Category: Articles

Adam West, star of TV’s ‘Batman,’ dead at 88

We are saddened to report that actor Adam West has died. Following a brief battle with leukaemia, West passed away Friday night in the US at the age of 88. His family released a brief statement.

“It’s with great sadness that we are sharing this news,” read the message. “Adam West passed away peacefully last night after a short but brave battle with leukemia. He was a beloved father, husband, grandfather, and great-grandfather. There are no words to describe how much we’ll miss him. We know you’ll miss him too and we want you to know how much your love and support meant to him throughout the years. Hug your loved ones today.”

Best was of course best known for portraying Bruce Wayne/Batman in the 1960s Batman TV series from 1966 to 1968, a role that he reprised for the 1966 Batman film, The New Adventures of Batman, The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour, and most recently in the animated Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders animated film last year. West said he played Batman “for laughs, but in order to do [that], one had to never think it was funny. You just had to pull on that cowl and believe that no one would recognize you.”

West’s career began in the 1950s, as a children’s TV show host. He played opposite Chuck Connors in Geronimo (1962) and The Three Stooges in The Outlaws Is Coming (1965). For an entirely different generation, his distinctive voice was heard in The Fairly OddParents, The Simpsons and Family Guy, where he played a fictional version of himself.

June 11, 2017
7 DC Comics characters who still need their own movie

Before the DC Extended Universe, cinema took its time to explore the vastness of the DC Comic book library. Despite this, characters as diverse as Swamp Thing, Catwoman, Constantine, Green Lantern, and even Steel managed to get their own films amidst a sea of Superman and Batman films. Even though Aquaman, Shazam, and the Green Lantern Corps are pegged for adaptations, we reckon the universe could get even bigger.

Strap yourself in as we dream big from the comfort of a desk somewhere in suburbia. We wield no power, but the last time we did one of these lists, two of our picks were adapted into television series. Just sayin’. It’s the internet after all, and what kind of entitled fans would we be if we didn’t make listicles like this? If there’s anybody else you’d like to suggest, sound off in the comments below.

Booster Gold

This one seems like a no-brainer. An origin story could very easily show this future-born character arriving in the present to use his powers for personal gain and showmanship. As a time traveller, he also acts a connective tissue between different strands of the DCEU. As recently as 2016, Arrowverse producer Greg Berlanti was in talks for producing/directing a film based on a script by Zack Stentz (X-Men: First Class, Thor, The Flash TV series). This one would be fun.

Black Canary

A character with a long and sometimes complicated history, her depiction on the small screen has been a little bit fraught. If we’re being less generous, they really dropped the ball on her. A character that traces her origins back to 1947, she’s been a member of the Justice League, Team Arrow and the Birds of Prey. Yet if DC really want to start afresh with her cinematic portrayal, they could take a leaf out of the Cameron Stewart, Brenden, Fletcher, Babs Tarr, and Cameron Stewart run. Dinah goes by the stage name of D.D., and fronts the band Ashes on Sunday. As her powers develop, so do the number of her enemies. It would be a totally punk ride.

The Question

As one of the inspirations for Rorschach in Watchmen, he was originally a Charlton Comics creation of Steve Ditko. A highly outspoken journalist with a vigilante alter ego, the 1980s series written by Dennis O’Neil and primarily drawn by Denys Cowan is prime fodder for adaptation. Infused with an Eastern philosophy, and a definte dosage of noir, this could work just as easily as a television series. Even so, we really want to see the adventures of Vic Sage on the big screen.

Animal Man

Although Animal Man had been around since the 1960s, he remained something of second-stringer until Grant Morrison began his historic postmodern, metaphysical, and fourth-wall breaking run in the 1980s. Along with a strong environmentalist and animal rights stance, Morrison’s exploration of the nature of reality could make this a truly distinct film. Plus, a character with the power to ‘borrow’ the abilities of animals has a multitude of possibilities.

Power Girl

Although it took Wonder Woman 75 years to reach the big screen, DC Comics needs more heavy-hitting female superheroes in their cinematic universe. With Supergirl currently starring in her own TV show, her Earth-Two equivalent Kara Zor-L would make the perfect addition to the DCEU. Also Superman’s cousin, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti’s superb run – in which the creators spend as much time fleshing out the comedic adventures of her alter ego Karen Starr – would be the ray of light DC needs at the cinema right now.

Midnighter

Originally published under the WildStorm banner, and created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch, the character first turned up in Stormwatch. Once described by Ellis as “The Shadow by way of John Woo,” the character’s super-strength combined with a penchant for ultraviolence would land the movie right in the middle of Hollywood’s current obsession with R-rated superhero flicks. Plus, Midnighter also happens to be gay. If there was ever a hero that could break the current DC mould, it’s this one.

Batwoman

Once described by Out magazine as the “highest profile gay superhero to ever grace the pages of DC Comics,” this is a another way of expanding the Batman Family without actually making another Batman film. While her surface similarity to Batgirl (already slated for a film by Joss Whedon) may lead to some brand confusion, since her reintroduction in 2006 (following a long absence from the comic books) she has been a distinct and kick-ass character in the DCU. A recent storyline saw her leading a boot camp for new heroes, which is a perfect way of bookending a film with Batman without making him the focus yet again.

June 2, 2017
Best Film and TV Posters of May 2017

It’s the end of the month, so it is time to reflect, relax and rewind our way back through the one-sheets, banners, promotional artwork and posters released in the last calendar month, highlighting some of the ones we though were noteworthy. It’s a little section we like to call Best Posters.

This month’s poster selection has more Eisner Award winners than you can poke a stick at. Why you’d be poking sticks at Eisner winners, we don’t know. What’s wrong with you?

Let us know in the comments below if we’ve missed your favourite, we got it wrong, or better yet, if we got it very right. Now to kick things off a little differently.

[stextbox id=”grey” bgcolor=”F2F2F2″ mleft=”5″ mright=”5″ image=”null”]Clusterwhoops

We don’t like to get negative in a column entitled ‘Best Posters,’ but’s it’s hard to avoid mentioning this month’s most talked-about poster. To quote DC and Marvel illustrator David Yardin (via Twitter), “Do movie studios realise people are laughing at & judging their MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR movie due to their bad Photoshop posters? It doesn’t even have to be a hand drawn poster; just use an artist with a good eye & is good with Photoshop, if manipulating photos.” This is a textbook example of what we don’t look for in a poster: clumsy Photoshop, three characters appearing multiple times, Tony Stark’s head is at least twice as big as the star, and it also appears to be on fire. This is a major studio release, and as the rest of the films show below prove, it’s not that hard to get it right on a smaller budget. Now, back to the good stuff.[/stextbox]

BATTLE OF THE SEXES

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine, Ruby Sparks) direct this film about the infamous 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Devoid of stars Emma Stone and Steve Carell, the minimalist poster even has classic folds in it as though it were a paper poster. We already love this film.

THE BEGUILED – Designers: P+A

If we weren’t already super excited by the release of Sofia Coppola’s film, for which she has already won Best Director at Cannes, then this elegant poster would sell us completely. Note that the film’s singular male character is cut off by the poster’s edges, along with Elle Fanning’s positioning in relation to Kirsten Dunst and Nicole Kidman.

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING

Is this poster everything? We’re not sure, but it sure is bright and pretty.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY – Designers: Paolo Rivera

Eisner Award-winning comic book artist Rivera gives Mondo his take on the first Guardians of the Galaxy film. We love the way the artist takes a leaf out of the layout for the older EC Comics books, such as Tales From the Crypt or The Vault of Horror.

HELLBOY: RISE OF THE BLOOD QUEEN – Designer: Mike Mignola

With the surprising news that Neil Marshall would be directing a new Hellboy film starring David Harbour, the character’s creator (another Eisner Award winner) has crafted a promotional teaser that has us even more excited for the reboot.

HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES

It’s the year of Neil Gaiman (or is it Stephen King?), and following the ongoing success of American Gods, an adaptation of his 2006 short story is soon making its way to the big screen. It’s also John Cameron Mitchell’s first feature since 2010’s Rabbit Hole.

KILL SWITCH – Designers: Ignition

There’s a series of great posters for this upcoming American-Dutch sci-fi film, but the great thing about this poster is that it’s a poster for itself. Meta.

THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER

Even before the global cult hit of The Lobster we loved director Yorgos Lanthimos’ outright weirdness in Dogtooth, Attenberg, and Alps. If this poster is any indication, or its Cannes Film Festival award for Best Screenplay, then it will be equally and engagingly weird.

MAKYAJ – Designer: Berkcan Okar

We may never know what this film is about, and while a simple Google search could probably tell us, we’ll just admire the seemingly infinite patterns of Yilmaz, Bayrak, and Alben.

MOTHER! – Designer: James Jean

One of the most talked-about posters of the last month, Jennifer Lawrence really puts her heart into it, or pulls it out or something. Artist James Jean (yup, another Eisner Award winner) brings his inimitable style to Darren Aronofsky’s new film. Let’s just hope it’s better than Noah.

OKJA – Designers: BOND

Yeah, go on. Explain that one.

POWER RANGERS

While the film didn’t do so well commercially, its posters have appeared at least three times in this column. Spider-Man: Homecoming, eat your heart out. Unless J-Law gets there first.

SUSANNE BARTSCH: ON TOP – Designers: LA

“Ms. Bartsch’s name,” said the The New York Times, is “the night life equivalent of a couture label, thanks to the numerous extravaganzas she staged in cities from Montreal to Miami.” Amazing work for a store mannequin.

WOODSHOCK – Designer: Kellerhouse Inc

A poster that lives up to the title of the film.

WONDER WOMAN

The Chinese poster for the fourth film in the DC Extended Universe is unlike any other. While we could comment on the depiction of the titular character, what’s up with Steve Trevor?

xXx: RETURN OF XANDER CAGE – Impossible Series

For the home release of the third instalment in Vin Diesel’s other franchise, the studio commissioned a series of posters recreated scenes from the film. This is one we want to try at home.

May 31, 2017
Best Film and TV Posters of April 2017

It’s the end of the month, so it is time to reflect, relax and rewind our way back through the one-sheets, banners, promotional artwork and posters released in the last calendar month, highlighting some of the ones we though were noteworthy. It’s a little section we like to call Best Posters.

This month we’ve got everything from the heavy-hitting posters for the next Star Wars film through to independently produced Australian noir (Trench). If there’s a theme this month, it’s duality: at least four posters work in multiple directions (Colossal, Newton, Sense 8, The Mist), while others (Star Wars, The Void) show the divide between light and dark. Yeah, we get deep around here.

Let us know in the comments below if we’ve missed your favourite, we got it wrong, or better yet, if we got it very right.

BERLIN SYNDROME – Designer: Jason Cooper

Cooper created a series of posters for Cate Shortland’s beautifully shot kidnap thriller. Using the themes of “Deception,” “Entrapment,” and “Control,” Cooper’s minimalist approach highlights the tension underlying the film and the importance of small objects in this closed environment. This poster recalls a particularly climactic sequence in the film.

COLOSSAL – Designers: We Buy Your Kids

Australian duo We Buy Your Kids (and Mondo) stretch the poster to giant-sized lengths for this visual representation of the most unique monster film in a long time. Text notwithstanding, the imagery could be viewed in either direction, as a kind of psychedelic reflection of (literal) inner demons.

FREE FIRE – Designer: Jay Shaw

The film takes us back to the wide-collared 1970s for a balletic bit of gunplay where the words fly as fast as the bullets. Jay Shaws retro design, including the groovy font and the Dadaist/photomontage look of the finger blocking the gun barrel.

GIRLBOSS – Designers: P+A and Autumn de Wilde

Using photography by Autumn de Wilde, Britt Robertson owns this vividly coloured poster for the new Netflix series.

THE HIDDEN BATTLE (La Batalla Desconocida) – Designers: PABLO DÁVILA ESTUDIO

The visually striking poster features art by Pablo Dávila Castañeda, photography by Suso Bello, and photo retouching by Joan Locubiche. The studio comes together in a montage for Paula Cons’ documentary.

ISLE OF DOGS

The most interesting thing about the poster for Wes Anderson’s forthcoming film, about a boy’s odyssey in search of his dog in Japan, is how plain it is. The bulk of the poster is dominated by the impressive cast list with their names duplicated in Japanese, but it’s the titular dogs surrounding a recently (crash)landed pilot that draws the eye.

L.A. BURNING – Designers: Leroy and Rose

A powerful poster for the film documenting the 25th anniversary of the LA Riots, Leroy and Rose go a long way towards earning their self-appointed slogan of being the “best agency in the universe.” The visual concept is a simple one, but they pull it off beautifully.

THE MIST

As the Year of Stephen King rolls on, the forthcoming TV show gets a one-sheet that quite literally flips the script. Interestingly enough, a similar concept was used for The Dark Tower poster that we highlighted last month. Mind you, we also included the poster for It, and that clown can damn well stay the right way up, thank you very much. We must move on: there are other worlds than these.

NEWTON – Designers: By Two Design

The film, which follows the fight for free elections in India, gets a beautiful and organic design from By Two Design. On their website, they explain their inspiration: “In collaboration with the clients, we took inspiration from folk art specific to the region and adopted the vibrant colours and textures in a contemporary context. The poster was thought of as a playing card, to convey duality and the title of the film is an ambigram.”

SENSE8: SEASON 2 – Designers: BLT Communications, LLC

What were we just saying about upside-down worlds?

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI – Designers: LA

If this is going to be the Empire Strikes Back of the sequel trilogy, then red seems like a reasonable choice of colour. The posters naturally recall familiar elements from the past, with Daisy’s pose reminiscent of Luke’s in the original Star Wars poster designed by Tom Jung for the 1977 release.

TRENCH – Designer: Julyan Stephens

We’re pretty excited about the release of this Australian noir from Paul Anthony Nelson and Perri Cummings. We asked Paul about his thoughts on what he wanted for the teaser: “I wanted to give a little insight into the unconventional — and not particularly professional, or efficient — detective we’re introducing here, by spotlighting the tools of her trade. And we felt that the “knolling” approach (ie. the art of photographing neatly arranged objects from above) was such a distinctly modern way of seeing things, that it was a perfect way to flag TRENCH‘s constant collision of the past and the present, which runs through everything about the movie — from its film noir setting in modern-day Melbourne, to the way it was shot in digital, but framed at a 4:3 ratio in black and white like an old Hollywood noir. So we pitched this idea to our poster designer, Julyan Stephens, and he came back with this. Needless to say, he landed the plane like a champ.”

THE VOID – Designers: Gravillis Inc

Canada has a lot of big claims to make in the horror genre, from David Cronenberg to John Fawcett, and the poster for Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie’s creature feature really puts its finger on what creeps us out the most.

April 30, 2017
Jonathan Demme: A Tribute in Posters

Today marked the sad passing of filmmaker Jonathan Demme, due to complications from esophageal cancer and heart disease, at the age of 73.

The award-winning filmmaker was perhaps best known for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), one of only a handful of films to scoop Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Actress and screenplay. Yet his career stretched back to the 1970s, with screenplays for Angels Hard as They Come and The Hot Box before making his director debut with exploitation film Caged Heat (1974). His other features included Philadelphia and

Yet Demme was also a successful documentarian and maker of innovative concert films. Stop Making Sense (1984), chronicling three nights with The Talking Heads, is an essential combination of art and music. Three decades later, Neil Young: Heart of Gold looked back at the career of another great musician.

These handful of posters only cover a small number of his dozens of works, but it’s our tip of the hat to one of the greats. He will be missed.

April 27, 2017
7 films to watch at Easter

Easter films tend to take on two forms: the religious kind or the ones with bunnies. While never quite as prolific as the Christmas film, yet far more common than the elusive Labor Day Weekend Holiday specials, you can still hunt for these yummy eggs this Easter.

Here we’ve compiled a list of some favourite films that our readers voted for on Facebook and Twitter. Plus, there’s a few childhood favourites that we couldn’t help but include. Did we miss your favourite treat? Sound-off in the comments below.

Easter Parade (1948)

Winning a place at the head of this list, partly due to the title, Charles Walters’ film focuses on a nightclub performer (Fred Astaire) who hires a green chorus girl (Judy Garland) to make his former partner (Ann Miller) jealous. Its Easter credentials come in the former of a bunny in the opening scenes (pictured above), along with a string of Irving Berlin songs that include “Happy Easter” and the title track, which closes out the film at the titular parade.

Mallrats (1995)

“You know what? There is NO Easter Bunny! Over there, that’s just a guy in a suit!” While not strictly an Easter film, the Easter Bunny is at the heart of Kevin Smith’s second feature. The central comedy is around love, break-ups and reunions in a suburban mall, there’s an infamous scene in which Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Smith) beat up the Easter Bunny under the mistake belief that he attacked Brodie (Jason Lee). The looks on the faces of the children are priceless.

See also: Critters 2, in which church and secular celebrations collide to finish off the Easter Bunny.

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

There has to be at least one film on the Christian Easter celebrations here, and it’s hard to pass up on Martin Scorsese. While it may not have been Scorsese’s most successful film either critically or commercially, it remains a legacy and one of the few intelligent discussions on the nature of Jesus in cinema. Scorsese doesn’t provide any easy answers. It poses questions, presenting ideas that are not designed to challenge or undermine faith, but reinforce it in those that have it, and provide a provocative alternative for those who do not. Read our full review >>

See also: The Robe, The Passion of the Christ, The Gospel According to Saint Matthew and Jesus Christ Superstar.

It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974)

No holiday is complete without a Peanuts special. There’s even one for Arbor Day. We couldn’t make that up if we tried. This TV movie was the 12th based on the Charles M. Schultz comic strips, and it was screened annually between 1974 and 2000 on CBS and various stations around the world. Just like Halloween, Linus tries to convince the Peanuts gang that the Easter Beagle will take care of their Easter needs, although his track record is a bit dodgy after The Great Pumpkin fiasco. Snoopy’s sequences are suitable trippy, such as the dancing sequence above.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971)

Rankin/Bass Productions are also staples of the holiday season, and they are equal parts beloved seasonal stories and acid trips filtered through stop-motion animation. Casey Kasem voices the eponymous bunny, taken from the 1949 Easter song of the same name. It sees Peter set to become the successor to Colonel Wellington B. Bunny as the Easter Bunny, except Peter’s lying and cheating ways get him in trouble. It’s actually an all-season film as well, with Peter’s journey taking him through Valentine’s, Christmas, the Fourth of July and even St. Patrick’s Day!

See also: The Easter Bunny Is Comin’ to Town (1977)

Hop (2011)

Despite treading familiar ground cautiously, and inevitably tainting the timeless quality of Easter specials with an unnecessarily modern approach, HOP represented a welcome and fun return to the holiday tradition of humans and animals working together to save capitalism. U.S.A! U.S.A!

Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)

It’s like Monty Python says: nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition. Did we just reference Sliding Doors? It’s a good thing this list is coming to a close. It’s probably one of the more balanced films on the meaning of the death and life of Jesus, even if its comedic tones give rise to accusations of blasphemy. Yet as John Cleese points out, “It’s not attacking the Church, necessarily. It’s about people who cannot agree with each other.” Now, we challenge you not to whistle that infamous song for the rest of the day.

April 12, 2017
Spider-Verse films we want

With the announcement of the Venom film, and Sony’s plans to create a self-contained Spider-Verse around the wallcrawler with Black Cat and Silver Sable films, the studios opens up a world of possibilities for potential films. A multiverse of ideas in fact.

Here we list a handful of films from the Spider-Verse that could make this tiny version of a cinematic universe something more than the most recent successor to DC’s Catwoman and Steel.

Spider-Gwen

As the runaway hit of the Spider-Verse event, and the most recent addition to the Spider-Verse, this is a no-brainer. Created in 2014 by Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez, it’s set in an alternative Earth where Gwen Stacy was bitten by the radioactive spider instead of Peter Parker. The beauty of this character is that they don’t even have to recast: they could conceivably use a parallel Earth’s Emma Stone as the lead, opening the door for crossovers with previous versions of Spider-Man in all forms. (See our Spider-Verse dream below).

Spider-Man 2099

Created during the height of the comic book boom of the 1990s, this is a version of Spider-Man that has over 3 decades of history. Created by Peter David and Rick Leonardi in 1992 for the Marvel 2099 comic book line, the plot would focus on Miguel O’Hara: a geneticist who gains spider-like abilities during an accident while attempting to recreate the abilities of the original Spider-Man. Several comics feature Miguel meeting the original Peter Parker, and more recent comics had him stranded in the present day. However, the future setting would be a perfect way to continue the Spidey saga on screen and still give viewers a point of difference.

Spider-Woman

Jessica Drew’s history is a complicated one, and her cinematic rights may be just as tricky to get our heads around. Her background features double-agent status on the side of HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D., placing her firmly in Marvel Studio’s camp, but the ‘Spider’ moniker may still see her in Sony’s domain on a technicality. Rumoured to be in consideration for production for a while now, it wouldn’t be Drew’s first time on screen. She was the star of her own short lived animated series in the 1970s, voiced by Joan Van Ark.

Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man

Another parallel world Spider-Man, this is the one that actually seems to be happening. Once upon a time, Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) was leaning in hard to play the character, and he did on the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series in 2015. It was announced in January this year that an animated film featuring Mile Morales would be coming out from Sony at the end of next year. Written by Phil Lord and executive produced by Lord and regular collaborator Chris Miller, it brings aboard director Bob Persichetti (The Little Prince) and Peter Ramsey (Rise of the Guardians).

Spider-Verse

It may take a few films to get there, but if we’re going to do the ultimate fantasy wishlist, let’s go for broke. The 2014-2015 Spider-Verse event claimed to have “Every Spider-Man ever” in print, even including the 1967 animated version, Spider-Ham and Japanese Spider-Man’s Leopardon in the line-up. We propose going one step further, and have Sony acknowledge every live action version of Spider-Man in the process, from the early cartoons through to Nicholas Hammond’s 1970s version, Andrew Garfield and beyond. Hell – Hammond or Maguire could play the father figure to May “Mayday” Parker a.k.a. Spider-Girl. Or Andrew Garfield in a dance-off with Spider-Man 3‘s jazz emo Spider-Man. The possibilities are endless.

April 1, 2017
Best Film and TV Posters of March 2017

It’s the end of the month, so it is time to reflect, relax and rewind our way back through the one-sheets, banners, promotional artwork and posters released in the last calendar month, highlighting some of the ones we though were noteworthy. It’s a little section we like to call Best Posters.

We love poster art, as this monthly column would indicate, so it’s always a joy when it’s difficult to choose from the plethora of options. Practically every genre and several mediums are represented in our line-up, with artists ranging from the traditional PR films (BLT Communications LLC has a big slice of this month’s pie) through to artists known for their comic book work (Becky Cloonan, Tula Lotay, Francesco Francavilla).

Let us know in the comments below if we’ve missed your favourite, we got it wrong, or better yet, if we got it very right.

ADULT – Designer: Jeremy Saunders

Saunders is seemingly a staple on our monthly lists – and for good reason. The way his designs highlight faces, texture, and light are visually engaging, and in this case X literally marks the spot(light).

ALIEN: COVENANT – Designer: BLT Communications LLC

The return of Ridley Scott to the franchise is already compelling, but the twisted body horror is a tip of the hat to H.R. Giger in its literal combination of body parts and other things that are terrifyingly familiar. Either that or it’s the strangest ‘morning after’ story never told.

BABY DRIVER – Designer: BLT Communications LLC

Already the subject of massive internet hype, this comparatively understated one-sheet has all the minimalism of the Coen Brothers’ Fargo tracking through the snow coupled with the promise of director Edgar Wright’s fast-editing wizardry.

BAYWATCH – Designer: BLT Communications LLC

Some people stand in the darkness, afraid to step into the light. Others just need a giant set of balls. What we love about this poster is that it tells you literally everything about the film, but like the object it insinuates it also promises that the real fun is yet to come.

THE BELKO EXPERIMENT – Designer: Blood and Chocolate

The horror film directed by Australia’s Greg McLean and written by James Gunn that reads like a combination between Office Space and Battle Royale. This is part of a series of HR-inspired posters that feature everyday office objects bloody and smashed. If only our tea cups looked this clean.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST – Designer: Matt Ferguson (UK)

The credits notwithstanding, the beautiful thing about this design is that it’s equally applicable to the 1991 film and the 2017 live-action remake. It’s simplicity itself, with a near silhouette of an iconic scene captured forever in a glass case against a plain background. The texturing adds to the timeless quality.

THE BOOK OF HENRY – Designer: P + A and James Goodridge

An immediately iconic poster that instantly recalls Richard Amsel or more specifically Drew Struzan. It’s the kind of imagery that invites you to go on an adventure, and return to it as you would a well-worn book.

CARRIE PILBY – Designer: The Refinery

The coming of age story has been marked for its predominantly female production crew. It can also be praised for it’s gorgeous graphic marketing designs, as the run of hair effortlessly frames those glistening eyes that draw the viewer in.

THE DARK TOWER – Designer: WORKS ADV

The first poster for Nikolaj Arcel’s THE DARK TOWER has arrived online – and it’s as complex as the saga that inspired it. We’re thinking the design is more Dark City than Inception. Make sure you flip your device’s screen and look at it from the other direction, and you might just see a fellow who goes by many names.

THE DEVIL’S CANDY – Designer: Ken Taylor

The always reliable Taylor bathes his subject in red, ensuring that if “He” doesn’t slither into your soul, then his poster will slither into your heart.

DIMINUENDO – Designer: MOTTO

Isn’t this how Viserys Tagaryen died? Meaning “to decrease in loudness,” the final film of actor Richard Hatch (who died in February) the poster communicates the theme of identity the movie appears to play with.

FARGO: SEASON 3 – Designer: ARSONAL

The prospect of another series of FARGO, especially with Ewan McGregor playing no less than two roles. This stamp-based poster appeals to our philatelic sides, and it’s neat that it plays with the existing colour palette of the show’s branding.

THE GET DOWN – Designer: Gravillis Inc

The second half of Baz Luhrmann’s origins of hip-hop comes back to Netflix in April, the collage approach is frame against the dripping paint of the street art that peppered the first instalment.

GHOST IN THE SHELL – Designer: Becky Cloonan

Another design that could apply to the original or the remake, Cloonan created this poster in partnership with Mondo and Kodansha Comics. It’s gorgeous.

A GHOST STORY – Designer: P+A

Already pegged for a number of “best of” lists, this is a poster that fully embraces the power of minimalist design.

IT – Designer: Canyon Design Group

The first poster for Andrés Muschietti’s adaptation of IT mercifully keeps Pennywise mostly out of sight, so he can now only hurt us when we think about his horrifying visage in the dark recesses of our mind.

KONG: SKULL ISLAND – Designer: Francesco Francavilla

In the film, which we quite liked actually, Kong’s size is significantly larger than previous versions and he always seems to be framed by the sunset. Francavilla goes for broke on both of these things, with a Kong who is literally taking on the world.

LIKE ME

Do you? Like me? Surely you like this poster though, with its neon moonlight illuminating rising star Addison Timlin (Little Sister) and her pet rat.

PERSONAL SHOPPER – Designer: Tula Lotay

Lotay, the pseudonym of Yorkshire based comic artist Lisa Wood, commented: “I wanted something ethereal like the film, that captures the tension and underlying sexiness of Stewart’s character. I hope I’ve done it justice.” The artist has done more than that, and while we didn’t appreciate the film as much as Lotay did, her interpretation in this poster makes us want to take a second look.

POWER RANGERS – Designer: LA

The film may have received a critical bashing, but this poster recognised something that the original teaser poster did almost a year ago: there’s a beauty and style to this film, even if it’s eventually buried in the sturm und drang.

SILICON VALLEY: SEASON 4 – Designer: Buster INK

One of our favourite things are posters that take the viral approach, advertising a product or service from the film or TV show itself. The fourth season of the HBO series, an insanely sharp parody of California’s IT crowd, makes that possibility possible.

SQUAD WARS – Designer: Cold Open

The YouTube Red series is produced by BuzzFeed, and the distinctly Jackass vibe doesn’t inspire us. However, the one thing we like more than posters is synchronised swimming, and these illustrated swimmers as all one big star in our eyes!

WONDER WOMAN – Designer: BOND

The “Wonder” across the middle is almost a review for the poster. This is everything that Patty Jenkins’ film represents to the DC Extended Universe: a bright and hopeful light at the centre of a hitherto dark Trinity.

March 31, 2017
Best Film and TV Posters of January 2017

It’s the end of the month, so it is time to reflect, relax and rewind our way back through the one-sheets, banners, promotional artwork and posters released in the last calendar month, highlighting some of the ones we though were noteworthy. It’s a little section we like to call Best Posters.

Happy New Year! After rounding up the Best Film Posters of 2016, it’s time to get cracking on the nominees for 2017.

This month we go from the abstract, to the impressionistic, to the psychedelic, and the just plain disturbing. In other words, it’s a perfect start to the year. Also new this month: trends in posters we’ve noticed.

Let us know in the comments below if we’ve missed your favourite, we got it wrong, or better yet, if we got it very right.

Poster Trends: Slogans Over People

Every now and then, we start to notice trends across posters. This one isn’t new, but it popped up a few times this month. Posters that don’t necessarily have the title of the film prominent, but a giant slogan over the face or body of a person. In the case of the Baywatch posters, they published at least half a dozen of them.

Our favourite posters of January 2017

After the Storm – Designer: Akiko Stehrenberger

One of the best films of the 2016 festival circuit, the 2017 theatrical release comes with a stunning poster to match. Akiko Stehrenberger takes the central father and son figures of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s film, with the ‘lens’ filtered through the storm that redefines their relationship. Read the full review.

Axe Murders of Villisca – Designer: InSync Plus

Another trend we love is ‘things inside shapes of objects’ and this creepy as heck house inside of an axe, with a creepy as heck child inside the house, fits the bill several times over.

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

There’s been a few posters released this month for the Disney remake, but this is the only one that captures the delicate beauty of their most enduring story.

Clinical

Netflix’s original film may tend towards the traditional genre tropes, but the poster stands out for literally deconstructing the psychological thriller theme. Check out our full review here.

Donald Cried – Designer: Gravillis Inc and Akiko Stehrenberger

Another one from Stehrenberger, working with Gravillis Inc, Kris Avedisian’s award-winning debut feature (an extension of his 2012 short) comes with eye-catching poster and the hairiest chest of the month.

Drive – Desinger: Roy Kurtz (for Mondo)

In hiring Kurtz for this project, Monod referred to him as “a perfect fusion of artist and property.” They aren’t wrong: the artist captures the seediness of the LA background and the iconography of the lead, bathing it all in a neon glow.

Endless Poetry – Designer: Andrew Bannister (UK)

We would expect that the poster for Alejandro Jodorowsky’s to be a bit batshit crazy, and this psychedelic trip beneath the waters once sailed by a yellow submarine is something we could happily get lost in for hours. Hmmm….where were we?

Ghost in the Shell – Designer: LA

The jury is still out on the wisdom of this live action remake of the classic Japanese manga/anime, but this LA designed poster is 100% cool. In particular, we like the way it uses the the triangular motif to frame the placement of the figures in this redder than red print.

The Handmaid’s Tale

Even if you’ve never read Atwood’s novel (and you should because it’s terrific), this poster tells you much of what you need to know about the restrictive world of the Handmaids, Econowives and Angels that inhabit a society that is not too distant from our own. Were it not for the folded hands (presumably’s Offred’s), you could almost mistake this for an object – which is very much in keeping with the themes of the work.

Hidden Figures – Designer: Gravillis Inc

A poster of equivalent power to the message behind one of the more inspirational films of the year. Unlike the standard one-sheet, which concentrates on the three figures at the heart of the story, this one gives equal time to their monumental achievements and knowledge. If there’s any sense of style left in the world, this should be the DVD/Blu-ray cover for all time. Check out our full review here.

John Wick Chapter Two – Designer: LA

There is a massive cult buzz surrounding this sequel, so much so that it doesn’t even need to prominently display the title of the film. Indeed, our only clear indicator is the small hashtag at the bottom. Let’s hope sad Keanu’s career continues to be as relit as this poster.

Killing Ground – Designer: Jeremy Saunders

The first of two Jeremy Saunders designs in this month’s selection, the Australian film is about a couple who go camping and discover a bloody toddler wandering the bush. We hope that writer/director Damien Power’s film is half as creepy as this poster.

La La Land (Japan)

Another month, another LA LA LAND poster. This film seems to lend itself to gorgeous designs, but this one-sheet – part of a series for the Japanese release – depicts Sebastian and Mia dancing on a giant set of piano keys.

The Little Hours

Jeff Baena (Life After Beth, Joshy) has a comedy coming out about a man hiding out in a convent full of “emotionally unstable nuns” during the middle ages. What better poster to convey that wonderful concept than this one?

Long Strange Trip

Fans of The Grateful Dead, better known as DeadHeads (because Deadites have vexxed Ash for too long), will finally get to see the untold story of their favourite band on Amazon. Then it won’t be untold anymore. Did nobody think this through? Cool poster though.

Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry – Designer: Wesley W. Bates

This wood engraving style of poster is a perfect accompaniment to this film concentrating on poet, writer, farmer and environmental activist Wendell Berry. The film is lensed through his works, and this poster is a literal window to what makes him tick. Check out this amazing video 2-hour video of Wesley W. Bates showcasing his meticulous wood engraving process.

The Lure

One of the more interesting films of the last 12 months, to say the least, was this lesbian-vampire-mermaid-musical from Poland. You can check out our full review here, but you should really see it for yourself.

Monster Trucks – Designer: BLT Communications and Steven Chorney

This epic retro poster seems to be for a movie entirely different to the one that actually hit cinemas. While this poster offers us the possibility of a Spielbergian flight of fantasy, the actual film was trucks with monsters in them driving in circles really fast.

One Thousand Ropes – Designer: Jeremy Saunders

A film and poster that we are particularly excited about. Samoan New Zealander Tusi Tamasese, who we interviewed back in 2011 for his debut The Orator, is following it up with this deeply personal film about family connections. Saunders stunning poster shows some of that connection in a single image, literally framed in the traditional trappings of the island environment.

Pieles – Designer: Barfutura

There are no words.

The Quacky Slasher – Designer: NeonGoreUk

We rarely include short films on here, but this is an exception for obvious reasons. Apart from having the best horror title since The Greasy Strangler, the grim visage of a duck with a bloody knife is enough to turn anybody vegetarian. Even if we hadn’t already been sans meat since 1999.

Split – Designer: LA

Audiences are divided over M. Night Shyamalan’s latest, but not as much as the head filled with little people in this poster. Now we want to see the entire film animated in this style.

January 31, 2017
Merry Christmas from The Reel Bits!

You there: what day is this?! Why it’s Christmas Day, guvna! Or in our case, it’s a Bitsmas Day. I’d like to wish a Merry Christmas to everyone that is within earshot of this post, and if you could pass it on that’d be great. Thanks, folks.

I hope that that everyone has a great day, whether it is with family, friends, travelling (as I am) or taking refuge in a cinema. If Netflix and chilling is your deal, then even Tiny Tim would bless every single one of you (not that you need it at this point).

I’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone that has supported us this year, from the studios and cinemas to the faithful readers and social media followers, all of whom make this nutty project worth continuing after a crazy SEVEN years of Bitsing.

In the meantime, Australians can look forward to a massive slate of Boxing Day releases to go and watch, while everyone else can look ahead to a pretty full 2017 slate. Otherwise, stay safe and watch this message from the Theatre Management.

December 25, 2016