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The Best & Worst Movie Posters of 2011
by Paul Young
(25 of 24)
The Best & Worst Movie Posters of 2011
Every year, literally hundreds of films are released around the world, and movie posters are one way studios promote these films. Some posters are fantastic - showing the creativity of the artist and/or studio promoting the film. Others are just lazy and unoriginal, showing nothing more than images of the main characters staring intently into space. Others still are just laughably and ridiculously bad, showing that almost no thought or effort went into making them.
There were over 1,000 movie posters released this year, but since there isn't a central database containing every poster, there is a chance we might have left out your favorite. Still, we managed to sort through the dreck and mundane offerings to bring you what we think are the top 12 best and 12 worst movie posters that were released 2011.
[NOTE: The movies depicted in the posters didn't have to be released in 2011 to make our list - only the posters did.]
There were over 1,000 movie posters released this year, but since there isn't a central database containing every poster, there is a chance we might have left out your favorite. Still, we managed to sort through the dreck and mundane offerings to bring you what we think are the top 12 best and 12 worst movie posters that were released 2011.
[NOTE: The movies depicted in the posters didn't have to be released in 2011 to make our list - only the posters did.]
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Tree of life was horrible. Probably the only movie I couldn’t bare to watch anymore. The poster is just as horrible as the movie.
I just can’t seem to escape The Human Centipede and I hate that! References and images of it keep popping up everywhere and at every mention of it I just feel sick, physically neauseous and thoughts about it bother me like a particularly bad nightmare.
The subject matter of that movie is absolutely disgusting and not just the plot, but several other aspects of it are truly disturbing; the fact that someone had this idea, the fact that God knows how many people approved the idea, the fact that actors were willing to play the parts, the fact that people were willing to see it and, finally, the fact that is has a sequel.
I understand and support the importance of freedom of speech, but this sickening movie is a constant reminder that people are abusing that freedom and taking it way too far. Obviously you can’t prevent movies like that from being made (because where will the line be drawn?) but I wish that, at the very least, the surrounding entertainment media would have the decency to keep it out of the faces of people who wish to have nothing to do with it.
Recently my TV guide/entertainment magazine did a review on the movie, complete with sickening screenshot and detailed plot summary. You flip a page, reading through the reviews, enjoying the most sharp opinions of the writers, and all of a sudden you are confronted with something like that and we are all just to think that that is normal and acceptable?
I truly resent that we have become so desensitized to horrible imagery that we pay money to go see it, and explore it in a supposedly family friendly TV guide and no one ever stops to think: Have we gone too far? They just want to make disgusting and shocking things for the sake of shocking people (and evoking that emotion takes a lot in our violence-overwhelmed society).
I actually agree with the other commenters that the poster of The Human Centipede (sick as it is) isn’t all that bad, because, like the writer said, in any other context, it looks like an admirable piece of art, it seems to say something meaningful (and something different to every beholder). But the movie itself does not share this depth. I did not see it, but my sister did and she assured me there is nothing redeeming about it. It’s just gross, solely because it can be. If you are going to make a provocative movie, at least do so because it says something. Don’t say anything, if you don’t have anything to say.
I apologize for this lengthy rant, but this movie just deeply affects me and, to me, it has come to represent one of the major flaws in our society: that nothing is too disturbing. One can only wonder where that kind of thought process (Freedom of speech?) will take us.
As a life-long lover of cinema, I’m inclined to agree with you. I’m starting to get sick of movies that sacrifice creativity for shock value, whether through tasteless, “edgy” jokes or pointless gore. The worst part is that people eat it up, and they have to keep raising the stakes to keep shocking people.
I didn’t really care that much until I heard about (and kept hearing about) A Serbian Film. I never watched it, but I read a detailed synopsis, and believe me, it makes Human Cenipede look like a Disney movie. I felt sick just _reading_ some of the scene descriptions. Like you said, the truly disturbing thing is that someone thought them up, and whole group of people got together and decided it was a good idea to simulate it on film.
The maker of the movie said it was supposed to be social commentary about censorship or something, but given some of the scenes in the movie, I say bulls***. His goal is clearly just to outdo the other torture porn directors. When you resort to pointless, repeated scenes of extremely violent rape, pedophilia, and forced incest, all on-screen, you’re just proving the censors right and giving them enough dirt to bury you with. I’m no prude, and I’ve seen plenty of horror flicks that I enjoyed, but Jesus, it’s starting to get ridiculous.
You too? “I never watched it, but I read a detailed synopsis”. And of course you thought it was a great idea to talk about a movie you haven’t watched. What’s next? A law against this kind of movies? Would that make you feel better? Just don’t watch them!
Great, you didn’t see it. Thanks for sharing your opinions about a movie you haven’t watched yet. I haven’t seen “Scary Movie” but I can tell you it’s up there with “Citizen Kane”, “Casablanca” and “Gone With The Wind”
Dude, the poster “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” is not as great. It took me a whiiiile to read what the name of the movie was, lol. It’s a bit redundant and has too much going on. How can you place a great poster like “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” next to this one? You said that market films should be clean and simple. But this poster didn’t live up to that. I disagree that this is one of the “best” posters. It’s not bad, though.
No. It’s vulgar and trashy and you just have bad taste.
The poster of Jack and Jill is not Spanish, it is Mexican. MEXICO AND SPAIN IS NOT THE SAME
*ARE NOT
(English is still the same.)
Captain America made number one for best poster! Awwww! That movie poster is one of my favorites it’s beautiful and stunning in it’s art and design.
That is so true! This poster is by far really bad. They should of at least tried to enlarge his face and make the silhouette a bit smaller in the background. That would have made for a better image.
Mr. Young, congratulations! What a list! The worst list I agreed with almost entirely, some more than others (but I’ll keep that to myself so people don’t start a crazy ranting conversation about my opinions). However, the best list sealed it for me. You have excellent taste!
While I would have preferred to see a different Guillermo del Torro project poster than Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (Pan’s Labyrinth and El Orfanato were far superior posters, in my opinion), your choice of Rise of the Planet of the Apes made up for that. The simplicity of that particular poster caught my eye with one small detail. The “R” was not red, to grab attention with a bold, shocking color. It was green. To me, that choice took it a step further in awesomeness.
The best part about your top 12 list was making it to the top two. Both The Dark Knight Rises and Captain America are in my top ten favorite movies, but the posters themselves were spectacular. Aesthetically pleasing and rich in symbolism and detail, they truly deserved to be the top two. I don’t come across many people who can analyze posters that way. Pleasant surprise! Thanks for the list (:
The only good thing about that harry potter poster is that its going to be the last one (thank god). I mean it only took him 20 years to graduate from whatever it is he does.
And as far as the rest I think numbers 1 and 2 of the good list should have just both been tied for first. Both posters are visually stimulating and very artsy on several levels.
This was a joke.
Captain America the best poster? Is a piece of crap.
It took me a while to realize what was wrong with the Human Centipede poster. I thought it was an image of a centipede coming out from a small crack in the corner of a room. Then I looked down and was trying to figure out what the hell the belly button was. Then I zoomed out and saw it. Lol, I really need to get a better screen (colors are flushed out and so are subtle textures).
Im sorry but who wrote this list has no idea
To the jack and Jill poster having Eugenio Derbez as 1 of Mexicos most famous actors is a wrong fact.
he is just a comedian and a mediocre one at that.
its like saying that Tom Arnold is one of USA best comedians.
The poster for Black Swan is so offensive. Where does Tyler Perry get off thinking that “white face” is funny? It’s totally racist. Just like a white person wearing “Black face”. You CAN be racist towards Caucasian people.
Tyler Perry isn’t wearing ‘white face’. In the original Black Swan poster, Natalie Portman’s face was covered in white make up. They are both dressed as swans. Tyler Perry isn’t wearing ‘white face’ any more than Natalie Portman was.
You might was well say that Alan Cummings is wearing ‘black face’ as Nightcrawler in X-Men 2.
Still, it really is a sh*tty poster.
From what I can see on the Black Swan poster, she’s only wearing white makeup up to about her apples of her cheeks, from there on it’s gradation back to her skin.
Those eyes… they look like he’s on a really bad crack trip.