My Movie Poster Collection: H

Remember that you can always click on the images themselves to see them (hopefully) larger:

HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (Woody Allen, 86). Folded, GIn his history of very minimal one-sheets, Woody Allen's okay to this emotional, positive, familial-love-exuding image must stand alone is its sheer happiness. It's an interesting counterpart to his stark image of three troubled sisters on the Interiors one-sheet. This just goes to illustrate the two vibrant sides--one spooky, the other hopeful--to this wonderful filmmaker.

HANNIE CAULDER (Burt Kennedy, 71). Folded, FI've never seen this film, but I couldn't resist getting this poster, because it dares to surround the eternally hot Raquel Welch with three hoarilly grizzled character actors: Jack Elam (up top), Strother Martin (left), and Ernest Borgnine (right). Impossible to hate this poster.

THE HARD RIDE (Burt Topper, 71). Folded, VG
Nice ass. That's all I gotta say. It's ridiculous, yes, but, yeah, nice ass. She knows it, too!

HARDCORE (Paul Schrader, 79). Folded, VG
A great negative space one-sheet, with a line that's not said in the film, but which is understood. I love that Scott is only included in a high-blood-pressure box. What a movie this is. Derivative, perhaps, but wholly engrossing, with an excellent cast, script, Jack Nitzsche score, and sharp, heartfelt direction from Schrader. Hardcore is a timepiece, to be sure.

HARRY AND TONTO (Paul Mazursky, 74). Folded, review poster, VG
One of Mazursky's most emotional movies about the American landscape. And the king film for cat/movie lovers.

A HATFUL OF RAIN (Fred Zinnemann, 57). Folded, VG.
Perhaps THIS is the oldest movie poster I have. Never seen it, but I know Michael V. Gazzo (the writer who later appeared in and was nommed for an Oscar for his supporting performance as Frankie Pentangeles in The Godfather Part II) was the Tony-nominated writer for this stage play/movie about heroin addiction. I adore this poster, by the way--especially for the CINEMASCOPE logo...

THE HAUNTED PALACE (Roger Corman, 63). Folded, VG.

THE HEARTBREAK KID (Elaine May, 72). Folded, 2 copies, G
An ugly piece of art for a brilliant movie about not knowing what you really want, and when you really want it.

HEARTS OF THE WEST (Howard Zieff, 75). Folded, G
Great cast, superlative one-sheet (Bridges, Arkin AND Andy Griffith?). I've never seen the movie, because it seems impossible to lay one's hands on, but I've always heard loving things about it.

HEAT (Paul Morrissey, 72). Folded, P
My only Andy Warhol-related one-sheet. It's banged up pretty bad, but I think the damage makes it look better. It's also oddly-sized. But how can one ignore buying a poster that has Sylvia Miles cuddling up to Joe Dallesandro?

HEAVEN WITH A GUN (Lee H. Katzin, 69). Folded, VG
I've also not seen this movie, but was sold by the outrageous title and the time-lapsey photos on the one-sheet.

HEAVEN CAN WAIT (Warren Beatty and Buck Henry, 78). Folded, G
One of the greatest examples of movie poster art ever, painted by Birney Lettick. I used to have a pre-release poster (rolled) that contained only the art, and no words, but I lost in in a flood (shit, I hate being reminded of that).

HEAVEN'S GATE (Michael Cimino, 80). Folded, VG
I really want the pre-release poster of this massively underrated, villainized film. It's a shot of Kristofferson, in black-and-white, backlit by the sun (like the tiny central image here, only bigger, and with the newspapered backdrop of the titular gate). But for now, this original release one-sheet will have to do. If you EVER get a chance to see this movie on the big screen, in its director's cut, see it! Forget what the naysayers and history have to impart!

HER ALIBI (Bruce Beresford, 89). Rolled, VG.

HERBIE RIDES AGAIN (Robert Stevenson, 74). Folded, VG
I bought this 'cuz it's cute. Tell me I'm wrong.

HICKEY AND BOGGS (Robert Culp, 72). Folded, G
Is this one of the best films directed by a one-time-only filmmaker? I'd say so. Plus, you got a screenplay by Walter Hill and two ass-wholloping lead performances. Hickey and Boggs is the 70s cop movie you haven't seen, which you need to see.

THE HIDDEN (Jack Sholder, 87). Folded, video poster, G
A 50s-flavored not-so-guilty pleasure, straight from the 1980s.

HIGH ANXIETY (Mel Brooks, 78). Folded, VG
Mel Brooks falling though the vertigo? With that hilarious title song running through my head? HAD TO HAVE THIS! To wit: "High anxiety / Whenever you’re near / High anxiety / It’s you that I fear / My heart’s afraid to fly / It’s crashed before / But then you take my hand / My heart starts to soar / Once more / High Anxiety / It's always the same / Oooh, 'Xiety / It's you that I blame / It's very clear to me / I've got to give in / High anxiety / You win."

HIGH FIDELITY (Stephen Frears, 2000). Rolled, NM
A pop-culture listmaker such as myself had to include this one-sheet in his collection. Props to the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night album cover reference!

HIGH ROAD TO CHINA (Brian G. Hutton, 83). Folded, NM

 
HILLARY AND JACKIE (Anand Tucker, 98). Rolled, 2 copies, NM
Faces-only poster bore me usually, but when the faces are Rachel Griffith's and, especially, Emily Watson's (my god, those eyes of hers), I tend to make exceptions.

THE HIRED HAND (Peter Fonda, 71). Folded, G
An underseen low-key western, directed by Fonda himself. And with Warren Oates in tow, too!

 
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (David Cronenberg, 2005). Rolled, NM
This is a Cronenberg movie I respect more the more I see it. The poster was perhaps the best ad image of its year. I'd like to see more playfulness with focus fields like this one-sheet features so well. And I add: I always found amusing the film's double-meaning title.

THE HOSPITAL (Arthur Hiller, 71). Folded, Style B, G
Hideous artwork...I'd prefer to have the simpler style A one-sheet. But I admire the movie, written by Paddy Chayefsky. It certainly provides the finest directorial moments from Arthur Hiller (only his work on 1979's The In-Laws comes close to besting it).

HOT SUMMER NIGHT (David Friedkin, 57). Folded, NM
What the hell? Is this real? Did they really hang this up in theater lobby's in the late 50s? Wow! And wait...that's not Leslie Nielsen there, is it? I've never seen this movie, but the first chance I get to, I will! An unparalleled one-sheet! I will not give it up.

HOT FUZZ (Edgar Wright, 2007). Rolled, NMOh well...not great stuff here, but I revere the two stars and director Edgar Wright. The movie ain't nearly as good as Shaun of the Dead, but I'm still on board as a fan.

HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS (Dan Curtis, 70). Folded, VG

HOW HIGH (Jesse Dylan, 2001). Rolled, NMThis may be the king of all post-Cheech-and-Chong pot comedies. Wait... Half-Baked probably comes first, now that I think about it, and Smiley Face comes in at third place. But, whoa, do I love this movie!

HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING (David Swift, 67). Folded, VG
Beautiful 60s retro stuff going on here. And Bob Fosse's name is on it! Yay!

HURLYBURLY (Anthony Drazan, 98). Rolled, VGThe only scene I liked in this movie was Anna Paquin's one-moment appearance as a NYC call girl. But I dig the poster, if only because it includes her and Garry Shandling.

Film #4: Thesis

Alajandro Amenabar’s 1996 film Thesis (the Spanish title omits the "h") was made a few years before he jolted audiences with his hallucinatory Open Your Eyes. But his debut, which won six Spanish Goyas, is a bellwether to his immense talent and a precursor to his 2001 American film debut The Others starring Nicole Kidman (and to nabbing the 2005 Academy Award for the Javier Bardem-led medical drama The Sea Inside). Ana Torrent is terrific as a Spanish film student toiling away on a thesis about the psychological effects of extreme violence in the media. While researching, she gets wind of a snuff video shot in pre-reform Czechoslovakia, a mysterious tape of which is now hidden in the cavernous basement of her university. With her only confidant being Chema (Fele Martinez, also accomplished, injecting some humor in this dire tale as Torrent's geeky gorehound classmate with a prurient interest in the video), they go on a quest for the storied tape. As a nascent team, they investigate further and...well, let’s just say they get into the deep end and leave it at that.

Though Thesis occasionally ventures too assuredly into slasher movie mode, it’s always smart and expertly crafted (comparisons to The Vanishing, George Sluzier’s petrifying 1991 cult horror classic, also aren’t unreasonable). Additionally, it happens to be scary as all get out, particularly in a relentless final half hour jammed full of paranoia, pain, and plot twists. Forget about 8mm, the disappointing Nicolas Cage vehicle about snuff that ripped off Paul Schrader's superior 1978 film Hardcore. Thesis is everything the Cage film wanted to be, but wasn’t. The Schrader work would pair well with Amenabar's for a petrifying, prime double bill.