So's Reel Thoughts: Posters

Showing posts with label Posters. Show all posts

The Safdie Bros' of Heaven Knows What (See Trailer) are back with another drug-fueled & intensely brutal story called Good Time. It's about a brother's dangerous quest to get his brother out of jail after a botched robbery. It brings me incredible joy to see Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart alike, reinvent themselves after the Twilight Saga. By the looks of the trailer, we're going to see a side of Pattinson, we've never seen before. The film got raving reviews at Cannes and naturally, A24 picked it up alongside Sean Baker's The Florida Project. Good Time comes out August 11th!

Also look at this gorgeous and twisted poster!

OoOo I'm loving the character poster design of Ana Lily Amirpour sophomore feature, The Bad Batch! It looks almost grim only showcasing the bodies of the characters with their heads chopped off but that basically sums up the vibe of this film. It's a brutal, psychedelic, and transcendental ride through an apocalyptic wasteland. I thought this film was so utterly fantastic that I filmed both a review and a trailer reaction for it! I can't wait to hear what you all think of this cannibal love story when it comes out June 23rd. *Cue Yeah Yeah Yeah's Head Will Roll

I took one look at a still of Eliza Hittman's sophomore film, Beach Rats and have never felt more compelled to watch a film about a half-naked white boy than in this moment. Written and Directed by Hittman, Beach Rats follows Frankie, a teen struggling to escape his bleak home life in Brooklyn while trying to come to terms with his sexual orientation. He spends his summer with his delinquent boy gang, girlfriend and older men he meets online. It sure sounds like we're in for a wiiiiild summer!

Beach Rats premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, received raving reviews and went on to win the festival's Directing Award for U.S. Drama. I haven't watched Hittman's previous film, It Felt Like Love but I know that she is one of this generation's freshest and boldest cinematic voice. This teaser trailer is undeniably seductive and leaves me salivating for more! It's unclear when the film will come out but knowing that Neon acquired the film, I know it's in good hands so let the waiting game begin!

There's nothing more exciting than hearing the words "All-Female Directed Horror Anthology". As much as some of the best horror films have been directed by men, the truly horrifying stories seem to come from female perspectives (The Babadook, Goodnight Mommy). So you can imagine my trauma after watching the latest trailer for the all-female directed horror anthology film, XX.

Four deadly tales from four killer directors consisting of Karyn Kusama (The Invitation), Annie Clark aka St. Vincent who makes her directorial debut, Roxanne Benjamin (Southbound), and Jovanka Vuckovic (The Captured Bird) in addition to award-winning animator, Sofia Carrillo (La Casa Triste) help weave the stories all together to create one ultra suspenseful tale of terror! Also, I'm loving the poster design! The film premieres at Sundance Film Festival on January 22th before slaying the rest of us all when it hits theaters and VOD on February 17th.

It's a difficult art to translate interpersonal intimacy onto the big screen for any filmmaker but So Yong Kim does it so masterfully, she takes it to another level. Her latest film, Lovesong, follows a relationship between two friends whose bonds deepen during an impromptu road trip. The premise sounds vague and even the trailer only shows a glimpse of the breathtaking transcendental beauty that lies within the film. I got to catch the film at Sundance's NEXT Fest and the film completely broke me with it's delicate portrait of the ebbs and flows of female friendship. I can't wait for everyone to see the film when it comes out February 17th!

There has never been a time that A24 has let me down. They acquired and distributed the most innovative films to come our in the last decade like Spring Breakers, Under the Skin, The Witch, American Honey, and now, there's Moonlight. They've been doing a terrific job but now, they're taking leveling even higher up with Moonlight considering that it is A24's first in-house production alongside Plan B, with Brad Pitt as Executive Producer. This is Barry Jenkins' sophomore feature film and he is not messing around yall!

Moonlight is based on the play "In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue" by Tarell Alvin McCraney. The story tells the life story of a young man named Chiron (Trevante Rhodes) through three chapters of his life. This trailer is hands down one of the most beautiful trailers I've seen in a while. The luscious cinematography, tornado-like score, stories about sexuality are simply the kind of films I tend to fall deeply in love with. I love you so so so so much A24! Thank goodness the film is premiering at TIFF and then being released a month later. Till then, I gotta catch up with Barry Jenkins' first film, Medicine for Melancholy!

Park Chan-wook's latest film The Handmaiden already made waves at this year's Cannes Film Festival and lo and behold, the marvelous poster just dropped! When I was in Korea, the film had already come out and this exact poster was the one plastered throughout the city and I'm glad they're using the same one for the American poster because it says so much. The story follows a young female pickpocket from the slums who is hired by a con man to join an elaborate scam in which she becomes the personal servant of a wealthy Japanese heiress, who she ultimately tried to seduce! I can't wait to see this steamy lesbian drama unfold once it comes out in theaters October 14!

- Teaser Trailer -

If you know anything about me, you would know that my #1 babe is Andrea Arnold. Fish Tank was the audacious, in-your-face, social realism film that I didn't know I so desperately needed in my life! And once I heard that she was going to make her American film debut with American Honey, starring Shia LaBeouf and newcomer Sasha Lane, I knew I was in for a wiiiiiiiild ride. The story is an epic roadtrip that follows a teenager girl who joins a travelling magazine sales crew and gets consumed in the whirlwind of hard partying, law breaking, and young love as she blazes through the Midwest.

American Honey premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival where it went to win the Jury Prize which is Arnold's third time winning the award. As expected, the trailer possesses the best of what Arnold has to offer and more. Entailing #1 hit tunes, a collection of unruly first-time & seasoned actors and raw intimacy, American Honey will surely be the most explosive and daring portrait of millennial youth to date. Arnold is one of the few filmmakers that continues to push the bar and tackle subjects and people that are rarely shown on screen. She is still and will always be my biggest inspiration as a Filmmaker and Critic. Thanks always to A24 for distributing the film. Surely, it will come out at the end of 2016.

There's only been a handful of films that screened at Sundance this year that makes me really excited for this year in film and one of those films is Anna Rose Holmer's The Fits. 11-year-old Toni is training as a boxer with her brother at the community center when she becomes enamored with the local dance troupe. But when a mysterious outbreak of fainting spells plague the team, Toni's desire for acceptance becomes more complicated. What a fascinating story that takes a peculiar turn into different worlds! Give me more!

Newcomer Royalty Hightower as Toni is fascinating to watch as she navigates her different worlds. There is a undeniable hypnotizing quality to the trailer in its structure, plot, and cinematography. I haven't seen a film yet that shows the magical and paralyzing journey of adolescence quite like this so I am beyond elated that Oscilloscope is releasing The Fits on June 3rd!

In timely fashion, Nicolas Winding Refn dropped The Neon Demon trailer as soon as it was announced that the film was going to be premiering at Cannes Film Festival come May. Many may say that Refn hasn't been on his best game since after Drive but I think the contrary. It was actually Drive, that I did not like and his film thereafter, Only God Forgives where I started to become more intrigued by his new found style and themes. In The Neon Demon, the story follows Jesse played by Elle Fanning, an aspiring model who moves to Los Angeles, where her vitality and youth is the envy of a group of beauty-obsessed women who will use any means to obtain it. Oh man, this is so Hollywood.

At this point, Refn's electric and candy-pop imagery paired with violently dark themes is singularly his style, that everyone by now should know what a Refn film will be like. All that glitter, beautiful women, and did I hear Keanu?! Yeah, I'm ecstactic and can't wait for it to premiere at Cannes despite that most of the old farts there gave him a big fat thumbs down when Only God Forgives premiered in 2013. And especially with his films, I truly cannot rely on other people's opinions because it's always a hit or miss for me so I shall see when it is released in June! Oh boy, it can't come soon enough! This year just got 100% more gory and nightmarish. Bring it on, Refn.

Don't mistake Maya Vitkova's Bulgarian film, Viktoria for last year's one take heist thriller, Victoria! They may have the same film title, but they couldn't be more different from one another. After being 2014 Sundance hit film, Viktoria is finally getting released only in New York on April 29th, distributed by Big World Pictures.

The official synopsis for Viktoria provided by Big World states that the film "follows three generation of women in the final years of the People's Republic of Bulgaria and the early years of the transition to democracy. The film focuses on reluctant mother Boryana and her daughter Viktoria, who is born without an umbilical cord. Unwanted by her mother, Viktoria is named the country's Baby of the Decade, and is showered with gifts and attention until the disintegration of the Eat Bloc. Despite throwing their worlds off balance, the resulting political changes also allow for the possibility of reconciliation."

As you can see just by the trailer, the gorgeous cinematography does all the talking. Even if we don't know what the film is about just by the trailer, every single shot provides provides the highest caliber of visual poetry that makes us want to know more! Vitkova wrote, directed, and produced the film, which was the first Bulgarian film to screen at Sundance. It's such an interesting premise that combines family struggles with political allegory. I sadly missed my chance to watch this film when it came to AFI FEST last year but I'm glad to hear at least New Yorkers get to feast their eyes on this glorious film! Hopefully it comes to LA soon!

EDIT (4/13/16): HOOOLLLLLYYYYY MOTHER. Queen Maya Vitkova herself shared and commented on this post saying that Viktoria will be coming to LA on June 10th! I'll definitely see you there Maya! <33

I've been waiting all year for this year's "wackiest & wtffff" film and it seems like it has arrived. The directing duo Daniels aka Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's Swiss Army Man starring Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe is getting intense buzz and being dubbed as the "farting corpse film" (just watch the trailer). It premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival where it went on to claim the Best Directing award in the U.S. Dramatic category which is not too shabby for their first feature! Hank (Dano) is on the verge of committing suicide when he finds a corpse (Radcliffe) washed up to shore and together they go on a surreal adventure to get home. Sounds like it's going to be a wiiiiild ride.

There's no denying the spectacularly surreal trailer filled with exhilarating, quirky, and humorous moments that makes Swiss Army Man one of my most anticipated films of this year! The two Daniels are the mastermind behind award-winning music video, Turn Down for What by Lil Jon & DJ Snake which is so outrageously hilarious and bonkers, I don't expect anything less from these two. Whether it is Dano using Radcliffe's body as a rapid-fire machine gun or a racing speedboat, there lies a deeper message of the beauty of life that guts us right in our feels. Larkin Seiple's intensely rich and luscious cinematography boasts vibrancy and sincerity in every shot to bring this farting dead body story to life (literally)! A24 has our backs and is releasing Swiss Army Man to theaters on June 17th. I'll see you guys all there with my very own Bernie by my side!

OMG yes! The first full trailer of Karyn Kusama's latest film, The Invitation, is finally here and I can't wait for everyone to see this film! We got to see a glimpse of impending insanity within the film in the teaser a month ago but now, we get to see what the hell is actually going on in this film, at least a little more. When Will (Logan Marshall-Green) gets invited to his ex-wife's Eden and her new boo, David's dinner party, he suspects that they have set up a sinister plan for him and the guests. I don't think I'll ever see a Hollywood dinner party the same ever again.

I was fortunate enough to watch this film at last year's Beyond Fest and I was completely blown away. I have always loved Karyn Kusama since Girlfight (Badass Femme Certified!), but The Invitation has got to be her most sophisticated and refined piece of work to date! Crome Yellow and I gush about our love for this film in our full review (See review) and I don't think we're still over it! Accompanied by suffocating tension and gripping paranoia, The Invitation is a exquisite and well-crafted showcase about loss and grief. Drafthouse Films is releasing the film on April 8th so don't forget to RSVP to this party from hell! This is not only going to be one of the best films of this year but one dinner party you surely won't forget.

It's been three years since I was introduced to Ben Wheatley from Beyond Fest and I haven't looked back! He goes 0-100 from his previous film, the simplistic A Field in England to his most decadent piece of work yet in High-Rise starring the most beautiful cast -- Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elisabeth Moss, and Jeremy Irons. Based on the book by J.G. Ballard, the story follows Laing, a young doctor who joins a community in a luxury building that start to spiral out of control. I'm definitely getting some Snowpiercer vibes with the social commentary on the structure of classism. But knowing Wheatley, he's got something up his sleeve that will blow our brains out.

Written by his real-life and film partner in crime, Amy Jump (Kill List, Sightseers), this is not going to be your average film about class systems. Everything about this trailer oozes with luxury and opulence that I feel like I'm literally swimming in a pool of $100s as we speak. I mean, look at that production design! The 17th century costumes! And all the beautiful white people that are about to embark in the battles of their lives! It is truly going to be a dazzling and exquisite spectacle especially by Wheatley standards. And if you don't know what I mean by that, do yourself a favor and watch my favorite film of his, Kill List. I would also like to take the time out to thank Wheatley for showing Tom Hiddleston in all his naked glory. I can't wait to see it allllllll (;D) when High-Rise comes out on April 28th!

Did someone say a new Sion Sono film?!?! If you happen to look at his IMDB page, apparently he has six films listed for 2015 including a tv movie. I don't know how the man does it but I am not complaining at all, quite the contrary! I am ecstatic to present another film by this idiosyncratic auteur who keeps tackling new genres in a visionary way only he can and this time, he brings us The Whispering Star. Starring his wife/actress Megumi Kagurazaka, plays Yoko, a robot deliverywoman who delivers packages to people around the galaxy on a floating house. But she begins to wonder what is in these boxes and more importantly, what it means to be human.

I've loved his previous films like the bat-shit crazy Why Don't You Play in Hell (See review) & the swagged out Tokyo Tribe. And with The Whispering Star, he seems to be tackling another genre in a breathtaking way. Shot in b&w with a simplistic set design, this sci-fi feels reminiscent to the dreamy works of Fellini and a dash of Spike Jonze's Her. But we all know that once we see it, it'll feel 100% like a Sion film. The Whispering Star screened at TIFF '15 and although, it has no U.S. release date yet, I bet it'll get picked up in no time! I mean, someone's got to! It's SION SONO!

My love for posters has grown tremendously over the years and so whenever a film comes out, I anticipate the release of the film poster because it truly is another extension of the film's visual language and the essence of the film. In addition to 2014's Best Posters, this year's roster of great film posters was nothing but outstanding! Whether it is the vibrant and eye-catching imagery of Iris, the beautifully sun-soaked snapshot of Tangerine, or the powerful and poignant poster of White God, each of these film posters translates their film so gorgeously, I can't help but marvel at their artistry. Enjoy!