Movie Posters with their Original Casts

Moviefone drew up some amazing classic movie posters featuring their original cast.  Some of them I'd heard before (Will Smith in The Matrix) but others are so horrific that they must be true. Here are a couple of my favorites and one of the most terrifying.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Honestly, this poster disgusts me. 

Bigelow's Posters [Sorry, LAMB, this post took forever]

Blue Steel: This was the first of Bigelow's "Silver and Blue Floating Heads" poster series. Take a look down the line, K-19: The Widowmaker, Strange Days, and Point Break might have all been made by the same guy. But this floating head may not have been implemented out of pure laziness. Great imagery with her NYPD pin; the handgun looks sleek, and the boxing around the antagonist and her eyeline completely works.

Poster grade: B

K-19: The Widowmaker: "Get off my submarine!" The only acceptable part of this poster is the bottom left corner. The curding (spacing) between the letters work as well star between the "K" and the "19." They've created a strong, flag-shaped box that's stronger than the other 80% of the imagery used here. If I wasn't already familiar with K-19, I would have no idea that it was about a submarine. Is that what that's supposed to be? There is one positive thing to say about this poster: it wasn't any worse than the movie.

Poster Rating: D+

Strange Days: Like I said, Silver and Blue Floating Heads. And while it should be argued that, technically, this head has been cropped off and the shoulders are visible and that does make a big difference. That being said, the framing of this poster doesn't make any sense. They've boxed him up, I'm assuming, because they couldn't figure out any other way to implement the title text. And while the font is dated, I appreciate it for being different. The tagline, however, was played out back in 1995 and hasn't gotten any better. ''you know you want it?" No thank you.

Poster Grade: C

Near Dark: The black and white works with the background lighting. The image of a setting sun doesn't beat us over the head. The subtlety strengthens the overall look of the poster while enhancing the title/concept. Look how the words "Near Dark" are placed naturally over a stark black background. This is exactly what Strange Days couldn't pull off, hence its unnatural black boxes. The protagonists don't look like your typical horror-action heroes but instead of trying to hide their differences, the designer highlighted them by making them look like badasses anyway.

Poster Rating: B-

Point Break: There's nothing like watching a sunset while you're reading a movie title. It's hard to believe this poster didn't seem dated when it first came out. That being said, I can't deny these nostalgic feelings. Look at those presidents! They're holding guns! On a beach cliff! Underneath two floating man-babe heads. Keanu's hair might be the wettest hair on record. Point Break's poster is exactly as fun as the movie itself. That being said...take away the nostalgia, take away the movie's cult-classic status, and what are you left with? On one hand, you've got floating heads and ugly typeface. One the other, you've got one badass picture of presidents packing large arms.

Poster Grade: B+

The Hurt Locker: Amidst the storming army of floating heads and clunky, poorly colored fonts, The Hurt Locker's poster is more than refreshing. Its top third is too text-heavy but I could read that typeface forever. I'm practically in love. The imagery is gorgeous and compelling, highlights a key scene from the film. Note to all poster art designers, this (along with Moon's) is 2009 poster to beat. I don't care if you're designing a poster for She's Outta My League 2, step your game up.

Poster Grade: A

The Loveless: I having quite a few problems with this "poster." First, it's not really a poster, it's DVD art. Second, even though this movie came out before Streets of Fire (one of my favorite movies), this is a blatant SoF rip-off. And while the outfit, hair style, and general Dafoe imagery might not be enough to prove my case, look at the tagline. "We're going nowhere...fast." Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, may I submit to you: "Nowhere Fast" by Fire Inc. as lip-synced by DIANE LANE in STREETS OF FIRE! I rest my case.

Poster Grade: E for Effort. They tried to capitalize on the cult status of Streets of Fire. But they've been caught and for that they receive an "E," which is one letter before "F."

The Weight of Water: The gold seems so vibrant! It's almost blinding compared to the rest of these. Dividing a poster up into sections can be effective when done correctly. Instead of the lazy floating head technique, these squares can present themes, showcase stars, and even break up an otherwise monotonous poster. It's a shame that this poster doesn't quite pull it off. Cn I draw your attention to the center square. What about Sean Penn's chin, shirt, and wrinkly neck could make a designer think "highlight!" And it's right in the middle of the poster. If this were Hollywood Squares, his old skin would be Whoopi Goldberg. The Elizabeth Hurley square (rectangle) works. The sailing ship corner works too. Both other than those, I don't love this poster. Feels like I've been saying that a lot about Bigelow's posters.

Poster Rating: B-

Scorsese's Posters [The Floating Heads Collection]

Congratulations to Whitney from Dear Jesus for guessing the theme for PART TWO of Scorsese's Posters: the dreaded FLOATING HEADS. She's earned an extra entry in February's Thanks for Writing contest.

Nothing screams "lazy art direction" like a floating head. But to keep things on an even keel, these seven posters will be ranked against one another. Sort of like the Special Olympics of posters.

Andwe'reoff.



Shutter Island: Whoever designed this poster must have had a list from the studio of things he had to include. 1. Leo 2. The island institution. 3. The title. 4. The tiny-type movie credits. Knowing that he had to include everything, he simply went down the list, checking off each one as he finished, and lined them down the center.

Leo, check.
Island, check.
Title, check.
Credits, check.

Whitney pointed out that, without the island, the poster would be much more dramatic and intriguing. All the poster needed was DiCaprio with the match lighting his face. The bulk of the poster would be pitch black and way more eerie. Also, we both love the simple tagline.

Poster Rating: B-

The Aviator: "Some men dream the future. He built it." And here, we have a giant, bulbous head to prove it. He looks determined, doesn't he? This poster is ludicrous. It's the worst poster of Scorsese's career. There's only one explaination for a poster this hideous: Miramax didn't trust their audience. Don't worry, I have a theory about that.

In 2004, Miramax found themselves in an unfortuate situation. They had just spent (a lot of) money on a Howard Hughes movie and then decided that no one would probably care about a Howard Hughes movie. They had just made a huge Christmas release about someone whose name people wouldn't recognize. But Miramax had a plan. Moviegoers might not recognize Howard Hughes but they would definitely recognize Leonardo DiCaprio. So that's how the decision was made to cover 2/3 of the poster with DiCap's big mug. I have a second theory. They put an airplane on the poster to help their "uncultured viewers" figure out what the word "aviator" meant.

Poster Rating: D- (only because I like the font used for the title).

Gangs of New York: The bottom three quarters of this poster is great. The ragged American flag forming the New York skyline is incredible. The tagline is badass. This is an example of a strong poster that's rendered almost ineffective by the floating heads. Just because you can't figure out a way to incorporate your characters into the poster's current design doesn't give you an excuse to just plop on their faces at random. And if you are going to use the floating heads, try to use photographs that don't make your lead actors look ridculous. Diaz is almost unrecognizable and Day-Lewis looks like some sort of JibJab creation.

Poster Rating: B

Casino: What do you think Sharon Stone's looking at? She's like a cat that just saw a laser beam. Other than the floating heads, the poster has a lot of strengths. First, I love the font. It's rare to see the word "casino" written with a classy, thin typeface. This casino doesn't have any flashing lights or neon letters. It conjours up a different set of imagery, doesn't it? The tagline makes sense and says a lot about the film's conflict. But the most impressive element of the entire poster is the tagline's spacing. It makes you read "No one...stays...at the...top...forever" and says that the fall is slow and absolute rather than a fast plummet.

Poster Rating: C

The Age of Innocence: Imagine this poster without Ryder's head. What's left is a strong image of a lovers embrace. The tagline shows that it's a forbidden love. The title, "The Age of Innocence," sharply contrasts against the lovers' actions. All in all, the poster works. The idea gets across. But then there's Ryder's head. She's placed in the foreground, in front of the lovers, which leads us to believe that she's more important than the people behind her. I'm convinced that the studio felt that Daniel Day-Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer weren't enough to sell this movie. They added her pretty young face to the poster to sell more tickets. And that's all they did. She clearly didn't fit with the other people on the poster, you know, the ones entangled in one another's passionate embraces. So, how do they fit her in? They just crop her head off and plop it on anywhere with some blank space. And that's exactly what's wrong with the Floating Head art direction.

Poster Rating: C+

Cape Fear: Technically, this one features Floating Eyes rather than an entire head. As it turns out, stylistically, that makes all the difference. This poster is pretty damn cool. Sure, it's pretty dated (peep the Polaroid) and looks more like a grocery store paperback than a movie poster but there's something about it I like. Robert De Niro was the biggest star in Cape Fear and they felt comfortable only putting his eyes on the poster. That's gutsy. Look at every other De Niro poster. He's front and center (see below) and you always know who you're looking at.

Poster Rating: B-

Goodfellas: Compare the Goodfellas poster to the Casino poster. The pose makes all the difference, doesn't it? Instead of three unconnected Floating Heads, Liotta, De Niro, and Pesci are postioned with one another in a way that speaks about their characters' relationship both with one another and with the audience. Three tough men standing in the darkness. That's cool. Three Floating Heads with no reference to the other Heads surrounding them? That's lazy.

The complexity of the poster's bottom half compliments the simplicity of the top half. The sharp contrasts between the darkened bridge and the lit city buildings are beautiful. Overall, this is a really strong poster--even with the dreaded Floating Heads.

Poster Rating: A-

Scorsese's Posters

Since "Soderberg's Posters" and "Cameron's Posters" went over so well, I'm keeping things rolling with PART ONE of Martin Scorsese's posters. Part Two will be coming soon.

As a bonus, the first person to guess the THEME of Part Two (or, what the missing Scorsese posters have in common) before I post them will get an extra entry slot in February's Thanks For Writing contest.

Ladiesandgentlemenherewego.

The Departed: There are things I like and don't like about using the cut-out letters to spell out the film's title. Here's what I like. The artists seemed to be heading towards using the dreaded "Floating Heads" design which almost never looks good. The cut-outs provide some framing for those magical flying heads. It's an interesting technique that isn't frequently used on movie posters and while it could have been used much better, the poster definitely could have been worse.

Here's what I don't like about the poster. The cut-outs spell "The Departed." But the artist didn't have enough faith in his design not to just write "The Departed" next to the cut-outs. So, now, the poster reads "The Deaprted The Departed. Also, what's up with Nicholson's face? Look at that. Damon and DiCaprio don't have huge chunks of their faces missing. I should also point out the huge, unused negative space in the bottom left hand corner. This poster started out with an okay concept, didn't take advantage of it, and ended up with a sup-par poster.

Poster Rating: B-

Bringing Out the Dead: This is a fantastic poster. The red and black contrast make the imagery stand out, the title stand out, and the even the poster itself stands out against its competitors. The cross directly relates to the Cage's character's profession and his eyes speak more about his present frame of mind than 10 minutes of explanitory dialogue. A simple yet effective design executed perfectly.

Poster Rating: A

Kundun: First off, that's a great tagline. "A destiny of a people lives in the heart of a boy." If that doesn't set you up for Kundun, there isn't much that will. The photograph of the young Dalai Lama looks great. The child's expression is awfully apathetic but the ligthing behind his head says just how great he'll be. Behind him stand the people he's going to save and the land they live in. Other than the stereotypical typeface, this is a strong poster.

Poster Rating: B+

The Last Temptation of Christ: This is one of Scorsese's strongest poster. The illustrations of the iconic thorn crown extend past the poster and other than that ugly white text box sitting uncomfortably on that beautiful drawing. There's no reason why the title couldn't have been repositioned beneath the thorns. But even with that God-awful (pun intended) box, it stands out in Scorsese's Top 5.

Poster Rating: A-

The Color of Money: I'm a sucker for painted movie posters. I feel something was lost when the transition to PhotoShopped images became the new standard. For The Color of Money, the artist captured Newman's unstoppable swagger. Cruise, after a string of blockbuster hits, gets equal billing when it comes to name size but his portrait literally fits inside Newman's. It's less detailed, of a lower quality, and if it wasn't for poor Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, no one would believe that Cruise was anything more than a good looking actor with a bit part. This isn't my favorite painted poster but there have been worse.

Poster Rating: B

After Hours: Haha, this poster is the sole reason it took years for me to watch After Hours. From the ugly Twizzler-styled title to the confusing clock metaphor. Some posters just seem to say "There's nothing worth watching here" and for me, this poster couldn't stop saying that. But once I eventually watched the film, it became clear that the artwork matched the script's comedic style. Either way, the artwork's outdated and corny and even though I'm usually a fan of 80s/90s comedy posters, this one doesn't do a thing for me. It doesn't make me gag, it just makes me uninterested.

Poster Rating: C

The King of Comedy: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Starting at the top, why two taglines? Why an ugly gray background? And WHY would you think that drawing DeNiro and Lewis on playing cards would make anyone want to see your movie? Just because the word "King" is in your title doesn't give you permission to try passing off something like this. It's art direction like this that can sink a movie. And it's probably art direction like this that did sink The King of Comedy.

Poster Rating: D

Raging Bull: The poster's as iconic as the movie itself. I can't tell you how many (dorm) rooms I've seen with this poster hanging on the wall. Little needs to be said about this poster. Everything the movie did right, the poster did just as well. Whoever's responsible for that picture of DeNiro should have won an Oscar. In fact, why isn't there a Best Poster Oscar? Anyone up for a letter writing campaign? The only things I don't care for are the quotation marks around the title.

Poster Rating: A

The Last Waltz: This looks like a cover for an early-90s steamy thriller novel that my grandma might keep in a decorative basket in the bathroom. That font...that gold...sweet Moses. It's like someone took a champagne colored Buick LeSabre and transformed it into a movie poster.

Poster Rating: D-

Taxi Driver: I love the font and the curding (spacing) between the letters. And what a great choice to keep the design simple. Taxi Driver doesn't need a tagline. Taxi Driver doesn't need color. Like the Raging Bull poster, all you need is DeNiro. It doesn't hurt to put DeNiro on the last city street I'd ever want to visit. Except for this one. Or this one. The choice to show Bickle without his signature mohawk was the right one to make. Unless it's a monster movie or a superhero movie (and maybe Taxi Driver could be argued as either), showing the latter end of a character's transformation on the poster cheapens the impact of the evolution.

Poster Rating: A+

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore: The black and white isn't very crisp and the (branches?) jutting into the frame are distracting. Unlike Travis Bickle's surroundings, the (farm?) they're standing in front of doesn't say much about anything. They're outside. They're not downtown Manhattan. But it doesn't say much else. Also, if I had designed Alice's poster, I wouldn't have featured Kristofferson. It's Alice's strength and resilience that makes the film so compelling. This cuddle session makes Alice look like just another romance. And that tagline makes me barf.

Poster Rating: C

Mean Streets: If I had to use four words to describe the Mean Streets poster, I'd have to call it "exquisite, savage, compassionate and brilliant." But seriously, whoever designed this poster (and I tried to track down a name) deserves an award. Why isn't there an Oscar for Best Poster? Maybe then studios would put a little more effort into their one-sheets. Notice how the gun (or violence) is literally a part of the city. It's as natural as the buildings and the people inside them. Even it's smoke is absorbed into the skyline and used as clouds. The poster makes an excellent use of negative space and says just as much about Mean Streets as its trailer.

Poster Rating: A+

Boxcar Bertha: The photograph that Hershey's portrait was based off of has one big difference: the big ol' shotgun in Bertha's hand. Seeing her without the weaponry makes her look like a laid-back flower child with nothing better to do than stare into the sky. Look at all the action around her. A train's going off the tracks. A group of cops are chillin' with their rifles. I mean, Jesus Christ, someone's getting crucified! Now look at the film's protagonist. Does this picture say "outcast?" Or "outlaw?" Not at all. If it wasn't for the poorly written tagline, we'd have no clue that Bertha was anything but a pretty girl with a glazed look in her eyes. And that is definitely not how to sell a movie like Boxcar Bertha. The bottom half is an exciting adventure. The top half might be sleepy or bored or delightfully deranged. One last side note, none of the fonts on this poster match one another and that's just sloppy poster-making.

Poster Rating: C

Soderbergh's Posters

Blogger makes relatively simple posts take hours. I'm sick of it.

Anyone else having problems with Blogger?

The LAMB is hosting a Soderbergh-specific event and this is my entry.

These are the posters for Steven Soderbergh's films.

They range from fantastically awesome to bottom of the barrel.
And I'm going to tell you why.

Sex, Lies, and Videotape: Anyone who can put Peter Gallagher on a poster three times and not make me want to throw up gets my respect. The spliced images come across as film frames which plays into both the title and premise of the film but they also show how the relationships between Ann and John and Cynthia and Graham differ.

Poster Rating: C+

Ocean's Eleven: Having trouble desinging your movie poster? Just line up your main actors in some sort of Rat Pack congo line. They don't have to be doing anything, just blur the background behind them to make it look like they're moving really fast.

Poster Rating: D


Ocean's Twelve: A marked improvement on the original poster, the Twelve poster looks like at least a little thought went into it before it was sent to the printers. The color composition is intriguing, makes you want to figure out what's going on.
Poster Rating: C


Sex, Lies, and Videotape: Nothing says "An edgy, intense comedy"
like three pictures of people having aboslultely no fun whatsoever.
Have you ever seen a more bored group of individuals?
Poster Rating: D


Schizopolis: This is the cover art from the Criterion DVD release.
It matches how bizzare the film is and all of its elements piece
together well. The dotted background, various boxes, and the
Max Headroom-looking guy all work.
Poster Rating: B-


Che: This poster screams HBO Pictures biopic.
Poster Rating: C+


The Good German: A take on early war-time posters; Casablana
obviously had something to do with how this poster came out. Too bad
Casablanca didn't have any effect on how The Good German came out.
A painted poster would have been more authentic.
Poster Rating: B-


Out of Sight: This really is one of the worst posters I've never seen.
That being said, it doesn't crack the Top 5 for Bad Soderbergh posters.
Why is the gun pointed towards Clooney's head like that? Bleh. Lazy.
Poster Rating: D


King of the Hill: The font's design and colorization is pleasing
to look at. The character hanging upside down looks great.
The only downside is that awful tagline calling attention to him.
Poster Rating: B+


Traffic: FLOATING HEADS! And don't their positions make it
look like they should be funger puppets? Don Cheadle would
go on the thumb.
Poster Rating: C


Ocean's Twelve: By far the best poster this series ever had.
If you subtract the title and text, you're left with a pretty
cool piece of pop art. Try doing that with Erin Brockovich.
Poster Rating: B+


Erin Brockovich: The left side is all blurred out, her
transvestiteface doesn't help things, and the poster doesn't
tell you much about anything. Is this a Pretty Woman II
poster? Imagine what that movie would be like.
Poster Rating: C-


The Limey: Quite a few of Soderbergh's posters fall on
borderless white background. In some cases (Bubble
and King of the Hill) it works, in others (Full Frontal),
it does not. If you've got a white background, make sure
what you're putting on top of it is pleasing to look at.
Make it something interesting. Whoever designed The
Limey's poster definitely did that. Those black bars
are so much more appealing than horizontal, black
rectangles with the title inside (*cough*Full Frontal*cough).
Poster Rating: A-


Ocean's Thirteen: You've got to be kidding me. We get it.
You have thirteen big-name actors in your movie. Congratulations.
It might help if you placed the camera a little closer to them
so that we can tell who's who. Making people squint to see
Brad Pitt's face is counter-productive. One again, the Ocean's
franchise falls very short and looks even lazier.
Poster Rating: F


Kafka: I'd never heard of Kafka before starting this post.
But this poster art has moved Kafka to "must-see" status.
The light and shadows are breathtaking and it captures
a very specific moment of time that I can't wait to see how
it plays into the film.
Poster Rating: B+


Sex, Lies, and Videotape: I don't know which country this
poster was constructed for but they apparently have awful
taste. Look at that ugly, fat font! Was that supposed to make
anyone want to see this? It certainly wasn't made to stand the
test of time.
Poster Rating: C


Solaris: The poster doesn't tell scream "LEAST ENTERTAINING
SCIENCE FICTION FILM EVER MADE" which is what Solaris is.
The poster, as a marketing tool, goes for a bait-and-switch tactic
but doesn't straight-up lie to you. The imagery represents the
themes of the film and, in context, does tell you a lot about the plot.
Great poster, terrible movie.
Poster Rating: A-


Gray's Anatomy: No, thank you.
Poster Rating: F


Bubble: Not only did Bubble have an original concept for its art
design but it also was distributed uniquely. During its theatrical
run, filmgoers could buy DVD copies of the film they just watched.
I was attending a different film but almost bought Bubble based
on the cover art alone. It's creepy, it's eye-catching, and it fits
the film well.
Poster Rating: B+


Full Frontal: The only thing worse than this Full Frontal poster
is the other Full Frontal poster.
Poster Rating: D-


The Informant: This is hands-down the best poster ever created
for a Soderbergh film but also it's the best poster of the year.
The colors and the fonts coupled together with that amazing picture
of Matt Damon have edged out past that amazing Precious
poster that everyone's been talking about. This movie owes at least
half of its earnings to this poster.
Poster Rating: A+


Full Frontal: This poster is shamefully lazy. Insert Photoshopped
pictures of each actor (don't worry if they're high quality pictures)
and slap a title on. Oh yeah, don't forget to display the stupidest
generic quotes possible. What about this poster is supposed to be
inticing? Cathleen Keener looking like a crack fiend? David Hyde
Pierce looking more attractive than Julia Roberts? Duchovny's
pajamas? Okay, maybe the pajamas are alright.
Poster Rating: F