Ryan McNeilI was thinking long and hard about this week’s top five, and found myself staring out my apartment window while doing so. I noticed a building a few blocks over from me, that has an entire wall painted up as a movie poster. In three years of living here, that wall has never not had some gigantic movie ad on it. Right now it’s featuring the rather nifty looking poster for AMERICAN GANGSTER – which really looks good…if not vaguely familiar.
I’ve always loved movie posters like both of these that are more graphically interesting. And since a picture is worth a thousand words, you’ll excuse me if I let the images do the talking today.
My Top 5 Movie Posters
#5. CHINATOWN (1974)
#4. PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (2002)
#3. HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH (2001)
#2. THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975)
#1. AMERICAN BEAUTY (1999)
Did I forget one? Post a comment and tell me your choices for awesome posters. Likewise, feel free to make suggestions for next week’s top five.
I’ve always been partial to the poster for THE EXORCIST and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.
I think you forgot THE PIANIST (I thought that was one of your faves?)
L.
Ah yes, I had a whole bunch I was choosing from written on a scratch pad, and THE PIANIST was the last one I crossed off.
I HAVE always loved that one for its simplicity – that it tells you a lot about the story without even showing a face.
Vertigo…Anatomy of a Murder…
Funny thing… Ever since the first time I saw the poster for American Beauty I always thought to myself “that looks like something Mav would shoot”.
Nice picks, btw. Although your links to American Gangster and Scarface have one too many “http://” tags in the address line.
Thanks for the kind words about my photo skills Sean…and thanks for catching my broken links.
All of the SAWs… 🙂
-Sue
None of the Star Wars or Lord of the Rings films?
One of my faves is the original pre-release poster for Harry Potter with the lights of the boats and the castle in outline.
Funnyyou mention those two series…since both of ’em suffer from Letsputasmanyfacesaswecanfitontheposter-itis.
I find images that lean more towards a simpler layout work far better (much like that Harry Potter teaser poster you mentioned – good call).
I always DID like the Episode I teaser poster though:
http://www.dan-dare.org/Dan%20Saber/StarWarsEpisodeI1.jpg
I was thinking that too after I left the original comment – that LotR borrowed a good bit of that from the SW series. But I love the original 3,4, and 5 posters – old school, “comic book-esque” that wasn’t necessarily seen before?
The pic is the teaser with Anakin and the shadow, I assume?
Nice selections! The American Beauty poster is near perfect.
Although I really really like Punch Drunk Love, for the longest time, I thought the poster was a picture of the two at a baseball stadium, and this discouraged me from renting it. Happily now though, I own it, and the part where they talk dirty to each other is, in my mind, one of the greatest scenes in recent film history.