I love movie posters. Count me firmly in the camp that believe that movie posters can be, and sometimes are, art. From Hitchcock’s Vertigo, to Spielberg’s Jaws, even to the recent Napolean Dynamite, a good one sheet can transcend marketing needs and become the iconic image of a generation. I make sure I see every poster for every movie that gets released. It’s become more than a hobby for me, grading the posters, deciding which ones might become more famous than the movie they’re promoting (The 40 Year Old Virgin is fast becoming the perfect example of this). So I’m bringing my hobby online. Every so often I’ll post a few new movie posters, and critique the hell out of them. Here’s the first of many Poster Reviews to come.

Derailed - A no frills, “here are our stars” approach. It doesn’t tell you anything about the movie, nor does it get you excited. Very ho hum. Also, if you have Jennifer Aniston in your movie, why would you dress her down like that? I thought she was playing a sexpot in this movie, so why is she so covered up and demure? Expect a more provocative poster was near the film’s release.

Grade: C

Fun With Dick And Jane - Now this is more like it. You still don’t really know what the movie is about, but you know it’s gonna be funny. Jim Carrey has a great history of movie poster images, with The Truman Show’s pictograph being the best example. This is an actor that knows how to sell himself, and does a great job of changing looks, but not changing the perception of what you’re gonna get from his movies. A great poster.

Grade: A-

Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ - It took me a couple different looks at this poster before I realized he was holding a baby. I like the image; it screams “ICONIC”, and very nearly gets there. The 8 Mile poster was probably better than this, but the image does a great job of selling the 50 Cent persona, and enticing you into giving this film a try.

Grade: B

Just Friends - This is an absolute slam dunk. You know everything you need to known about the movie, and the poster is funny as hell. Just seeing Ryan Reynolds in a fat suit makes you smile. Great tagline too. (Bonus trivia: The alternate title for this film was “Friends Without Benefits”. Brilliant.)

Grade: A

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Good color, good set-up, not so sure they pulled it off. This is a very tricky film to market, and that first cartoony-looking poster was a joke. I think this is the type of film where you either want to see it or not, regardless of the marketing campaign. There’s probably a great poster for this film somewhere, but it’s not here.

Grade: C+

North Country - Why does Charlize have to go uggo to get respect? This is definitely a case of the star’s looks hurting her celebrity. I look at this poster and just shrug, knowing I’m not gonna get to stare at her beauty for two hours. It’s depressing. This is a prestige image, and it is successful in selling that the film is a potential Oscar candidate. But man alive is it depressing.

Grade: B-

Syrianna - We can all agree that this poster is a great change of pace from all the insipid big head posters that most studio films choose to go with. I like the change of pace but can’t help feeling like it’s a manipulation. If a film wants to be seen as edgy and defiant, they release a poster that looks like this. I will reserve judgement until I see if this is the final poster or just a teaser. If it’s a teaser and the final is more conventional, than I’m gonna spit on this poster. If they stick with this the whole way through (which would seriously hurt them at the box office), then I’ll come back and bump the grade. As it is, it’s still not as good as the poster for Clooney’s other movie, Goodnight and Good Luck.

Grade: B

Bangarang, Movie Posters!

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