This is a Poster-Appreciation Life- 2012 edition

I did a post like this last year and thought that it's about time to take a look at this year's posters.

Let's start with one of the biggest films of the year- The Dark Knight Rises. These posters carry the right amount of mystery and well, coolness to attract people.

However, my favourite TDKR poster is the one featuring my favourite part of the film.

Some posters are better than the movie itself. A great example would be this beauty from Snow White and the Huntsman.

Also this one, if we are to believe the reviews so far. Shame because it is so wonderfully witty and morbid.

Some films are ridiculous and have fun with it. I like this poster so much more than Lincoln's.

Now I still have my problems with JGL looking insane in Looper. Doesn't change the fact that it was one superbly awesome movie and that it showed a very interesting concept of time-travel. I think the poster captures that.

I don't know about you but I am not all that fussed about character posters. However, my favourite poster for On the Road is the one featuring Kirsten Dunst as Camille. Doesn't really showcase the film or anything, but gosh Kiki looks absolutely radiant in it!

One of the most unexpected gems of this year (at least for me) was The Cabin in the Woods. I appreciate this poster so much more now-

Django Unchained is my most anticipated film of the year, and its final poster is kind of badass.

Beasts of the Southern Wild and Holy Motors are two films I have seen this year so far that have left me confounded, mostly because I have nothing to compare them with. And both of their posters are just exuberant in their own weird ways.

The Master is supposed to be a very enigmatic film. I love the enigma in this poster.

Though I am not as pumped for it as others, this poster for Zero Dark Thirty is quite enticing.

Okay I don't know what it is about it, but I LOVE this Skyfall poster.

Also Skyfall does have The Best Fan-Made Poster EVER!

"What makes you think this is my first time?"

(PS. If you didn't get that, please go watch the movie now or go jump in an icy lake).

Now for my favourites:

Killing them Softly has had one brilliant poster after another. I really love all three of these.

Life of Pi is arguably the most gorgeous looking film of this year. It has some lovely posters.

My favourite poster though, just how it is with TDKR, is the one featuring my favourite part of the film.

Richard Parker is so stunning.

Finally, my favourite poster of the year goes to-

Come on! This poster is HILARIOUS!!

Okay fine, my favourite poster is this gorgeousity from Moonrise Kingdom. I have been in love with it ever since I first laid eyes on it. It is just so magical... like the cover of one of Suzy Bishop's books.

Moonrise Kingdom also has given rise to some of the best poster artwork I have seen all year.

Hope you liked this! What are your favourites?

MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS

        I had been thinking of making this for a while now and Alex's fantastic list provided me with the impetus that I needed. Some characters just blow you away from their introduction themselves. Brilliant intros often leave an indelible mark in our minds and here are ten such picks that did so for me.

Honourable mentions- Everyone in Alex's list, Marla Singer in Fight Club, Earnest Hemingway in Midnight in Paris, Gilda in Gilda and Isabelle in The Dreamers.

10.

Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs

After having been warned by her superior Jack Crawford and the director of the Baltimore sanitarium about Lecter, the latter describing him as a monster and a pure psychopath, Clarice Starling goes to meet this man in his cell. She walks past the other inmates there, especially the loathsome Multiple Miggs, and finally comes Lecter who is just standing there in his glass cell, and we know, just know, that he is the craziest and most dangerous of them all. The music, Anthony Hopkins's eerie-tastic smile, Jodie Foster's subtle fear, everything  just sets this scene to be one of the most memorable introductions and first meetings in cinematic history.

9.

The Plastics in Mean Girls

I would call this scene a piece of pop culture history. Here we see for the first time, the Plastics, the reigning queens of a high school, the mean girls of all time. Also how they are described to new student Cady by the dry-witted duo of Janice and Damian is priceless. Karen Smith- "She asked me how to spell orange", Gretchen Wieners- "That's why her hair is so big, it's full of secrets" and finally, "Evil takes a human form in Regina George. Don't be fooled because she may seem like your typical selfish, back-stabbing slut faced ho-bag, but in reality, she's so much more than that."

8.

The Joker in The Dark Knight

If this scene isn't the best way for a director to set up his villain, I don't know what is. I have often said that I watch the Batman films for the villains, and the moment Heath Ledger's unparalleled incarnation of the Joker took off his joker mask, I just knew that I will love this film forever. A bank heist that keeps you at the edge of your seat, followed by that face- ah, Christmas. 

7.

Marie Antoinette in Marie Antoinette

Love Sofia Coppola's cheek in this scene. With Gang of Four's "Natural's Not In" blaring, our first look at Marie Antoinette is exactly how we have always imagined it would be. Grand clothes, excessive feathers, servants, boredom, and obviously cake! It is a perfect set-up for this movie and character, because it is unconventional as hell, yet an honest look at this young, naive, fashionable girl who just happens to be the queen of France.

6.

The Tenenbaums in The Royal Tenenbaums

Even though I am not the biggest fan of this film, I just adore its opening that introduces us to Royal and Etheline Tenenbaum and their three gifted children. It sets the film up excellently as we already know what kind of people they are, especially the kids, and then we can understand them better as their grown-up troubled selves. Plus the tune of "Hey Jude" and Wes Anderson's unique quirks make this scene quite unforgettable.

5.

Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange

The first shot we see is of Malcolm MacDowell's face, with his trademark eye-makeup, bowler hat, and an expression that is both disturbing and enthralling. Then the camera starts to zoom out and his narration begins and we see him with his droogs, his drencrom, the impossible Korova milkbar- this whole world where ultraviolence is the way, and no one revels in it more than Alex. 

4.

Romeo Montague in Romeo + Juliet

Wasn't Leonardo DiCaprio the prettiest thing ever? I say this because this scene does owe a lot to that. This brooding, lonely, beautiful Romeo, writing down his thoughts, "Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate, O anything of nothing first create. Heavy lightness. Serious vanity. Misshapen chaos of well seeming forms" with the music from possibly Radiohead's sexiest song, "Talk Show Host" playing in the background. And then he turns and looks, and my heart swoons every time. How can it not? He is Romeo.

3.

Eve Harrington in All About Eve

If you are like me and did not know a thing about this film before watching it except that it stars Bette Davis and has the line "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!" the introduction of Eve Harrington, as the film is all about her, was quite interesting. We see how all the other characters react to her name, how her happiness brings joy to few yet she is said to be a great star and we already want to know all about this woman.

2.

Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction

Just like quite a few entries in this list, by the time we actually do meet Mia Wallace, we have formed an opinion of hers in our head. She's the mob boss's wife because of whom a man got thrown down four stories onto a glasshouse, just for giving her a foot massage. And then she is introduced. I love the way she talks to her date Vincent over the intercom, her voice, her cocaine snorting and the way she says "Disco", Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man", and this first meeting of theirs that ends with a shot of those very feet. What's amazing is that don't actually see Mia Wallace during her introduction, but we have already been put under her spell.

1.

Trip Fontaine in The Virgin Suicides

This is one of my favourite scenes period. Why? Because there is a Trip Fontaine in every school, and there always will be- that one guy who is dreamier than the rest, who makes the hearts of his female peers flutter and who all the girls gush over, and this scene captures all of that. So he isn't a big character in the film, but he is a character that has been there in every girl's life. This intro makes me giddy with an odd sense of nostalgia, especially with Heart's ever appropriate "Magic Man" accompanying it. Love Josh Hartnett's 70s hair and swag. 

So there you have it. Disco!

Thoughts

Ha I had almost forgotten that this blog existed. Goddamn exams! Anyways, I am back now. Here's what my thoughts have been to film-related news of the past couple of weeks.

1) So Quentin Tarantino has announced that he is thinking about retiring after he is done with his tenth film, which if you count the two Kill Bill movies as one, is three films away. The reason he has given is that he wants to leave his career at a high. While the reasoning is somewhat logical, all I have to say is this- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! 
I need more Tarantino movies, like hundreds more. Obviously that's not possible, but he can at least increase his stupid limit. I honestly think he's a genius, so I don't know what he's worried about. Although the fact that he has kind of planned his life as if it were a movie, makes me love and worship him even more.

2) Benedict Cumberbatch and James McAvoy may be starring in the Wikileaks movie together. Cumberbatch has already been cast as Julian Assange and McAvoy will probably play the disillusioned Wikileaks spokesperson Domscheit-Berg. Both of them have already starred together in Starter for 10 and Atonement. I am obviously incredibly excited by this new project and for seeing these two very talented and gorgeous, pretty-eyed and sexy-voiced British actors working together.

3) So The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel continues to cause me distress. The role of Harry Osbourne is now up for grabs and vying for it are people like Dane DeHaan, Alden Ehrenreich, Brady Corbet, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, Sam Claflin and Boyd Holbrook. DeHaan, Ehrenreich and Redmayne are among my favourite young actors at present (haven't seen Ehrenreich in a film yet, but he's so pretty in the Sofia Coppola-Natalie Portman- Dior perfume ad). As it is I will probably watch the idiotic sequel because of Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, and Shailene Woodley if she accepts the role of the goddawful Mary Jane, but it becomes so much harder to hate these films with such wonderful and good-looking talent involved. Burn Spidey, burn.

4) There is a Jackie Brown prequel in the works, which will be based on the book 'The Switch', written by Elmore Leonard. This book is a prequel of 'Rum Punch', which Jackie Brown was based upon. It will be about the characters Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara, who were played by Samuel L. Jackson and Robert De Niro in Jackie Brown respectively. The prequel will star Mos Def and John Hawkes in these respective roles. It will also star Isla Fisher as Maggie, who was played by Bridget Fonda in Jackie Brown. I am intrigued by this project and love the inclusion of Hawkes, who is a fine actor.

5) John Hawkes was among the many people interviewed in this year's batch of The Hollywood Reporter's Oscar Roundtables. I wait eagerly for these, though this year has been a bit disappointing so far. The Writers was kind of terrible because I just thought it was so odd to put Judd Apatow and Michael Haneke in the same room together. The Actors was rather good and maybe the most professional of the lot. The best was the Actresses, even though the interviewers suck at asking them the important questions. Still, Anne Hathaway, Helen Hunt, Naomi Watts, Sally Field, Marion Cotillard, Rachel Weisz (yaay!) and Amy Adams in one room together is too much brilliance. The Directors isn't out yet, and it is usually the one I enjoy the most.

6) Aaron Sorkin has announced that his script for the Steve Jobs biopic will be very unconventional- it will consist of three scenes of thirty minutes each, shot in real time. The three scenes will take place in the backstage during the product launches of Mac, NeXT and iPod. It sounds really novel and cool and I have trust in Sorkin (when he's not being too American) and cannot wait for this film to be made.

7) Did you know that I made a Bollywood syllabus with SDG for Ryan at The Matinee? SO EXCITED!!

8) Lots of trailers- World War Z which has quite an exciting trailer and Brad Pitt and fast zombies, who look a bit too CGI-ey but I'm sure it will be fine in the film. Still, the zombie movie I am more excited for is Warm Bodies, which looks hilarious. I mean, it's a zombie romcom people- a zomcom! The whole story is evident from the trailer but I love Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer is very pretty. The other supernatural Hoult movie with a trailer out is Jack the Giant Slayer, made by Bryan Singer and co-starring Ewan McGregor and Mark Strong. This looks a bit unfortunate, just like the other upcoming fairytale movie, Oz The Great and Powerful. This has a good cast- I am especially loving Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams in this mix, but god too much is going on in the trailer and if the film is like that, we have a guaranteed technicolor headache, people :/ Speaking of, now that Twilight is over, there are many movies that want to target that whole demographic and some of them have trailers out. First of all, we have the trailer of Stephenie Meyer's very own The Host that has Saoirse Ronan (why Saoirse, why), Max Irons (next RPatz maybe? Though with definite Jeremy Irons genes), Boyd Holbrook and Diane Kruger. I will say it looks less painful than Twilight. Next, Beautiful Creatures actually has Jeremy Irons in it, along with the likes of Emma Thompson and Viola Davis. The reason I mention them first and not the protagonists played by Alden Ehrenreich (pretty :-) ) and Jane Campion's daughter Alice Englert, is because this trailer is an absolute monstrosity and I don't understand how people of their caliber are starring in this movie. It also has Emmy Rossum, remember her? The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones stars Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower and looks okay-ish. I have heard good things about the books though, so we'll see. Jean Dujardin's next Mobius looks like a painfully predictable and stereotypical action-spy movie. Also I like seeing him happy- too much smouldering going on. A few comedies are also in the works- The Heat is made by the Bridesmaids folk and stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy as cops. The trailer is quite bad, but I like the people involved. Tina Fey and Paul Rudd are two other people who I like a lot and they are starring in Admission, which looks sweet. Parental Guidance has Billy Crystal and Bette Midler playing Marissa Tomei's visiting parents. I think I will watch this when it comes on TV... at some point. One of the better trailers that I have seen is of Steven Soderbergh's next and possibly last theatrical feature *sniff* Side Effects. Love Rooney Mara being a crazy person, and Jude Law looks good too. Goddamn Channing Tatum continues to get good roles though, so that sucks balls. The king of trailers this week is Now You See Me, which has quite an excellent cast headed by Jesse Eisenberg, who I love like shit. There is also Mark Ruffalo, Isla Fisher, Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Dave Franco. The trailer and the premise looks intriguing enough, but I will say that there is a huge possibility of the film being really terrible, or conversely really good. Finally in the world of television, we have the trailer to the David Fincher- Kevin Spacey Netflix series House of Cards which looks fantastic. Only Fincher can get me excited about a show on US politics. It also stars Robin Wright, Kate Mara and Corey Stoll. And then we have the trailer to Doctor Who Christmas special The Snowmen, which will have Richard E. Grant playing the baddie and the introduction of the new companion Clara, played by Jenna Louise-Coleman who I have started to like a lot already. Accio Christmas!

9) Liked/loved The Cabin in the Woods? See this article on the its awesome opening titles.

10) Finally, just when you thought there possibly could not be anymore pictures of Ryan Gosling posted on this blog-

It's actually not sane how attracted I am to this poster. Reasons- 

a) Ryan Gosling

b) Nicolas Winding Refn

c) The beat-up face that reminds me of Fight Club

d) Beat-up Ryan Gosling

e) The fact that their previous film together was Drive

f) Ryan Gosling

I hope to blog loads now that exams are over. Tata!

My Movie Alphabet

Mettel Ray Movie Blog, a blog I recently discovered, is hosting a Movie Alphabet Blogathon. I guess I have made some unorthodox choices but I like them so there's that. Hope you like them too :)

12 Angry Men

One of the most inspiring and thrilling films that I have ever seen. My own warped moral sense has been hugely influenced by this film- everyone deserves a chance.

Anthonies- Perkins and Hopkins

These two Anthonies have played my favourite movie villains of all time. Anthony Perkins played Norman Bates, the troubled momma's boy proprietor of Bates Motel, in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Anthony Hopkins played Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs for which he won the Best Actor Oscar, and he was only in the film for sixteen friggin' minutes!

The Beatles

Well apart from the fact that they are one of my most favourite bands, The Beatles have also starred in very entertaining and fun movies where they play themselves. While A Hard Day's Night is the most Beatle-esque of the lot, Yellow Submarine is one groovy animated film. And Help! is awesome because of Ringo Starr.

Casablanca

I think this was one of the first films that after viewing, I felt that I had just witnessed perfection. There is nothing that is unnecessary or out of place. The romance, the dialogue, the leads, "As Time Goes By", everything is just lovely.

David Fincher

Fincher Fangirling time! I love how well-made his films are. They are not touching or wildly ambitious or any of that, but his precision and perfectionism are evident in the high craftsmanship of his films. Also no one does a modern thriller better than him.

Ewan McGregor

The most underrated leading actor ever. He comes in brilliant movies every year where he is great, but no one ever notices. WHY?

Fight Club

How does this even exist? It's so bloody awesome!

The Graduate

A romance. A coming of age story. A cultural milestone. Mrs. Robinson's devastating legs. The Graduate is all of these things. Eternally rewatchable.

The Harry Potter films

Because I wouldn't be me without them.

Indian Cinema

Yes technically these are only Bollywood films, since I am most well-versed in them, but I have watched a few movies in other Indian languages too and intend to increase my knowledge of them soon. Anyways these are the films I grew up with. My first stepping stones, and I still do love many of them.

Johnny Depp

Because whatever you might say of his current career choices, the man is a fantastic actor with some amazing performances to his name and I love him for it. Still, buck up Johnny!

Kirsten Dunst

I did hate her as Mary Jane Watson, which was my first introduction to her (I think... I might have seen her in Jumanji before though), but with every other film that I have seen of hers, she started becoming one of my most favourite actresses. Must ask- am I the only one waiting for a Dunst-Sofia Coppola reunion?

Let the Right One In

The film that restored my faith in vampires. A most innocent tale of doomed love, beautifully shot by Tomas Alfredson. Also that pool scene.

Michael Cera

I know what you're thinking- he looks exactly the same in all these pictures. Michael Cera is my favourite typecast actor, but if you actually look at it, all his roles are slight different from each other. His films make me happy and so he is kind of one of my favourite leading men.

Network

This film is brutal and brilliant and forever relevant. The performances are to die for. Also "I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

O-Ren Ishii

One of my favourite supporting characters of all time. She's like the coolest underworld boss ever. Added to that her army called the Crazy 88, her mood changes, her mocking, her fighting skills and of course her backstory.

Paris in films

Yes I know this isn't a movie or character or movie personality, but Paris is my favourite movie setting. To me at least, the films set in it have something magical about it. As Gil Pender says, "Because you look around and every street, every boulevard, is its own special art form and when you think that in the cold, violent, meaningless universe that Paris exists, these lights, I mean come on..."

Quentin Tarantino

He is actually the coolest. His characters, his dialogues, his women- everything is mindblowingly awesome. And I love his love for films. It's inspiring (and also a bit daunting since he's a genius and all). Nothing gets me as excited as a new QT film.

Ryan Gosling

Uhduh. Look at who's making this list. Not only do I think he's the sexiest human being ever, I also believe he is one of the best actors of his generation and I will stop at nothing to watch a new Gosling movie when it comes out. Plus he's like a real-life superhero and gets ballet lessons.

Stanley Kubrick

I have a real respect for film makers who fashion a unique look for their films- one glimpse and you just know that it is them. Kubrick's films are like that. No one did adaptations like him, or classical music. 

Titanic

The heart wants what it wants. I really thought about putting something more mature or cool here, but eh. I love this film. It is my earliest proper memory of visiting a cinema theatre. My first love is there. I love Kate Winslet and this film is soooooo much better than Avatar, it's insane.

The Usual Suspects

Congrats to all the uber clever people out there who guessed the twist in the first five seconds of the film. I didn't and when it came, I was totally floored. Kevin Spacey is ab fab.

Vivien Leigh

No I am not her biggest fan. That is someone else. But her performance as Blanche Dubois is almost unparalleled in my eyes. Also in spite of hating the film, her Scarlett O'Hara is one helluva character that she completely brings to life, and no one else could have played her but Leigh. Very few actors can give such great performances even once in their lifetime; Leigh did it twice. And her tragic life make them all the more potent.

Woody Allen

Once again, this is my list and who else could I have chosen? My favourite filmmaker of all time. His films compliment all my moods- happy or sad. They are just what I need when I watch them, it's uncanny. But I love it, and I absolutely worship him for it.

X-Men: First Class

X is not a very easy letter, is it? Still, the McFassy bromance makes this a worthy enough choice. I had fun watching it. Described it as girl porn (this was pre-Magic Mike times). Love Charles and Erik.

"You've Got A Friend In Me"

Ha I cheated! Well not really because the moment I thought about the letter 'Y' for this list, this song started playing in my head. And after all, the Toy Story trilogy is a story about friends. True friends. I love Pixar's ability to make these wonderful, human characters from anything and everything, like a cowboy doll and an astronaut action figure.

Zoolander

This is my favourite film from all that feature the Frat Pack. I mean a male model brainwashed to be an assassin- where do they get these stuff? Also David Bowie mediating a male model catwalk-off- genius.