From Dope to Adam Jones: New Posters Roundup
Monday, May 25, 2015 at 10:00AM
Manuel here to try and help us catch up with the barrage of new film posters (and trailers!) that have dropped these past few days. It’s hard to keep up, what with Cannes, Eurovision, singing along with the Barden Bellas and furiously following Mad Max. Here are six posters you may have missed:
Musically Inclined: A #TBT double feature
The Sundance hit (review here) gets an appropriately 90s-tinged and sunny poster that features a pretty fun tagline (“It’s hard out there for a geek”) while the film adaptation of the gloriously 80s cartoon gets a Snapchatty poster (telling you everything you need to know about its intended audience) which looks as broody as that underwhelming first trailer.
Tearjerkers: Docs to sob to
Word from Cannes was pretty ecstatic about the former and for those who loved Senna and Amy Winehouse this should come as no surprise; knowing this, the poster goes for simple iconicity becoming Amy’s own signature beehive (Could Oscar make up for that Senna snub come next year?). The Slamdance doc on the Batkid “Make a Wish” story goes for heartwarming, giving us perhaps the peppiest nod to the darkest of all contemporary superheroes. If you want to get your hankies ready, there are trailers for both films.
Twice the Bradley: Can you sell a film on Bradley’s star power alone?
That’s a valid question. After three consecutive Oscar nominations and coming off two gargantuan hits which topped the box office last year, Bradley Cooper is front and center in the posters for Cameron Crowe’s Aloha and especially on John Wells’ Adam Jones. That may be enough for some people, but these marketing efforts left me wanting. That said, can we talk about the supporting casts on both of these films?
Which of these six films will you be catching in the next few months? Did you also do a double take when looking at that headshot-ey poster for the culinary-centered Adam Jones and/or gay-gasped when you saw the gorgeous Amy poster?
Reader Comments (11)
Jonathan Demme's Aloha? That put a smile on my face
Josh: HA! There goes my wishful thinking getting the best of me. Clearly I am in denial of this being Cameron Crowe's new film and can't get Demme (and his upcoming Meryl film) out of my head.
[Corrected accordingly]
I am beyond curious about "Aloha" at this point - such a big cast for an all-but abandoned film. I am also kind of a grinch about the "Batkid" thing - it's sweet and all, but it feels like there's barely enough narrative there for a YouTube video, let alone a whole film.
Dave S.: I think if they actually used that story as a launching pad for commentary about the hows and whys of the vision of "kid at Batman's side" transitioning from the brighter contrasting Robin to something like that? That could be watchable and interesting.
Manuel: How that Jem movie doesn't end up a disaster is beyond me. The fans are angry at the inaccuracies AND it's a poorly acted and dour version of the kind of story they actually want to tell about record label evil. Stick with the old cartoon or the new comics.
My interest decreases with each set of posters. I'll see Dope and Jem because both look interesting. I've never been a huge documentary person but both subjects are kind of interesting, so there's a slight chance I'll see them (probably on VOD/Streaming, though). In terms of the Bradley Cooper ones, Adam Jones tells me nothing about the story, so I can't decided on it either way. As for Aloha, the trailers make the film look incredibly unoriginal and nothing but the slightest chance of seeing McAdams and Stone kiss would make me see it in theaters.
Uma Thurman & Emma Thompson? Someone's been reading my dream journal. I just wish the poster featured their mugs instead of Cooper's. He's far too hideous right? My actressexuality is in direct conflict with my homosexuality here... Anyway I will be watching the shit out of Adam Jones when comes out.
The "Aloha" poster seems a bit of a mess but it does have a great cast.
Curious about Dope, Amy, and Aloha, not so much the others. Aloha because I'm still hoping against hope for a Cameron Crowe to remind me again why he used to be one of my favorite directors. Also because of my continued girl-crush on Emma Stone...
I really find it lazy when a movie gets a title that's just the main character's name. And once again we get a movie with the same title as an pro athlete. First it was Michael Clayton, who was a wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2007. Now in 2015, we get Adam Jones, who is a center fielder for the Baltimore Orioles. It might be a coincidence, but it's still lazy.
I'll forgive titles that are named after real people like Erin Brockovich.
WTF is that ADAM JONES poster? A very bland name and a photo of Bradley Cooper that could have been taken from Getty Images. Terrible.
(was SENNA a snub if it wasn't even eligible?)
There are terrible posters, and then there's Adam Jones'. Frankly, that's just a waste of ink. At least Michael Clayton's poster has a tag line to give you some idea.