Posterized: Guy Ritchie

The British director Guy Ritchie never finished school and didn't attend film school either but by the time he was 28 he was on his way to making cinematic waves. His short film The Hard Case (1995) attracted the attention of financiers and his debut feature Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) was a scrappy success. Sudden fame for new directors is usually somewhat invisible since it's their names rather than faces that get the publicity. Not so for Guy Ritchie. His rise went meteoric via a marriage to global household name Madonna before people had even really learned his name. They famously wore each other's new products on t-shirts; he pushed her album "Music" across his chest in 2000 as she paraded Snatch, his second film, around on hers.

The marriage soured but his movies got bigger and bigger if not always more successful. Like any regularly working director he's had both hits and misses. His 9th feature King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is now open in theaters everywhere.

Let's look at all his movies via posterized after the jump. How many have you seen? 

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Posterized: Brie Larson

By Nathaniel R

Last week the directors of Captain Marvel were announced, moving that imaginary Marvel Studios picture, starring Brie Larson, closer to reality. 2019 is still a long way off though we have plenty of Brie to tide us over until then. She's in movie theaters currently as part of Ben Wheatley's crime comedy ensemble picture Free Fire  (reviewed). It's one of two features this spring whichhas featured Brie Larson as the token female amongst a group of adult men fighting for their lives (the other being Kong Skull Island). Which is, if you consider her particular skills as an actress, kind of a waste; to date she's consistently done her most transcendent work opposite other women or child actors.

Though it feels as if Brie Larson only recently exploded into fame having won the Best Actress Oscar for Room (2015), in reality she has been paying her dues for ages, winning her first TV gig at just 9 years of age (a comedy skit on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno) and her first movie gig by 10 (something called Special Delivery in which she played "Little Angel"). She's done a little of everything including an attempted pop career - which goes down really well in a meta sort of way via the satiric prism of her role in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and her role-playing  within "United States of Tara" -- 'Princess Valhalla Hawkwind,' anyone?.

So let's look back on her movie history via POSTERIZED (returning for another season!). We've thrown in all her movies that we could find posters to (a couple others don't seem to have been released) and her three largest TV roles. How many of these 27 Brie Larson projects have you seen?

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Posterized: Ang Lee

By Nathaniel R

Ang Lee with one of his Billy Lynn stars, Vin DieselOne of our favorite directors has a new film going wide today. Unfortunately number 13 proves unlucky for the great Ang Lee as Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, a military drama about the way we use soldiers as propaganda pawns or blank slates to project upon, is hard to watch. Let us pray for a swift death to Hollywood's current unfathomable interest in the high frame rate technique. (The technique is ugly, expensive but looks cheap, and doesn't look like cinema -- that's lose lose lose or three strikes you're out. So what's the appeal Hollywood?)

Nevertheless Ang Lee has given us so many riches over his 24 year feature film career that we ought to appreciate his filmography this weekend.

How many of his pictures have you seen?
All the posters are after the jump... 

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Posterized: Jeff Nichols

With the romantic civil rights drama Loving opening in limited release today let's survey the short career (thus far) of writer/director Jeff Nichols. He turns 38 in a month but he's already made 5 pictures. With each subsequent effort pictures he seems to edge a wee bit closer to mainstream awareness and already has critics in his corner. The Oscar attention that will likely hit Loving, which focuses on Richard (Joel Edgerton) and Mildred Loving (Ruth Negga) and their battles with Virginia's anti-miscegenation laws, will be a major step in that direction. None of his films to date have received an Oscar nomination of any kind though they've been in the "best of year" conversations.

How many of his films have you seen?

Shotgun Stories (2007) - Spirit Award John Cassavettes Nominee
Take Shelter (2011) -5 Spirit Award nominations with 1 win, Gotham Nominations for Feature & Ensemble
Mud (2013) - Spirit Award Best Direction Nomination, Robert Altman Award Win
Midnight Special (2016) 
Loving (2016) - Gotham Nominations for Best Actor and Best Actress

Fun Trivia Note: Michael Shannon has appeared in every single one of the director's films. In Loving though he only has a bit role as a magazine photographer who takes famous photos of the couple at home which raises their profile nationally.

Posterized: Emily Blunt

Is Emily Blunt an A List Movie Star or still perpetually "on the verge"? The box office returns for her current thriller Girl on the Train, promoted largely on her name and face alone, suggest the former but bestsellers do come with their own pull.

This perpetual question is aggravating to anyone who has fallen in love with Blunt over the years in any number of movies. Those who have appear to be legion because what's not to love? She can nail drama and she's funny in comedies. She's totally convincing as an action heroine and she's also adept at the movie musical. We've yet to see a genre she can't do.

Let's take a look at Blunt's movies thus far in this week's Posterized. How many have you seen and which are your favorites?

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