Comments on: Glenn’s Monthly Movie Poster Analysis

By: Christine

Christine — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:19:50 +0000

Oh I already did a search for other Movie Poster Analysis articles but only found this one on the site, then realized it’s a brand new series on the site. Looking forward to reading more!

By: Alice

Alice — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:42:20 +0000

Today on Twitter Matt Singer asked me if I thought poster artists should sign their work. I said yes (considering all other artists get to put their names to the work), but would be interested in your thoughts?

FYI after seeing Jeremy Saunders’ Antichrist poster, Singer is now a fan of his work – loves his Fish Tank poster too.

By: Paul Martin

Paul Martin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:41:33 +0000

Glenn, I really enjoy your poster analysis. FWIW, my pick of the above posters is the one for A Prophet but agree that the Precious one ain’t bad either.

By: par3182

par3182 — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:40:18 +0000

a blogger could make a better ‘a single man’ poster than the distributor… and one did -

http://tinyurl.com/y9dl6kv

By: Glenn Dunks

Glenn Dunks — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 07:59:57 +0000

Wow, quite a few comments already!

Beth, agreed. I wrote about that poster on my blog. All the “Precious” designs have been exceptional, but my favourite was the orange one since it is so brave and distinctive.
http://stalepopcornau.blogspot.com/2009/07/well-played-poster-precious.html

And that, BW, is why I don’t like the poster for “A Single Man”. It’s hardly a unique way to sell a movie by putting the lead actor on there, but what would have been unique was to sell any of the film’s other strengths. The beautiful (if excessive) design or the delicate portrayal of gay romance. I’m not saying put a picture of Colin Firth on there making out with Matthew Goode, but if you showed that poster to somebody who wasn’t aware of the plot they would think it was about Firth and Moore as a couple, which it is not.

My review of “A Single Man” will be up next week by the way.

Alice, tell me about it! Leo’s giant floating head has no place there. I briefly wrote about the “Fish Tank” poster at the blog. It’s quite a tricky design, isn’t it?

By: Alice

Alice — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 07:08:34 +0000

Great column, Glenn! I’ve followed your poster insights on your blog, and thanks to you (or perhaps, damn you!) I see giant floaty heads in cinemas everywhere!

I think you’re right on the money with all these posters – thanks for introducing me to the Japanese version for Shutter Island. It’s about a million percent up on our one.

And as for Valentine’s Day, Kathy Bates – what about Shirley MacLaine?!?!

What do you make of Jeremy Saunder’s creation for FISH TANK? http://jeremysaunders.com/2010/fish-tank/ – or am I jumping the gun on next month?

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 06:08:03 +0000

Glenn, this is a great idea for a column, and I wholeheartedly agree with you. The only film on this list I have actually seen is A Single Man, and you are right, the poster has nothing to do with the film – which is such a shame because it was quite brilliant and I really enjoyed it. Julianne Moore was in it for less time than it took to run the credits – don’t know how she managed to get her pic on the poster!!

By: BW

BW — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 06:02:05 +0000

I thought A Single Man was a portrait of grief more than anything else. (And yes, I have read this Guardian article… http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2010/feb/15/a-single-man-sexual-preference)

Because of this, and the fact that many audiences (me for one) will see the film because of Firth’s reportedly incredible performance – with no real thought as to the gay subject matter – I have always considered the poster art rather nice and effective, really.

I see absolutely no problem with the “de-gaying” as they are calling it – in fact an overtly gay poster would give me doubts as to what sort of film it was – as I don’t really watch expressly queer cinema but I love character studies and cinema about the great themes of life. Frankly an expressly gay poster would not be appealing to me, as an average cinema goer, so I think the cinema chains are being rather savvy in going a bit broader with their ads. I am just trying to offer a different perspective from a guy on the street as I have seen this criticism a lot online about this poster series and I don’t see a problem myself. Maybe the cinemas did research on it and this worked better?

By: Beth

Beth — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 05:46:49 +0000

Glenn, I’m liking the enthusiasm and derision you bring to poster analysis- looking forward to March’s critique already!

I really love the Precious poster that is almost like a childlike painting of her- http://www.impawards.com/2009/posters/precious_ver2.jpg
probably not as powerful as the splintered one, but I think it is quite beautiful