The simple, original design is bold and the "best", but I'm sure there's a lot more altering that can still be done if anyone else wants to change anything on it. Maybe some floating head images, CGI stuff, some special effects, etc.
For the record, it's not a big deal to me. As I said before, I like the original, unaltered version the best.
Thanks for thinking logically Neo!
Yes, the B&W version screams "vintage". We are collectors of vintage posters. The car in the banner is a vintage car. The most expensive movie posters are for B&W movies.
I do like the frame (the previous one with the white border that made it appear linen-backed). Even the text isn't bad. I would just replace the blue tint with the softer B&W version. Revert to the previous frame style, extend the right side of the banner to the right border and place the blog text inside the frame to even out the other text. Then make the entire banner a link that reverts to the home page.
Edit: The left text would look alright staying blue even with the image portion being B&W.