Joshua Poster

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I kind of like this poster. The movie is all about one very creepy, very precocious kid. The very large painting of the kid, so well dressed, with the actual kid staring at it does a good job of telling us that he is not your average child, and that he probably has a big ego and big plans. The coldness of the whole image matches the coldness in that stare, and gives further hint that this might be a strange and possibly dangerous person. And the whole thing has a creepy vibe.

That said, I think that the colors and design of the image might make this poster a little bit dull to look at. It doesn’t stand out enough. And if one doesn’t already have a clue about the movie’s story, the poster might leave one a little puzzled about it.

Still an interesting poster tough.

Knocked Up Posters

I really love this poster. It is, to some extent, just a head shot. But when coupled with the tagline, it’s the perfect image for this movie, telling you exactly what the film is about and why you might want to see it.

No, of course you wouldn’t want to have a baby with this guy, he looks completely unprepared to be a father. On the other hand, watching him trying to deal with his upcoming fatherhood might be very funny. And Seth Rogen is likable enough, so we also want to see him succeed, even if it takes some growing up.

The other posters are also nice. The second one does a good job of setting up the relationship aspect of the movie, showing that these two aren’t exactly madly in love with each other. The third one is mostly a visual pun, but it’s a decent one, and it makes for an attractive and catchy image.

But that first poster, that one would probably get me to see this movie even if a didn’t know anything else about it.

Another Day, Another Transformers Poster

This new poster combines several elements we have see before, such as the face of Optimus, the skyline and Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox standing together. We do get to see more of Megatron than we did before, tough.

I don’t much like this poster. Too cluttered, and the various elements don’t mesh together very well. I understand the desire of having a poster that brings together all the things that we have seen before, but this isn’t a very good implementation of that.

I Know Who Killed Me Poster

I’m guessing that the blue rose, which also appears on one of the publicly released photos, is somehow important for the plot. It also makes for a very memorable and striking image. And the little blood drop in the bottom is a subtle but smart reference to the topic of the movie.

All that said, this movie will probably be sold on the “Lyndsay Lohan as a stripper” hook. So I’m guessing the poster, which doesn’t even hint at that, won’t matter much. It is still a nice poster tough.

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New International Transformers Posters

My main worry about the Transformers movie was that they wouldn’t be able to make the robots look right. The trailers, posters and photos I have seen so far have assuaged me of that fear. These new posters bring some of it back tough.

To me, the robots look strange in these new ones. The faces just don’t seem to fit together right. I think it is in great part because of the eyes, which seem off. And yes, the teeth in Megatron are weird.

Will we be able to empathise with those things? I don’t know. But since the rest of the material has been so good, I’m still cautiously optimistic.

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1408 Final Poster

I complained that the 1408 teaser poster was too subtle. Well, the new (and supposedly final) one is a lot less subtle. On the other hand, it is a lot more ugly.

They seem to have overdone the gritty, dirty and scratchy look without much need. So, it ends up “uglyfying” the poster without adding much in terms of visual/emotional impact. Also, I’m not a fan of the “two floating heads” type of posters, both because they are kind of silly and because they have been way overdone. Although I do think the showing only half of each face is one of the better variations of this particular poster genre.

The first poster, despite my reservations about it, made me more interested in seeing the film. It did convey a sense of creepiness, and also made the film seem a little different than most other horror/suspense movies that we have seen recently. This one, on the other hand, makes the film look like a hundred other movies. And a somewhat cheap version of them to boot.

Descent Poster

Descent is a movie that recently played in the Tribeca film festival. It follows the story of a woman who is raped and then seeks revenge. Bloddy revenge. I’m guessing you know the type of movie.

But, do you get any of that from the poster? Do you get the sense that this is a woman who has undergone a deeply traumatic event? Someone who is likely to be filled with hate? I’m not, at least not clearly. As a matter of act, I think that if you added a funny tagline to the poster you could pass it off as a poster for a comedy.

In recent years film like Saw and the first Hostel have done a very good job of attracting an audience using very gory marketing material. Although I appreciate what they have done, it’s been aped to death, so I would love to see some horror posters taking a more subtle route. But I think this one goes too far in that direction. It lacks any element to make it unique and to make it stand out.

I kind of see what they were trying to do with it, hinting at the psychological scars instead of showing any actual scar, but the end result is generic and unremarkable. Too bad.

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The Dark is Rising Poster

I like the way this poster looks.The whole flare effect is well done and interesting to look at. But, it tells me exactly nothing about the movie. Add to that a title that is itself enigmatic and you have a poster that is likely to leave people scratching their heads.

Even in a teaser poster you still have to give people something to connect too. A theme, a character, a story, a mood, an iconic image. That is what will make the poster memorable. That is what will make people go to the Internet and look the movie up. That is what is going to make them excited about the film.

If you just give people a cool image with no context, they will perhaps notice and stop to look at it. But they won’t remember it the next day. And they won’t form any kind of emotional bond with the film.

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Good Luck Chuck Posters

I think I hate Dane Cook. Well, perhaps hate is too strong a word, but I find him completely unfunny. I say this not to be mean, but only because I think my feelings about him might be affecting my feelings about these posters.

There is a part of my brain that thinks that those posters are good, different and memorable. But the rest of me is having a deep physical reaction that can be best represented by the word “blah”. Honestly, the whole underwear aesthetics of these things leaves me deeply underwhelmed. And Cook’s expression seems oh so smug. I hate it.

That said, Jessica Alba still looks good, even in a silly poster and holding a melting ice cream. I guess that counts for something, for some people at least.

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Sicko Posters

Whatever you think about Michael Moore and his movies, one has to admit that the marketing materials for them have been excellent. And these posters for Sicko are no different.

The general design is one that we have seen before in the Fahrenheit 9/11 poster: Michael Moore + some comic elements + clear references to a controversial topic. I think that the poster below is a little funnier, however, the one above is more iconic and memorable. But they both probably do a great job of getting the core audience for the movie excited about it.

Preaching to the converted? Maybe, but it will sell tickets.

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