Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Question for the Week of Jan 28-Feb 3: Retro Opening Credits

What recent movie do you think nails the use of its retro-style opening credit sequence?

Easy peasy: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. I have a lot of love for this movie, for a variety of reasons (I wanted it for another post, but lacked the embed clips). I'm really happy with the interaction between Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer, the story is funny and told in a fun way, and I like the script...

The credits sequence, however, is both fine and unexpected.


And it's neat, I feel:


Stylish, evocative, and brief. I also think it was fairly prescient, considering the opening sequences for the AMC hit Man Men:


I haven't even watched the show and I know about that opener. But, hey, there's another one that I'm actually familiar with: the intro to FX's Archer:


Yes, indeedy, the past is beautiful. My taste spans as "old" and as "new" as I've had the chance to experience, but I prefer some periods over others - at least when it comes to how something sounds and how it looks...

4 comments:


  1. I'll see your Kiss Kiss and raise you Catch Me If You Can:

    http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/catch-me-if-you-can/


    I also like the opener for the BBC series, The Hour:

    http://youtu.be/-fMYgYiQnKM

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    Replies
    1. Ouch! Well played... Yes, CMiYC has a fine opening sequence.

      I see less of the connection with the retro time period and the imagery used for The Hour, tho. I thought art that used those shapes was usually 1920s-40s... but I do like the theme song.

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    2. The Hour is set in the late '50s, so it makes sense that it doesn't make use of the typical 1960s style. I thought we were just going for retro. By the way, I love your picks. I still have to see KKBB, and Archer's opener is just perfect.

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    3. Ah, see, I thought The Hour was set in the very early '60s. I didn't recognize the art as connecting to any post-40's style, so I just wondered what new big hole I had found in my art education...

      KKBB is great fun. Very post-post-post-modern, even for Shane Black. RDJr is fine, Monahan is really good, and it's one of my favorite Val Kilmer performances...

      And although I still haven't watched the Mad Men intro (haha, just the beginning and end to be sure the clip worked), I think Archer is the s--t.

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