Imposters #43: Bad Words

Much like so many who have seen Arrested Development - and the indie documentary about it that I reviewed last year - I have a great appreciation of and respect for Jason Bateman. I wasn't especially a fan before, but I certainly was after I watched the series. Without him, AD would be such a hard sell. What I'm trying to say is that I hope his career is successful and rewarding.

But I was in the subway system and I saw a poster for a film that he is directing. And, I have to say, I was... quite discouraged by the very look of it. Gaze upon the horror that is the Bad Words promo shown to mass transit commuters:

Seriously, I don't care if it's a poster for Bad Santa or Letters to Sarajevo or Die Untergang, that is one hideous graphic. Although I can imagine that some displeasing images could still get me excited or intrigued to see a film, this one just puts me off.

I will maintain neutrality when I sit down to watch a picture, but before then, you can be damn sure that I will be snide when I see words like "Michael Bay," "Zack Snyder," or "Rob Schneider." This poster, however, comes from someone I like - and yet it's the used tissue of movie posters. I don't want to touch it, much less look at it; I just want it gone, in the trash and out of sight... It's so ugly, all of my coworkers recall it, so I guess it is effective.

But, as repulsive and lackluster as the overall image is, I noticed one exceptional and brilliant element in it. You can only notice this effect, which is a lot like pointillism (tiny dots making up an image), when you see a shot taken from a couple of feet away, as seen to the left.

In effect and execution, the small-scale work here is exceptional. It's vivid, different, and it looks really cool. I am quite simply stunned that someone managed to work such beauty and technical skill into the design for an overall graphic that I find repellent and unengaging. It's like seeing the biggest roach ever, but with a lovely multi-hued butterfly pattern etched onto its nasty little shell.

Seeing such unattractive design married to so much cleverness and beauty is, in its own way, a miracle. And whoever created really deserves a raise, a hug, and a free bottle of something - even if the totality of the work pushes me away.

And, yet, that's not all: the effect is even repeated in the film's title itself, as you can see on the right. If you stand just a few extra feet away, or you walk by very quickly - or you don't have great vision - it is so easy to fail to notice this detail.

The tagline is decent... at least it should give you an idea of what you can expect - a black comedy is my own guess. And I can say that the 60% black section plays nicely off the 40% that is a photo, in addition to the solid fonts used for much of the smaller text. Not to mention the significantly-larger title font, and its sweet pointillism design.

I just wish that the work as a whole looked better. He looks like he either has gas or has smelled someone else having gas! It is, in part, a shame - and a triumph.