I spend more time disappointed by movie posters these days than not. Sure, I love the sort of secondary posters that Mondo is doing, but those aren’t the actual theatrical release one-sheets for the most part.
No, instead, we are treated to an endless sea of photoshopped images and movie star faces, unimaginative art that seems to all look like it was made by the same marketing intern. It’s a real drag, especially for a movie fan who grew up in an age where movie posters became just as much of an art as the films they advertised.
It’s always nice when I see a poster that stands out, but to see three posters in the span of 24 hours that all seem to be strong graphic treatments of upcoming movies… well, that’s rare like a Bigfoot sighting, and worth a mention.
One thing’s for sure… Kim Pierce appears to be very excited about her upcoming remake of “Carrie.”
I’m trying to think of the last time I saw a director making fan posters for their own film before they ever rolled a frame of film, and I’m coming up empty. I mean, Chloe Moretz just started negotiations on the film last week, and yet here we’ve got a poster that Pierce made that suggests the tone she’s hoping to strike with her film.
I admire Moretz and her obvious talent, but I’m having a hard time imagining her as “Carrie.” As good an actress as she is, she has a confidence that is part of her identity that makes it hard to imagine her as the overwhelming doormat that Carrie White was written to be. Still, Pierce is a talented filmmaker, and anyone who hits the ground running with this kind of enthusiasm for the material has my attention. Hat tip to Don Pierce at ScreenCrush for pointing this one out. UPDATED: Turns out this was a fan poster, but Pierce linked to it from her Facebook page. Thanks for the heads-up on this one, folks.
Speaking of confidence and enthusiasm, when I was at SXSW this year, one night before the midnight movies, Drafthouse Films and Timpson Films premiered a sort of promotional reel for their new film “The ABCs Of Death,” and I think it is safe to say that the short collection of some of the craziest images I’ve ever seen in a theater felt like seeing an entire Fantastic Fest in four minutes, a barrage of lunacy that pissed vast oceans of confidence. Whatever “The ABCs Of Death” ends up being, it will be that without apology, without hesitation, without any sense of social boundary.
And now there’s a poster.
You really can’t imagine just how profane and explicit and deranged that promo reel was. I should not be surprised. With Tim League and Anthony Timpson serving as the ringmasters for this 26-barreled shotgun full of LSD and murder and pornography, it’s going to be an assault, and that’s exactly the point.
And speaking of assaults, I hope that Oliver Stone’s upcoming “Savages” is a big brash trumpet blast of raw energy. It’s been a while since I’ve felt passionate about an Oliver Stone film, but I have faith that he can still get back in touch with the madman who made movies like “Salvador” and “JFK” and “Natural Born Killers.” Don Winslow’s novel certainly feels like the right raw material to motivate the filmmaker to get back into fighting shape, and the poster that JoBlo just premiered is a pretty striking bit of imagery.
There’s a trailer for the film set to land later this week, and I now have my fingers crossed that this looks great. You can see the full poster exclusively on JoBlo.com right now.
Bottom line: these are all examples of what a poster should do. These are promising, tantalizing, interesting images on their own, and they all make me curious to see if the films they represent can live up to the promises made. That’s what I love about a good movie poster. That’s what I wish everyone tried to do.
“Carrie” will start production later this year. POSTER RATING: B-
“The ABCs Of Death” opens in limited release November 2, 2012. POSTER RATING: B+
“Savages” arrives in theaters July 6, 2012. POSTER RATING: B+