Top 10 Of 2005 [Laz]

Hey everyone, I should probably introduce myself seeing that some people reading this blog may or may not know me or any of us for that matter. My name is Laz Marquez, I'm currently a Graphic Designer for two companies. The primary company is a cellphone software company called Scanbuy Inc. . The company specializes mostly in barcode scanning technology for your cellphones, and should eventually pick up here in the U.S. Aside from there, I also do freelance work for a Entertainment AD Agency in New York called 'Indika Designs' in which I work on various Movie Poster projects for various studios. We all have many other aspects to our personalities which I'm sure you'll pick up soon, so I'm gonna take this opportunity to segue into my first post's real subject matter.

In our boredom, Shally and I decided to rate our Top 10 Movie Posters of 2005, and eventually intrude on other years as we go along. So here it is:

Laz's Top 10 Movie Posters of 2005



10. Waiting
I absolutely love the clever way of displaying the film's subject matter and you get it right away. You understand what you're in for, and Thats something that is ultimately important to me. That a film's poster and marketing really expresses the film's tone and feel. The colors are strong and lively. The catchphrase works well too.

9. TheSkeleton Key
The close up details of this poster are amazing and the eeryness of the subtle eye imagery really sets the mood. The type treatment works with the title and it's subject matter. It takes a classier feel than most horror movies of this year and I love the decision to not include the headshot of the main actress. It's much more effective this way.


8. Memoirs of a Geisha
When i first saw this poster, I literally sat and stared at it for a good 10 minutes, just enjoying the beauty of it's subtle nature. It's a typical face image, dead on, but the composition is altered by the beautiful diagonal hair being blown in front of her face. It takes on an almost apinted quality, but does so in an elegance.



7. North Country
I dont analyze things as much as most people, or pick apart something as intensely. I know what me and my eyes like and I go with that. Call it unprofessional or without knowledge, but I have an understanding of whats good. This poster, many people didnt dig really. But something about it gives me the intensity the film is meant to express. It's desaturated, giving me the sense of desolation and emptyness. And the title treatment is a very harsh, cut up font which just aids the imagery enough without taking the foreground. It all comes together nicely.


6. Lord of War
I hate Nicholas Cage, so generally looking at his face makes me uneasy. BUT, this poster's illustration is detailed, complicated and successful in it's message. Thats all i have to say about this.


5. Happy Endings
I love the play on the title and the beautiful display of the body. It really takes something that could be a distraction and makes it a setting for the towel type treatment. I love the diagonal composition for the treatment and the allignment of the cast along the shadow of the spine.


4. Sin City
It's a comic book movie and they have done the best job at displaying a mix of the super stylistic qualities of the comic the film is based on with the realism it takes on as a film version. I've chosen this specific character poster because i felt the imagery was strong and beautiful. The mix of greys and desaturated color with the bright red quality of the lips and title are just gorgeous. It's very appealing visually. Love it.


3. Aeon Flux
I adored this campaign immediately. It mixes some amazing stylistic qualities but doesnt overdo it. It's a futurisitc blend of a broken wall bg that serves as a canvas for an almost graffitti version of Charlize Theron. The treatment is also displayed in such a sense that it pops up with unique futurism. I found this to be an effective way of showing this movie's different qualities and really making it's campaign a force of its own. Very powerful.


2. Transamerica
This has to be one of the celeverist ways of tackling a very sensitive subject matter. It takes these stark, usually grotesque colors together, and makes them work somehow. This poster really hits me the most because it's highly iconic for an indie film and much thought was put into it's details. I love how the character is facing away from us. I love the subtle foot facing toward the male bathroom. It's very, very effective. And almost made my number one.


1. Everything is Illuminated
This is by far my favorite poster of 2005. The colors, the use of shape, the simple/complex imagery. It all comes together so neatly for something that could have been a grand old mess. It's just a stunning piece and my favorite part has to be the use of the billing block and the title treatment. It's very different and very clever. This is creative thinking at its best in my opinion.

---
So there it goes.. Woot Woot!