Another big factor is that I've had trouble thinking of non-list Question entries, and doing it each week puts some time pressure on me. As such, I'm "cheating" by adding a new feature here, called "Imposters." It's basically about film posters that I see and think are either (a) great or (b) very much not-great. I will use these to relieve the QftWo entries, and I think they count because - predictable or not - they boil down to "what's good/bad about this poster."
It'll allow me to write a little less - even though I will actually be analyzing these images - while letting me restock on my official Question ideas. Am I gaming the system a little? Yes. Does it still count? Yes. Do I find that fact terribly amusing? Hell, yes.
Imposters will be taking over the rest of August's question posts, though they will return for September. After Sept., I'll decide how much to handle all this. I might alternate, or do 1-to-3 for each month, or I might play it by ear. I added the Imposters label to past entries that dealt with this topic. Now, let's kick this off...
After I wrote this entry, I watched the trailer for the HBO film Clear History the other day, and I was quite surprised. The cast for this is exceptional - on the strength of them alone, I'm pretty sure this'll be a good film. But its poster is completely f--king terrible.
There are a lot of folks that I don't recognize because there are a lot of popular TV shows, both good and bad, that I've never seen. I'm also way more selective about the movies I watch, for time/money purposes.
But I've seen the poster for this picture on my commute every day for weeks, and I have no idea who the guy reading the newspaper is, but his image looks totally f--king fake. What's wrong with his face? He looks like CGI!
And he's got this ridiculous-ass Captain Caveman hair (yes, that's hair down to his knees). But when you see the face itself - the parts not buried under s---ty, overgrown hair - the skin looks all weird. Did this guy have skin grafts?... Or horrific acne? The image was almost hypnotically-repulsive.
There is a decent synergy between the overall poster and the text atop it - it works. But I really can't get around how bare the image is, how it only has two points of information - weird-looking dude reads Time's Person of the Year issue and looks at the viewer with shock. I obviously don't design posters, but I'm a photographer with a sense for visuals, and this work misses the mark. By a lot.
And then I do a little research - only after writing this post and realize that it's Larry David himself! That certainly explains the skin - if they're trying to make him look that much younger - but nothing can excuse that ridiculous length and color of hair...
I agree with you about the poster,which does one thing right in that it's as vague about what the point of the plot is as the movie seems to be.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see Clear History but saw enough of the ads for it on HBO to basically shrug my shoulders and say "Nah,not worth my Saturday night". Since I've been seeing a lot of bad movies this month,it's a sure sign of mediocrity that watching something like Spawn sounds better than this:)
Hahaha, I completely understand placing a high value on your time and not thinking that a movie is worth it. I think they should've aired it on a Sunday when people don't prioritize going out and having fun.
DeleteIt's gotten mixed reviews, from what I can tell, but Larry David isn't a bad writer, and that is an impressive cast. I wouldn't look down on anyone for giving it their time.
Oh, man, Spawn! The best things about that movie: Michael Jai White deserves a lot of work; it has an amazingly grim/macabre mentality/they use a Lords of Acid song during the (closing, iirc) credits.