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swo17 wrote:

All of these covers suck. Why do they insist on not using their beautiful rep poster artwork?

EDIT Okay I guess L'avventura is okay but compared to the recent poster it ain't

domino harvey wrote:Just say Murakami

Are there are other people who write world literature?

ptatler wrote:

domino harvey wrote:Just say Murakami

Are there are other people who write world literature?

That have covers that look like the Hellman...

What strikes me is that it took two people to come up with the It Happened One Night artwork.

It's definitely "Wind-Up Bird teal."

God, the Hellman set looks awful.

FYI Executive Decision: there will be a new category this year in the Round Up Awards for Worst Cover. This month cements the need. The greatest tragedy is that we only have but one vote to cast

They're all pretty terrible.

domino harvey wrote:FYI Executive Decision: there will be a new category this year in the Round Up Awards for Worst Cover. This month cements the need. The greatest tragedy is that we only have but one vote to cast

One vote, but lots of potential winners. At this point, we might as well have the same type of list than for the best releases with 5 winners. \:D/

Thix being said, I love the Avventura cover.

What a bad month for covers! Specially after last month, when they created some beautiful artwork.

I think the Hellman cover is of a piece with his aesthetic in the films--these are abstract westerns. All of the covers could use more Monica Vitti though.

Everyone's reaction to scrolling through this thread and seeing the covers:

Does anyone have any insight into the thinking process at CC in regards to whether or not they select a still from the film for the cover or commission original art work?

The biggest disappointment for me is It Happened One Night. Criterion has never really gained its footing in successfully marketing Golden-Age Hollywood comedies (see also Trouble in Paradise, I Married a Witch, and any of the Chaplins). They hit their high points with My Man Godfrey and Design for Living, and the only reason their first two Sturges covers worked is because they wisely stuck with the original poster artwork.

It Happened One Night is definitely the worst of this sorry lot, and the horrible Cracker Barrel homespun font and unimaginative still make for one big yuck. Even a gross Sony photoshop job would look better

What really kills me about all of these covers is the fonts. Especially It Happened One Night! I feel like Alex in Clockwork Orange when seeing this thing. Just as well that I don't like the film anyway.

Thanks for the laugh, Dom. Perfectly chosen still.

I absolutely love the L'avventura cover. The poster from the shop is also great, but I don't think it would work nearly as well for packaging as this one does.The rest are all different degrees of meh. I think I would like the Capra one with a different font, as it stands it seems too flighty. Mostly, I'm really hoping there will be individual cover art for the two Hellman films that's revealed later, ala The Only Son/There Was a Father.

Buttercream wrote:The Hellman cover likes like a Vintage paperback of some acclaimed 'world literature' writer.

John Gall is the art director for Vintage Books, so, points for accuracy.

aox wrote:Does anyone have any insight into the thinking process at CC in regards to whether or not they select a still from the film for the cover or commission original art work?

When working with licensors, the artwork in some cases has to conform to certain needs, such as the prominence of a cast member's name or face. For example, SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS's cover was mandated to feature Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis on the cover, and furthermore their heads must have been equal in size.
If you can find other write-ups on the creation of the covers to other releases, they'll probably have better examples.

So I guess It Happened One Night had to have an arrow?

The arrow is pointing to a solution to making the cover better: just throw a sheet over it

I hope they will reconsider that L'avventura artwork. I suppose they were trying for something different and perhaps to reflect the theme of the film in a cheeky way, but this just doesn't work for me. Also the font.

domino harvey wrote:Everyone's reaction to scrolling through this thread and seeing the covers:

Ha, yes, perfection.

I'll go against the grain and say that I like all the covers. Especially the Monte Hellman one which looks to be doing the same kind of 'multiple scene pile up' thing as the Y Tu Mama Tambien cover (which having received it today sadly doesn't look any better in person), but more successfully with each element - horses! sunrises! abstracted actor portraits - looking as if they are revealed by ripping layers of paper to expose the images underneath. I really hope that this one is a digipack with a rougher textured paper feel to it, rather than a glossy one, as just looking at the image creates a tactile feeling. Could it be in the style of the Dazed and Confused set with cut out elements?

Also, I'm not up on my American geography and this might be pushing the imagery much too far but is the central black and white image in the shape of a particular state or county?

colinr0380 wrote: Also, I'm not up on my American geography and this might be pushing the imagery much too far but is the central black and white image in the shape of a particular state or county?

It's in the shape of a cowboy-type (one of Nicholson's characters?) turned on its side.