movie posters

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Style of Eye - August 2007

movie posters

August 15th 2007 04:10

I love movies. Not too surprising I guess. I love the visual artifice, the narrative invention, the audience manipulation, the realism and the escapism. I also admire imaginative movie poster art. You don’t see as much of it these days. A lot of poster art, especially that which is churned out of the Hollywood machine, uses homogenised images, a mundane use of text and graphics, and tedious tag lines.

Back in the day – the 50s, 60s, 70s and to a lesser extent the 80s - movie poster art was much more imaginative and expressive, it was also more risqué and provocative. This is a generalisation I’ll admit, but it leans far more toward the rule than the exception.

The poster art that I particularly enjoy belongs to movies of the subversive, transgressive and exploitative genres; science fiction, horror, gangster, psychedelic, blaxploitation, sexploitation, black comedy. More often than not these genres lend themselves to more colourful (I use the word in its broader definition) imagery and unique interplay between graphics and artwork.

I appreciate the graphic artists who are clever and/or subtle in the way they incorporate (or not) images lifted directly from the movie. In some cases still photographers are brought in to specifically shoot pictures not even in the movie. In the 50s, posters frequently used an illustrator to conjure a more elaborate, far more stylized and provocative, interpretation of one or more of the images from the movie.

The movie posters of past decades are the kinds I’d love to see exhibitions of. Huge mounted prints skillfully lit in a gallery, so I could admire them leisurely and close-up. I’ve owned some great movie posters in my time. Unfortunately they’ve been damaged along the way, or in some cases I’ve lost them when I’ve moved house. I've seen the majority of these movies and I’d certainly love to own all of the posters too!

It’s difficult to choose absolute favourites, since I enjoy different visual elements from each of the examples, but if push came to shove … the arty-farty in me adores the poster to Cul-de-Sac, the sensualist in me caresses the Black Emanuelle silhouette, the minimalist me appreciates Solaris, while the trashbag in me digs Galaxina, and the modern noir-head finds the Mean Streets artwork of a very high calibre … Hot damn, I love ‘em all!

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Posted By: Raoul Duke - Category: graphics

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Comments

7 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by JohnDoe

August 15th 2007 23:57

Film & TV on DVD

Great choices there Raoul,

From Gonzo

Comment by Cibbuano

August 15th 2007 23:58

20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

Awesome post... I really enjoy posters, too, especially the retro sex- ex- blax-ploitation posters...

Love the first one - what is that?

Great posters: Black Emmanuelle, Super Fly, Black Cobra (hot!), Galaxina. Now, if I could only watch those movies...

Comment by Raoul Duke

August 16th 2007 07:26

Style of Eye

JohnDoe, coming from a stylee cinephile as yourself, that is high praise! Muchos gracias!!

Cibbuano, makes you drool, huh? That first movie poster, are you referring to the one with the woman astride the camera? That's from an obscure American fringe erotic film festival which no longer operates ... Or are you referring to the 1971 apocalyptic sf flick, A Boy and His Dog, which starred a young Don Johnson and his telepathic mutt ...?

Comment by JohnDoe

August 16th 2007 08:56

Film & TV on DVD

Dont forget that mutt got him laid several times.....

Comment by Raoul Duke

August 17th 2007 02:37

Style of Eye

JohnDoe, too true! Man's best friend!

Comment by Jason King

May 21st 2008 06:38

Salty Popcorn

Oooh - some awesome ones here.
I have never seen that Metropolis one - it's brilliant!
Nosferatu is beautiful and I really like the Casanova one!!
Cool stuff!

Comment by Raoul Duke

May 22nd 2008 03:34

Style of Eye

Metropolis rocks. Period.

Yeah, the Casanova is gold. I want that. Badly.

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