IMP 2011 vol.1: Posters Awards

"The characters in this movie are all about excess. And this poster reeks of it. The guns, the clothes, the regal chair, even the rather obvious bulge in the man's pants. Oh, and if that's not enough, EVERYTHING is coated in gold. A very eye-catching design that drives home the concept of the film."

"If you want to get someone's attention, this is the way to do it. Any fears that the remake of the Swedish film would be dramatically toned down for American audiences should've been put to rest with this poster. Although it likely wouldn't have made the walls of many theaters, people were still talking about this image months later."

"How do you capture two big name actors when you only have room for one face? This design does a great job of merging George Clooney and Ryan Gosling together using a copy of Time Magazine. Each actor is clearly recognizable while at the same time they've created a rather creepy hybrid of the two of them."

"A beautiful poster that manages to, with a single image, capture a big part of the magic and wonder of life, a major theme of the film."

"For a film dealing with a man trying to reconnect with his somewhat estranged daughters, this poster does a great job of putting us in the mind of Clooney's character as he looks at his girls, seemingly so far away from him, with what's likely a sense of regret and hope. A simple but lovely design."

"A great introduction to Ryan Gosling's character, looking larger than life thanks to the camera angle. Very reminiscent of Steve McQueen which, given the film's basic plot, is perfectly appropriate.

"Death comes for the fifth time. A simple, memorable image to capture the idea. With so few series making it to a part five, the film's title was not even necessary (aside from the small URL at the bottom)".

"The stage is set for the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort. That's all anyone really needs to know about the final film of the Potter series."

"Great use of tiny rum bottles to spell out the film's title while the tagline spells out the rest."

"Being most people's first introduction to the film, this poster gives them a great idea of the dark tone of the storyline and their first glimpse of the unorthodox title character."

"Sure, butt crack jokes are not quite at the height of intellectual humor and if it were anything but a garden gnome showing a bit too much cheek it likely would be more disgusting than funny. But there is something rather hilarious about this image, especially with the addition of the laughing red gnomes in the background."

"There were a number of spoof posters for this film but there is something so utterly wrong about this image that makes it hard not to laugh at."

"The humor here just comes from the creature itself. Those eyes, the glum expression on his face, and the shirt - especially the shirt."

"Hard not to laugh seeing tough guy Danny Trejo wearing one of the tackiest Christmas sweaters imaginable. And his family all look so... festive."

"A great example of how the film's title, tagline, and image come together to make something quite hilarious. Buster, with a pint of beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other shows that there are no absolute tricks to longevity. The expression on his face is perfect."

"The fact that some people thought the character looked like Justin Bieber might be reason enough for some to find this poster creepy but there is also something quite unsettling about the boy's eyes and his way-too-serious expression. Add in some ominous lighting and a great tagline and you get something your kids can hang on the wall to keep them awake at night."

"Artist Tom Hodge has made a number of recent posters in the style of 70s exploitation films. They have all been rather creepy but this one is the creepiest in our opinion, with numerous women in peril, blood-soaked knives, and one scary psycho wearing a pig's head. The only hope the tagline offers for these poor women is for them to imagine it all away."

"f you don't find this poster scary then you have likely never been afraid to go into the water. That monstrous mouth is one of the last things you want to see while swimming and likely the last thing this poor girl ever sees."

"By now, pretty well everyone is familiar with the mask from the Scream franchise. After all the sequels and spoofs it has likely lost a lot of its creepy edge, seeming more humorous than scary. But this poster manages to make it scary once again."

"For anyone who has even heard of the original film, just the thought of a sequel is frightening enough. From a distance we see what looks like a human spine. But on closer inspection we can see that someone has taken the mad doctor's fantasy from the first film to even greater lengths. (We count 41 bodies in total.) That they are all naked and many of them appear to be bound just makes things worse."

"Though instantly recognizable, Abraham Lincoln is not quite what you could call a major box office draw at the movies these last few decades. However, he gets the star treatment while James McAvoy, Robin Wright, and Kevin Kline are nowhere to be seen."

"Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock may get star billing but it's an unknown actor in his motion picture debut whose face fills up the poster."

"Once again, we have some rather big name actors like Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Christopher Lee, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ray Winstone, and Sacha Baron Cohen MIA while a young actor (and admittedly the title character) gets all the recognition."

"George Clooney is pretty much the opposite of Tom Cruise when it comes to movie posters. The poster for this film is no exception. Although his face is indeed on this poster, it's mostly obscured as he has his head turned. Certainly not trying to cash in on his star power."

"You have to squint your eyes to see the two stars on this one sheet. Even full-sized we only catch tiny glimpses of Brad Pitt and Sean Penn amidst all of the scenes from the movie."

"Seriously, would anyone actually be interested in watching the film based on this revolting French poster? Then again, they went a similar route last time around with an equally revolting French poster for Big Momma's House 2."

"Where to start? The plasticized belly, the completely inappropriate expression on the girl's face, or the fact that her face seems to have been pasted into the shadows of the hoodie? Now if only they had used the tagline from the previous poster for the film: "She wasn't the best... it didn't matter." Then we would've had a true classic."

"Admittedly, there actually is a scene in the movie where the horse rides in the back of a sports car. It looks phony and unrealistic there but that's nothing compared to the poster. How long must the back of the car be to fit the horse in? And why does nothing seem to have the right proportions here? Also, they've made the actors look so young in this poster one wonders if the actress playing the girl might actually be in her 30s. Aidan Quinn looks more like Chris O'Donnell here! Oh, and if you're wondering, the license plate refers to the name of the horse... of course."

"Once again, a poster that seems to be telling everyone to run screaming in the opposite direction. This would've been bad even for a cheap 80s VHS cover. Everyone's been pasted together, seemingly at random, with the stupidest expressions possible on all the guy's faces. Then they use some filter to give it a "hand drawn" feel to hopefully cover up the bad cut and paste job they did."

"We could've chosen either of the silhouette posters for this film for the nomination. This one gets the nod thanks to the unfortunate feeling that James McAvoy's disembodied head is floating in Patrick Stewart's lap. McAvoy's raised eyebrow makes him seem to be saying "Aha! You never expected to find me here, did you?" There are so many interesting things that could've been done with this basic idea. This design (and we use the word loosely) is not one of them."

"Dr. House is as arrogant as ever and still breaking the rules, even when he is on a chain gang."

"Great rendition of the title character, still recognizable despite having most of his face made up of the show's title and release date."

"Great shot of Jackie showing her all-too-close relationship with drugs. Good tagline to go with the image and her overall attitude towards people."

"The first poster for season two seemed to begin right where season one ended, giving fans a hint of the hero's fate."

"One look at the poster and you know this show is not going to be anything even remotely close to normal."