Safe Poster

Considering this together with the poster for Contagion that was released a while ago we can already see the cool new trend: Posters with a weathered look that are mostly taken by the title, displayed vertically. Hott.

Honestly, I like both posters, probably because I’m just a sucker for a weathered, beaten down look (remember how much fun I had with Grindhouse posters?). But the poster for contagion strikes me as the superior effort.

First, because the the choice of visual elements and iconography matches so well with the theme of the film. It complements the message, instead of being just something cool to look at.

Second, because of it’s use of city names, a clever little way of conveying the huge scope of the disaster without relying on some epic images, which they might not have been able to get from the film itself. Again, looks good, but also tells me something about the story.

The character posters, on the other hand, left me pretty cold. The tagline is great though.

(Via)

The Raven Comic Con Poster

And talking about sure bets, here is a Comic Con poster for The Raven. Edgar Alan Poe + Comic Con = Awesome, right?

Well, as it turns out, not for me. The image is not ugly, but it just hits no emotional notes for me. My own expectations might also be getting on the way in this case. I expected something dark and with an old time vibe. This is bright and feels weirdly modern. Just doesn’t feel right for me.

Sherlock Holmes Poster

This photo (I’ll update with a better picture when it comes out) of the teaser poster for Sherlock Holmes has me quite surprised. This is not how I expected Sherlock to look. There is a certain edge, a certain darkness I don’t generally imagine the character having.

Then again maybe I just didn’t read the novels closely enough. Or don’t remember them well enough.

Anyways, this is the very first poster, so a lot could happen with the campaign. But right now the focus seems to be Robert Downey Jr. IS Sherlock Holmes. Which seems like fine pitch as far as I’m concerned. Several films have now been sold on top Johnny Depp playing an interesting character, and after Iron Man Downey seems to be inhabiting a similar position in the public’s consciousness.

As a matter of fact I would love if more films were sold based on great actors delivering riveting performances. That would probably mean more good movies were being made.

You can see some more ShoWest posters here, including many you have seen before, but now in the crappy photo version!

(Via FirstShowing)

More Than a Passing Resemblance

Thanks to Philip for pointing this out.

It's Happening in Mexico

I’m starting to think that the people behind the marketing for The Happening want me to think about I Am Legend.

As you might remember I Am Legend had several posters depicting cities around the world destroyed by the implacable virus. Pretty nice posters if you ask me. Well, know we have three posters for The Happening depicting different cities in Mexico that were apparently devastated by “The Happening”.

Now, I don’t know if this is something that is being done only in Mexico, or if it’s a strategy they will use in other countries, but it sure is reminiscent of what they did for IAL.

Of course, despite being cool they are not quite as well executed. In special the use of the very same abandoned cars in the three posters makes for an odd effect when you see them together.

Then again maybe they are not intend to ever be in the same place in real life?

(Via Slashfilm)

It’s Happening in Mexico

I’m starting to think that the people behind the marketing for The Happening want me to think about I Am Legend.

As you might remember I Am Legend had several posters depicting cities around the world destroyed by the implacable virus. Pretty nice posters if you ask me. Well, know we have three posters for The Happening depicting different cities in Mexico that were apparently devastated by “The Happening”.

Now, I don’t know if this is something that is being done only in Mexico, or if it’s a strategy they will use in other countries, but it sure is reminiscent of what they did for IAL.

Of course, despite being cool they are not quite as well executed. In special the use of the very same abandoned cars in the three posters makes for an odd effect when you see them together.

Then again maybe they are not intend to ever be in the same place in real life?

(Via Slashfilm)

International Posters for The Happening

The marketing pitch for The Happenning has been pretty clear from the get go. Creepy horror movie in which everybody dies mysteriously, leaving only a few people to deal with the aftermath. It’s not an exactly an unique premise, but it is one that has given us some strong stories, and it’s good hook to sell a film with.

Today we have two posters for The Happening that reinforce that sell. The one above comes from Germany and it’s tightly connected to the imagery in the trailer. It’s also rather bloody, even tough no blood is actually shown. Instead of conveying the widespread plague by showing us empty streets it actually shows the bodies. That is a little unusual, and I think it makes for an upsetting image that manages to stand out.

I do think, however, that the tight focus of the image, covering just a small portion of a park, takes away from some of the epic scope we have seen in other materials. From what we can see this could have easily been a minor disaster and not a world annihilating cataclysm.

Then we have a polish poster that is at the same time more and less usual.

The usual part is, of course, showing the barren streets of a big city, with just our heroes in the middle of it. Not that different from what we have seen in the marketing for I Am legend, although Smith was considerably more at ease in the posters for that film.

The unusual part is the distortion of the image and all the paper flying around. So unusual that I’m wondering if it has some hidden meaning that is related to the story.

The unusual side of this poster makes it stand out, but not in a good way. Catching people’s attention by being weird is not conductive to convincing them to see your movie.

One interesting aspect of the poster is that it is the first one to focus clearly on there being a family at the center of the nightmare. It’s also the first to show Wahlberg. I have to say that the absence of these two aspects so far has been surprising, but not particularly bothersome.

(Thanks to Casty the Clown for these)

The Facts in the Case of Mr. Hollow Poster

I don’t normally feature posters for short films. Not that I have anything against them, I just don’t generally stumble across posters for shorts. But thanks to twitch that changed today, and so I bring you the poster for the The Facts in the Case of Mr. Hollow.

And it’s a very good poster. It asks us to look closely and I do. Such a weird image, the lone camera between the trees, no one around to operate it, just the crow to see it. It’s bursting with an unsettling mood. It’s hard not to think of Poe when looking at it, something that is only strengthened by the fact that the film comes from Rue Morgue Cinema.

I can’t say for sure, but I imagine that the wonderful style we see in the poster’s illustration comes from visual artist and co-director Vincent Marcone. It works great.

Beyond looking good the poster also makes me curious. What is the camera photographing? What is on the other side, just behind our backs where we can’t see it? I would love to know, but I guess I’ll have to watch the film for that.

The film’s description is worth a read:

The visually stunning film centers on an unusual photograph dating back to the 1930s. An investigation of its particulars reveals a tapestry of secrets hidden in the details, and a tale of kidnapping and murder captured in a haunting moment.

And as you can see, the poster ties into the films description in a way that make both more interesting.

A job well done all around.

The Happening Poster

I think that the most telling aspect of this poster is the text: “We’ve sensed, We’ve seen the signs, Now… It’s Happening.” In case you didn’t get it (I didn’t the first time) the text is a not too veiled reference to Sixth Sense and Signs, the two most commercially successful movies from director M. Night Shyamalan. The message is rather obvious: forget about all the fantasy stuff in Lady in the Water, forget the crappy ending for The Village, Shyamalan is back to his old self.

To underscore that the poster has a very similar design to this one for Signs.

Instead of crop circles pointing to a house we have abandoned cars and a road leading to some sort of city. And instead of the burning red we have ominous clouds. But still very similar, and both exude a “bad things are going on” feel.

I don’t think this is a great poster. The imagery is not as strong or clear as the one for the Signs poster, for one thing. But it’s far from being a bad poster, and I think it’s a good first step in regaining the public’s trust in Shyamalan’s work. Of course, the movie itself s going to have to do some very heavy lifting on this point.

Just as an aside, notice the tagline on the Signs poster?

(Via Worst Previews)

P2 Poster

I don’t understand the choice to use this kind of drawing on the poster. The style of the artwork reminds me of the cover of cheap pulp mystery novels and of the box art of second rate computer games. Not flattering comparisons, I think.

A very weird choice.

(Via IMPAwards)