Movies that defined the 90s – What’s YOUR Score?

I consider the 90s to be one of the most colorful eras in the film industry.

There was something for everyone including character driven stories that shined alongside those with revolutionary special effects and heart-pounding action sequences. It was also a good (and lucrative) time for indie filmmakers to make a name for themselves.

So when a British film geek shared with me a quiz featuring movie posters from the 90s, I decided to play along and see how many quotes from these motion pictures I could recognize.

Here are my results:

# of movie quotes listed in the quiz: 29

# of film titles I guessed correctly: 7

# of film titles I guessed incorrectly: 10

In the end, I scored a paltry 7 out of 29 on this movie quiz. These results come as a surprise to me because I've watched many of these flicks -- 14 to be exact (some even multiple times, having had access to them on home video) -- and am at least familiar with most all other movies on the list. Now I’m curious to know if anyone else is up for putting his or her knowledge of film quotes to the test....

What’s YOUR score for the GB Posters’ 90s era movie quiz?

How would YOU define the 90s as far as movies are concerned?

Monday Movie Meme – Made You Look

Let’s put a little spin on this week’s return of the Monday Movie Meme, with a theme that is all about one of the most common supporting materials for what eventually plays out on the screen. If you’re anything like me, you could easily identify songs that were on the soundtracks of many films you’ve watched over the years. Yet, recalling the poster is a bit challenging.

So that brings up some questions: Does that mean the key art for those movies suck? Or, are movie posters irrelevant in the grand scheme of things?

It’s almost hard for me to believe that I don’t remember what the posters to some of my favorite movies looked like. This week's Monday Movie Meme is an exercise in figuring out how much we really pay attention to key art....and if it's enough to get us to want to see a film.

Here are my selections for this week’s Made You Look theme.

Black Swan

The poster for this mystery drama starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis lives up to the dark and creepy nature of a movie about ballerinas. I saw this movie when it came out in the theaters, after having to travel to another town because the movie tickets for “Black Swan” in my area were all sold-out.

It’s a psychological thriller that takes viewers on quite the ride and will have you wondering what in the world is going on as you try to figure out what is real versus what’s a hallucination. Anyway, the movie poster for “Black Swan” screams “CRAZY” to me, which works since that just about the easiest way to sum up this movie.

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

Both versions of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” movies, starring Michael Nyqvist opposite Noomi Rapace and Daniel Craig opposite Rooney Mara, respectively, are pretty badass and worth watching.

However, I initially procrastinated on viewing these crime thriller flicks for a good while -- even after reading all the positive buzz surrounding them as well as the Swedish novel series they're adapted from; and I wouldn’t have even considered checking either of them out if it weren’t for the poster for “The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.”

It gives off a don’t-fuck-with-this-person vibe and made me curious about the plot because it just seemed like something big is going down in this movie. The characters are not playing games.

In Time

There is something about the poster for this futuristic Sci-Fi movie starring Justin Timberlake and Olivia Wilde that made me think of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” – but a much cooler version. "In Time" is about people who don’t age past their mid-twenties but the catch is they only have a short amount of time to live, unless they are among those that can afford to buy their way into an extended life.

I wanted to see this movie but never got around to it. In fact, it's probably somewhere on my Netflix queue with over 80 other flicks I either skipped out on, forgot about, or was unfamiliar with before adding them to the list.

Now, is it just me...or does it also look like this poster is channeling “The Matrix” with Keanu Reeves?

I'm Not There
Although I never went to check out this biographical music drama about Bob Dylan, starring Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett, I'd be willing to watch it. Putting the film aside, I just like the poster because it’s simple with that nice silhouette.

My guess is that Dylan’s life is quite the opposite of simplicity. So, maybe this poster is meant to signify quiet chaos or something of that nature. Who knows?! Either way, it’s among the few movie posters that I seem to be able to easily picture in my head when thinking about those that stand out among the rest.

What movie posters grabbed YOUR attention?

Did a poster ever affect whether YOU wanted to see movie or not?

Movie Poster Trends - Attack of the Clones

Earlier this week, I started worrying less about all of the barriers to entry in prepping my short film “Abyss” for its release; and began to notice the many ways that I can leverage the (albeit limited) resources I already have access to, for maximum options – including the creation of key art. The search for a movie poster design that best represents “Abyss,” however is still on, bringing us to another common trend among one-sheets. 

I figure it’s worth considering any and all viable design concepts that could work while also identifying the ones that should be avoided like the plague.

So with that in mind, let’s look at some movies with posters that could easily pass for another film in front of audiences. In Christophe Courtois’s compilation A little resemblance, he describes how the study of small similarities between one movie poster and another makes a big difference in being able to identify traces of unoriginality among their designs.

It’s hard to argue with his implications after just one glance at these design patterns. Films with movie posters similar to previous releases appear to be riding the bandwagon of another title’s box office success or public status. That should be no surprise considering the nature of Hollywood – the land of questionable sequels and remakes. So it seems as though one-sheets are no exception to this rule. Why reinvent the wheel when another movie has shown that certain compositions, colors, etc. work when it comes to gaining audience recognition?

Movie Poster Trend #12 - The Rip-Off

“These are supposed to either remind you of another (and much better) movie or outright trick you into believing you’re actually getting this other movie at the videostore.” - Para1/ONTD

Call it lack of originality, a case of false advertising, or the simple form of being a downright copycat. One thing’s for sure, movies adopting this “resemblance” practice that Cristophe is referring to has succeeded in getting people to take notice. I have no problem with that, since it is the whole point of creating movie posters. Yet, there is also a part of me that wonders if such a move in design choices are made at the sacrifice of a film’s credibility in terms of its perceived value among audiences.

As “The Rip Off” movie poster trend suggests, some people may view these types of designs as a form of trying to compensate for a film that isn’t so good. On the flipside, one can also argue that similarities in poster designs are useful for helping to give some movies the extra push that they need -- an advantage that would otherwise not be possible due to limitations in their marketing budgets, difficulties in reaching a target demographic, or related factors.

Do YOU still consider movie posters “original” artwork if their designs are similar to notable films?

Is this practice of emulation among poster designs, as understandable as the sampling and/or song remixes done in the music business?

Previous installments of Movie Poster Trends series include a post on hidden face designs and another about text-over-faces.