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The Best Posters of 2010
By R. Kurt Osenlund, The Good Life film critic
A poster can say a lot about a movie. If it's a good one, it effectively re-creates the tone of the movie itself. If it's an elegant one, odds are the movie is elegant, too. Great posters are severely rare these days. The art of simplicity is all but dead, and generic collections of square-cropped celebrity head shots are mucking up the walls of movie theaters and bus stops everywhere.
But there's hope yet. A small crop of one-sheets for 2010 films is strong enough to salvage one's faith in the capital-A art of movie marketing. Before we get to the Top 10, behold the runners-up, in no particular order:
LOVE & OTHER DRUGS
A fine example of a poster being much better than the film. This happy-naughty specimen does tell you a good bit about the happy-sappy rom-com it represents, notably the abundance of nudity, but it also misleads: never is "Love & Other Drugs" as enjoyable a watch as this simple under-the-covers looker.
127 HOURS
A fine visualization of the rock-and-a-hard-place theme, this poster makes great use of line, drawing your eye right to the center. The configuration provides a nice, sunny nook for the title, and even the precariousness of lead character Aron Ralston's extraordinary situation. But most importantly, for me, it gives you a taste of Danny Boyle's vivid, fantastical color scheme.
SOMEWHERE
A stunning wide shot of Hollywood's Chateau Marmont, the poster for Sofia Coppola's "Somewhere" is a beauty of stacked layers: its setting on top, the visual metaphor of dense jungle beneath that, its principal characters beneath, and a cool reflective pool beneath that. It wonderfully conveys the milieu of its story, about a movie star (Stephen Dorff) and his young daughter (Elle Fanning).
FOR COLORED GIRLS
There were a number of additional posters for Tyler Perry's powerhouse drama, specifically the individual character sheets. But I much prefer this painterly, minimalistic, all-encompassing version, which features a watercolor-style blend of the girls' "colors," and a face obsured enough that it could be any one of them. More than any poster in my entire list, it makes great use of white space.
LOVE RANCH
I didn't see this dusty-brothel drama (which got very little love from critics), but I adore the '70s throwback-ness of its design, which immediately directs the mind to the art for Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown," itself a throwback. Vintage can be just as inspired and classy as minimalist, even if its key subject is a batch of prostitutes.
BURIED
I give a lot of credit to the folks behind the little-seen Ryan Reynolds drama "Buried" for going with a poster image as sparse as its narrative. Like "127 Hours," "Buried" is essentially about a man trapped in one place for a feature-length of time, and its poster opts for a stark image that's like a cross-section of the earth. Plus, from font to black background to yellow glow, it echoes that great, iconic poster for the original "Alien."
THE TOP 10 MOVIE POSTERS OF 2010
JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK
If great movie posters are in short supply, then great illustrated movie posters are practically extinct. Film is a photographic art form, so naturally photography should best relate the experience, but the essence can sometimes come through even more directly with a little homespun hand-drawing. The humor and life of this exquisite documentary is infinitely better expressed in the pink piece above than in the inevitable throwaway DVD cover.
RABBIT HOLE
Like its more generic sister, this cloud-wrapped poster for John Cameron Mitchell's "Rabbit Hole" tells you everything and nothing. Looking at it leaves you clueless as to what it's peddling, but I tell you it's about a couple grieving the loss of their young son and suddenly it's all there. I simply find this one prettier than the other, but the clinchers for both are the taglines about "getting through."
TANGLED
Kudos to Disney for eschewing another damned family portrait of cuddly characters and instead moving forward with this enticing, mischievous and great-looking peek-a-boo beaut. Did any of you get to see that even-better cardboard stand-up that wrapped itself around half the movie theater lobby? Loved that. And love this.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
The whole theme of this movie is the likening of the criminal world to the open wild (or "the bush," as it were), which roars front and center in this colorful juxtaposition of beast and baddie. The coyote (I believe) looks almost fake in its fierce and haunting frozen pose, but the bites of the seemingly timid characters above are far worse, I assure you.
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
In truth, this isn't the most inspired poster, but man, is it striking, and it's easily the most instantly iconic of the year. How do you market a movie about the creation of Facebook? Well, with the face of its creator, scrawled with damning truth. Okay, so the truth part has been notoriously contested, but that changes nothing. The movie gives you a fearless portrait of a modern entrepreneur. So does the poster.
THE RUNAWAYS
This underrated rock-band biopic was preceded by one of the year's great graphic images: a literal Cherry Bomb that gives you The Runaways' chief single, their explosion onto the music scene, and their ripening sexuality. It fully reflects the point-of-view of writer/director Floria Sigismondi -- ferociously feminine, retro and dirty. If only the whole movie were as fully assured.
NEVER LET ME GO
Tragic and beautiful, the poster for the subtly sci-fi haunter "Never Let Me Go" has both grace and grimness. Literally running toward the childhood that was stolen from them, the two doomed lead lovers are faceless, just as they're seen by the society that wants to -- spoiler alert -- harvest their organs. Speaking of which, the disassembling of the body parts, I mean letters, of the title give the whole thing just the right amount of edge.
THE AMERICAN
Fully evoking the Antonioni style it so beautifully employs, this classic spread for the George Clooney "thriller" "The American" is already hanging on my wall. They simply don't make 'em like this anymore. The halftone image of the femme fatale is a stunning backdrop for Clooney's running man, and the poster is both true and false: the film's as stylish as suggested here, but it's not at all what viewers are led to believe.
BLACK SWAN
Take your pick of which incredible "Black Swan" image suits you best. I'm partial to the American variation on top (Portman's uncanny facial symmetry!), but any of the avant-garde international versions beneath it would make worthy stand-ins. Sometimes a movie has everything -- incredible film, incredible performance, incredible trailer, incredible posters. "Black Swan is one of those movies.
I AM LOVE
Another five-star film with a slew of beautiful posters, the Italian masterpiece "I Am Love" never puts anything less than its best face forward. The greatest, in my opinion, is the American one-sheet that's gorgeously adorned with enormous script font, eclipsing all faces but that of genius lead star Tilda Swinton. It's as lush and extravagant and slightly preposterous as the movie. An irresistible invitation to pure cinema.
A poster can say a lot about a movie. If it's a good one, it effectively re-creates the tone of the movie itself. If it's an elegant one, odds are the movie is elegant, too. Great posters are severely rare these days. The art of simplicity is all but dead, and generic collections of square-cropped celebrity head shots are mucking up the walls of movie theaters and bus stops everywhere.
But there's hope yet. A small crop of one-sheets for 2010 films is strong enough to salvage one's faith in the capital-A art of movie marketing. Before we get to the Top 10, behold the runners-up, in no particular order:
LOVE & OTHER DRUGS
A fine example of a poster being much better than the film. This happy-naughty specimen does tell you a good bit about the happy-sappy rom-com it represents, notably the abundance of nudity, but it also misleads: never is "Love & Other Drugs" as enjoyable a watch as this simple under-the-covers looker.
127 HOURS
A fine visualization of the rock-and-a-hard-place theme, this poster makes great use of line, drawing your eye right to the center. The configuration provides a nice, sunny nook for the title, and even the precariousness of lead character Aron Ralston's extraordinary situation. But most importantly, for me, it gives you a taste of Danny Boyle's vivid, fantastical color scheme.
SOMEWHERE
A stunning wide shot of Hollywood's Chateau Marmont, the poster for Sofia Coppola's "Somewhere" is a beauty of stacked layers: its setting on top, the visual metaphor of dense jungle beneath that, its principal characters beneath, and a cool reflective pool beneath that. It wonderfully conveys the milieu of its story, about a movie star (Stephen Dorff) and his young daughter (Elle Fanning).
FOR COLORED GIRLS
There were a number of additional posters for Tyler Perry's powerhouse drama, specifically the individual character sheets. But I much prefer this painterly, minimalistic, all-encompassing version, which features a watercolor-style blend of the girls' "colors," and a face obsured enough that it could be any one of them. More than any poster in my entire list, it makes great use of white space.
LOVE RANCH
I didn't see this dusty-brothel drama (which got very little love from critics), but I adore the '70s throwback-ness of its design, which immediately directs the mind to the art for Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown," itself a throwback. Vintage can be just as inspired and classy as minimalist, even if its key subject is a batch of prostitutes.
BURIED
I give a lot of credit to the folks behind the little-seen Ryan Reynolds drama "Buried" for going with a poster image as sparse as its narrative. Like "127 Hours," "Buried" is essentially about a man trapped in one place for a feature-length of time, and its poster opts for a stark image that's like a cross-section of the earth. Plus, from font to black background to yellow glow, it echoes that great, iconic poster for the original "Alien."
THE TOP 10 MOVIE POSTERS OF 2010
JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK
If great movie posters are in short supply, then great illustrated movie posters are practically extinct. Film is a photographic art form, so naturally photography should best relate the experience, but the essence can sometimes come through even more directly with a little homespun hand-drawing. The humor and life of this exquisite documentary is infinitely better expressed in the pink piece above than in the inevitable throwaway DVD cover.
RABBIT HOLE
Like its more generic sister, this cloud-wrapped poster for John Cameron Mitchell's "Rabbit Hole" tells you everything and nothing. Looking at it leaves you clueless as to what it's peddling, but I tell you it's about a couple grieving the loss of their young son and suddenly it's all there. I simply find this one prettier than the other, but the clinchers for both are the taglines about "getting through."
TANGLED
Kudos to Disney for eschewing another damned family portrait of cuddly characters and instead moving forward with this enticing, mischievous and great-looking peek-a-boo beaut. Did any of you get to see that even-better cardboard stand-up that wrapped itself around half the movie theater lobby? Loved that. And love this.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
The whole theme of this movie is the likening of the criminal world to the open wild (or "the bush," as it were), which roars front and center in this colorful juxtaposition of beast and baddie. The coyote (I believe) looks almost fake in its fierce and haunting frozen pose, but the bites of the seemingly timid characters above are far worse, I assure you.
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
In truth, this isn't the most inspired poster, but man, is it striking, and it's easily the most instantly iconic of the year. How do you market a movie about the creation of Facebook? Well, with the face of its creator, scrawled with damning truth. Okay, so the truth part has been notoriously contested, but that changes nothing. The movie gives you a fearless portrait of a modern entrepreneur. So does the poster.
THE RUNAWAYS
This underrated rock-band biopic was preceded by one of the year's great graphic images: a literal Cherry Bomb that gives you The Runaways' chief single, their explosion onto the music scene, and their ripening sexuality. It fully reflects the point-of-view of writer/director Floria Sigismondi -- ferociously feminine, retro and dirty. If only the whole movie were as fully assured.
NEVER LET ME GO
Tragic and beautiful, the poster for the subtly sci-fi haunter "Never Let Me Go" has both grace and grimness. Literally running toward the childhood that was stolen from them, the two doomed lead lovers are faceless, just as they're seen by the society that wants to -- spoiler alert -- harvest their organs. Speaking of which, the disassembling of the body parts, I mean letters, of the title give the whole thing just the right amount of edge.
THE AMERICAN
Fully evoking the Antonioni style it so beautifully employs, this classic spread for the George Clooney "thriller" "The American" is already hanging on my wall. They simply don't make 'em like this anymore. The halftone image of the femme fatale is a stunning backdrop for Clooney's running man, and the poster is both true and false: the film's as stylish as suggested here, but it's not at all what viewers are led to believe.
BLACK SWAN
Take your pick of which incredible "Black Swan" image suits you best. I'm partial to the American variation on top (Portman's uncanny facial symmetry!), but any of the avant-garde international versions beneath it would make worthy stand-ins. Sometimes a movie has everything -- incredible film, incredible performance, incredible trailer, incredible posters. "Black Swan is one of those movies.
I AM LOVE
Another five-star film with a slew of beautiful posters, the Italian masterpiece "I Am Love" never puts anything less than its best face forward. The greatest, in my opinion, is the American one-sheet that's gorgeously adorned with enormous script font, eclipsing all faces but that of genius lead star Tilda Swinton. It's as lush and extravagant and slightly preposterous as the movie. An irresistible invitation to pure cinema.
posted by Kurtis O at
1:54 PM
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