Check out this awesome movie poster for a documentary about… movie posters! It’s called 24X36: A Movie About Movie Posters and I badly want to see it as I have a love for cool movie posters (such as those by artist Drew Struzan, which I posted about HERE).
You can read a little about this documentary & see a teaser trailer at this link: Entertainment Weekly.
Songs turned into grindhouse movie posters? I like it! Although, personally, most of these aren’t my favorite songs (I do love Sound Of Da Police by KRS-One, though! Whoop Whoop! Oh god I’m a dork…). Anyway, these look like damn awesome movies whether you like the music or not. I think the above Cypress Hill Insane In The Brain poster is easily the best, though. Genius! And, okay – I’ll admit that I like that song too. Because I’m LOCO! (Wow – I even sound like a dork when saying that in my head)
These posters are by art director David Redon for a series called MusiXploitation. You can read more about these posters at Fastcocreate.com & you can see his other great posters at his site here: Behance.net
**Starting tomorrow, I’m going to be reviewing some Adrienne Shelly films as it would’ve been her birthday this coming Friday. Tomorrow I’ll be starting with her Hal Hartley films The Unbelievable Truth & Trust.
Tim Burton (back when he was still making good movies) crossed with Disney?! Yes, please! These Tim-Burton-style Disney posters are from illustrator Andrew Tarusov. Love ’em! I’m posting a few of my favorites but you can see the rest HERE. š
I like these! Would love to see more of these starring other Pixar characters too. I bet Mike Wazowski would make for some great posters. Or WALL-E! š
Artist Jim Tuckwell has so far created three posters of classic films starring Toy Story characters. 2001: A Space Odyssey is my favorite but Platoon & Reservoir Dogs are also great. You can see the others here: Deviant Art.
**Oh, and I just realized that this is my 1,000th post. Woohoo! I should’ve saved it for my review of The Peanuts Movie but don’t have it ready yet. Will try to post that tomorrow!
These are fantastic! Artist Peter Stults has done a series of what he calls āWhat Ifā posters where he takes classic film stars & creates old-fashioned posters of modern movies.
You can read the article here: A.V. Club. And you can visit Peter Stults’ site with loads of these “What If” posters as well as lots of other great art he’s done here: Behance.
I wish these were real movies! I love the thought of a Chappie that stars Jimi Hendrix & THIS Interstellar looks a million times better than that overblown Nolan version! Seriously, check out the rest at the above link – I had a hard time deciding which few to post.
Yesterday I reviewed Drew: The Man Behind The Poster, which is a documentary about legendary movie poster artist Drew Struzan. Struzan has created some of the most well-known & iconic film posters and I love his work. I decided to do a separate post highlighting some of my favorite Struzan pieces of movie art.
At first I was going to focus just on his art that officially got used (whether originally or for anniversary editions). But in looking at his official website (HERE), I discovered a lot of art I like that I’d never seen before. So I figured I’d include all movie-related work (so, I’m excluding things like his super cool Black Sabbath album cover). I already KNOW I’ll be missing something & I’ll later kick myself for it. He’s done so much that it’s hard to narrow it down and, while there’s a long list on his site, I have no idea if it’s complete plus not all the images are shown.
So, after spending probably an hour looking up Struzan’s art, I’ve decided that these are my favorite. Probably. For now. I’m so indecisive! š I’ll fully admit that I have a very hard time not letting how much I like the movie influence my opinion and, indeed, I like all of these movies. Remember I’m not an art expert in the slightest – I just really like the look of these. Especially number one.
Now here are My Top Ten Drew Struzan Movie Art Pieces:
Honorable Mentions:
Indiana Jones Quadrilogy, Squirm (I don’t know this movie but the poster makes it look awesome despite the 4.4 IMDB rating!), Star Wars Original Trilogy, Back To The Future
10. TIE: The Goonies & Adventures In Babysitting
9. Big Trouble In Little China
8. Ladyhawke
7. The Dark Tower as seen in The Mist
6. The Muppet Movie
5. Revenge Of The Jedi
4. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
3. Back To The Future Trilogy
2. Pan’s Labyrinth
1. The Thing
Drew: The Man Behind The Poster (2013)
Directed by Erik Sharkey
Starring: Drew Struzan, Dylan Struzan, Harrison Ford, Guillermo del Toro, George Lucas, Michael J. Fox, Thomas Jane
Running time: 97 minutes
Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
Drew: The Man Behind The Poster is a 2013 documentary film directed by Erik Sharkey about the career of American film poster artist Drew Struzan.
My Opinion:
I watched this documentary last year and kept meaning to review it. I don’t know how to review documentaries (or books! man I’m behind on book reviews). As a documentary, I suppose it was pretty good. I don’t watch too many of them unless I’m really really interested in the subject, though, and this one was right up my alley. I love movies (obviously) & movie poster art and Drew Struzan has designed some of the greatest & most well known movie posters. So I’ll warn you right now that I may end up talking more about his art than about the actual documentary.
Personal Life:
What I liked about this documentary, as with any documentary, was finding out more about Struzan’s personal life as well as his work. They talked to him and to his wife a lot and they seemed to have a lovely, very close relationship (I love a good husband & wife team). I’d say Struzan came across as a bit bitter and angry over certain things (he got very screwed over by someone in his career so I can understand that anger). He was the very definition of a “starving artist” in his early days and his wife was always by his side. I think this documentary got the balance right in talking about his personal life as well as his art. I can’t find any photos of his wife (Dylan) in the documentary, which is odd as she’s a very important part of it. But I found the above photo here, on the website of an artist who met Drew. It’s an interesting article if you want to have a look at the link & get an actual artist’s perspective on things (I can’t draw anything other than stick figures. I can’t even paint a wall properly!).
It’s interesting how artistic types can sometimes be difficult but I liked how Struzan seems to have said “screw it” and lives for his wife & his art now. I’m difficult too but I have zero artistic talent of any sort so I don’t know what my excuse is… š I’m not saying he came across as unlikeable – just that he does what he wants to do now & too bad if others don’t like it. I think more people should be like that, actually. He was far less grumpy than Paul Williams was in the Paul Williams Still Alive documentary that I watched at the same time. I suppose I should do a mini-review of that sometime too… Here’s my review: Paul Williams is a grumpy fart! Lol. Seriously, though, Struzan came across as a private person who’s very passionate about the things he loves and I have a lot of respect for people who are like that.
Artwork:
First of all, I’ll say they did a good job getting some famous people to talk about Struzan and the work that he did for/with them (I especially loved Michael J. Fox’s enthusiasm for Struzan’s work – you could tell just how much he loved being a part of the Back To The Future posters). Speaking of grumpy famous people, they even got Harrison Ford to talk about Struzan! How cool is that? He must be the actor Struzan has painted more than any other… We also heard from Guillermo del Toro, George Lucas, and Thomas Jane.
I’m really glad they spoke to Thomas Jane about his part as a movie poster artist in Frank Darabont’s The Mist. For anyone not familiar with the movie, Struzan’s artwork was used in the beginning and Jane’s character is shown painting Struzan’s art for Stephen King’s The Dark Tower (which Struzan painted specifically to be used in The Mist). Three things I love all together: Stephen King, Drew Struzan & Frank Darabont! Wait… Four! Thomas Jane is a hottie. Anyway, Struzan showed Jane how to make it look like he was really an artist doing a painting then, being the perfectionist that he is, later told Jane that he did it completely wrong in the movie. I loved Jane’s re-telling of the story – he had a great sense of humor about it.
Frank Darabont is clearly a big fan of Struzan’s as he’s had him do art for a lot of his work (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Walking Dead, and of course artwork for & in The Mist). George Lucas is also a huge fan and Struzan has done loads of Star Wars art for books, anniversary editions, etc. There are so many different Struzan Star Wars pieces that it’s hard to choose a favorite. I think it’s between Revenge Of The Jedi & this one, which was a collaboration with artist Charles White III:
Struzan did the poster art for Hellboy but he also did an amazing piece for Pan’s Labyrinth, which the studio rejected (much to Guillermo del Toro’s anger). But del Toro is very proud to have this hanging in his home – I’d love to have this!:
I hate how studios so often feel the need to have horrible, boring movie posters just featuring photos of the film’s stars these days. I understand that seeing the stars so prominently displayed convinces some people to watch a movie (I guess?) but it doesn’t work on me. I’m more interested in a film if it has a really interesting, artistic poster (I’m the same way with books. I’m drawn to books with good covers). Struzan paints the film’s stars anyway so I don’t know why anyone would ever choose some crappy photoshopped photo over a painting for a movie poster. I’d much rather see something like this:
Summary:
I’ve decided to stop here for a couple of reasons. First of all, I sometimes feel ridiculous “reviewing” movies when I know as little about filmmaking as I do about writing. When it comes to art, I have even less experience or knowledge. I just know what I LIKE and I have a passion for film, music, books, and art & love discussing it with all of you in the same way that someone like Struzan has a passion for actually creating that art. Believe me, I’d far rather be creating it but I just don’t have that ability.
Second of all, if I continue I know I’ll just ramble on & on about all my favorite Struzan pieces. So, in the middle of this, I decided to do a separate list of My Top Ten Drew Struzan Movie Art Pieces, which I’ll post tomorrow. I’ve actually not even mentioned a lot of my favorites, including the one that is my favorite Struzan poster, hands down. I’ll just mention this as I decided that my list tomorrow should focus on only his movie art: When watching this documentary, I had NO idea that Struzan had done album covers and that he did one of my all-time favorites for Black Sabbath. How on Earth had I not known that?! The Alice Cooper one is amazing as well:
Love those! Like I said, I know what I like and I know that seeing Drew Struzan movie art makes me happy. As for this documentary, I really enjoyed it as I find the subject matter fascinating and it was great getting to know a little bit about this private and talented artist.
My Rating: 7.5/10
Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)
Directed by James Gunn
Starring:
Chris Pratt
Zoe Saldana
Dave Bautista
Vin Diesel
Bradley Cooper
Lee Pace
Michael Rooker
Karen Gillan
Djimon Hounsou
John C Reilly
Glenn Close
Benicio del Toro
Running time: 122 minutes
Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
In Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill forms an uneasy alliance with a group of extraterrestrial misfits who are on the run after stealing a coveted orb. (Thank you, Wikipedia – that was very brief!)
My Opinion:
If I don’t keep this short like I did with Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, I’ll never get around to writing it. I thoroughly enjoyed Guardians Of The Galaxy. A lot. Like with all comic book movies, I have zero knowledge of any of these characters beyond what I’ve seen of them in all these films. As far as “superhero” characters go, I totally bought into these – raccoon & walking tree & all. That’s always what’s most important to me in any film. If I don’t buy into at least one character, it feels like a complete waste of my time. I loved these misfits. Who DOESN’T like a group of loveable misfits? That’s why this movie is such a huge success already.
Hmm. What else? Groot. I loved Groot! I want my own Groot!!! Chris Pratt & Zoe Saldana were both great. Chris Pratt means nothing to me – No, I’ve not seen this Parks And Recreation thingamabob and I prefer it that way as Peter Quill is all he’ll be to me. Even Bradley Cooper was perfect & he gets on my nerves sometimes. I loved the relationship that formed between these characters.
Summary:
Guardians Of The Galaxy is just a really really “fun” movie. Yes, I love all the Marvel movies but I really appreciated this slight departure from the seriousness of recent Marvel films. These are comic books! Have some fun! I loved the humor in Guardians Of The Galaxy and think it all worked perfectly. The story was still good, too, and I cared about what would happen to everyone. Maybe it was all a little predictable overall but what movie like this isn’t? This movie made me happy and kept me entertained but also managed to have fantastic characters and genuinely funny moments. Oh – and an awesome soundtrack! This old lady was loving THAT. Bowie! Moonage Daydream, baby! Oh, and of course the scene after the credits… Lol. Stay for that if you want but only those of a certain age will truly appreciate it. I’m of a certain age. š
So, basically, I pretty much loved this movie. Yep.
My Rating: 8.5/10
** There are some fantastic alternate posters out there for this movie! The one I used above is by Matt Ferguson. Also love the two below by Matt Needle & Doaly. See links to these posters & more here: io9.
I love this poster so much! I like it more than the actual movie. Love the Bruce Campbell soup!
I found this at a Tumblr site I can see me spending a lot of time on: Glorious Movie Posters š
Mondo & Disney?! It’s like a dream come true for me! I cannot WAIT to see more artwork from this! This Alice In Wonderland piece by Ken Taylor is the only one we’re being shown for now. The following & poster are from this link: SlashFilm
Every year, the Mondo Gallery in Austin, Texas hosts a massive art exhibit during South by Southwest but, this year theyāve outdone themselves. Theyāre teaming with Oh My Disney for a show called Nothingās Impossible, and itās all art based on Disney properties.
The show opens March 7 and remains open until March 11.
Why are fan made posters always way cooler than the original film posters? Check out these and more from artist ChungKong here: Total Film
You know I’ve never seen Escape From New York?! Shameful! I’ll rectify this soon. I’ve seen This Is The End, though! Review HERE if you’re bothered. š
Love these – especially the Reservoir Dogs one. See these plus posters for Taxi Driver & The Big Lebowski here: Total Film
Check this link out for some exclusive Mondo film posters that will be available at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con: ScreenCrave
Below are a few examples – more at the above link. š
This Shepard Fairey poster for They Live was already a favorite of mine (and a favorite movie of mine too). Love it.
Here’s the link to the 2nd set of 25 of the 50 greatest Mondo horror movie posters: FearNet
And my post with a link to the 1st set of 25: 50 Greatest Mondo Horror Posters – Part 1
Great posters! A link to the first 25 of 50 posters here: FearNet
**There’s now a Part 2 as well. Follow this link to check out 25 more great posters: 50 Greatest Mondo Horror Posters – Part 2
Cinema Parrot Disco 