Glenn here with my now annual list of the best movie posters of the year. I should apologize for being so tardy with this, but I've been working on a big non-movie-related project that took precedent. Never mind that though because we're back. Last year logged the first time that I dragged my lil ol' list of the year's best movie posters over from my own blog onto The Film Experience we're back to see what'll win this year. Last year the honor went to Spring Breakers and this year was no less fierce. I have once more assembled an... eclectic list of films ranging from French orgy dramas and Christian religious flicks to British sci-fi and obscure horror titles.
I have tried to keep the posters featured within down to American 2014 theatrical/VOD releases only. That means designs that emerged online as much as 18 months ago can be on here if the film was only released this year (hi Nymphomaniac!). Likewise, designs for 2015 releases that are already hanging in cinema foyers do not feature - I'm going to spend the next year tossing and turning over whether this hilariously unsubtle phallic poster for Fifty Shades of Grey is actually good or completely terrible. Having said that, being an Australian means I have snuck few Aussie films on the list because, I guess, my list my rules. I should also point out that, just like last year, the lack of many big budget blockbusters on the list isn't my contrariness popping up (my lonely passions are now a thing), rather it's just proves that so many working for Hollywood studios would be absolutely lost without the billions of dollars that they take for granted and the audiences that flock to their movies like sheep.
Follow me as I count down the best posters of 2014!
(Click the titles for bigger versions)
40. You and the Night: For its fleshy representation of sexual connectivity.
39. Particle Fever: For etching its themes in a simple, yet eye-catching way.
38. The Strange Little Cat: For its interesting visual ideas (and for Amir!).
37. Grand Piano: For its slick silliness.
36. Hellion: For its crashing of visuals into one dreamy image.
35. Son of God: For surprising shock value.
34. Jamie Marks is Dead: For highlighting the queer aspect of its teen suicide drama.
33. Inherent Vice: For the colours. My favourite of these otherwise busy, overly-worked designs.
32. The Babadook: For child-like simplicity of adults-only ideas.
31. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night: For crafting its own red and bloodied visual iconography.
30. Palo Alto: For its pink-hued filter on feminine youthful experience.
29. The One I Love: For its gentle prodding of themes and concepts. The brilliant Akiko!
28. Tracks: For using negative space in a way that is actually relevant.
27. Bad Words: For comically pushing the edge of bad taste in a new way.
26. The Theory of Everything: For its lopsided, physical take on romance. Befits the film perfectly.
25. Robocop: For being graphic and living up to its title character's reputation.
24. Birdman: For inciting interest and intrigue.
23. Willow Creek: For taking a cliched design concept and giving it the Bigfoot treatment.
22. Wetlands: For the dirty fuchsia suggestion.
21. Electric Boogaloo: For the shiny VHS memories and use of color.
20. Proxy: For taking its most obvious comparison (Rosemary's Baby) head on and achieving its own unique horror.
19. Starry Eyes: For its wicked, retro other-worldliness.
18. Thou Wast Mild and Lovely: For its scrapbook graphic oddness. For Butter on the Latch.
17. The Double: For the noir and Metropolis inspired impact.
16. Stage Fright: For the entire entertaining, inventive series of posters.
15. The Interview: For funny use of propaganda imagery. For "Do Not Trust Stupid Americans".
14. Maleficent: For the bewitching mystery. The the silky, inky blackness and looking like Michelle Pfeiffer.
13. Private Violence: For thrusting its themes in your face (quite rightly, too).
12. Ukraine is Not a Brothel: For using the body as a canvas and a warzone.
11. Enemy: For being as mysterious as the film. That color!
10. The Grand Budapest Hotel: For the delightful whimsy and hand-crafted care.
9. Nymphomaniac: Because I want it on my wall. And ceiling. And on personally-created pillowcases. For the entire series' comical, sexual chutzpah.
8. Godzilla: For nodding to the past with the scope of the modern.
7. The Infinite Man: For its elegant representation of interlocking time-travel story.
6. The Final Member: For its salmon-colored, er, medical muscularity. For telling, but not showing.
5. A Field in England: For its Jodorowsky-esque splash of color and shadow. For the strangeness.
4. Nymphomaniac: For the grammar nympho in all of us.
3. Men, Women & Children: For just interest use of textured pastels (click the big version to see what I mean) and structure. For masking the (supposedly) terrible movie within.
2. Nightcrawler: For getting up close and not letting us escape. For the reflections upon the Hollywood dream. For the pulp, pop art aesthetic.
1. Under the Skin: For the speckled allure of space and flesh combined into out truly transfixing image. For the colors and the moods projected upon a woman, rendering Scarlett Johansson somewhat anonymous and mysterious. It begs people to ask, "what is this movie?" as they take it in.
And so that is that, dear readers. What do you think? What caught your eye in 2014? Do you also want Jamie Bell in your bed or are you more a Charlotte, an Uma, or a Shia lover? Let's talk in the comments!