From now on, every Monday I’m going to feature posters from remakes — so let’s get to work and start with the movie that recharged the Mini, The Italian Job (1969) vs. The Italian Job (2003).
Tag Archives: movie posters
Reel Characters
Master autuer, Quentin Tarantino, not only reinvented action movies with his trademark funny/violent fight scenes as well as recharged the careers of John Travolta and Pam Grier — he also re-established the artful marketing of character posters with Jackie Brown. And many more movies like Pearl Harbor and The Hangover have since jumped on the bandwagon.
Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975)
Most famous for his vivid, swirling paintings of Midwestern landscapes, farmers, and railroad workers, the regionalist American artist, Thomas Hart Benton, also did a few brief cameos as a movie poster illustrator.
Though not nearly as bold or dramatic as his paintings, his takes on the John Ford classic, The Grapes of Wrath, and The Kentuckian, starring Burt Lancaster, clearly showcase his unique style.
Starstrucked
Over the weekend, I got a chance to look at the latest movie poster book to hit the shelves, Starstruck: Vintage Movie Posters From Classic Hollywood.
Written by Ira Resnick, the famed poster collector/owner of the Motion Picture Arts Gallery, this coffeetable book is a dream for fans of pre-1940’s movies. And with an introduction by Martin Scorsese, you know the guy’s legit. Along with colorful reproductions, the book features even more colorful anecdotes of how Resnick scoured the countryside during the 70’s and 80’s and bought most of these priceless collectibles for a song…Ah, dem were the days.
Happy Easter!
Let There Be Lettick (1919-1986)
Whenever I’m browsing through DVDs of old 70’s and 80’s movies, I’m always attracted to this former magazine illustrator’s work. You see, when Birney Lettick was not busy doing movie posters, he apparently had a very prolific career drawing portraits of such powerful figures as Ayatollah Khomeini and Ronald Reagan for Time.
And what an unusual spelling of his name! I’ve heard of a lotta Bernies before (Bernie Mac, Bernie Madoff, Bernie Kopell, etc.) — but never Birney. So if you’re in the mood, take a moment to stop your world and melt with Birney’s Valley Girl and many other classics.
Xmas List
Moviegoods is counting down the Top 25 Christmas posters…and guess what A Christmas Story is ranked (art by Robert Tanenbaum)?
The Greatest Movie Posters of the Decade(s)
Another solid series of poster books was published by Graham Marsh and Tony Nourmand, owner of The Reel Poster Gallery in London. Each edition covers the best one-sheets of its respective decade and unearths some real finds.
What The Heck Happened To MeanSheets?
MeanSheets was originally created to spoof movies, movie stars, and all of the seemingly infinite pop culture references that saturate our snarky, celebrity-obsessed society. But after a while, I felt kinda sleazy trying to catch up on all of the gossip about Megan Fox and Kim Kardashian…
So, MeanSheets has been rejuven-amped!
MeanSheets will now focus on the art of the movie poster and the many incredibly talented and largely unknown movie poster artists and designers of the 20th Century. So consider MeanSheets like an online museum — where we pay tribute to the Picassos and Matisses of the movie poster world.
And for those of you who still miss the Megan Fox pics, there’s always the archives!
Movie Poster Museum 