POSTers

Posters are an integral part of any film promotion. They along with the trailers/previews are one of the most impacting marketing techniques employed for movie promotion.

Without doubt a well made trailer can give the audience a whole lot more than a poster can. But, the power of an eye catching poster should not be taken lightly. A good poster can not only inform the audience about the cast of the film, but more importantly it can make them curious about the film. A poster can be simple and yet catch the eye of the audience making them interested in the movie. The other most important plus point of having a poster is that it can be easily made accessible to the movie going public. Besides huge hoardings or on the walls, posters can be found in smaller format in numerous magazines. Unlike an audio-visual preview you do not have to be in a special place (TV/Theatre) or perform a special activity (Search the Net) in order to view it. I have always been a huge fan of poster art and I feel that at times it is something that is often left under-appreciated.

So here are just a few posters, mostly new, that I found interesting enough to make me want to watch the movie they were promoting.



Besides mentioning the stellar cast of the film, what I really loved about the poster was how just the two eyes of the one martian are showing. I also liked the comic book font used to write the tile of the film, Mars Attacks.



Most of my regular readers would be aware of my fascination with neon lights. This Tron Legacy poster comes only third to the real deal. The second being the visually stunning film. Add to that the fact that it features a must have in my dream list, a light cycle, and we have a must have poster.



This is probably the newest poster in my list. I haven't read the book the movie is based on, but I am aware of the basic plot line which is about two people meeting on the same date every year for twenty years. What the poster does is capture that in a wonderful way. Two people meeting and kissing, but look how it is as if they are doing this while walking in opposite directions. As if just passing by they decided to kiss each other. There is also the blurry background and the almost sepia like finish to the poster which brings about a certain nostalgia to the whole affair. Lastly, Anne Hathaway is in it... enough said :-)



The posters of The Dark Knight were rather popular. Almost all of the ones that people grabbed featured The Joker. Here we have one such poster with the Joker being true to his nature by showing his cockiness. Not only does the joker card now feature Batman, but the Joker's trademark of the red smile is on it as well. What is more interesting is the menacing evil look that Heath Ledger's Joker has in the poster. It's as if he is trying to tell the audience that don't just go by my name because I can be extremely dangerous.






These series of retro and classic styled posters for the movie Black Swan were a welcome change from the posters we are so used to. If you can get your hands on one of these, make sure you frame them and put them up somewhere because they literally are the definition of über chic.



Sometimes a poster can tell a thousand stories. Okay! maybe not a thousand, but a few at least. Take this relatively new poster of an Indian movie. First, the bright colours are something that attracts the audience to give the poster a look. Well that and maybe the fact that majority of poster consist of a scantily dressed woman. There are no actors mentioned. The title of the film is actually a tattoo on the waist of the girl who has smoke coming out of her mouth. There is a man holding a gun on one side and a palm tree at the other end. In the back you can almost see a rave scene of sorts. So for those who are unaware, the movie is about the drug scene in Goa. I am yet to watch the movie, but the movie also has elements of a whodunnit (the man holding a gun in the poster maybe?). So without telling much the poster is able to convey a lot.



If the title of the movie Cowboys and Aliens is not catchy enough for you, then the poster should at minimum make you want to know more. We have a man (Daniel Craig) in a cowboy hat holding a gun in one hand, but what is prominent in the poster is the brightly lit futuristic gadget in his other hand. To put things mildly... I'm Sold!



It's as simple as a poster can get. No mention of the star cast. No mention of when the movie will release. No mention of anything but the title of the film. Why? Because the tile is good enough to tell you that the movie will be a sort of romantic comedy. What it also does, for me, is tell me that if the makers can come out with a simple yet weirdly intelligent poster like this, that the movie will definitely be worth a watch.



It is all there. The serious look a superhero has. The grainy battle like background. The costume and in this case the shield. What I really liked about this particular poster of Captain America is the word "Avenge" written in the centre. Not only is Captain America considered as The First Avenger, but it also works in favour of the Avengers movie coming out hopefully in 2012. Obviously, the people at Marvel are confident enough about their superhero that just having the shield is enough and there is no mention of the character or the movie.

So there, just a small look at posters. In case poster art was something you never paid any attention to, I hope that in the future you do, and when you do, maybe remember this post.

Thank you
Raghav

Location:Gurgaon, India

Tron Legacy - "I-can't-help-it. It's-so-beautiful."

I did a lot for this movie. I walked through freezing cold to the theatre. I avoid 3D as much as I can (till they come out of affordable prescription 3D glasses ... Well apparently there are clip on 3D glasses now for 4 eyes like me 8-) but I still went for this movie. I had a sore throat and a slight fever and still I went... In freezing cold! Lastly, I paid that extra £2,- to watch a 3D movie. Was it worth it? It most certainly was, and here is why.



See the thing about me is that I'm mad about neon and black lights. There is something about them that brings a smile to my face and turns me into a kid. This little infatuation I have always reminds me of a joke from the movie "A Bugs Life" that goes like this;

Mosquito #1: Harry, no! Don't look at the light!
Mosquito#2: I-can't-help-it. It's-so-beautiful.



So with light cycles and what not there was no way I was going to miss out on the Legacy of Tron. Then, Daft Punk's music has always been something I enjoyed and I had heard good things about what they did in this film. The music from the very beginning was mesmerizing. It has a futuristic feel to it, but it pulls you in the movie. You know, just by listening to the music, that there is something visually spectacular on the screen. The complete look of the film is simply a pleasure to feast your eyes on. The sets, the lights, the clothes, the lights, the music ... did I mention the lights? Everything simply makes our everyday world look bland and boring.



Now to move on to the other thing that make a movie ... The Story! I think the movie takes a step backwards here. The original Tron had a purpose and it made a statement. Tron Legacy has it's heart in the right place and starts off with making a statement that technology should be shared and made available and affordable to everyone, but then shifts to a totally different viewpoint of a fight between good and evil. There is a much deeper philosophy that underlines the movie, but I feel it doesn't have such a great impact on the viewer. Having a philosophy based movie also means that there are long intervals of no action and all talk that do take its toll after a while on the audience. I personally could have done with a few more action sequences. I also disliked the way the title character of Tron was dealt with. His character was completely underdeveloped and it would have been nicer to see more of him playing a more prominent part (he is the title character after all). The actors including Jeff Bridges, Computer generated Younger Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde (Sigh!... Oops did I just write that?), Bruce Boxleitmer and the charismatic Michael Sheen all do a wonderful acting job. I'm not going to go into the story of the film because firstly I strongly recommend watching the original Tron before watching this one which will make the whole experience easier to watch and understand. Secondly, it's an escape movie at heart with a deeper philosophical soul, but one should see and decipher this philosophy on his/her own.



So, a visually stunning piece of cinema with a great soundtrack that lacks a strong story but has it's heart in the right place. I wanted to give it a 3.5/5 but will fall prey to my liking of neon/black lights and give it a 4/5.


Raghav

Location:Gurgaon, India

Black Sheep @ The Box Office

(Scroll over any film title for the full Black Sheep review.)

There was never any real doubt that TRON: LEGACY would not debut at number one this weekend. Just as there was never any real doubt that it would be anything more than a spectacular light show. Will people want to play the game again and again though? I can't say I don't habe my share of doubt there.

Disney should be happy with the $43.6 million debut TRON: LEGACY pulled in. It is slightly higher than what tracking was suggesting for opening weekend and it is also more than 10 times what the original TRON film earned in its 1982 opening weekend. It is even $10 million more than what the original brought it in its whole theatrical run. Granted, that was nearly 30 years ago. I'm thinking those numbers would be higher with inflation. Does anyone know how to calculate that?

Aside of TRON: LEGACY though, no other blockbuster was able to make a significant impression on audiences again this week. Last week's disappointments, CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER and THE TOURIST continued to do just that, each suffering declines of close to 50%. Then you have YOGI BEAR, a film I've seen the trailer for far too often at this point. Clearly, Warner Bros. was hoping for some chipmunk size numbers here but it will be a Christmas miracle if this animated flop is able to put together a decent picnic after its run finishes. Still, it could be worse. You could be Reese Witherspoon returning to the screen after a 2-year absence or Universal Pictures, the company that laid down a reported $120 million to make HOW DO YOU KNOW, starring Witherspoon. This kind of light hearted romantic fare usually cleans up at the holiday box office but then again, this kind of fare is usually actually funny as well. The James L. Brooks disaster pulled in a dismal $3K per screen average begging the question, how do you know when to give it up?

Christmas is looking dark this year on the indie front, dark green anyway. Prestige pictures continued to impress this weekend as major Golden Globe nominees, THE FIGHTER and BLACK SWAN continued to sell out crowds across the nation. After debuting on 4 screens last week, the David O. Russell directed THE FIGHTER explodes on to 1200+ screens and takes in a solid $4.8K average. Word of mouth will certainly grow past this weekend as it is a knockout of a film. Darren Aronofsky, a producer on THE FIGHTER, should be doubly pleased as his Oscar hopeful, BLACK SWAN, increased its screen count to nearly 1000 after blasting into the Top 10 last week on just a handful. The expansion proved quite fruitful with a very healthy $8.6K per screen average.

Below the Top 10, John Cameron Mitchell's beautiful RABBIT HOLE pulled in decent but not amazing numbers on 5 screens, with an average of $11K. THE TEMPEST saw an increase of 26% with the addition of 21 screens. THE SOCIAL NETWORK even saw a slight 5% bump after being named movie of the year by most every critic in America. It is still THE KING'S SPEECH that is the Oscar front runner, as it pulled in another $25K per screen on just 43 screens. The Tom Hooper film goes wide on Christmas day.

NEXT WEEK: Speaking of Christmas, it starts early this year on Wednesday, with wide releases, LITTLE FOCKERS (3450 screens) and TRUE GRIT (3000 screens). The gift giving continues on Christmas day itself, with Jack Black in GULLIVER'S TRAVELS (2400 screens), nut I might return that one if I were you. And there's something for the art crowd too, with limited runs starting for THE ILLUSIONIST, COUNTRY STRONG and SOMEWHERE.

Source: Box Office Mojo

TRON: LEGACY

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz

Directed by Joseph Kosinski

Starring Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde

Twenty-eight years is a long time to go between films. When the original TRON was released in theatres in 1982, I was but five years old. I can’t say I remember anything about it at the time, other than that the effects and animation were really cool. Special effects have come a very long way since then but after seeing the sequel, TRON: LEGACY, I can essentially say pretty much the same thing about this one as I did about the first when I was five; the special effects were cool and twenty-eight years from now, that will be all anyone will remember about the new one too, if anything at all.

The story has not changed. In 1982, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) was sucked into the computer world he helped design by the Master Control Program. In 2010, it is his son’s turn to play. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) pays a visit to his dad’s old arcade after not having seen his father for nearly twenty years. Someone is still paying the electricity bill though as everything still works, including the passage way to Flynn Sr.’s secret computer lab. Once inside the system, Sam, a user, is easy to spot amongst all the programs and it isn’t long before he is brought face to face with good old Dad, who has been trapped in this world all this time. Together they must vanquish Clu, Kevin’s virtual counterpart (a surprisingly impressive effects designed younger, more strapping version of Bridges) before he takes his desperate need for perfection outside of the computer and into the real world.

The truth about both TRON films is that nothing other than the special effects and some high-energy game playing sequences matter in either of them. How else can you explain that they basically recycled the story from the first for the second? Both films imply that there is something deeper being said about religion, technology and how mankind can’t seem to get his head around how close these two concepts truly are to each other, but neither film actually leaves the viewer with any true insight. Philosophical constructs are simply a device to fill the space between each mind-blowing game scene and this is done adequately enough to distract from how empty all that space really is. It doesn’t hurt either that the space, albeit empty, is incredibly gorgeous, with all its geometric exactitude and bursts of light and colour to break up all the darkness.

And so I say, let the games begin. TRON: LEGACY, for all of its clunky dialogue and questionable plot points, is completely mesmerizing when the games are on. The original elements of the games are still intact but updated in such a way that they justify the entire existence of the film. Couple that with the dynamic and driving Daft Punk score and you have two hours that will dazzle your senses like you’ve never known. When those two hours are up though, you will put down the game and it will almost be like you never played at all.

Black Sheep @ The Box Office

A new installment in a major franchise and a remake with two A-list stars fail to connect with audiences this week while BLACK SWAN, a twisted film about ballet, playing on less than a hundred screens, leaps into the Top 10 to become the toast of the town.

The third Narnia picture, VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, opens on top this weekend with $24.5 million, less than half of what the two previous installments did on their opening weekends. This minor victory prevented Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie from scoring what should have been a hefty debut for THE TOURIST. Instead they could barely manage to bring in enough to cover one of their salaries with a soft $17 million debut.

No the big Top 10 news this week is the appearance of BLACK SWAN at number 6 with $3.3 million from just 90 screens in North America. The Darren Aronofsky directed Oscar contender scored a poweful $37K per screen average, an extreme rarity in the Top 10. As the accolades continue to pour in during awards season, BLACK SWAN looks poised for a standing ovation.

Below the Top 10, another critical darling scores a per screen average that is more than double the size of BLACK SWAN. David O. Russell's incredible boxing film, THE FIGHTER, pulled in an average of $80K per screen on just 4 screens across the country. It goes wide next week. Meanwhile, Colin Firth's work on the talk show circuit has helped THE KING'S SPEECH net a healthy $31K per screen average in its third week of limited release. There wasn't much love for Julie Taymor's THE TEMPEST, with Helen Mirren, which earned but $9K per screen on only 5 screens.

NEXT WEEK: Reese Witherspoon returns to the big screen, 2500 of them actually, with HOW DO YOU KNOW, opposite Paul Rudd. YOGI BEAR goes after the family fare picnic basket on 3400 screens. TRON LEGACY finally races onto more than 3300 screens. As previously mentioned, THE FIGHTER expands to 2200 screens. And the touching John Cameron Mitchell film, RABBIT HOLE, opens gently on 5 screens.

Source: Box Office Mojo