Author Archives: russ

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About russ

Russ Ryan is an avid fan of movie posters -- sometimes even more so than the actual movies themselves! But he's not just a poster geek, he also was lucky enough to have a film produced by the makers of AMERICAN PIE -- the classic, unforgettable, much less successful National Lampoon presentation, REPLI-KATE, starring Ali Landry, James Roday, and Eugene Levy.

The Art of Drew Struzan

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If you’re a movie poster fan who likes the stories behind the one-sheets, then be sure to check out The Art of Drew Struzan book (not to be confused with The Movie Posters of Drew Struzan). This elegant coffeetable edition on the legendary 80s movie poster maker shows off Struzan’s huge oeuvre as well as provides an insightful look at his thought process, displaying the many different versions of designs — including lots of rejects — he has come up with over the years.

With an introduction by Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption), Struzan tells of his joys and frustrations with the movie poster biz, including how he didn’t actually meet Harrison Ford in person until 2010 (well after the proven popularity of his Indiana Jones posters) and how he recycled this unused Crocodile Dundee art (below) into the classic Coming To America movie poster…

Bring Me The Head Of…?

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Upon hearing news last night of the death of Osama Bin Laden, I couldn’t help but think of this movie poster from the 1970s Sam Peckinpah film…

Also — and this is no joke — did you hear about the “neighbor” who unwittingly Tweeted about the raid? Apparently, he was kept up late by all those noisy helicopters!

Tarantino Meets Django!

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What do you know? Just last week, we featured the beautiful Italian movie posters by Symeoni and Gasparri from the 1960s spaghetti western, Django — and now comes word that Quentin Tarantino has just finished his latest script, Django Unchained, which will surely be a bloody, modern Southern-ized update on the much-heralded, though little-seen classic…

Franco Spaghetti-O!

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He is the man with no first name (at least one that I could find!) and goes by the nom de plume, P. Franco. But what’s more important is that this Italian illustrator mastered the movie poster art of the spaghetti western (no relation, of course, to Franco-American, maker of SpaghettiO’s).

Although Franco’s credits are chock full of Italian B-movie shoot ’em-ups, much like his poster buds, Symeoni and Gasparri — he also drew a few Hollywood classics, such as Dirty Harry and The Seven Year Itch.

Sparring With Gasparri!

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Rodolfo Gasparri, the Italian stallion movie poster artist, was featured last year for his badass Django sheets — but this guy also had a softer side as he drew up many Italian romances and melodramas, as well.

But never trust an artist who likes guns because you never know when his/her dark side might come out!

Brain Drain

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Here’s your brain…on movie posters! Come to think of it, how come most brain-driven movies are horror/sci-fi stories (with the exception of Steve Martin’s brilliant comedy, The Man With Two Brains)? Aren’t big brains a good thing? We should be celebrating the mind — not running away in terror from them!

Looking For Mr. Candybar?

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You’ve probably heard of Body Heat and Hard Candy, but how ’bout this 1970s X-Rated treat, Body Candy, that’s up on EMoviePoster? It looks like MAD Magazine met up with one of those candy wrapper-clad pin-up paintings by famous pop artist, Mel Ramos.

In any event, since Hollywood seems so recently enamored with making movies out of board games (e.g., Battleship, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots aka Real Steel), it probably won’t be long before they start producing films based on candy bars. I can just see the one-sheet now…Snickers: The Movie!

Yes, Siry!

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If French poster artist, Jean-Etienne Siry, hadn’t been employed in the movie studio art department, he could have easily gotten work doing fashion illustrations with his unique, stylish, colorful sketches.

However, luckily for us movie poster fans, his fun, light, witty designs — much like those of the great Clement Hurel — will always be in style! (via Dominique Besson)

Happy Easter!

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In honor of the upcoming Easter holiday weekend, I thought I’d take this Good Friday to celebrate the works of legendary 1960s and 70s stop-motion/animation studio, Rankin-Bass.

No relation to design icon, Saul Bass (although I could swear the RB logo is done in his trademark style), Rankin-Bass produced a basket full of memorable holiday kidsy classics, including Here Comes Peter Cottontail…