The end of the year is always enjoyable to me because it finally feels like the right time to make lists, and I LOVE making lists. So forgive me if I indulge in at least one more before get too far into 2011. It may be the last, but I’m not promising anything! The poster is usually the first piece of marketing released for a film, the first thing that’s supposed to generate interest in an upcoming film. Too many posters resort to selling a film based purely on floaty-headed stars, but the ones that do something more, that manage to encapsulate the film in a single image or composite of images or are beautiful and evocative on their own, become something more than simply marketing. Here are some posters for 2010 films that particularly stood out. Click any image to see a larger version of the poster.

The Best

 

The Social Network

Just when full-face posters seem to be played out The Social Network takes the concept and in tandem with one of the more memorable taglines of the year, turns it into something that fits the film perfectly. It’s a Facebook profile picture, it’s an image of the man at the center of Facebook, and both revealed and obscured by text, standing in for the searing script that is at least half the reason the film is so much fun to watch. The other half? The great performances led by Eisenberg, whose mug fills the poster.

True Grit

Just words on a page, maybe, but I love me some good typography, and this is great. Plus, making the whole thing look like a wanted poster in blacks and tans (plus the slight bit of red that just makes it even better) gets across the theme and feel of the movie right off the bat. Also, kudos for not bowing to the temptation of putting the faces of your very big stars on the poster.

Rabbit Hole

It’s difficult to get across a sense of time and change in a still image, but that’s what this poster does really well, showing different stages in the relationship between Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as they grieve for their son – the slight gradation in color adds to the emotional range as well.

See the rest under the seats – LOTS of images, so beware slow or mobile connections.

Let Me In

There are several posters for Let Me In that I considered, but this is my favorite, I think – a simple image of a snow angel with telltale blood marring the foot of it. It gets across the theme of combined innocence and monstrosity very simply and succinctly, while also being hauntingly beautiful.

Animal Kingdom

This original Australian poster for Animal Kingdom has it all over the American version, which is still attractive, but doesn’t have the Caravaggio-esque gravity that this moodily-lit family portrait has – a mood that gets at a lot of the feeling and concept of the film.

I’m Still Here

Joaquin Phoenix is still here, but to what degree, and in what way? How much of this is real? The front and center portrait of Phoenix in his wild and crazy phase covered by the partially faded title is perfect to get at the way the film plays with Phoenix’s image and actions and ultimately with reality itself. Where is the line between acting and living? Phoenix walked it for a while, and so does this poster.

Black Swan

This is a relatively recent poster for Black Swan, which was mostly promoted using the closeup of Natalie in Black Swan makeup, but I kind of like this one better – a porcelain-perfect Natalie with a crack suggesting her inner trauma. If the first poster is the Black Swan triumphant, this one is the White Swan cracking up, a mode I find more evocative in some ways.

127 Hours

This poster is eye-catching at first glance with the bright colors and man hanging from a rock in a giant canyon. When you realize that it’s an hourglass shape with a rock (and the man) about to literally run out of time, it becomes also brilliant. Perhaps obvious, but still brilliant.

The American

I’m pretty much on board for most things with a retro vibe, and this poster looks like it could’ve been designed by Saul Bass back in the 1960s. I haven’t seen the film yet, but from what I’ve heard, that’s pretty on target with the film, which evokes 1960s European slow-burn thrillers. I just love the aesthetic of the poster regardless of the film.
EDIT: Heh, clearly I’ve been working on this post on and off for a while. I have seen The American now, and the poster fits it perfectly. Love both poster and film.

Buried

I like the whole set of Buried posters, and it was hard to pick just one to feature, but I eventually decided this minimalist version of complete blackness except the tiny square of a man in a box at the bottom is my favorite. The amount of black space is appropriately oppressive, making the man seem small and insignificant against the problem he faces. I haven’t seen the film, but this poster makes me want to more than the reviews I’ve read.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

A simple iconic image with a tagline of epic epicness. The poster is infinitely more simple than the movie, but it’s attention-grabbing, iconic, and it works.

Never Let Me Go

Latching onto a moment from the story (yet not exactly in the movie) wrought with significance, eschewing closeups of the big name and soon-to-be big name cast members, and a soft, evocative color scheme, and for me, this is one of the most beautiful posters of the year.

Best Worst Movie

Obviously a Tyler Stout original, and it makes perfect sense for him to do this poster – he’s best known for his specialty posters for the Alamo Drafthouse, and it was at the Drafthouse and similar venues that Troll 2 became the “best worst movie.”

Inception

Most of the Inception posters I don’t actually care for that much – either they’re floating heads or awkward angles or something – but this one still grabs me with the way the word is textured out of the architected city.

I Am Love

Okay, this one is just pretty. Huge flowery title sweeping in front of, around, and behind Tilda Swinton and her family. It feels classic and modern at the same time.

Mother

This one’s pretty simple, just a portrait of the mother and son, but the expression on her face is perfect (as she is in the film), and his position behind her, relying on her protection, fits perfectly with the plot of the film.

The Crazies

I didn’t see this film, but I did quite enjoy the poster campaign for it – a series of evocative and visually interesting teaser posters. I really could’ve chosen any of them, but this one got the edge for bloody writing on a welcome to town sign.

Howl

This is the typography for me. The top part’s decent enough with the combination of black and white and washed-out color along with some nice angles evoking the period in which it’s set, but the credit section at the bottom is great. Most posters just shove that stuff down there and try to get it out of the way, but here it’s integrated stylistically and I love it.

The Runaways

Perhaps a little bit of an obvious visual, creating an actual cherry bomb for the teaser about a band whose biggest hit was “Cherry Bomb,” but it’s eye-catching and sometimes obvious is the best way to go.

Greenberg

I didn’t end up being a huge fan of the film, but I do quite like the poster, with Greenberg overpowered by the weight of his own thoughts, his own self.

Honorable Mentions

Best Multi-Poster Campaigns

Special category for films that had great sets of posters.

Black Swan

Honestly, these posters are my favorite of the year hands down, I just couldn’t pick ONE to feature, so I made a separate category for them. Thankfully, there are other films that had good multi-poster campaigns as well.

Kick-Ass

Kick-Ass actually had a couple of good poster sets; I quite liked the character posters with each character facing away from us. But I’m a sucker for things that mimic vintage poster art, and I love this retro-1940s war effort set.

Buried

These aren’t a matching set (well, there are sort of two sets of two), but I really liked all the Buried posters, so had to mention them. The Vertigo-style ones only didn’t make my list above because, well, they’re such blatant Vertigo ripoffs. I like them, but I had to dock them originality points.

Grown-Ups

I have no intention of ever seeing this movie, and in that sense, the poster campaign failed as much as the rest of the marketing when it comes to getting me interested, but I do think the concept of a set of character posters of the actors as kids is a clever one.