How close are these two images? When I first glimpsed the poster for Friday the 13th (2009) at a bus stop, I thought it WAS a poster for The Dark Knight. Both posters employ dark blue backgrounds to set off a darker blue figure centered in the foreground. Both figures are wearing masks. The fiery ... read more »

This week’s L.A. City Beat has a fascinating cover story by Ron Garmon about one-shot auteur and “gay icon,” Tom Graeff. After producing, writing, directing, and co-starring in Teenagers From Outer Space, a 1959 cult favorite (lampooned on Mystery Science Theater) that is simultaneously ridiculous and “sensitive” – in a serious adolescent kind of way ... read more »

The U.K. Royal Mail has released stamps celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Carry On films and of Hammer Films’ first Dracula movie. Each stamp features an original cinema poster from one of the Carry On comedy series or a Terence-Fisher-directed Hammer film. See all six here.

The name of the film is Black Magic, it was released in 1949, and it stars Orson Welles in one of his most flamboyant performances as Joseph Balsamo, aka Cagliostro, the hypnotist/charlatan whose schemes in pursuit of wealth and power were a factor in bringing about the French Revolution. I am delighted to report that ... read more »

Loved that line in Erich Kuersten’s review of M. Knight Shyamalan’s The Happening, to wit, that it “would be a great title if it starred Peter Sellers or Russ Tamblyn, and was made in 1967.” As happenings will happen, there was a 1967 film called The Happening. It was directed by Elliot Silverstein – fresh ... read more »

The “teaser” poster for the J.J. Abrams-produced Cloverfield (bottom), following in the footsteps of Roland Emmerich’s The Day After Tomorrow (top), suggests that New York’s Miss Liberty is now the unofficial poster girl for apocalyptic sci-fi.

A rose is a rose is a rose . . . For more on the blue flower motif, click here and here.

When I first saw this one-sheet for Captivity (top) at a bus stop, I thought I recognized the girl in the poster as Naomi Watts. It turned out to be Elisha Cuthbert. Now, just a few months later, we see the poster for the upcoming Funny Games remake (bottom); and not only is the design ... read more »

Proceed immediately to artist 14′s Gallery of the Absurd to see a wonderful caricature portrait inspired by this poster for the restored version of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.

Yes, Jerry Lewis is a genius. And to anyone who questions that assertion, I advise you to take a long, hard look at his run of hilarious, formally experimental, self-directed films from the early ‘60s: The Bellboy, The Errand Boy, The Nutty Professor (his deconstruction of the Martin/Lewis relationship), The Patsy (his darkest film), and ... read more »