Collecting Posters From Movies You Haven't Seen

[Gingerman]

Seems to be a very interesting and heated discussion here........ I might be new here but one thing is apparent to me, everybody collects posters for their own reasons. I must admit I find it odd to collect posters and not display them. I also feel it is a little odd to have a poster and not have a bond with the movie, director, or actor/actress. Unless of course the movie is unavailable for viewing, or you perhaps collect an artist like Struzan. This would however lend to the argument that movie posters are indeed art........

Now for me, my oldest daughter and I bond over movies. I gave her a framed Never Ending Story poster for Christmas and she was nothing less than ecstatic, she went straight into her room and hung it. She loves the movie, and adores the art.

 

[Ari]

i gave my daughter about 30 daybills for films she liked/loved.
now she is grown up, and I still have then sitting in a flat file for her, haha
maybe ONE DAY she will ask "hey Dad, whatever happened to those old posters of mine?"
(and then ill see then on ebay) hahaha

[Gingerman]

i gave my daughter about 30 daybills for films she liked/loved.
now she is grown up, and I still have then sitting in a flat file for her, haha
maybe ONE DAY she will ask "hey Dad, whatever happened to those old posters of mine?"
(and then ill see then on ebay) hahaha

This actually made me laugh out loud!!!  I don't think my daughter would do this, she is about to go off to college. She is studying graphic design and marketing. Her love for art is very strong. She was commissioned by a small local band to do the art/design for their CD! Since she was a little girl I have done everything I can to support her experimentation with the arts. While my taste is a lot different than hers, I still encourage her to no end. Who knows maybe one day she will design some movie posters. A dad can dream can't he?

[Ari]

yeah, its all good.
Strangely my daughter doesn't really like (most) films anymore, (it kills me;)
haha it doesn't, she loves Manga and Anime (and bloody *computer games), lives and studies  in Sth korea, and decided on her own taste and style.
I pretend it bothers me, but its a joke.
Im glad she sticks by her guns and enjoys what she does.



* I hate computer games, at least this rebellion against her father is one I can understand and appreciate.
(thank shit she didn't become a surfer "chick" or a bogan or aspire to be paris hilton)

[erik1925]

I'm "guilty" of collecting posters for films I haven't seen.

But ----

After buying the poster - strictly because of its aesthetic appeal, I've then gone and searched out those flicks and watched them, good or bad.

To me, the purpose of a poster was/is to advertise an unknown and unseen film. It was meant to "pull you in" along with the trailers shown in the theater. All these years later, if a poster for a film that is 40-60 years old can still do that, then it has succeeded in its purpose.

And if the poster art or design is extra special (or even amazing), then that's an added perk, imho. 

[martinc]

I'm guilty of collecting posters for films I haven't seen.

I am as well but I'm not guilty about it really. I don't see any problem with owning a poster which you enjoy just for itself without having a particular liking for the film to which it is linked. If you collect travel posters you don't need to have been to the places depicted or if you buy an advertising poster you don't need to like the product, you can just appreciate the graphic art for itself.

However, the best combination is always going to be a great poster for a film that meant something to you, there's no beating that.

[Antoine1973]

I'm with you Jeff, I also have bought posters for movies I hadn't seen and then went looking for those movies.  It is a special treat to finally find a film that I have first discovered by acquiring its poster.  More often than not, the art on the poster is better than the actual movie, but that's another story!

By and large, the majority of the posters in my collection are for films that I have seen though, but there are a few for older, rare movies that I have yet to track down.

[erik1925]

I'm with you Jeff, I also have bought posters for movies I hadn't seen and then went looking for those movies.  It is a special treat to finally find a film that I have first discovered by acquiring its poster.  More often than not, the art on the poster is better than the actual movie, but that's another story!

By and large, the majority of the posters in my collection are for films that I have seen though, but there are a few for older, rare movies that I have yet to track down.

Same here, but that's the beauty of this hobby, too, being able to discover new films because the posters can pull you in first. And that's exciting to me, too, since I always like to watch new flicks I havent seen or come across before. 

[guest4955]

1. I said fine art vs movie posters.  Movie posters are not fine art.  Sorry to disappoint you.  If you believe you're collecting fine art, go to a museum and show them your gambling collection.  I'm sure they'll be impressed.  2. Movie posters are not art.  They are mass reproductions.  The original art by Struzan is art, not its 10,000 copies.  Art is the unique vision of an artist, regardless of the medium.  It cannot be reproduced.  If it is, it loses its cachet of authenticity.  This is all in my humble opinion, of course, and I'm sure many of you will disagree.  To each his own.  A Lautrec print is not art, it is a reproduction.  It can be signed by the artist or by the artist foundation, it is still not art.  The original is art.  One and one, the artist and its creation.  I will only consider movie posters to be art when the poster is unique, as in "London After Midnight."  If the original painting cannot be found, and its reproduction is so rare that it becomes unique, then it becomes art, because there is no alternative.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this issue T.  In fact I think you're in a distinct minority. If you asked/showed the average Joe/Jane, most would agree that some modern MPs and many vintage MPs qualify as "fine art." Maybe we should post the issue on Reddit. Certainly my coworkers and apartment neighbors liked them.

No, I don't think you need to actually watch a movie to enjoy/buy its posters. The Top 25 test posters from Rounds 1-2 for which I never saw the movie:






All of the above sport beautiful illustration art or "cool as hell" photos. They have value entirely independent of their movies.

P.S. I have to admit I'm embarassed I've never seen BAT. On the to-do list!

[eatbrie]

We'll have to agree to disagree on this issue T.

Yes, check it out, people disagree, and that's quite alright. 

True, I don't like displaying posters, true, I don't think posters are fine art (far from it, actually), and true, I think S2s are reproductions not worth a second of my time. 

Next!!

 

T

[50s]

^ Cool, 75 years later posters are still getting people to see the movie

[guest4955]

Motivated by this poster, I actually watched the first ten minutes of Le Divorce but quickly lost interest.....

[50s]

Motivated by this poster, I actually watched the first ten minutes of Le Divorce but quickly lost interest.....

What kind of interest?

[guest4955]

The US poster accurately portrayed it as a "chick flick":

[guest4955]

I've tried watching more movies in my MP collection, with mixed success:

*****



Real disappointed with this one, to be honest. I watched the first 50 mins and had to bail. AH was just deeply weird and frivolous, getting married at 14yo to an old man for the hell of it, platonically "sleeping" with her neighbor after they just met (super-boring character/actor BTW), etc. My bro-in-law agreed, calling her an "alien with a fake accent." Mickey Rooney played a horribly terrible Asian landlord.

But I'll say one nice thing: great music.

*****

Only made it through the first two minutes of La La Land. Just don't like "original" music singing and cavorting about, except Grease. But I do like "mainstream" pop musicals like Glee:



*****

Really liked the Ghostbusters reboot, although I'm in the minority.





*****

Next up:

[ladeda]

I've tried watching more movies in my MP collection, with mixed success:

It'd be interesting to know if watching the films have changed the way you feel about those posters.

[guest4955]

It'd be interesting to know if watching the films have changed the way you feel about those posters.

Good Q. Hmmm, well for starters I still think BAT is an A+ MP but I would not have shelled out ginormous $$$$ for it knowing the movie was a dud (IMO).

That said, I generally don't care about the movie quality for cheaper posters. I'm pretty sure most of these movies are atrocious but I still bought the MPs:



And who doesn't want a P9 MP, the worst movie eva: