Tag: movies

  • Movie Pass Adventures: The Librarians

    Suzette Baker in The Librarians.
    A woman stand next to a sign reading "The Library Bill of Rights."

    Support your local librarians- they’re a good chance they’re being targeted for stopping censorship.

    And while you’re at it, support independent movie theaters! I saw this at The New Parkway Theater in Oakland, and it’s a completely different experience than seeing a movie at home or in a big chain theater. Go!

    It was hard to come up with a poster for this. Documentaries don’t have have the same structure as fiction films, so it’s hard to find a poster where the details line up. I ended up cheating a bit and using a teaser poster that doesn’t have any credits:

    A fake poster for The Librarians mimicking the poster for The Social Network.
    Fediverse reactions

  • Streaming Movie Adventures: Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

    Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.
    Rob Reiner in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.

    The end of my three part “Stuck in a Hotel in San Francisco” mini movie festival. I hadn’t watched this because I was afraid it would be a depressing retread of the first film, but it actually has new jokes. The band is older. They’re not partying, they’re just rehearsing and reconnecting. It’s not as laugh out loud funny as the first movie, but it’s warm and comfortable, which is probably the best kind of Rob Reiner film to watch right now.

    Today’s poster is okay- a remake of a poster for a more famous sequel- but it’s personally significant: this is my 250th poster this year. If each poster took an hour (and many of them took more time than that) I’ve spent more than ten full days making these things!

    A fake poster Spinal Tap II: The End Continues mimicking the poster for The Godfather Part II.

  • Streaming Movie Adventures: Elf

    Bob Newhart in Elf.
    Zooey Deschanel in Elf.

    I’ve seen Elf many times, but I’ve never seen it as a complete movie. The first time I watched it was at an early preview screening before most of the effects were completed, so I didn’t know about the animated characters until years later. I’ve watched chunks of it out of order. This time I watched half of it one day and half the next as part of my Stuck in my Hotel Room Movie Party.

    Boy, Buddy is annoying. He’s loud, he has no self control, and he’s constantly destroying things. If I were James Caan I’d probably send him to the mail room, too.

    Got a pretty good fake poster out of this one. I didn’t even realize the original poster used Christmas colors until I was laying out the text!

    A fake poster for Elf mimicking the poster for Bullitt.

  • Movie Pass Adventures: Hamnet

    Jessie Buckley in Hamnet
    Paul Mescal in Hamnet.

    Has a hard time getting started, but it gets there.

    Also: Jacobi Jupe deserves a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

    I almost didn’t do this fake poster because I didn’t want to recreate the title type. Then I learned it’s a barely altered font and decided to go for it. Then I realized halfway in that there’s a ton of custom shading and I ended up doing more work than I expected. But I think it’s funny, so it’s worth it.

    A fake poster for Hamnet mimicking the poster for Shaft.
    Fediverse reactions

  • Streaming Movie Adventures: Jay Kelly

    Adam Sandler and George Clooney in Jay Kelly.
    George Clooney and Adam Sandler in Jay Kelly.

    I had planned on seeing this in a theater, but I only got around to it when it was streaming- and even then, it took being stuck in a hotel room to get me to watch.

    The acting is strong, George Clooney is charming, Adam Sandler again shows he’s good at serious parts, Billy Crudup has a scene that steals the movie. But I had a hard time connecting to a story about a massively successful movie star who has trouble with real world relationships. I think I would have been more engaged if the movie was from Crudup’s point of view, or if both stories were told in parallel.

    Today’s fake poster comes from a different new movie that’s about a much less successful performer.

    A fake poster for Jay Kelly mimicking the poster for Marty Supreme.
    Fediverse reactions

  • Walk of Fame Movies: Straight Shooting with Harry Carey

    Harry Carey in Straight Shooting
    Harry Carey, Dan Duffy, and Vester Pegg in Straight Shooting

    This is John Ford’s first full length film, and he made it through trickery. He was supposed to shoot a two-reeler, but pretended some of the film was damaged during shooting so they’d give him more stock.

    Composite picture. On the left, a mockup of Harry Carey's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On the Right, a black and white portrait photo of Harry Carey.

    This was not Harry Carey’s (1521 Vine Street) first appearance as Cheyenne Harry. He first play the character a decade earlier, and played him in dozens of movies. When movies went to sound he was too old to play leads, but he was a popular character actor for decades.

    Today’s fake poster is all about shooting.

    A fake poster for Straight Shooting mimicking the poster for A Shot in the Dark.

    Fediverse reactions

  • Classic Movie Adventures: The Cameraman

    Buster Keaton surrounded by women in The Cameraman
    Buster Keaton and Marceline Day in The Cameraman

    Buster Keaton is SO DAMN GOOD at making ridiculous situations seem plausible. You’ve been separated from your date on a double-decker bus? Obviously, you should climb down the side and sit on the fender next to her. Lost your swimsuit in the public bath? The only solution is to steal someone else’s pants.

    Hey, look- there’s actually a connection between this movie and the one the fake poster is based on!

    A fake poster for The Cameraman mimicking the poster for Blow-Up.
    Fediverse reactions

  • Walk of Fame Movies: Hold That Ghost with Joan Davis

    Joan Davis and Lou Costello in Hold That Ghost.
    Left to right: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Evelyn Ankers, Joan Davis and Richard Carlson in HOLD THAT GHOST

    I watched a VHS rip of this from the Internet Archive. I only watched Abbott & Costello if it was the only thing on TV when I was a kid, so the picture quality felt right.

    The story was the same structure I remembered: Someone needs to do an unpleasant/scary/dangerous thing, and Abbott browbeats Costello into doing it. And the Andrews sisters show up to sing a couple of songs.

    Composite picture. On the left, a mockup of Joan Davis's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On the Right, a black and white portrait photo of Joan Davis.

    The best part of this movie is Joan Davis (1521 Vine Street). She’s got great timing and was a gifted physical comedian. I need to find more of her stuff.

    Today’s fake poster is brought to you by the word “that.”

    A fake poster for Hold That Ghost mimicking the poster of She's All That.
    Fediverse reactions

  • Walk of Fame Movies: The Battle of the Sexes and Belle Bennett

    Jean Hersholt and Phyllis Haver in The Battle of the Sexes.
    Jean Hersholt, Phyllis Haver, and Don Alvarado in The Battle of the Sexes.

    Not really a battle of the sexes; more of a dumb husband deciding to leave his wife for a gold digger. Not great.

    Composite picture. On the left, a mockup of Belle Bennett's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On the Right, a black and white portrait photo of Belle Bennett.

    Belle Bennett started as a child performer in the circus, but by this time she had been typecast as “the mother.” She died of cancer at 41, four years after this movie was released.

    Ooooh! There was a movie this year with “Battle” in the title and a poster that’s not too hard to mimic!

    A fake poster for The Battle of the Sexes mimicking the poster for One Battle After Another.
    Fediverse reactions

  • Monsterdon Adventures: The She-Creature

    The face of the She-Creature
    Chester Morris and Marla English in The She-Creature.

    This is one of those “terrible to watch alone, fun to heckle with a group” movies. Also: ancient female fish monsters apparently had enormous breasts.

    As soon as I saw the monster with her arms in the air I knew exactly which poster I was going to copy.

    A fake poster for The She-Creature mimicking the poster for Moonstruck.
    Fediverse reactions
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