How 'on message' are the crop of posters that have been harvested recently to announce the fall movie slate? Let's take a look starting with this lovely hazy poster for Weekend (2011). I'll ask you first what you feel about it at first glance before I talk about the movie after the image. The poster was shot by Quinford + Scout a couple who have been documenting their own relationship in photographs.
Andrew Haigh's romantic drama follows a quiet gay man (Tom Cullen) through a one night stand with a political artist (Chris New) and watches as it stretches into the next morning and beyond in ways that surprise both of them. The film has won festival awards at SXSW, OutFest and Nashville (yours truly was on that last jury) and when it finally arrives in the fall it will undoubtedly draw comparisons to Before Sunrise for the surface reasons that it's a small, talky, mostly two character romance (though otherwise its quite different). The deeper similarity is that it's actually very, very good. I think this poster is exceptional at conveying that you're in for a mood piece, something memorable to hang on to like a faded treasured photograph and as such I think it's great. But I've actually seen the film. Maybe it won't say much if you haven't?
Two other new posters are also going for moods that verge on nostalgia if more traditionally warm and golden: another romantic drama Like Crazy which will attempt to convert its Sundance buzz to Oscar hype on October 28th, and a film I'd never heard of called Tanner Hall about a girl's boarding school starring Rooney Mara. Ah, that's why. It was filmed in 2009 but it's coming September 9th now that Mara's star is in the process of ascending.
Am I forcing trends now?
Sarah Jessica Parker, Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling after the jump
Here's two GREEN posters for I Don't Know How She Does It (September 16th) and Moneyball (September 23rd) And sure it looks like I paired them for that reason. But they arrived within a day of each other so it was hard not to notice. Moneyball has another poster that's mostly type and the baseball field but I used this one for star symmetry. Not that I'm suggesting that SJP & Pitt should pair up.
Baseball fields are green so that poster choice was a gimme. But why the green for IDKHSDI? Perhaps it's subliminal. Spend money on this movie! [trailer discussions: IDKHSDI and Moneyball]
Finally, here are the three posters we've seen thus far for Nicolas Winding Refn's DRIVE...
The first two, seen in France, do a better job of conveying that it's a hip movie --possibly about clothes -- with an electric current star. The American poster with the pink lettering is a movie that could literally be about anything. It's opting to sell Ryan Gosling and Ryan Gosling alone. Of course we're looking up at him like he's the new golden god of movies. But maybe the team looked at the online fever generated by that Crazy Stupid Love trailer this past spring ("seriously?! it's like you're photoshopped") and decided. When you've got him, flaunt him.
♫ When you got 'im, flaunt 'im
Step right up and strut his stuff
People tell you modesty's a virtue
But for movie stars modesty can hurt you
When you got 'im, flaunt 'im
Show his assets, let them know you're proud
His goodies you must push
Stick out his chest, shake his tush
When you got it, shout it out loud ♩
....Now Gosling drive!