Monday, February 28, 2011

Oscar Aftermath: The Winners and 15 observations about the show


I'm a movie nut, of course, so I like the Academy Awards simply as an awards-delivery device. But that doesn't necessarily mean I always delight in the ways said device operates. Usually, the day after an Academy Awards show, I'm the only one defending it as nothing more than just such an operation. But last night's show displayed so little real entertainment that I'm forced to make these observations:

1) Is is just that James Franco, with his crinkly eyes, always looks stoned? Or was he baked for real? The gibberish he was talking during the pre-show interview made me think adult refreshments had been consumed in the limo on the way to the show.

2) Anne Hathaway is incredibly adorable, always, in whatever she's wearing. I love her pale skin and big, dark eyes. Good comedy chops and a great singing voice, so she gets out pretty much unscathed.

3) Given that the show was supposed to appeal for a younger demographic, I suppose that's why they gave Kirk Douglas the stage--to show everyone how clueless, lascivious, and egomaniacal old people are. His appearance was less inspiration and more perspiration---embarrassing.

4) Just as embarrassing: Melissa Leo's overperforming during her on-stage appearance after her win. Ugh. Get over yourself. The whole show, in fact, was filled with awkward pauses, bombing jokes, and jaw-dropping moments of discomfort. And by the way: do we really have to have people like Bridges and Bullock go into soliloquies about the nominated performances? Ugh! Just show us clips from the movies, please.

5) The star of the show was the digital proscenium. The effect of bringing us into the movies, literally, was better than 3D. Now that I think of it, was this a tribute to the power of 3D to get asses in the seats, at inflated prices?

6) Can we PLEASE discontinue the song category? Those were some hideous choices. Why does Randy Newman get two Oscars for subpar Pixar songs? (I liked his cheeky speech, though.)

7) Credits designer Kyle Cooper did an excellent job with the graphics and special montages. The Best Picture montage was superb, even though it contained a spoiler by treating us to Colin Firth's climactic, stutter-free missive from The King's Speech.

8) A lot of the show's writing felt like gibberish. Timberlake and Kunis? Downey and Jude Law? They were stuck in the middle of the Pacific on a leaky boat.

9) New York provided two of the brightest spots of the night: Brooklyn's Gregory Brothers auto-tuning the movies, and the lovely PS 22 singing "Over The Rainbow." Even so, both were infected by the Academy's indomitable squareness--something which the organization is obviously laboring to overcome.

10) That said, though it was cool to see the night's award winners take an extra bow at the end, with that legendary song as backing, it must have made the night's losers feel even worse.

11) I was surprised by the tech awards most: art direction and costumes for Alice in Wonderland, photography for Inception, and score for The Social Network (the last one really got me giddy; I love that Trent Reznor is an Oscar winner now).

12) Yay for Inside Job winner Charles Ferguson, who provided the only political moment of the night by calling for the jailing of Wall Streeters. Preach it, brother.

13) Jennifer Lawrence, Mila Kunis and Scarlett Johannsson: HOT!

14) I was glad there wasn't a true sweep for The King's Speech. The awards were evenly parsed out, with both Speech and Inception winning four, The Social Network three, two each for The Fighter, Toy Story 3 and Alice in Wonderland, and one each for Inside Job, Black Swan, and In A Better World. Not exactly fairness in the strictest sense of the word, but good enough.

15) I say: get Ricky Gervais to host next year, Hollywood egos be damned.

Okay: just to be a completist, here are the winners of the 2011 Academy Awards. Asterisks are beside the awards I predicted (I got 14 out of 24 correct):

*BEST PICTURE: The King’s Speech (Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin)
*BEST ACTOR: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
*BEST ACTRESS: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
*BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christian Bale, The Fighter
*BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
BEST DIRECTOR: Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
*BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: David Seidler, The King’s Speech
*BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
*BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: In a Better World (Denmark)
*BEST ANIMATED FILM: Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Inception (Wally Pfister)
BEST ART DIRECTION: Alice in Wonderland, (Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara)
BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Alice in Wonderland (Colleen Atwood)
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
BEST SONG: “We Belong Together,” Toy Story 3 (Randy Newman)
*BEST DOCUMENTARY: Inside Job (Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs)
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT: God of Love (Luke Matheny)
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Strangers No More (Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon)
BEST ANIMATED SHORT: The Lost Thing (Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann)
*BEST EDITING: The Social Network (Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter)
*BEST SOUND EDITING: Inception (Richard King)
*BEST SOUND MIXING: Inception (Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, and Ed Novick)
*BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Inception (Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb)
*BEST MAKEUP: The Wolfman (Rick Baker and Dave Elsey)

Now our new movie year can truly begin. My prediction for next year's winner: Terrence Malick, of course, and The Tree of Life.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

My predictions for the 2011 Academy Awards


Given that you know from my Top 40 Movies of 2010 article what I thought were the best movies of last year, I'll contain my griping and complaining about what was left off this year's Oscar nomination roll. I will say this: as much as I like The King's Speech, we all know that The Social Network is the better, more important film. Nevertheless, Fincher's film will probably lose out to the more Academy-friendly film from Britain. Still, boy howdy, would I love to see an upset. I still think that this will be a year where the picture and director awards will split, with Best Director going to David Fincher. And I do have to mention the three absolute crimes comitted this year: not nominating Greta Gerwig for her supporting turn in Greenberg, Andrew Garfield for supporting actor in The Social Network, and Lee Smith for his unparalleled cutting of Inception. Anyway, I have included, after each category, my picks of what should have been nominated, what should rightfully win, what has a slight chance of eking ahead of the frontrunner (except in the case of absolute locks on the category in question), and my prediction of what WILL win. We'll see what happens, of course, on Sunday night! Mark your ballots appropriately, and here we go:

PICTURE
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone


SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Greenberg
SHOULD WIN: The Social Network
MIGHT WIN: The Social Network
WILL WIN: The King's Speech

DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
Joel & Ethan Coen - True Grit
David Fincher - The Social Network
Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
David O. Russell - The Fighter

SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Apichatpong Weerasethakul -- Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
SHOULD WIN: David Fincher -- The Social Network
MIGHT WIN: Tom Hooper -- The King's Speech
WILL WIN: David Fincher - The Social Network

ACTOR
Javier Bardem - Biutiful
Jeff Bridges - True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
Colin Firth - The King's Speech
James Franco - 127 Hours

SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Ben Stiller -- Greenberg
SHOULD WIN: Colin Firth -- The King's Speech
MIGHT WIN: This one is a lock.
WILL WIN: Colin Firth -- The King's Speech

ACTRESS
Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Emma Stone -- Easy A
SHOULD WIN: Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine
MIGHT WIN: Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
WILL WIN: Natalie Portman - Black Swan

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale - The Fighter
John Hawkes - Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner - The Town
Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech

SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Andrew Garfield -- The Social Network
SHOULD WIN: Christian Bale - The Fighter
MIGHT WIN: This one is a lock.
WILL WIN: Christian Bale - The Fighter


SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams - The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech
Melissa Leo - The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit
Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom

SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Greta Gerwig -- Greenberg
SHOULD WIN: Amy Adams - The Fighter
MIGHT WIN: Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit
WILL WIN: Melissa Leo - The Fighter

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mike Leigh - Another Year
Scott Silver & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson - The Fighter
Christopher Nolan - Inception
Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg - The Kids Are All Right
David Seidler - The King's Speech

SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Noah Baumbach and Jennifer Jason Leigh -- Greenberg
SHOULD WIN: Mike Leigh - Another Year
MIGHT WIN: Christopher Nolan - Inception
WILL WIN: David Seidler - The King's Speech

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy - 127 Hours
Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network
Michael Arndt - Toy Story 3
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - True Grit
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini - Winter's Bone

SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Roman Polanski and Robert Harris-- The Ghost Writer
SHOULD WIN: Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network
MIGHT WIN: This one is a lock.
WILL WIN: Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network

ANIMATED FEATURE
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3


SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: My Dog Tulip
SHOULD WIN: The Illusionist
MIGHT WIN: Another lock...
WILL WIN: Toy Story 3

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Biutiful (Mexico)
Dogtooth (Greece)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Incendies (Canada)
Outside the Law (Algeria)

SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Thailand)
SHOULD WIN: Dogtooth (Greece)
MIGHT WIN: Incendies (Canada)
WILL WIN: In a Better World (Denmark)

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Matthew Libatique - Black Swan
Wally Pfister - Inception
Danny Cohen - The King's Speech
Jeff Cronenweth - The Social Network
Roger Deakins - True Grit

SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Grieg Fraser -- Let Me In
SHOULD WIN: Roger Deakins - True Grit
MIGHT WIN: Danny Cohen - The King's Speech
WILL WIN: Roger Deakins - True Grit

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land


SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Boxing Gym
SHOULD WIN: Inside Job
MIGHT WIN: Restropo
WILL WIN: Inside Job

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang


SHOULD WIN: Killing in the Name
MIGHT WIN: Strangers No More
WILL WIN: Killing in the Name

ANIMATED SHORT
Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let's Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, a Journey Diary


SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Marcel The Shell With Shoes On
SHOULD WIN: Let's Pollute
MIGHT WIN: Madagascar, a Journey Diary
WILL WIN: Let's Pollute

LIVE-ACTION SHORT
The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143


SHOULD WIN: God of Love
MIGHT WIN: God of Love
WILL WIN: Na Wewe

VISUAL EFFECTS
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2


SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
SHOULD WIN: Inception
MIGHT WIN: This is a lock.
WILL WIN: Inception

ART DIRECTION
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit


SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: The Social Network
SHOULD WIN: Inception
MIGHT WIN: Alice in Wonderland
WILL WIN: The King's Speech

COSTUME DESIGN
Alice in Wonderland
I Am Love
The King's Speech
The Tempest
True Grit


SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Agora
SHOULD WIN: The Tempest
MIGHT WIN: Alice in Wonderland
WILL WIN: The King's Speech

MAKEUP
Barney's Version
The Way Back
The Wolf Man


SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Let Me In
SHOULD WIN: The Wolf Man
MIGHT WIN: Barney's Version
WILL WIN: The Wolf Man

FILM EDITING
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network


SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Inception
SHOULD WIN: The Social Network
MIGHT WIN: The King's Speech
WILL WIN: The Social Network

SOUND MIXING
Inception
The King's Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit


SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Black Swan
SHOULD WIN: Inception
MIGHT WIN: True Grit
WILL WIN: Inception

SOUND EFFECTS EDITING

Inception
Toy Story 3
Tron Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable


SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
SHOULD WIN: Inception
MIGHT WIN: True Grit
WILL WIN: Inception

ORIGINAL SCORE
John Powell - How to Train Your Dragon
Hans Zimmer - Inception
Alexandre Desplat - The King's Speech
A.R. Rahman - 127 Hours
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - The Social Network

SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Michael Giacchino -- Let Me In
SHOULD WIN: Alexandre Desplat - The King's Speech
MIGHT WIN: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - The Social Network
WILL WIN: Alexandre Desplat - The King's Speech

ORIGINAL SONG
"Coming Home" from Country Strong
"I See the Light" from Tangled
"If I Rise" from 127 Hours
"We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3

SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: "Photographs" from Greenberg
SHOULD WIN: "If I Rise" from 127 Hours
MIGHT WIN: "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3
WILL WIN: "Coming Home" from Country Strong

My Movie Poster Collection: A

As always, click on the poster you like to see a larger image:

THE ABDUCTORS (Don Schain, 72). Folded, G
I don't have posters for The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, but I do have one-sheets for both Ginger and its sequel The Abductors. So that shows you where my priorities are.

THE ABYSS (James Cameron, 89). Rolled, G
Godawful, boring poster for perhaps James Cameron's best movie. With all the fantastic images in The Abyss, why the hell was this graphic travesty foisted off upon us? It was probably a big reason the movie didn't do any better than it did.
THE ACCUSED (Jonathan Kaplan, 88). Rolled, VG
Ahh, the late 80s poster trope: the half-a-face. Not my favorite design element, I must say. This isn't even a movie I like very much, but it comes from the collection of the late Patrick Flynn, so I have to keep it. Patrick liked to trip on acid and watch the rape scene in this movie. Yes, he was a friend of mine.

AFTER HOURS (Martin Scorsese, 86). Folded, G
Bemis Balkind painted the stunning artwork for one of Scorsese's finest films. I sure wish Scorsese would go back and do something as low-budgeted and energetic as After Hours.

AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD (Werner Herzog, 72). Folded, VG
One of the greatest movies posters of all time, from New Yorker Films and designed by Sawyer Studios. The colors and textures in this piece blow me away, as does the conspicuous absense of a lot of typography. Klaus Kinski's eyes are creepier here than on film, which is an achievement unto itself.

A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (Steven Spielberg, 2001). Rolled, VG
Simple, elegant, and the final poster to sport the phrase "A Stanley Kubrick Production."

ALEX IN WONDERLAND (Paul Mazursky, 70). Folded, VG
Brilliant takeoff on the old MGM logo, with a furry Donald Sutherland replacing Leo the Lion. Never seen this movie, but I love the one-sheet.


ALFREDO ALFREDO (Pietro Germi, 72). Folded, VG
Hideous poster for what I understand is a failed comedy from Germi and his star, Dustin Hoffman. Bought this for a dollar, and I might have gotten ripped off.


ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (Martin Scorsese, 74) Folded, G
Very sweet image from Oscar-winning film (and a rare poster featuring both stars). Slight damage n the poster's center, but nothing terrible).
ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (Alan J. Pakula, 75). Folded, G
A suitably stark one-sheet for this landmark journalistic thriller. The poster is actually a lot more detailed than it looks here: the figures of our two stars are etched with a sort of pointillist technique, and the background consists of lightly printed words--presumably Woordward and Bernstein's--describing the Watergate break-in.

ALL THAT JAZZ (Bob Fosse, 79). Folded, VG
Another very simple poster, and another of my favorites. The type takes center stage here; the font that the title and many of the credits are in remains one of my favorites ever, as does the the movie itself. I am happy to see more and more people these days regarding Fosse's movie as the masterpiece it is.

AMERICAN BEAUTY (Sam Mendes, 99). Rolled, NM
A perfect movie poster: striking, colorful, communacative, with beautiful type and a very memorable, succinct tagline. One of the finest one-sheets of all time.

AMERICAN PIMP (Albert and Allen Hughes, 99). Rolled, NM
For all you playas out there...

AMERICAN PSYCHO (Mary Harron, 2000). Pre-release, rolled, NM
Inventive, stark, creepy and (if you've seen the movie) quite funny, this pre-release one-sheet for Mary Harron's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' sicko novel emerges slightly above the release poster, which is also damn good, but is quite a bit less mysterious. I would imagine that the right fan of this cult movie would pay a nice price to have this one up on their wall.

THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (Stuart Rosenberg, 79). Folded, F
An ugly poster, but I still sorta like the boldness of sticking the tag line front and center here. The flies help, too!

AMITYVILLE 3-D (Richard Fleischer, 83). Folded, VG
Director Richard Fleischer is a long way from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea here. Another ugly poster, but it came from Robert Schnieder's 3D movie poster collection, so I had to keep it.

AND JUSTICE FOR ALL (Norman Jewison, 79). Folded, VG
Dull, dull, dull. But I like the movie, so here it is...

ANGEL-A (Luc Besson, 2005). Rolled, NM
A gorgeous black-and-white image from an underrated Luc Besson romancer.

ANGELO MY LOVE (Robert Duvall, 83). Folded, VG
I haven't seen Robert Duvall's directorial debut since it came out, but I remember being mightlly intrigued by its narrative/documentary mash-up. I adore the poster and the accompanying copy.

APARTMENT ZERO (Martin Donovan, 89). Rolled, G
Could be more exciting, but I suppose it's an inventive variation on the half-a-face trend in thriller posters of the era. The colors are exquisite here, I must say.

AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE COLON MOVIE FILM FOR THEATERS (Matt Maiellaro, Dave Willis, 2007). Rolled, NM
I despise this show, and the movie (except for the incredible opening, a spoof of the famed "Let's All Go To The Lobby" policy trailer, with music by Mastodon). But I do have to say I love the Frazetta-esque, epic quality of its one-sheet: it's very nearly the best thing about the film.

Friday, February 11, 2011

My Movie Poster Collection: B

As always, click on each image to see them larger: 

B MONKEY (Michael Radford, 98). Rolled, G I've never even seen this movie, but I sure do love me some Asia Argento. This is the best American poster featuring her magnificent visage.

BABY LOVE (Alastair Reid, 68). Folded, G
Sure would! Why not? Especially if she wears that little skirt all the time.

BAD COMPANY (Robert Benton, 72). Folded, G
Brilliant, beautiful sepia-toned poster for Benton's equally sumptuous quasi-western.

THE BAD NEWS BEARS (Michael Richie, 76). Folded, G
With art by the inimitable Jack Davis, this is one of my very favorite posters of the 1970s.

BARRACUDA (Harry Kerwin, Wayne Crawford, 78). Black-and-white, folded, G
My copy of this weird Jaws rip-off (filmed in Fort Lauterdale, Florida) is, for some reason, in black-and-white, which is a disappointment to me, now that I see the color version.

BARRY LYNDON (Stanley Kubrick, 75). Folded, VG
Not surprisingly, this is most opulent poster in the Kubrick canon, with artwork by Charles Gehm. Saul Bass did a great style B poster following the films four Oscar wins.

BATMAN AND ROBIN (Joel Schumacher, 97). Pre-release, rolled, NM
I have a thing for Alicia Silverstone, thus I kept this relic from the worst Batman film yet made. I still love this poster, though, because it showcases Silverstone's gorgeous face.

BEDAZZLED (Stanley Donen, 67). Folded, F
I like Raquel Welch as much as the next man but, boy, this dazzling comedy deserved a greater graphics treatment than it got. Bouncing nuns, a pop idol Satan, Eleanor Bron and God...and this is what we're left with? A disappointment, and misleading to boot (since Welch is in, I think, about two scenes).

BEFORE NIGHT FALLS (Julian Schnabel, 2000). Rolled, VG
Lovely design, sapped of much color, for this acclaimed yet (I think) dull film.

THE BEGUILED (Don Siegel, 71). Folded, G
I wish I knew which artist designed this stunning, strangely psychedelic piece for Eastwood's disturbing horror/love story/war movie mashup. Absolutely one of my favorite posters ever!

BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (Spike Jonze, 99). Rolled, VG
The best of four styles of posters for this landmark comedy explains exactly, through oddly accurate retro drawings, how this whole portal thing works. Another of the finest posters in recent memory.

THE BELLBOY AND THE PLAYGIRLS (Francis Ford Coppola, 62). Folded, VG
Betcha you didn't know Coppola's first movie was a 3D tit extravaganza (filmed under the pseudonym "Felix Umgalter"). I like the chaos of this poster--photos and two types of art, plus a terrific logo, all fighting for our attention. This one came from the 3D movie poster collection of the late, great 3D filmmaker extraordinaire Robert Schneider.

BENJAMIN SMOKE (Jem Cohen, Peter Sillen, 2000). Rolled, VG
A haunting image of the legendary, late Benjamin takes our eye here. Another rare poster, and one of the few I own advertising a documentary. Printed on thick card stock.

THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE (René Cardona Jr., 78). Folded, G
Good ol' Sunn Classics, purveyors of many a lame 70s on-the-fly documentary. They did ones about aliens (The Outer Space Connection) and Bigfoot, too, as well as In Search of Historic Jesus and In Search of Noah's Ark. This is one of their neatest poster designs, with an excellent use of literal negative space and a cool view of the triangle's debris-ridden ocean floor.

BEST FRIENDS (Norman Jewison, 82). Folded, G
A really fun take on the stars-against-a-white-background design trope. It's a pretty damn great movie, too, with tremendously funny supporting performances by Jessica Tandy and Bernard Hughes (as Hawn's parents) and Audra Lindley and Keenan Wynn as Reynold's parents.

THE BEST HOUSE IN LONDON (Philip Saville, 69). Folded, F
Never seen this, but I found it in a dollar poster bin, so I thought, ehh, why not? It's got women's pantaloons on it, and a pasted-on X rating, to boot.

BETWEEN THE LINES (Joan Micklin Silver, 77). Folded, P
Unfortunately, my copy of this cult movie's one-sheet has a tear in it. But what a cast here: clockwise, starting at the top, we have John Heard, Lindsey Crouse, Bruno Kirby, Lewis J. Stadlen, Jeff Goldblum, Michael J. Pollard, Jill Eikenberry, Gwen Welles, and Stephen Collins. Not many of these stars made it onto a one-sheet throughout their entire careers, so it's nice to see them all get such stellar treatment, art-wise (and by the incredible poster artist Richard Amsel, as well).

BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (Russ Meyer, 70). Folded, G
When I was a kid, I was obsessed by this ad campaign. Something about all those ample women standing over us, looking down at us as we lay in a pit--this must have appealed to the boy in me, and I never forgot it. When I got a chance to own this poster, I jumped at it, but I had to pull some strings with the previous owner, who didn't wanna let go of it. I think I traded three other one sheets for it, but it was worth it. By the way, this may be the only one-sheet I own for which the film's director himself, Russ Meyer, personally photographed its main image.

BEYOND THE MAT (Barry W. Blaustein, 99). Rolled, NM
Ugh! No thanks. Next...
BITE THE BULLET (John Milius, 75). Folded, G
The burnished artwork by Tom Jung sold me on this poster, even as I had never been much a fan of the film itself.

BLACK BOOK (Paul Verhoeven, 2006). Rolled, NM
Nice layout for Paul Verhoeven's return to European filmmaking.

BLACK CHRISTMAS (Bob Clark, 75). Folded, G
Originally this poster looked like this:
...but the studio changed the film's title after a real-life sorority house was terrorized at Chistmastime by a madman. So they sent out a black-and-white overlay with the new title that was to be pasted over the old poster. I have the original poster, and the unpasted overlay as a separate piece, so it's kind of two posters in one. The illustration of the killer's first victim, suffocated with a plastic bag over her head, remains one of the scariest images ever included in a major ad campaign.

THE BLACK STALLION (Carroll Ballard, 79). Folded, G
A sensationally simple image that's perfect for the film, even if the picture itself is filled with a thousand striking shots.

BLADE RUNNER (Ridley Scott, 82). Folded, F
John Alvin's unforgettable artwork here has done its fair share in continuing to propel Scott's movie into modern classic territory. Surely, this is one of the 20 greatest movie posters of the last 30 years. Unfortunately, my copy has seen much better days, but it's still extremely cool to have it.

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez, 99). Pre-release, rolled, NM
A rare pre-release poster that's better than the release version, as you will see:

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez, 99). Rolled, NM
A classic, I don't care what anybody says. But, yeah, I prefer the other poster.

BLAIR WITCH 2: BOOK OF SHADOWS (Joe Berlinger, 2000). Pre-release, rolled, VG
After Saturday the 14th, the worst poster I own, only this one is not nearly as funny. I feel like going to destroy this thing right now.

BLAZING SADDLES (Mel Brooks, 74). Folded, F
Another fine poster by John Alvin, filled with lots of delectable details ("Hi, I'm Mel, Trust Me"), and with a snappy tagline. Certainly one of the greatest one-sheets ever, taking its place alongside Brooks' Young Frankenstein and Silent Movie posters, also painted by Alvin. In fact, all three share key design elements and would look fantastic hung next to each other. Unfortunately, I gave my Young Frankenstein poster away to a friend long ago. She wasn't even that good of a friend. Why the hell did I do that? I didn't even have a crush on her.

BLINDMAN (Ferdinando Baldi, 71). Folded, G
Got this one for Ringo, and Ringo only.

BLOW OUT (Brian De Palma, 81). Folded, VG
"Murder has a sound all its own." Almost as good a tagline as "In space, no one can hear you scream." Brilliant black-and-white poster for a very red-white-and-blue movie. It's absolutely perfect.

BLUE VELVET (David Lynch, 86). Rolled, VG
The saturated coloring of the central image is strikingly offset by a batch of indigo and one of the finest logos in movie history. This came from the collection of my good friend, the late Patrick Flynn.

BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (Oliver Stone, 89). Rolled, G
The best Tom Cruise posters out there, mainly because it doesn't feature him smiling or straining.

BOUND FOR GLORY (Hal Ashby, 76). Folded, G
Tom Jung's artwork here makes this poster pop, but the garish blue typeface at the top almost wrecks--no, it DOES wreck--the entire effect. Tell me, was it even necessary to have the words to "This Land Is Your Land" shoved in our faces?

BREAKING THE WAVES (Lars Von Trier, 96). Rolled, NM
Ahh, the gorgeous simplicity of this one-sheet bowls me over, from the superb tagline to the cool color choices to the magnificent blending of close-up (Emily Watson's knowing face) and extreme long shot (aping the Scottish countryside postcard shots serving as chapter stops in the movie).

BROADCAST NEWS (James L. Brooks, 87). Folded, VG
It's a superb movie, but as a poster, it's sort of an eyesore. What's with that banner across the image? Ugh.

BRONCO BILLY (Clint Eastwood, 80). Folded, VG
Sumptuous painting by Roger Huyssen, and a sharp layout by the Warner Brothers team for this, one of Clint Eastwood's favorites from his own ouvre.

THE BROWN BUNNY (Vincent Gallo, 2003). Rolled, card stock, NM
A magnificent work of art, as a film and as a poster. I consider it a great turn of fortune to have landed one of these after rummaging through some posters in the back room of the Plaza in Atlanta, GA. I didn't think the manager would let me take it home but he did, and I'm forever grateful. I adore this piece's simplicity and boldness. Also, it's a particularly sturdy poster that, I think, has to be pretty rare. It's not like Gallo's movie played in a thousand theaters, y'know?

BUG (Jeannot Szwarc, 75). Folded, G
This thing is just hilarious to me. I can't help but smile when I see it. Does that make me sick?