily Temple on

In the forthcoming Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design, the first retrospective book on the master of film titles, movie posters and logo design, design historian Pat Kirkham dissects Bass’ work with the help of his daughter Jennifer Bass. In anticipation of the book, we’ve collected many of the film posters he designed (we know we said ‘complete,’ but there’s no way to really have a complete list unless you check out the book) for your browsing pleasure and design inspiration. Of course, some of these pale in comparison to their accompanying titles, so we must suggest taking a look at those as well. Some of these posters were never used, and some have become iconic symbols, but all reflect Bass’ incredible talent. Click through to see our extensive gallery of just about all the Saul Bass posters we could find. … Read More

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Design

Wanted: Gorgeous New Posters for ‘Requiem for a Dream’

By Judy Berman on

Requiem for a Dream is both a cult classic and an incredibly divisive film — some people think it’s a brilliant depiction of addiction and celebrity culture, while others dismiss it as emotionally manipulative. Although we tend to fall somewhere in the middle, we’re not at all ambivalent about this trio of new posters for the movie, created by the talented designers at Silver Screen Society (whose work we first explored back in May). The group’s other recent projects, which include posters for 2001: A Space Odyssey and Get Carter are also well worth checking out. … Read More

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Design

Cool Faux-Vintage ‘Captain America’ Posters

By Jason Bailey on

When we first received these gorgeous, propaganda-style posters for this week’s Captain America: The First Avenger, commissioned by the Alamo Drafthouse and Mondo, we hesitated to share them — merely out of the fear that a post dedicated to them would amount to little more than a commercial for a big new release. Then we got a look at the movie itself, and figured what the hell, we’ll shill for it — since it’s a work of pure pop bubblegum pleasure, one of the most unabashedly enjoyable pictures in many a moon. (If it is outgrossed by Transformers 3-D, then Americans have lost their will to be entertained.)

One of the many ways that the film sets itself apart from its lesser comic-book movie brethren is in its unique period setting and distinctive production design; as you’ve probably gathered from the trailers, the bulk of the narrative is set in 1942, with Captain America taking on Hitler (specifically, a rogue wing of the Nazi army). That’s why these promotional posters in WWII propaganda art style, as devised by artists Olly Moss, Tyler Stout, and Eric Tan, are so ingenious — they not only promote the picture, but encompass its jazzy aesthetic. Check them out after the jump. … Read More

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Design

Wanted: Retro '2001: A Space Odyssey' Ad Posters

By Judy Berman on

Whether or not you believe 2001: A Space Odyssey is essential viewing, it’s hard not to appreciate the gorgeous retro-futurist design that sets the stage for Stanley Kubrick’s interplanetary head trip. Justin Van Genderen, who has already endeared himself to sci-fi-loving aesthetes with a series of Star Wars-inspired travel posters, has created a pair of ads for 2001‘s Orion III space plane and cinema’s most unforgettable computer, HAL 9000. Although these posters don’t seem to be on sale yet, you can buy reasonably priced prints of Van Genderen’s earlier work at Imagekind and Etsy. … Read More

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Film

Alamo Drafthouse’s Cool New “Rolling Roadshow” Posters

By Jason Bailey on

Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse, arguably the greatest movie theater in the country, has spent the last couple of summers taking their show on the road, as it were, with the “Rolling Roadshow” series — classic movies shown for free in relevant settings, like last summer’s screenings of The Blues Brothers in Joliet, Illinois and Dirty Harry in San Francisco’s Washington Square Park. This year, they’re staying in Texas (though still taking their films out to their shooting locations). How, then, are those of us in the other 49 expected to enjoy the series? Well, we can enjoy the very cool custom posters designed for the series by artist Jason Munn. Check out all ten after the jump. … Read More

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