March was apparently a month where arthouse movies excelled at grabbing my attention in the cinema foyer, whereas the big budget blockbusters failed dismally. Let’s have a look at what the month of March handed to us.
Kaboom
Australian cinemas showing the latest queer stoner freak-out flick from Gregg Araki have unfortunately had to display the international poster – colourful and full of genital gags, but rudimentary and kinda flat. This American concept, however, is very much close to perfect. Not just a great piece of key art, but a spot on representation for the film itself. All bold, kaleidoscope colours, actors with orgasmic looks on their faces, trippy mirror imaging and wonderful text that replicates Kaboom’s crazy credits. We love this poster!
Howl
You’ll notice that the two best posters of the month are for very arthouse titles that you mightn’t have even heard were released. A lot of the time these smaller niche films get the chance to do something really great with their posters because they know they don’t have to corner a broader multiplex market. As for Howl? The gorgeous animation, the ripe colours and the classy typeface within the credits block, it’s a wonderful design.
Griff the Invisible
Playful and oh so cute, just like the movie it’s selling. A nice sight gag that replicates other famous superhero imagery, but the colours help it stand out. I particularly like that they have utilised the entire space of the poster, rather than filling it with wordless, empty nothingness.
The Reef
Another poster for another Aussie film that takes its inspiration from another source, but does it without forsaking creativity. While shark attack thriller The Reef doesn’t do something quite as original as Griff the Invisible, it does at least look crisp and, yet again, utilises the entire space of the image. Bonus points for having a snappy tagline – “pray that you drown first” – but points off for the tacky WordArt title design.
Just Go With It
Did anybody in the marketing department realise that they just taken the poster for Adam Sandler’s 50 First Dates and replaced Drew Barrymore’s look of petrified terror with Jennifer Aniston’s look of bored disgust? In fact, a lot of woman that appear on an Adam Sandler movie poster are either confused, fed up or angry! Always hopelessly gorgeous, too.
The Rite
Is this not one of the ugliest posters you’ve seen in months? Nothing about this doesn’t scream to me “get a tetanus shot before seeing this movie!” The rusty brown colour, that dark and dank atmosphere plus Anthony Hopkins in bored Hannibal Lector mode make this movie look like a pass.
Never Let Me Go
Unfortunately, the studio releasing this sombre British sci-fi tale never quite stumbled upon a good enough way to market it. The first poster here was hailed by the online community as a beautiful piece of work, and while that may be true, it fails in every respect as a movie poster; it looks more like a book cover. The local design is this tired stripe-heavy concept that sell the stars, but not the movie. And, let’s face it, if any movie warranted individual character posters less then it’s this one! Isn’t there a happy middle ground somewhere?
Barney’s Version
By far the worst poster we’ve seen in 2011 so far. Dreadful in every conceivable way. Just look at this monster of a poster and tell me it isn’t terrible terrible terrible. I’m actually getting creeped out by the way Scott Speedman is staring out from it, actually.
Limitless / Wasted on the Young / In a Better World
Enough. With. The. Stripes.
Interesting…although I’m slightly concerned about the state of film poster design in Oz! Who’s responsible for these? Even the best of the lot (Howl) isn’t as good as the version they used in London (cf. http://www.impawards.com/2010/posters/howl_ver3.jpg)
Liz, this column doesn’t just look at the Australian posters, but at the best and worst from around the world.
Having said that, the poster you have linked to is merely the UK quad design of the original design. They’re basically the same thing.