Thoughts I Had... While Staring at "Wonder Wheel" and "Tomb Raider" Posters
Wednesday, September 20, 2017 at 6:30PM by Nathaniel R
Movie posters aren't everything. In fact, it's arguable that they do little to change whether or not someone wants to see a movie, at least not half as much as a trailer, commercial, or recommendation might. Still, there's a certain thrill in looking at them if you love movies. Reactions can vary all the way from amping up excitement about a movie you're already interested in, to puzzlement and pondering over how anyone in Hollywood marketing departments keeps their jobs. Every reaction inbetween those two poles happens, too.
So let's look at new posters for Wonder Wheel and Tomb Raider after the jump with unedited thoughts as they come. (Please to do the same in the comments!)
WONDER WHEEL
• Something about how the title is both behind Kate, diegetically, and in front of her non-diegetically is really working for me. Especially with the orange neon / sky blue compliments.
• This is the single best Woody Allen poster since Match Point (2005)... maybe even the best since Hannah and Her Sisters (1986). Not that poster beauty determines film quality but one can hope.
• This design almost evokes religion. With the dim light but saturated color it's like our Holy Actress as centerpiece of a stained glass window. Yet it also skews dark rundown drama in an evocative way. The size of the bed also screams star vehicle and something about Winslet's love life. In short: LOVE it.
• The NYFF blurb for this movie went nuts for this film's cinematography by three time Oscar winner Vittorio Storaro (this is his second Woody picture since he also lensed Cafe Society). Trivia note: Only one Woody Allen film has ever been nominated in that category. That was Gordon Willis's black and white work on Zelig (1983). Damnit, now we have to get specific. MORE OSCAR / WOODY TRIVIA...
The only regular Oscar categories that have only nominated a Woody Allen film once
- Editing: Hannah and Her Sisters
- Cinematography: Zelig
The only regular Oscar categories no Woody Allen film has ever been nominated for:
- Adapted Screenplay (they're always originals), Sound, Sound Editing, Visual FX, Makeup, and of course Original Song and Original Score since he uses song standards for his soundtracks.
TOMB RAIDER
• Something is very wrong with Alicia Vikander's neck. Like Death Becomes Her "you pushed me down the stairs!" wrong with it.
• I still dont get casting Alicia for this. I love her acting in general but she's a "face" actress. You don't immediately think "physicality!" when you think of her, do you? It's always curious when Hollywood thinks those things are interchangeable.
• What is that thing she's holding?
• The arrow shaped disfiguration of the title logo is a cool design touch.
• I wasn't the only one (or even a minority of ones) to immediately be like "what's happening with her neck?". Of the many complaints this one is my favorite
• The pose is very "look at my biceps" which is hilarious for a film starring the delicate doll like beauty of Alicia Vikander. When you think "lady biceps" who do you think of first? I'll tell you my answer in the comments.
• When I was typing up this post I accidentally hit the space bar too early and typed TOM BRAIDER. And then I noticed -- NO ICONIC LARA CROFT BRAID?!? But then it appears at the end of the new trailer so... false alarm.
Reader Comments (29)
Biceps: Linda Hamilton, T2.
Love The Wonder Wheel poster, but I'm getting a little weary of the blue/orange contrasts in movies these days.
The "Wonder Wheel" poster is nice ...the "Tom Raider" poster is generic- she looks awful and that it a terrible pose
Biceps - Madonna
Wonder Wheel is an amazingly beautiful poster and the expression on Kate Winslet’s face draws me even further into it.
Tomb Raider poster blows.
Angela Basset's biceps in "What's love got to do with it"
When I first saw the Tomb Raider poster (and I wasn't really paying attention, just a quick glance on my laptop screen), I thought "eh, new Wonder Woman poster?"
The Wonder Wheel one sheet is immaculate. If Kate matches her Eternal Sunshine best I'll root for her without Close competing in the category.
Biceps: Michelle Obama
Muscular arms and legs are beautiful on women, I don't understand why action movies are so afraid of them for their actresses. My only complaint about the Wonder Woman casting was that she should have been much more muscular.
Also, I love Kate Winslet and love the poster, but I don't like the thought of giving money to Woody Allen so not sure yet whether I will see it.
That neck + the water = Loch Ness Monster realness.
That poser for The Wonder Wheel looks great. I hope the film is a winner.
I don’t get the love for Alicia. I really don’t.
Biceps: Angela Bassett (WLGTDWI) and Linda Hamilton (T2)—tied
Wonder Wheel *does* look good. Fingers crossed.
The Woody Allen films since BLUE JASMINE have been such disappointments - even with lowered expectations - but the buzz on WONDER WHEEL has me quietly optimistic.
That generic LARA CROFT poster and trailer aren't good at all. What is Kristin Scott Thomas doing in that film?
Yes, Match Point had such a beautiful poster and the film is one of Allen`s best in recent years ( maybe, THE best) , Blue Jasmine had such a lazy poster and it was all about Cate Blanchett`s mesmerizing Blanche-Like Turn. WONDER WHEEL looks beautiful and Winslet, fierce ( just never thought I`d see Winslet name near Timberlake, he`s kinda a turn off). As for Lara Croft, do we really need another one ? The poster looks plain bad, just like the idea sounds.
I think that weapon on Lara Croft is one of those Ice Pick Wall Cutter Opener Thingies used to climb ice walls. Was that specific enough?
"Tomb Raider" ugly.
"Wonder Wheel" unsettling, and Kate looks like young ... is it Mary Stuart Masterson...? Someone from the 80's....?
I know Woody does them alphabetically, but one usually doesn't think "prestige" with Jim Belushi as the first name. Good on Woody for thinking outside the casting box.
How Manhantan didnt get nominated for Best Cinematography?? Its the best cinematography of all times
Eder Arcas and Steve G: Neither of you have seen what the new Tomb Raider games are like, have you? On paper, this was actually a decent idea. However...this seems like a PG-13 adaptation of them, and that's kind of like PG-13 Die Hard. You're not really going to satisfy anyone.
Wonder Wheel poster really makes me want to see it. I wouldn't frame it and hang it on my wall (as I did with an original Manhattan poster), but it's nice. Evokes Radio Days and Cafe Society, two of my favorite Allen films, so I'm stoked.
I have been saying it for months that Winslet will win a 2nd everything seems placed right,it's within the 10 years when performaers usuallu receive a 2nd in BA and Winslet is beloved 7 noms at 40,respected,plays the game which can make her offputting to some,maybe the last gr8 Woody film interesting cast and premise,she only just lost to an actress who is inferior to her and was poor in a poor film.
Cris & Cash -- those were my first thoughts too with biceps: angela & Linda.
When it comes to biceps it's always Bassett or Hamilton who come to mind first, but also Viola Davis and Regina King.
That Wonder Wheel poster is beautiful and I can't wait to see the movie. Hard to believe Kate hasn't worked with Woody Allen until now (or am I forgetting something?).
Tomb Raider actually seems like it could be decent, but I agree the casting of Vikander is...interesting. Her expressiveness is her most valuable tool, but I do think that her physicality is a big part of her performances in Anna Karenina and Ex-Machina. Both make great use of her dance background at times.
I really don't get why people think the cinematography in Manhattan is that great. Okay, it's widescreen AND black and white, something one rarely saw, certainly in that period, and no one can say it's a direct pastiche of another filmmaker's style--it's kind of an original (if undistinguished) look, but it pales in comparison to Willis' later black and white work for Allen in Stardust Memories, Zelig, and, best of all, Broadway Danny Rose.
That Wonder Wheel poster is stunning. I am so excited for this film...I wish I could see it at NYFF.
The Tomb Raider one looks like the cover of a $5 DVD of a forgotten movie you would find in a Walmart bin.
Vikander actually looks very fit and Lara Croft is not usually depicted as huge or anything so I don't think she is a bad choice. The movie looks mediocre though, the cgi is terrible and it looks too focused on recreating the gameplay in the film.
Biceps - gotta be Angela Basset, but for me it was Strange Days.
I'm getting very tired of the studios forcing us to look at a female leads ass in the posters. The neck thing is just another example of how horribly wrong it is.
Kate is giving her best " I won't be IGNORED, Dan" look!
Really loved seeing that poster of Wonder Wheel. Though I always hold high hopes for Allen's film, I'm hoping that the plot is same old-same old. My first impression is that Winslet is a 'Paris loving' college bred poetry major who had dreams of visiting the city, but ended up married to a brutish carnival operator. The colorful Ferris Wheel outside the window almost resembles the 'city of lights' that Winslet probably dreamed of going to be a writer and/or 'mingling with the great minds...' The triangular center of that Wonder Wheel almost resembles the Eiffel Tower - now Winslet's dreary Eiffel Tower. If she has a daughter in the film (Juno Temple) - it's probably that the girl returns, which sets off Winslet's jealousy to escape her existence which is set off by meeting a lifeguard who reads e.e. cummings (!). Together they dream of an escape path -
Again, I love Allen's work, but I hope this isn't a re-mixture of 'Purple Rose of Cairo...'
Tomb Raider's probably going to be a duffer but no need to be so dismissive of Vikander-
"You don't immediately think "physicality!" when you think of her, do you?"
Give her a bloody chance!
Cris & Cash -- those were my first thoughts too with biceps: angela & Linda.
Cris & Cash -- those were my first thoughts too with biceps: angela & Linda.