The Wolfman (2010) poster
The Wolfman posters look very cool and deserved to be posted here.
A Cool Sci-Fi Movie List: 1960s-1970s
If the following movies appear on your list then consult your therapist as to what this says about your list making. This is not a top sci-fi list but it is a must-have list. If you have not seen all of the following movies please get busy checking them off your list of movies to see.
La Jetee (1962)
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)
Quatermass and the Pit or Five Million Years to Earth (1967)
The President’s Analyst (1967)
Barbarella (1968)
Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
The Omega Man (1971)
THX 1138 (1971)
Night of the Lepus (1972)
Westworld (1973)
La Planète Sauvage (The Fantastic Planet) (1973)
Sleeper (1973)
Dark Star (1974)
Flesh Gordon (1974)
The Stepford Wives (1975)
Death Race 2000 (1975)
Alien (1979)
The Black Cat – A Must for the Top 100 Movie Poster List
The last sale of The Black Cat 27×41 movie poster managed a sale of $286,800. At least one of these versions will make it onto our top 100 movie poster list.
The Black Cat – Heritage Auction’s Signature Series
Heritage Auction Galleries is offering over 2000 classic movie posters for auction during their November 2009 Signature Collection. The main draw of the auction is to be The Black Cat, a one sheet poster from 1934. It is estimated to bring in the neighborhood of $250,000.
The Black Cat (Universal, 1934). One Sheet (27″ X 41″) Style B.
In 1931, Universal Studios found their niche in the motion picture industry, creating a style of film that would propel them well into the next decade. With the release of Dracula early in the year, and Frankenstein near year’s end, Universal became known for their chilling gothic horror films. It was a trend that would continue with the release of such genre classics as The Invisible Man (1932), The Mummy (1933), The Black Cat (1934), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and The Wolf Man (1941). As important as the movies, however, were the two actors who portrayed the Transylvanian Count and the Man-Made Monster, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Both had worked as contract players since the silent era, and both were instantly elevated to the realm of superstar by these career-defining roles. Since the passing of the great Lon Chaney in 1930, Universal had searched for a replacement for the man who had sent thrills and chills up and down the spines of movie-goers in such memorable films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Now they had found not one, but two, horror megastars. It didn’t take studio brass long to realize that if one horror star was good, two would be better, so they planned several films that would feature the popular duo- The Black Cat being the first of eight. The Black Cat tells the story of Peter and Joan Allison (David Manners and Julie Bishop as Jacqueline Wells), a young couple on their honeymoon who find themselves the inadvertent guests of famed architect Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff), former head of a World War I prisoner of war camp and the current leader of a Satanic cult. Accompanying the Allisons is Dr. Vitus Verdegast (Lugosi), a survivor of Poelzig’s camp. During Verdegast’s internment, Poelzig stole both Verdegast’s wife and his daughter, and now cat-phobic Vitus is back for revenge and must play a game of chess for Allison’s soul. . What follows is a bizarre mix of horror, sadism, necrophilia, and Satanism that marks one of the most chilling and atmospheric pictures ever released. The Black Cat contains some of the most unsettling scenes of any classic Universal horror film and is considered the darkest and is very disturbing, even by today’s standards. The scene of Karloff reciting the Black Mass in Latin is especially ominous. How this one got past the Hays Office is anyone’s guess as censors in Italy, Finland and Austria banned the movie outright, while others required cuts of the more gruesome sequences! The film is written and directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, who served as set designer for such Expressionist masterpieces as Der Golem: wie er in die Welt kam (1920), Die Niebelungen (1924), Metropolis (1927), and M (1931) in his native Germany before emigrating to the U.S. His attention to set detail is evident in every frame of this visually stunning film, which borrows inspiration from both the Bauhaus and Art Deco movements.
When the film was released, it quickly became Universal’s biggest hit 1934, and ensured future Karloff/Lugosi pairings. Although the iconic pair would make several more films together, none reached the level of utter perfection demonstrated in this classic from the Golden Age of Universal Horror.
It should come as no surprise, then, that paper from this Universal horror masterpiece is in very high demand. Unfortunately, the supply is incredibly limited. Although there are four copies known to exist of the Style-A “blue” poster – Heritage sold a copy in March 2007 for $286,800 – this is the only known example of this extremely powerful and more horrific, striking Style-B one sheet which happens to be even more rare than one sheets for the other Golden Age Universal Studio horror giants of the day – Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Bride of Frankenstein – and is at least every bit as great in the world of serious movie poster collectors.
Learn About Movie Posters
About This Book Learn About Movie Posters by Ed and Susan Poole answers the important questions collectors need to know about this fascinating hobby. It’s the most comprehensive book ever compiled on original movie posters and how to collect them. In over 400 pages, you will learn about: the birth of the movie poster, the sizes and types of movie art, common forms of movie art, how movie posters were processed and distributed, the different types of international movie posters, movie art as investments, assessing the condition of your movie art, how to buy and sell movie posters, the poster artists – who they were and which posters they created -, caring for your collection, and much, much more. Ed and Susan Poole’s Learn About Movie Posters is the first book that teaches you everything you ever wanted to know about collecting authentic movie posters. The book was published at $29.95, but is now on sale for just $5.99, 80% off the cover price!
High Hopes for Avatar
Just a quick thought after seeing the latest Japanese trailer for Avatar.
Avatar certainly looks good. But does anyone else find it a tad too absurd that technology in the world of Avatar can build a hybrid species from a cocktail of DNA but still can’t fuse a sub-millimeter fracture in a spinal cord?” I don’t think I’m ruining anything here mind you.
The main premise of the movie might be a little hard to swallow in that the powers that be have the tech and how preposterous the idea of of them holding it back from a soldier. Does this presume that someone who can walk cannot link with the Avatar? Wouldn’t they prefer to cure soldiers from spine injuries so they can be badass MOFOs carrying those huge (oh, but yet so light and practical) machine-gun-RGP-Gatling gun-axis of evil-eliminating things? (BTW, how come in the future weapons become bigger and not smaller and more efficient?).
Anyway, clearly this is one of those movies where you will do better not dwelling too deep in the plot. James Cameron cares more about hardware than about plausibility. Besides, this is just an action-packed CGI-fest with a minor allegory regarding man’s greedy willingness to destroy the natural world for money.
I’ll just set my brain to 25%, and accept being mesmerized by the blinking light, the gadgetry, the blue people, and flying polychromatic pterodactyls. All this in full IMAX 3D glory.
Writer’s Research
Directors/Film Production & News:
• Directors Guild of America: www.dga.org
• Director’s Net: www.DirectorsNet.com
Copyrighting Scripts Form PA w/Instructions
• The official government form (PA) used to copyright your script with the Library
of Congress: www.copyright.gov/forms/formpai.pdf
Film and Television Research:
• Box Office Mojo: www.boxofficemojo.com
• Internet Movie Database: www.imdb.com
• Museum of TV and Radio: www.mtr.org