Poster: THE DAY THE EARHT STOOD STILL

If there is one film currently in production that I am NOT looking forward to seeing, it is the upcoming remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still. And despite what some would think, it has less to do with my continuing apathy towards star Keanu Reeves than it does towards the fact that this project even exists. The original not only is one of the best science-fiction films of all time, but one of the best films of the 1950s. Even today, though its special effects may appear dated, its message isn't. Director Scott Derrickson is going to have to go a long way to improve and come up with some worthwhile new take on the story, and I don't think he can.

The just released poster, via AintItCoolNews, doesn't give me pause to rethink my attitude towards the picture. If anything, its allusion to the scene in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters Of The Third Kind where the aliens emerge from the mothership to greet the waiting scientists, makes me despise this film just a bit more.


Click to enlarge, if you dare.

FBOL Public Service: Another DISASTER MOVIE Poster To Avoid

We here at FilmBuff Online look out for our readers. We wish to warn you away from the movies of the team of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer (Date Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans). We do this by showing you the posters for their films so you don't accidentally stumble into theaters showing their films by mistake.

FilmBuff Editor Rich Drees brought one to your attention here. But the crafty buggers have caught on to us and released another poster to try and trick you. Luckily, we caught it so we could point it out:

Click to see it larger, if you really have to.

The low-brow humor of the poster is surely only going to get worse in the actual film, which hits August 29th.

Source: Cinema Blend

Want To Hear The Ladies of THE SPIRIT Speak?

If you have ever wanted to hear Scarlett Johansson say to you, "On your knees then," well, this is your lucky day.

I'm sure by now everyone has seen these teaser posters released for Frank Miller's The Spirit:

However, if you want to hear the above characters say the lines of dialogue that have been photoshopped on their faces, click over to Yahoo Movies. They have a page showing the above poster montage and when you roll the cursor over the character's face, they say the dialogue.

Sound quality on the clips vary from character for character, so you might have to turn up the volume to hear anything.

Poster: Coen Brothers' BURN AFTER READING

If there's one thing I like about the Coen Brothers, it is that there films routinely show a wide knowledge of film history. Classic genres as diverse as slapstick, farce, suspense and film noir all inform their various movies. And sometimes, like in their upcoming dark spy comedy Burn After Reading, its possible that all those influences come into play. We don't want to give too much of the plot away, but the movie centers on anunpublished memoir written by a disgruntled former-CIA operative (John Malkovich) that falls into the hands of two dimwitted gym instructors (Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt).

What's great is the film's first released poster (click to make bigger), which appeared over at Cinematical. The bold color design and off-kilter, blockish design recall the style of poster artist Saul Bass, who created memorable promotional art for such films as Vertigo, Anatomy Of A Murder and The Man With The Golden Arm. The Coens are definitely giving us a hint of what to expect from the film when it opens on September 12.

Poster: VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

Even when he has a string of bad pictures in his recent filmography, I am still always willing to give writer/director/actor Woody Allen the benefit of the doubt whenever he brings out a new film. Why? I'm not sure except for the fact that when he does score a home run, it is one of those powerful drives that land in the upper deck of the park.

While I wouldn't characterize his latest output to be all bad, the Woodster is definitely ready to knock one out of the park. Will his upcoming Vicky Christina Barcelona be that hit? Who knows? The film stars Allen's latest muse, Scarlett Johanson, and Rebecca Hall as two tourists in Spain who meet and start into an unconventional relationship with Javier Bardem. Complications arise in the form of Bardem's ex-wife Penelope Criz, arriving on the scene.

The poster for the film below (click to enlarge) gives some hints as to the relationships between Bardem, Cruz and Johanson's characters.

Vicki Cristina Barcelon hits theaters August 15.

Via Cinematical.

Poster: Barry Levinson's WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

When he's on his game, director Barry Levinson makes a pretty good movie. Don't believe me? Go back and watch Diner, Rain Man and Wag The Dog. However, when Levinson isn't playing up to par... Well, the less said about Man Of The People the better.

Levinson's next film is What Just Happened?, a dark comedy starring Robert DiNero as a Hollywood producer trying to juggle a crazed career with a normal, sedate home life. Sounds interesting, but even if Levinson brings his A-game to the project, how well will it do? Hollywood insider pictures seldom do big box office. Perhaps the added star power of Bruce Willis, Stanley Tucci and John Turturro will help get butts into seats?

We'll find out on October 13, when the movie hits theaters.



Via Cinematical.

Poster: Spike Lee's MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA

While Quentin Tarantino spends his time talking about making his World War II epic, Spike Lee has actually gone out and made his. Miracle At St. Anna, based on a novel of the same name by James McBride, tells the story of four African American soldiers trapped behind enemy lines after they rescue an Italian boy. The folks over at Cinematical have brought us a look at the first poster for the film. (Click to make bigger) The movie stars Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller, Matteo Sciabordi, John Leguizamo and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It hits theaters September 26.

Teaser Poster For Stone's W

When Oliver Stone stated that his bio-pic W, starring Josh Brolin George W. Bush, was going to be a fair portrayal of the President's life, did anyone really believe him?

Lord knows, I wanted to. Although I'm no fan of what Bush has done while in office, I hoped that perhaps Stone could do something similar to what he did with Nixon, another right wing politico with whom Stone strenuously disagrees philosophically.

However, this teaser poster (courtesy IOnCinema) implies that the film will be more of a broadside slam of Bush. If that's the path Stone wants to take, fine. However, just loading the poster up with the more famous examples of the President's less than eloquent power to turn a phrase strikes me as a bit of lazy marketing. How about a poster that riffs the ones done for The Forty Year Old Virgin, with Brolin-as-Bush looking out with that hopeful, yet clueless gaze that Steve Correll had?

Click on the poster for a bigger version.

DISASTER MOVIE Poster Promises Disasterous Movie

There are just some titles you shouldn't use for your film, because you are really just inviting everyone to heap abuse on you. Just ask Mel Brooks about the reception his 1991 flop Life Stinks got.

It looks like no one ever gave this advice to Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, the two people responsible for the laugh-free comedies Meet The Spartans, Epic Movie and Date Movie. Their latest spoof film appears to set its alleged comedic sites on bloated, end-of-the-world Hollywood blockbusters like The Day After Tomorrow. Surely, naming their film simply Disaster Movie pretty much lets you know what kind of film this will be. It’s a sad state of affairs when the poster, which originated over at Cinematical, will probably be the only thing about the film to elicit a chuckle.


Disaster Movie kicks moviegoers in the groin and expects them to laugh on August 29.

EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL Spoofs Broadway Posters

OK, I'll admit that this is only movie based is the loosest possible terms, but I'm running with it anyway.

One of the best live theater experiences I've had in the past several years was seeing Evil Dead: The Musical twice during its 2006-2007 off-Broadway run at the New World Stages. Taking the best of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy and tossing it into a blender with some great tunes, the musical is a frothy milkshake of fun that leaves the stage and those in the first two rows covered in fake blood. If you don't believe me, take a look at the promo video for the currently running production in Toronto over on the show’s website. Since its premier run in 2004 at the Toronto Just For Laughs Festival, the show has gained legions of fans and has even had a sell out run in Korea!

The folks behind the current Toronto production certainly seem to be having fun. Not only has the show had its run extended into June, but they have recently put out a series of posters spoofing recent, well known Broadway show advertisements.




Enjoy.

Via SlashFilm via Gawker via AdWeek.

Poster: HELLBOY 2

While everyone seems to be excited by director Guillermo del Toro having been chosen to direct the adaptation of J R R Tolkein's The Hobbit, it seems like it has been forgotten that he has a movie coming out in just over two months- Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, the sequel to his 2004 comic book adaptation.

The folks over at Coming Soon were given first dibs on the film's new poster, which looks pretty darn cool.

When del Toro appeared at April's New York Comic Con, he previewed some of the otherworldly creatures who will appear in the film, and the designs were just fantastic.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army stars Ron Perlman, Selma Blair and Doug Jones opens July 11.

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS Poster and Upcoming Trailer

I'm not sure why, but I really am not that enthused about the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated feature debuting in August. Is it because, as a Warner Brothers release it won't open with the 20th Century Fox Fanfare, that short piece of music that has become inseparable from the Star Wars experience for so many people? Is it the fact that I found the recent prequel trilogy to be lacking on so many levels, that I’m not all that interested in what happens between Episode II and Episode III? Am I too cynical to believe that because they are taking the first three episodes of a cartoon series and plastering it up on the big screen, that it isn’t just a cash grab and marketing ploy?

For those of you who are excited by the upcoming film, here's something to whet your appetite, the film’s poster. (Click for a bigger version.)


(By the way, the girl peeking out from behind Obi-Wan is Anakin’s Padawan, Ahsoka. What's that you say? You don't remember seeing her in Revenge Of The Sith? Well, that doesn't bode too well for her, now does it?)

Lucasfilm's official Star Wars site has also announced that the film's trailer will debut tomorrow night at 7:58 simultaneously on Cartoon Network, TNT, TBS, CNN, and Boomerang. It will also be attached to the front of Warner Brothers’ Speed Racer, which opens on Friday.

If it is the same trailer that was screened at the New York Comic Con last month, than fans are sure to eat it up. As I've said before, I found the design work to be fairly inconsistent. For some elements, it looks as if the animators are striving for at least a certain degree of photorealism, where for elements they are not. The flesh and blood characters have a certain cartoon-ish quality, which is fine in itself. But viewed next to the more realistic looking clone troopers, the overall effect distracted and disconnected me from what I was watching.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be in theaters on August 15. The cartoon series will begin running on Cartoon Network later in the fall.

THE WACKNESS Poster

Unlike many who have seen the film, I didn't totally fall head over heels for The Wackness when I saw it last month. In fact, I'm still so up in the air about the film that I haven't been able to finish up the half-written review on my hard drive. Still, if you're only familiar with lead actor Josh Peck from his Nickolodeon sitcom Josh And Drake*, then you are in for a pleasant surprise.

Anyways, here's the poster for the film, which heads out into general release on July 3. (Insert obligatory notation on clicking on the image for a larger version here.)




* And I only am by dint of having a step daughter smack in the middle of the show's demographic.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3: The Poster

This post is for all the parents of tween kids. Here's the first poster for next falls High School Musical 3: Senior Year.

If you have somehow managed to miss the insanely huge phenomenom that is High School Musical, you don't have kids, a television or both. Suffice it to say, the folks at Disney have struck a gold mine with two made-for-television pop music confections and an avalanche of merchandising tie-ins that would make George Lucas envious.

Interestingly, I believe this marks the first time that a made-for-television movie has spawned a theatrical sequel. Usually, it's the other way around. (Yes, Revenge Of The Nerds IV: Nerds In Love, I'm looking at you.) Of course, you also to have to remember that the first High School Musical was originally developed as a third Grease movie, so I guess there's a nice symetry in everything.

I don't know much about the plot of this new film beyond the fact that as graduation approaches, the series' main couple Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) face the possibility of being apart due to going to different colleges. And there presumably will be some singing and dancing. In a high school.

New DARK KNIGHT Poster: World Without Rules

I have to hand it to the folks at Warner brothers, who seem to be tirelessly pumping out the promotion for the upcoming The Dark Knight. Over at the Why So Serious site, there's a new page which seems to be promising some new game in four days. (In the meantime, if you can’t identify at least half the subjects of the vandalized portraits than turn off your computer and head back to school.)

If you click on the knife pinning the joker playing card to the wall, you get the new poster below. For a much bigger, high resolution version, just click.

NYCC: SPIRIT Teaser Poster!

While it was supposed to be unveiled later today during the New York Comic Con panel to promote Frank Miller's adaptation of the classic comic The Spirit, the teaser poster surfaced last night. Anyone familiar with Spirit creator Will Eisner's work will see the similarities here.

Stay tuned for our coverage of Miller's appearance at Comic Con, plus loads of other film related events from the show.

INCREDIBLE HULK Poster

While we have been indunated with advertising for the upcoming superhero flicks Iron Man and The Dark Knight, the summer's third four color cinematic adaptation, The Incredible Hulk, has been flying realtively low to the ground, with only a trailier and a small number of photographs having been released.

But with its release now just two months away, things are starting to heat up a beat. The film's director Louis Leterrier will be at the New York Comic Con this coming weekend to drum up support for the film, and will be joined by actor Tim Roth, who will be playing the villain of the flick. We'll be on hand to bring you coverage of their appearance.

In the meantime, IGN has managed to premier the film's poster, which we share with you below. As always, click to make bigger.


The Incredible Hulk smashes its way into theaters June 13.

New Poster Art From Frank Miller's SPIRIT

OK, technically I know that the titutlar hero of comic book writer/artist-turned film director Frank Miller was created by the legendary Will Eisner, but when you look at the trio of posters at the right, one gets the impression that Frank Miller is definitely stamping his own visual sensabilities on this upcoming feature.

Superhero Hype were the ones to debut this bit of art that will be used in outdoor advertising for the movie.

If you got to the website mentioned on the poster, you'll find this little countdown clock-

But what is it counting down to? Some quick math puts the end point at Saturday, April 19 at 4 pm, coincidentally, the same time as Miller's scheduled appearance at the New York Comic Con. What a coincidence, huhn? Good thing we'll be on hand at the con to report if anything happens...

X-FILES 2 Poster?

Making the rounds today is a purported teaser poster for the upcoming X-Files 2 movie. I say purported as it comes from an anonymous source over at AintItCool and a few other sites are expressing doubts.

Personally, I like the design, so it would be a shame if it was fake. But bravo to the faker.

It is about time that we start seeing promotional materials for the film, with its late-July release getting closer. Of course, there could be a delay as Chris Carter, creator of the original X-Files television series and director of the new film, has stated that he and studio Twentieth Century Fox are at loggerheads over what the film's title should actually be. Then again, with a design along the lines of what's below, you don't need to have a final title ready.

Click to make bigger.

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL Poster

Movie poster artist Drew Struzan has become famouse among film fans in part for the artwork he contributed to the advertising campaign for the Indiana Jones films. It's nice to see that even he is back for the new Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skulls, turning in the great artwork you see below. Needless to say, it doesn't appear as if Spielberg, Lucas and company are as concerned now about certain spoilers concerning the titular Crystal Skull.

(Click to make bigger)

Two IRON MAN Posters- Domestic And International

The summer movie season seems to start earlier and earlier every year, this season starting on May 2nd with the opening of the Robert Downey, Jr. starring superhero flick Iron Man.

Two new posters for the film sprung up overnight- One for the domestic release (left) and one for the international release (right). They’re so similar, mostly just a rearrangement of the key images, that I have to wonder why did they bother to do two different posters at all. The only thing detracting from the international poster is the explosion in the lower right of the art. It looks as if someone realized there was empty space there and just plugged the first thing they could find into the hole. Also, am I the only one who looks at the silhouette of Iron Man in flight and can’t help but think of The Rocketeer?

Via IMP Awards and Cinematical.

New WALL-E Poster!

With Sunday's Academy Award win for Best Animated Feature still fresh in everyone's mind, Pixar and Disney has unleased the poster art for this summer's release of Wall-E. The story concerns a futuristic robot searching for a meaning to his electronic life on an Earth that had been abandoned by humans centuries earlier. Based an early report that stated there is very little dialog in the film, I've tried to stay away from spoilers as I think that Pixar might be on to something fairly special here. We'll find out June 27.

Click on the poster to make bigger.

CHICAGO 10 Poster

Documentarian Brett Morgen's portrait of movie mogul Robert Evans, The Kid Stays In The Picture, was one of the most visually interesting documentaries in some time, combinig photography and animation to tell its story.

Now Morgen takes this style and expands with his new documentary Chicago 10, which opens in limited release on February 29 before expanding in March. Just in time for the presidential election season, Chiacago 10 tells the story of the riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention and the protestors placed on trial for instigating them.

In anticipation of the film's release Deep Focus has released the film's poster. (Click for a bigger look.)

QUANTUM OF SOLACE Teaser Poster Revealed (For Real This Time)

A few weeks back, just days after the title was officially announced, we told you about an alleged teaser poster for the upcoming 22nd James Bond adventure Quantum Of Solace that was making the internet rounds. A cluttered and ugly mess of a poster, it was quickly denounced as a fake by virtually all.

Now we have the official teaser trailer for the movie, courtesy of the guys over at Moviephone. (Click to make bigger)

While it is, as expected, a marked improvement over the fake that circulated a few weeks back, it just isn't grabbing me all that much. While I like the ominous shadow and the fact that Bond appears to have the same gun he was armed with in the last scene of Casino Royale, thus strengthening the ties between the two films in the public's mind at an early stage, it seems to lack a certain something that I can't quite define. Perhaps it will grow on me. I wasn't that thrilled with the Quantum Of Solace title at first, but I'm slowly warming up to it.

Quantum Of Solace blasts Daniel Craig's interpretation of Bond back on to the screen in November.

PRINCE CASPIAN Poster

The Pevensie children return to Narnia in November for Walden Media's second installment of their adaptation of C. S. Lewis Chronicles Of Narnia, Prince Caspian. The story finds the children returning to the magical land of Narnia several hundreds of years after their last visit to find that things have once again descended into darkness and that they must fight to restore the right ful ruler, Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), to his throne.

This new poster (click to enlarge) for the film definitely plays up the darker elements of the new film, though I'm not sure I like how the Pevensie children have been relugated into the background though.

First Bond QUANTUM OF SOLACE Poster? Probably not.

It seems that while most of us were sleeping, a poster purporting to be the teaser for the new James Bond adventure Quantum Of Solace, and yes the title is starting to grown on me a bit, has begun to surface. You can see it here at the right, click on it to make bigger.

I say purported poster because I don't think it is legitimate for two reasons, besides the fact that the poster just looks ugly and cluttered for a teaser poster.

First and foremost is the possessive credit for the film's director Marc Forster. No director in the past has ever received such a credit on a Bond film and I don't see producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli starting to hand them out now. The only time there has been a possessory credit on a Bond film has been in relation to Bond's creator, author Ian Fleming- "Ian Fleming's Casino Royale or Ian Fleming's James Bond in Casino Royale."

Second, the font used is for the title is obviously different from the one used at the film's official website and at last week's press confrence announcing the title-



It appears as if the poster first showed up over at ToxicShock, but it looks as if they've been had.

Get Teased For Some SEX AND THE CITY

If you like your cinematic Manhattan a little less devastated than you'll find in Cloverfield, than you might be looking forward towards to this spring's Sex And The City, the feature film sequel to the popular HBO cable series. Fans of the series will have to wait another four months to find out what the latest was happening with writer Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her friends. In the meantime, here's the film's first teaser poster. (Click to make bigger.)


Via Cinematical.

MPAA Stupidly Rejects Documentary Poster

The Motion Picture Association of America have rejected the poster for Taxi To The Dark Side, a documentary that traces the use of torture in the United States’ recent military campaigns from from Afghanistan's Bagram prison to Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay.

The poster depicts two soldiers walking away from the camera, escorting a hooded detainee. In a statement to Variety, an unnamed MPAA spokesperson-

We treat all films the same. Ads will be seen by all audiences, including children. If the advertising is not suitable for all audiences it will not be approved by the advertising administration.

It appears that the offending image, at least to the MPAA's eyes, is the hood on the detainee. Last year, the MPAA rejected a poster for the documentary The Road To Guantanamo which featured a hooded prison hanging by his handcuffed wrists. At the time, Howard Cohen, co-president of Roadside Attractions, who released Road To Guantaamo, stated that the reason he was given for the refusal was that the burlap bag over the prisoner's head depicted torture, which was not appropriate for children to see.

Taxi’s producer/writer/director Alex Gibney finds that reasoning spurious and unacceptable, considering that the poster’s image is based on a photograph taken by photojournalist Shaun Schwarz.

Not permitting us to use an image of a hooded man that comes from a documentary photograph is censorship, pure and simple. Intentional or not, the MPAA's disapproval of the poster is a political act, undermining legitimate criticism of the Bush administration. I agree that the image is offensive; it's also real.

Taxi To The Dark Side has already played to acclaim on the festival circuit and is currently on the short list for nomination for a Best Documentary Feature Academy Award. The film is scheduled to open on January 11, 2008.

In addition to running the rating system, the MPAA also has approval over all advertising materials, including posters, used. If ThinkFilm were to go ahead and use the poster anyway, it would run the risk of the MPAA revoking the film's R rating. While ThinkFilm could still release the film unrated, it would face an uphill battle with distribution as many theater chains will not screen and many newspapers will not carry advertising for unrated films.

I'm no fan of the MPAA. I find the rational given for many of their decisions to be hopelessly simplistic and condescending. I find it hard to believe that the MPAA is expressing concern for children over this image. Where was this concern when they approved the phallic visual puns in the posters for Deuce Bigelow: European Gigolo and Balls Of Fury?

Congratulations MPAA! Yet another stupid decision in your organization's long line of stupid decisions.


Via Cinematical

SPEED RACER Teaser Poster

Below is the first teaser poster for next summer's live action animae adaptation Speed Racer. Although you can click on the poster to make it ginormous, you might want to check it out at your local cineplex, as it is lenticular (that cool 3D thing).

DARK KNIGHT Trailer And Yet Another Poster!

If you happened to have skipped I Am Legend this weekend - and I don't blame you if you did - you wound up missing the premier of the new trailer for Christopher Nolan's upcoming Batman film, The Dark Knight. While cruddy looking bootleg versions have been popping up all over the internet all weekend, Warner Brothers has officially released it online at one of the film's many viral marketing websites.

Also this weekend, another teaser poster has shown up, this time over at Ropes Of Silicon. This latest poster harkens back to a poster from a few weeks back that also carried the "Why so serious?" tag line.

New DARK KNIGHT International Poster (Updated With Second Poster!)

If you can't wait for your first look at footage from the upcoming Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight - a trailer for the film will be attached to standard prints of I Am Legend while the film's first five minutes or so will screen in front of IMAX presentations of I Am Legend - then we have this treat for you- the new international poster for the film.


I really like this design, especially the way it creates the ambiance that Batman is the protector of Gotham City, yet this role leaves him isolated. While it's a different feel than the recently released "Why So Serious?" poster released two weeks ago, both posters definitely evoke the right tone for the characters they are featuring.

The Dark Knight is set to open on July 18, 2008.

Via Collider.

Update: A second poster has shown up online, this one featuring Ledger's Joker.

Click on either poster to make bigger.