Reel Posters & Opinions

A movie poster, much like a trailer, can sink or swim a film well before it sees time on the big screen. In the YouTube age, where video is everywhere, the poster may sadly become a dying art. Will light-boxes in movie theatres one day be replaced by HD LED’s, in (goddamn) 3D? Let’s hope not.

In this first edition of Reel Posters & Opinions, we’ll take a look at some recently released posters pushing some upcoming films in 2011:

Poster: CONAN THE BARBARIAN



Opinion: This looks more like the Vigo the Carpathian painting from GHOSTBUSTERS II, but at least they got the tone right. This would be more effective if it was Arnie at the top of the pile of skulls promoting the long awaited KING CONAN film. But one can only dream…

Poster: CARS 2



Opinion: This blogger is one of the few fans of the first film, but this poster is just lame. Granted, Pixar was probably just going for a “less is more” approach in what is likely just a teaser poster, but that doesn’t stop it from looking like a first-year Photoshop student’s project.

Poster: THE CONSPIRATOR




Opinion: Lincoln. Redford. Classic. Love it.

Poster: TYLER PERRY’S MADEA’S BIG HAPPY FAMILY



Opinion: Someone stop this fuck from making movies.

Poster: THE SMURFS



Opinion: This might have been funny 25 years ago.

Poster: THOR



Opinion: Slapping fonts on the faces of the actors is a revitalized technique brought back by MICHAEL CLAYTON and ripped off by THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU. It’s annoying to see old ideas rehashed over and over, but in this case it seems to work. That plus the red color is a real eye-grabber, and that’s what really counts in movie posters: visual impact.

What say you?