Now this is what I’m talking about. This poster sets Bangkok Dangerous as a kick ass action film in a way we have rarely seen. I mean look at Cage, reaching for the gun he keeps on his shoulder with one hand and using his magic right hand to reach through his jacket. Or something. Not too sure what is going in there.

Also take a good look at the bullet holes at the right corner of the poster that show, much to our surprise, that Nic is behind some sort of bullet proof glass. Ha, those bad guys don’t know what is coming. They can’t reach him, but he will have no trouble using his amazing hand to reach their necks on the other side.

The only problem is that it seems like there is a big fire brewing in his side of the glass. That might be dangerous. Hell, it might even be Bangkok Dangerous.

(Via IMPAwards)

What kills me about this poster is the combination of the green and yellow arrows pointing towards Juno with some sort of question. Now, I have no idea of what the question actually is, but can’t you just imagine some over excited announcer pointing and saying “She has a baby, in her belly!?”

I do wonder what it actually says.

The second thing that really caught my attention was the Roger Ebert quote. I had no idea he was big in Asia.

As for the rest of the poster, I’m torn. It’s quirky to the max, but it’s also pretty attention catching and memorable, and it is true to some aspects of the movie. It’s also as close to a parody of Juno as you’re ever going to find in an official piece of marketing for the film. I mean, look at her pose! And the damn phone. She is in the middle of the street!

I’m not sure how good this is as a piece of marketing. But I kind of love it for all its weirdness.

(Thanks to Casty the Clown for sending this over)

It’s just odd to think that there is a Star Wars movie coming to theaters this year. Star Wars movies are supposed to be huge deals. Events that everyone talks about and discusses for ages. They are not supposed to be some weird hybrid TV show/movie/marketing ploy thing

And Star Wars posters? They are supposed to be epic Drew Struzan affairs that take your breath away as you stand there starring at all the amazing things that will happen in the movie.

Sure, the second trilogy made both of these points much less true then they used to be. But still, this feels like a brutal step down. It simply feels wrong. Not up to the standards. Weird.

So basically, I’m just not feeling it.

(Via ComingSoon)

And yet another poster with a weird looking head. Seems there are a lot of those this days.

As for the rest of the poster, I think like the spirit of it. It seems like it tries to move on from relying solely on brand recognition and tries to turn X-Files 2 into something that can stand on its own as an exciting event. But it doesn’t abandon the brand. It’s there. It’s obvious. It’s just not overwhelming.

But I also think that the spirit is a lot better than the actual design and execution. Snow, some helicopters in the back, something that seems like a small army. The point is to say that something big is happening, but the way those things are arranged doesn’t make it feel big. And we still have no idea of what is happening exactly, which just might be okay for right now, but is something that I think is going to have to change in the forthcoming posters.

So, again, why should I be excited about another X-Files, so many years after the last one? Hopefully the next poster will make a better attempt of answering that.

(Via BadTaste.it, Thanks to Casty for pointing it out to me)

(click for larger versions)

I almost wrote a post about the first poster for The Wackness, but ended up deciding against it. My feeling was that there were some interesting things about it, but in the end the poster setting was just a little too dull in way that seemed contradictory with the colorful energy of the title and with the off-beat nature of the characters depicted.

Apparently someone else thought the same, because we now have a new poster for The Wackness that is clearly more wacky (I’m sorry, but I just had too). It uses the exact same shot of the characters, but places them against multicolored renditions of a few New York landmarks. And for some reasons they are walking in a road, instead of walking in the city’s streets. Which is actually kind of odd.

I think no one would deny that the second poster does a much better job of getting attention, but is it actually better? Probably, but there are still lots of things about it that bother me. I guess I can sum them up by saying that the poster strikes me as trying too hard. And the comparison between the two made me appreciate more how real the setting of the first poster felt, in that boring way real things often feel.

I guess there is just no pleasing me in this case.

(Via IMPA)

This German poster is basically just like the two last posters, but it features all the Sex and the City women.

As it’s been pointed out to me, Carrie is indeed the main star of the show. But honestly, for me it would be nothing without the others. So I like this poster a lot more, even if it’s the design isn’t particularly inspiring.

*Update*

This post feels too light. In order to make up for that let me point you people to Glenn’s much more in depth (and quite funny) review of the poster.

(Via PosterGeek, thanks to Casty the Clown for helping me to find it)

Russian Speed Racer Poster

CTAPT! That’s a pretty long way to say Go. Of course, I have no idea how it’s pronounced so maybe it’s really brief when people actually speak it.

As for the poster, it’s not as good as most of the Speed Racer poster, but it’s still kind of cool in the way it embraces the wackiness of the visuals and the action and creates a surreal image out of it.

The Promotion

Hey look, it’s two actors who are great supporting players but don’t generally quite cut it as leading men! Also, there is the title being incorporated into the image in a way that makes it seem like the actors are holding it. Which, much like the rest of the poster, is sort of funny. I guess.

Familiar Strangers

So obviously trying to position the movie as a quirky family comedy (It’s like Little Miss Sunshine! And Juno!). And yet, I still find it sort of adorable. Interesting wallpaper too.

Final You Don’t mess With the Zohan Poster

Once again a poster that makes us notice Sandler’s crocth. Less so than the last one, but still way too much.

High School Musical 3

If I hadn’t been told that this was going to play in theaters I would have though that this was a very nice TV poster.

The idea of making the third movie in this series a theatrical experience befuddles me. But then again the success of HSM was already pretty shocking to me, so I guess I just don’t get it.

The Last Mistress

I don’t know why exactly, but I find myself really liking this poster. Feels very intriguing somehow.

What Happens in Vegas

This poster actually has a nice, clear image that makes WHiV look like it might be a sweet romantic comedy involving gambling. But it fails to have the faces of Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz splashed all over it, which probably means we won’t be seeing much of it around. Too bad.

Posters via IMPAwards, Cinematical, WildAboutMovies and moviesoonhk.com

Artist Jesse Phillips gives his own take on the Iron Man poster. Created to promote a special screening at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX.

(From MondoTees, Found via Movie Marketing Madness)

Ok, now this is haunting. This poster gets at the core of why Dance of the Dead is such a scary flick as it shows the poor teenagers nervously hiding from the evil critics’ quotes that are trying to stomp them to death. And I just don’t think they are going to make it.

Smaller films often feel the need to plaster their posters with critics’ quotes. Since they lack known stars or the money for a big marketing push this is one of the few ways that they can convince people to trust that the film won’t be a waste of their time. I understand that, so I don’t begrudge this practice, even tough it generally pollutes the image. But this seems like going too far.

The first poster for Dance of the Dead, which was unencumbered by quotes, was able to both give us a better look at the story and to convey the film’s humor.

Much better.

And for no particular reason, besides a passing resemblance in themes, here is the poster for Splatter Disco.

(Via IMPAwards)

We had already seen two posters for Prince Caspian, both of them compositions that gave us a general sense of all the stuff that goes on in the epic. Today we have three new posters that focus on particular characters and settings. We have the prince against a forest, the kids in some sort of ruins and some dude in a mask leading and army.

I guess the posters are nice. Each allows us to focus more clearly on the characters and settings than the previous posters did. And in conjunction they still give a good idea that this is a big story that goes through some cool looking places and features lots of players, both new and old. The posters are also generally sunny and bright enough to be attractive to the kids, even tough the characters all have very serious expressions.

But is just me or does Caspian, played by Ben Barnes, looks like the most dull thing ever in the posters? His expression is so stilted. The funny thing is that he didn’t seem nearly as bad in the footage I have seen so far. Perhaps he just doesn’t do still photographs well.

Or maybe it’s just me.

(Via BadTaste.it)