(All posters accumulated at IMP)
THE TEN BEST POSTERS OF 2008
10. Wall-E
Retro animation at it's finest.
9. The Strangers
Okay, so it spoils the film's biggest and best scare - although, so does the best trailer of 2008, side note - but it does everything a poster should: Makes you want to see the movie. If the thought behind this poster's image doesn't get you then you were never going to see it anyway.
8. In Bruges
I love a poster that is playful like this. See also The Bank Job.
7. The Black Waters of Echo's Pond
For all the huss-and-fuss over the poster campaign for last year's Grindhouse, these two posters for an obscure horror flick are the two most retro designs that I have seen recently. From the tea-stained borders, the creases and the hand-drawn aesthetic. All so wonderful.
6. The Wackness
You know you're on the right track with a movie set in the early 1990s when your key art instantly brings back memories of recording mix tapes. Such pitch perfect design here.
5. The House Bunny
No poster made me laugh as much as this poster, which puts Anna Faris front and centre where she belongs.
4. The Dark Knight
I couldn't decide which of these I liked more. The more classically beautiful city shot or the twisted and crazier Joker design. I cheated and used both. They're both excellent.
3. Goliath
I knew I had to rank this poster high because I have no idea what the movie is and yet I feel like I must see it or else I will EXPLODE. A lot of the time posters for these low budget independent movies can be really bad, but sometimes they have the luck of hiring a great designer who can come up with something like this. Another of these nearly made it in for the movie Fix, but it fell just short of the top ten.
2. Dear Zachery: A Letter to a Son About His Father
Just absolutely beautiful. Stunningly so.
1. Funny Games
Was there ever any doubt. Truly a masterpiece.
Now Just For Fun...
(excluding previously mentioned posters)
Best Rip-Off:
The Spirit
For ripping off everything about Sin City.
Best Poster That Could Have Easily Been Terrible:
27 Dresses
Essentially for not being this or this or (heaven forbid) this.
Dreamiest Use of Colour:
Slumdog Millionaire
Best Poster Series:
(Excluding The Dark Knight and Wall-E to be fair!)
No Right Turn
I know they're all fairly simple, but I like these posters, don't you?
Best Saul Bass Impersonation:
Burn After Reading
Runner-Up: Flawless - it would've won if it completely gave in to the idea.
Sexiest Poster:
Elegy
Might as well sell your movie on Penelope Cruz' posterior, no?
Best "Do They Realise?" Moment:
Paranoid Park
Worst Photoshopping:
Sex and the City: The Movie
Or, since the scene is actually in the movie, Worst Non-Photoshopping When Photoshopping Was Necessary?
Unscariest Poster for a Scary Movie:
Dying Breed
Runner-Up: One Missed Call
Worst Backtracking:
August
Ummm... they went from a poster that told you enough to one that doesn't tell you a thing other than "Josh Hartnett wears clothes in this movie" and who wants that, honestly?
Worst False Advertising:
Sex and Death 101
Bridget Fonda circa the early '90s is not in this movie!
Worst "Empty Space" Offender:
Revolutionary Road
Most Unappealing Poster:
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
Ugh, why would I want to see this smug-looking piece of garbage?
The "This Deserves a Better Poster" Award:
WHERE DO WE START?!?
Milk, Revolutionary Road, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Rachel Getting Married, Changeling... etc etc. What a terrible terrible year for Oscar movies and their posters. Literally all of the above were dreadful!
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The First Annual Showgirls Honourary Award for Brilliance in the Face of Ineptitude in Poster Design:
Whore
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And that's that, folks. I can't be bothered doing any more because I'll go blind. What did you think? Did I miss anything? Speak up in the comments, please!
