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?