Three rad posters
During the time I was totally engrossed in the Canberra International Film Festival, three posters piqued my interest for massive upcoming films. No doubt you have already seen them, but just in case I thought I would share them here with a few thoughts about them. What binds them together for me is the interesting or ‘classic’ design in this world of bland sameness for movie posters and the fact that they achieve their purpose of getting me really excited for the films they are promoting. Which strangely, very few posters actually do these days.
The first poster is for In the Heart of the Sea (2015), a film that unlike the other two, was not on my radar at all until I saw this. I love this design so much. As a kid, whales were equal second along with deadly Australian animals (a wide field), behind dinosaurs as creatures that absolutely fascinated me. I think that is part of the reason this really resonates with me, as they have done such an ace design of conveying the sheer size of the behemoth that lurks below. I’ve not always been the biggest fan of Ron Howard’s work but this poster (hell and Brendan Gleeson) will probably get me through the cinema door.
I was not as huge a fan of Pacific Rim (2013) as many people. But that doesn’t mean I am not pretty darn excited for a sequel. Especially since I will never give up hope of a crossover with the re-booted Gareth Edwards Godzilla universe. Pacific Rim 2 (2017) is still an age away, but out of nowhere this little teaser poster surfaced a while back, I think on the film’s official facebook page. It is a testament to how a simple eye-catching image can suck a potential viewer in. I mean what the hell is down that whirlpool? Plus it is orientated in landscape which always provides for a slightly different aesthetic. I would love to be able to avoid all future images and trailers for the film and just go in with this image lodged in my mind. It will never happen of course, but I can hope.
Lastly is the film out of these that I am looking forward to the most – Jurassic World (2015). Jurassic Park (1993) is my favourite Spielberg film and is probably in my top 20 or so films of all time. On top of that, I really like both the sequels. Yes even Jurassic Park 3 (2001). That film has pterodactyls in a frickin glasshouse, I’m not exactly sure what more you could ask for. It’s against this background that I love the simplicity of the below poster, because for fans like me, that classic image has such memorable connotations. Oh I can’t wait for the park to be open again.
Related beermovie.net articles for you to check out: This poster has me excited about Pixar again and The Rover character posters.
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Three fantastic Enemy posters
Up until I came across the trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy (2013) whilst trawling for a trailer to post last week, hype for the film had pretty much passed me by. I thought the trailer was really good and I loved the poster I included in that post as well (the first one below). In a time where one decent poster for a big release is rare, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were three pretty tasty looking Enemy posters. Check them out below and let me know what your favourite is.
This poster I shared with the trailer last week. I am utterly intrigued by that monster inside Gyllenhaal’s head.
Just as awesome is this yellow beast. Echoing the somewhat empty head and ramping up the doppelganger aspect of the plot too. This may well be my favourite of the three.
Lastly is this one, which if you look closely is actually really detailed in its design. The Gyllenhaal doubles have slightly different looks about them. Like the above, is cool to see some bold colour schemes used as well.
Related beermovie.net articles: Trailer for your Weekend: Enemy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier character posters.
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Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit character posters
This may seem like a bit of a strange post. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) has already been and most likely gone (depending on where you are) from cinemas. But I stumbled across these randomly the other day and thought I would share them for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I was a big fan of the film. I thought it was a really fun and well made old fashioned spy film. Secondly, I like the use of text on the posters. It looks a little different for starters. And the also function almost like a teaser trailer for the film. Giving hints to the differing aspects of each of the four characters.
What do you guys think of these, especially in relation to the film if you have seen it? Apologies for the tiny posters all. WordPress did not want to play nice and it was getting late on a work night. Except for Chris Pine, WordPress wanted you to know he is the star.
First up is Kevin Costner. Great to see him working a fair bit at the moment.
Next is Keira Knightley who plays Jack’s wife, a character perhaps not quite as intriguing as the words “accomplice, asset, weapon” suggest.
Kenneth Branagh awesomely plays the bad guy. A Russian of course. Love the inclusion of the word “capitalist” here.
Lastly is Chris Pine, a man who offends some with his lack of charisma. I don’t mind him and thought he was decent enough in this.
Just a reminder, it may be a quiet couple of weeks on the site. I have a fair few day job (lame) and sporting commitments coming up. I have also had the first episode of the Beer Movie Podcast recorded for weeks and still not gotten around to editing it, so need to get on that.
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When film marketing goes right: The Lego Movie
Film marketing cops a lot of flack. And for good reason, so much of it is utter garbage. I was as excited as anyone for Anchorman 2 (2013), but that excitement was tempered by the marketing for the film. For starters it was uninspired, but more than that it was just absolutely everywhere. You could not turn anywhere without seeing the lame attempts from the Anchorman crew at something they were desperately hoping would go ‘viral’ and all manner of other buzzwords. Unfortunately most film marketing falls into this basket. There is very little original and engaging. Most film marketing seems obsessed with getting traction and clicks online rather than doing something original and exciting us filmgoers.
Every so often though, a film really nails the marketing mix. More than any other of recent memory, The Lego Movie (2014) has achieved this. I have already spoken about the batch of character posters and trailer. Both of these were really fun and conveyed the glee that I think we were meant to feel in anticipating the film. In addition to those, there were also a smaller batch of character posters released which I think tapped into some of the unique humour that the film is aiming to bring to life. Check out a couple of these below.
Something even cooler than all these posters was brought ot my attention by Ruth over at Flixchatter. This ‘Behind the Bricks’ featurette is a really inspired DVD extra style video. Check it out below if you haven’t seen it. Once again is that overwhelming sense of fun that all the marketing is giving off as well as a well pulled off bit of meta, self-reflexive humour which is pretty hard to do without coming off as pretentious. I really love this little video.
Are you guys a fan of the approach that The Lego Movie has taken in its marketing? Also, what are some of your other favourite film marketing exercises? Hit me with some thoughts in the comments and feel free to link to your favourite posters, trailers and videos.
Troops, don’t forget to vote in this all important poll here, and check out the episode of the Forgotten Filmcast I appeared on last week.
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Nymphomaniac character posters
No doubt you guys have already seen these, but just in case, I thought I would share. I would feel bad if you guys happened to miss out on literally the worst thing ever on my watch.
I am looking forward to Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac (2013). I don’t think his films always work entirely. But they definitely always make you think which is more than you can say about most directors. And to those of you who think that character posters should be just for superhero films, our man Lars has no time for you.
Seriously though, posters of the film’s characters at the point of climax is exactly as gross and disturbing as you suspect. Check them out below and… erm let me know your favourite, if you are weird and have one. There are 14 of these, but I felt a random selection of six was more than enough.
Stellan Skarsgard plays a dude who takes in the film’s main star as she tells her life story.
Charlotte Gainsbourg is turning into a bit of a von Trier go-to star. She plays the titular sex addict.
Shia Lebouf who since filming has gone on a bit of a Joaquin Phoenix style very public (staged?) anti-fame breakdown style thingy.
Connie Nielsen plays the mother of the Gainsbourg character.
Billy Elliot, presumably not playing Billy Elliot.
Sophie Kennedy Clark in a role which I assume is a slight change of pace from Philomena (2013).
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The Lego Movie character posters
Some of you lucky jerks have already seen and enjoyed The Lego Movie. Over here in Australia, we still have a fair while to wait. But I have really liked a lot of the marketing that they have done for this film, including the posters. They released some great character posters for the film as well as the stock standard ones. Given I have a bit of a thing for character posters, I thought I would share them here, even though you’ve probably seen them everywhere else by now. These all look a little similar, but they still help me to get really psyched for the film. I think the coolest thing about them is the facial expressions from each lego character.
First up is Benny, voiced by Charlie Day. I have to admit that I have no idea who this character is and am trying to avoid all spoilers so don’t want to find out.
Next up is Emmett, the every-man main character voiced by Chris Pratt. I love Pratt and think is comedic stylings will lend themselves really well to voice work.
Batman has been the most hilarious character in the trailers so can’t wait to see his role in the film. Tis cool that D.C are happy for one of their very top properties to be used in this amusing way.
No matter how many rubbish films Ferrell brings us, I will always be a fan of his. No doubt his voicework will be very ‘Ferrelly’ in this, but I am ok with that. I think this is my favourite of the posters actually.
Elizabeth Banks is another person I am a big fan of and I like the spirit of this character that has come through in the trailers.
Morgan Freeman playing almost God. Say no more.
Let me know what you think of these, and the film if you have seen it, in the comments section below.
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