Tarantelli’s Bastards…

We’ve heard of the great Tarantino, but what about Ezio Tarantelli? This illustrious Italian artist created a whole slew of “bella” foglios and locandinas for lots of 60s and 70s B-movies (much like Sandro Symeoni and Antonio Mos), including many spaghetti westerns — and he also had an inglorious basterd poster of his own design called Bastardo Vamos A Matar!

Blow Up Ripoff?

It just occurred to me that maybe The Girlfriend Experience (2009) might have been a bit influenced by Waldemar Swierzy’s Polish version of Blow Up (1967) — which proves once again that good design is indeed timeless.

Saul Bass-a No-No!

This weekend, I was cruising on the APF and came across this intriguing Saul Bass article posted by Big Mel at the MPC.

The article basically touts the work of Christian Annyas, a Dutch graphic designer, who has cleverly documented how modern DVD covers have eliminated the precious past movie posters of Saul Bass since the studios assume most potential customers don’t have the time or interest to reflect on the artwork of the original poster (which is illustrated below in these beloved Bass before and awful non-Bass after shots).

Long Live Lumet!

The movie industry lost a legend today with the passing of film director, Sidney Lumet. Known for his powerhouse courtroom dramas and just flat-out Hollywood classics like 12 Angry Men, Network, and Dog Day Afternoon, Lumet worked with the best actors of his day and even finished on a high note with his last film, the much-underappreciated dysfunctional family heist flick, Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead.

Hand Jobs!

Okay, don’t get too excited because this is just a simple tribute to movie posters with hands, including a few classics by such poster design legends as John Alvin (E.T.) and Saul Bass (The Man With The Golden Arm, In Harm’s Way, and Phase IV).

Blow’d Up!

Wanna see some world-class takes on a classic movie poster? Let’s look at Blow Up, the 1960’s sexy swinging mod movie directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, with a soundtrack by early Herbie Hancock.

With help from Georges Kerfyser (French), Ercole Brini (Italian) and Waldemar Swierzy (Polish), this movie poster knows how to make love to the camera!

Girl On A Motorcycle Smackdown!

One of the most popular movie posters — but not so much the movie — is the 1967 European biker romance flick, Girl On A Motorcycle. Haven’t seen the film, but the posters certainly look like a bit of a tease!

Love These Proper Movie Posters!

Although it’s not Steve McQueen’s finest film, these worldly movie posters for the 1964 romancer, Love With The Proper Stranger, certainly make my heart flutter — especially the Italian foglio by Ercole Brini (bottom left) and the Boris Grinsson Frenchie (bottom right).

Brini Is Beautiful!

If the drawing styles of Toulouse Lautrec and Osvaldo Venturi were to meet up in a dark alley, then you might come out smelling like a rose with the bright watercolory beauties of Italian movie poster artist, Ercole Brini.

From The Bicycle Thief to Blow-Up, his romantic paintings posters added a touch of elegance to whomever was appearing in them — especially his striking, sophisticated portraits of women — as Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren would surely attest. And just his name sounds like one of today’s fashion world gurus…Georgio Armani, Henri Bendel…Ercole Brini! (via DominiqueBesson and MoviePosterDB)