Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol. 6

[Rolad]

I feel a bit guilty about not appreciating original artwork for Palm Beach Story, but I think I would have been happier if they had just picked a still or made something closer to the original poster.

[rspaight]

Re: My Winnipeg

Holy shit, it's an actual swimming horse!

[zedz]

Re: My Winnipeg

Holy shit, it's an actual swimming horse!

Spoiler

I'm afraid that horse ain't swimming.

[colinr0380]

Makes me think of a strawberry flavoured horse popsicle, but I do like that cover!

[rspaight]

Spoiler

I feared as much. But it made me laugh anyway.

[Yaanu]

Re: My Winnipeg

Holy shit, it's an actual swimming horse!

Spoiler

I'm afraid that horse ain't swimming.

Spoiler

I feared as much. But it made me laugh anyway.

Technically it's not a spoiler. From the film synopsis:

Take part in Winnipeg’s annual epic scavenger hunt! Pay your respects to the racehorses forever frozen in the river! Help judge the yearly homoerotic Golden Boy pageant!

[Jeff]

When we finally banned sh, I used that scene to create a new avatar for him.

[FerdinandGriffon]

I'm surprised people aren't more outraged about Von Kant. I mean, cripes, what's going on there? Everything from the title treatment to the powerpoint backdrop to the bizarre drop-shadows (why does the hand get one but the child doesn't) is way, way, off. Might be a new low point in the collection for me.

On the other hand, La cienaga is great. The often half-baked film-still-plus-title-treatment style done right. And glad to see more worthy contemporary stuff sneaking into the collection, rather than just the arthouse flavor of the week.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Every cover this month is fantastic (even the old The Sword of Doom cover), except for except for The Palm Beach Story. That cover is the stuff of Tumblr nightmares. The worst of the worst comic book art. Luckily, the physical release and its special features more than make up for that nightmare cover.

[colinr0380]

IOn the other hand, La cienaga is great. The often half-baked film-still-plus-title-treatment style done right. And glad to see more worthy contemporary stuff sneaking into the collection, rather than just the arthouse flavor of the week.

It really is a great cover: it features a key scene and captures the zombie-like insouciance of the others around the pool, as well as showing off the dogs (key animals here) and the swampy greenery beyond 'civilisation'.

[Buttercream]

re: The Palm Beach Story

I wish I understood CC's preference for flat, hideous cartoons for most of their classic studio releases of late (including the repackaging of Rules of the Game and minus Make Way for Tomorrow, the rare exception).

[danieltiger]

If/when they upgrade Make Way for Tomorrow, I will be so very sad if they change the cover. It's absolutely perfect, done by Seth, one of my all-time favorite artists/designers.

[Feego]

I believe I mentioned back when the cover for It Happened One Night was revealed that Criterion has a terrible record when it comes to representing classical Hollywood comedies. The only successful covers I can think of (not counting Sullivan's Travels and The Lady Eve, which are both based on the original posters), are the gorgeous My Man Godfrey and Design for Living and the pleasant Unfaithfully Yours. But man, Trouble in Paradise, I Married a Witch, The Bank Dick, the Chaplins, etc. are real eye-sores.

[domino harvey]

I like Heaven Can Wait's cover but I think I'm in the minority

[Feego]

I like the concept of the Heaven Can Wait cover, but I've never been a fan of Caitlin Kuhwald's style for faces. I'm not sure what it is, but I find them creepy. But that cover is a treasure compared to Palm Beach.

[Jeff]

The only successful covers I can think of...

I think Kuhwald's illustration for To Be or Not to Be is pretty great.

[Shrew]

It really helps that that's a picture of a skull and not anyone's face.

[cdnchris]

F for Fake
The Complete Jacques Tati

I'll mention that I don't think they made the Tati box wide enough. Everything is a little tight and the box can look like its bulging. If you take the booklet out the individual titles fit in the box far better.

[tenia]

The individual visuals of the Tati set are simply lovely.

[TheGodfather]

The individual visuals of the Tati set are simply lovely.

Agreed. Simple and minimalistic but lovely. Can`t wait for it to go into sale

[dwk]

David Merveille posted a bunch of his art from the Tati set on his facebook page

[FrauBlucher]

I was in Barnes and Noble this morning. I got a chance to look at The Vanishing art work in person. It didn't do anything for me. You need to stand a good 6 to 7 feet back to faintly make out the face, otherwise it's just dots.

[warren oates]

Wait, isn't that exactly the way the cover is supposed to work? The image, like the woman in the film it depicts, disappears the closer you get to it. For me, it also works at shorter distances, within only a foot or so, if you're looking at it off angle, which is another way I think it could be effective in a store display, where your eye is scanning through a bunch of titles on higher or lower shelves and maybe quickly flits by this cover, sensing something more without being able to make it out right away.

[zedz]

I was in Barnes and Noble this morning. I got a chance to look at The Vanishing art work in person. It didn't do anything for me. You need to stand a good 6 to 7 feet back to faintly make out the face, otherwise it's just dots.

The Y Tu Mama Tambien cover, on the other hand, only works when you're not looking at it and can't remember what it looks like.

[cdnchris]

The Shooting / Ride in the Whirlwind