Top ten of 2005 [Paul]

Well, I suppose I better throw my own opinion into the ring. Here's my favorite picks for last years best movie posters:


10. The 40 Year-Old Virgin
There are four things that they did right with this poster: Eye-Catching color. Fantastic photo. Simple typography. And they actually used the poster as the DVD packaging- Good branding. I don't know anyone who doesn't at least giggle at this poster- even if they didn't like the movie.



9. Rent
I know it's just a re-hash / re-imagining of the original Broadway artwork, but it REALLY draws the eye in. You just KNOW that people who are familiar with the play are going to gravitate towards this, and the people who weren't (like me) still were drawn toward it. The classic stencil works really well- The poster "Gets" the movie....You have different personalities and relationships and they're all represented nicely through color and placement.


8. Melinda and Melinda
This is all about color, use of space, and a kickass graphic. The green, yellow, black and white all work in favor of this design. The typography kinda sucks, but that great graphic REALLY saves it. For an example of how wrong this concept could go, look at an earlier version of this poster here


7. Mad Hot Ballroom
On top of being a really great documentary, the poster really captures the feeling of the movie. A bunch of inner-city kids take ballroom dancing classes (do not confuse this with that Antonio Bandaras crap)- This is a recreation of one scene where the kids practice in the park after school. I think the sky, skyline, pose and type really bring this whole thing together nicely. There were a lot of movies in this past year that used the Manhattan skyline as a graphic, but this is the only one that really uses it to it's advantage- as a backdrop.



6. Me And You And Everyone We Know
This is a cute, albiet sexually deviant, film about, well, people. It does a nice job capturing a surreal reality. The poster carries that over well. I love the use of the soft pink, and the stright forward type. The image litterally reflects exactly what the title is- and in this case, I think that's ok.



5. Havoc
I have no idea what the movie is about- but this feels to me like the Rent poster if it was indy and done with a touch more style. That's a really nice Sans font- I wish I knew what it was- could be Gill Sans.



4. The Last Mogul: The Life and Times of Lew Wasserman
Dunno who Lew Wasserman is- but his movie poster sure is nifty. It really mirrors the Melinda and Melinda poster, right? Oh well. I think the line drawing of, what I can only assume is, Lew Wasserman is really cool. There's nothing like Helvetica on a nice spring day.



3. Walk the Line
On top of being a pretty damn good movie, I have to hand it to a major studio doing an artsy poster like this. Really captures the essence of Johnny Cash, and the use of old American wood type is great. Just a wonderfull, eye-catching graphic.



2. Breakfast on Pluto
Yet another movie I've never heard of. But does that surreal image not match that surreal title perfectly? I love the BRIGHT blue and the touch of BRIGHT pink mixed with a pinch of BRIGHT yellow, all off-set with a black iPod woman.



1. A Good Woman
I think I would hate this movie. I don't know why, but it doesn't look up my alley. But, the poster is just too damn cool. I LOVE the vector faces, the layout, the colors, and even the type. My only complaint is how they treated the type with dropshadows and gradients, I think it would have been stronger flat.