Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol. 7

[therewillbeblus]

Cure and La Llorona are both strong, and Lost Highway sticks to the classic cover art so I'm good with that

[Computer Raheem]

MONTHLY COVER THOUGHTS: October 2022

• Night of the Living Dead - It's the cover from the the original Criterion release; my opinions on it haven't changed. Still enjoy it, even if it inadvertently advertises more gore than is contained in the film.

• Lost Highway - It's the theatrical poster. Good example of, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

• Arsenic and Old Lace - For a cartoon cover, it's not bad. I enjoy the interplay between the cartoon bodies and the heads taken directly from the film. Not sure about the purple background though; makes it feel a little more cheap-looking than it ought to (though maybe that's the intended effect).

• La Llorona - Easily the best cover here (though not my favorite); I love a good hand-drawn cover, and this is easily the best one Criterion's had commissioned in a while. It makes me more intrigued about a film that, up until a few days ago, I had never even heard of, which is ultimately what these covers are meant to do in the first place.

• Cure - My personal favorite. I love a good evocative cover, and while it is deceptively simple, I appreciate how it gives nothing away to a first-time viewer while being rich with symbolism to those who are familiar with it. It works for me, and is a hell of a lot better than Janus' theatrical cover. I will say that it does lack the charm of the original Japanese theatrical poster.

• Eve's Bayou - The worst cover has to go to the release I'm the most excited for. Of course. This is a Photoshopped mess. I get wanting to go away from the poster's late-90s Photoshopped look, but this is somehow worse. For a movie filled with beautiful, evocative imagery, this is what they come up with? A massive disappointment.

[Glowingwabbit]

• Eve's Bayou - The worst cover has to go to the release I'm the most excited for. Of course. This is a Photoshopped mess. I get wanting to go away from the poster's late-90s Photoshopped look, but this is somehow worse. For a movie filled with beautiful, evocative imagery, this is what they come up with? A massive disappointment.

Wow! I really like the Eve's Bayou cover (I also really dislike the Cure cover so clearly we are on opposite sides) and think it will look better on the actually blu-ray case when it arrives.

[Computer Raheem]

Wow! I really like the Eve's Bayou cover (I also really dislike the Cure cover so clearly we are on opposite sides) and think it will look better on the actually blu-ray case when it arrives.

I think the composition is what's throwing me off. If it was just the photo of the pond with the girls and the house, I would probably love this cover as much as everyone else appears to. The inclusion of the sister shushing is what throws me off. I get the inclusion - it's one of the film's most memorable moments - but it looks wrong where it's been placed in the image. Maybe it'll grow on me in time, but I'm not a fan of it at the moment.

[Never Cursed]

Eve's Bayou: a film by Andrei Tarkovsky

[CSM126]

Eve's Bayou: a film by Andrei Tarkovsky

Reminds me of the Nostalghia LD cover

[Amazing Goose]

On the Lost Highway specs

New cover by Fred Davis

I mean, technically, yes...

[cdnchris]

Frownland (Booklet)
Daddy Longlegs ("Booklet" - stapled in top corner)
Hôtel du Nord
Buck and the Preacher
Faya dayi

[ryannichols7]

thank you for the booklet breakdown! definitely one to keep up

shame the August releases aren't for me at all, but that's another thread..

[swo17]

[Ribs]

In the Mood for Love actually has a new cover it looks like, the site just hadn’t updated yet, but it’s on the Coming Soon page too.

[ryannichols7]

and its an abomination!

[Luke M]

I think Malcolm X deserves better than a "graphic design is my passion" cover. They're all varying levels of bad this month.

[therewillbeblus]

Malcolm X and Daisies work on their own terms, nothing special. Power of the Dog is overstated and obnoxious

[ryannichols7]

I think Malcolm X deserves better than a "graphic design is my passion" cover. They're all varying levels of bad this month.

it's a great still but really bad typeface. if they fixed that, would be a lot better

Daisies is fine but the original Second Run DVD remains the best. Infernal Affairs is okay too but it feels like (just like everything else about the release) it was thrown together in five minutes

POTD may get my worst cover of the year vote

[bearcuborg]

I don't usually care about covers too much, but having seen all of these (with the exception of The Power of the Dog) these are pretty lousy, with Daisies being the only one I get. Malcom X in particular is a real let down. The simple X used for the film's promotion was kind of iconic back in the day. In fact, I was just at Spike's Joint in Brooklyn for a stoop sale where he signed a bunch of stuff for me, including that classic X hat.

[dekadetia]

Clearly the intention is to complement The Piano's art in the Power of the Dog art. Not sure why that seemed necessary.

Interesting that the company that approves a giant K ends up with this for the Malcolm X art.

[dwk]

They likely had to meet contractual requirements regarding the size and placement of Denzel Washington's face and name.

[paulm]

Malcom X in particular is a real let down. The simple X used for the film's promotion was kind of iconic back in the day.

I get the reasons for having the full title of the movie on the cover, but maybe they thought we'd get confused standing in the Barnes and Noble media section.

[FrauBlucher]

Yawn… covers and all

[Kracker]

All great except for Malcolm X, the typeface, the colors, its horrible. If the names are so important why make them so invisible. I cant see Spike Lee approving that. They had one job to use the iconic X poster and they blew it.

I like how the Power of the Dog cover compliments the Piano cover.

[Computer Raheem]

MONTHLY COVER THOUGHTS: November 2022

• Malcolm X: Mixed thoughts on this one. I appreciate Criterion going away from the original theatrical poster (which I've never personally liked to begin with), but this cover feels like a rough draft towards something better. There's something about it that feels... unfinished. I feel that it would have been best to lean on the alternate theatrical poster (though in all fairness, it doesn't really market the film all that well!)

• Infernal Affairs Trilogy: It's very simple (almost painfully so), but given that this is easily the most iconic image from the entire trilogy (as far as I'm aware - I haven't seen any of them yet ), it works well enough. Here's hoping for some more elaborate interior artwork

• The Power of the Dog: I'm usually partial to Greg Ruth's work (his cover for Double Indemnity might be my favorite cover of the year so far), but I'm not feeling this one. I think that the actual artwork is great, with an excellent balance between Ruth's typical monochrome and the vivid color of the paper flowers. It's the rest of the cover that I don't like, mainly the text. I understand that, with the cover they chose, there really isn't anywhere else to place it, but it gives the cover, in my opinion, a weird balance that doesn't fully work. Maybe it'll grow on me, but I doubt it. It makes me wish that Ruth have gone for something more similar to his work on Criterion's cover for The Piano (which is also ranking quite high on my favorite covers of the year)

• In The Mood For Love: It's just the art they used for the World of Wong Kar Wai set. It works for the packaging of such an elaborate boxset, but not as (what I assume to be) a Scanavo case. But, as someone who feels this release is wholly unnecessary (and is seeing this as Criterion cashing in on a certain film's extended homage to this movie), I'm not going to get too worked up on it. Here's hoping we can all make some wishes and get a better cover before November comes around.

• Daisies: The best cover. It's anarchic, but still sells the film's visuals quite well. I like it, which I can't say for most of this month's covers.

All in all, a pretty bad month in my opinion, especially after October gave us some pretty good covers (and one that has grown on me in the time since). Now if you excuse me, I need to go actually watch all these movies (I've only seen In The Mood For Love, and I don't even remember if I finish it) :-"

[JayAlmighty]

My thoughts on the covers:

DAISIES : This movie is such a psychedelic fever dream, so I'm betting any cover this movie gets is going to met with extra scrutiny. That said, I like this cover for the most part. My only compliant is that the color scheme is rather muted, which I find a little odd, since I remember the film being particularly vibrant.

MALCOLM X: Some might find this cover to be a little too subtle, but I actually really like it. I like the text, the color scheme, and find that the American flag and Apollo theater as background elements help sell the subject. Lets just consider ourselves lucky that this cover didn't turn out to be another RAGING BULL (or worse, another CITIZEN KANE.)

THE INFERNAL AFFAIRS TRILOGY: This cover is simple and cool. Nothing mind blowing, but overall I like it.

THE POWER OF THE DOG: Noticed that this is the same artist that did the cover for THE PIANO; much like that one, I love the illustration, and the overall mythic quality of the whole thing. That said, I have two nitpicks. First, anyone else think that this cover could use a little more headroom? (I mean that cowboy hat is almost touching the top of the cover, or am i just crazy?) Second, considering that this film is a western (regardless of what Sam Elliot says), why is this cover set indoors? There's a particular, plot-significant, mountain formation that would have looked a lot better than this dusty window as a background (my guess is they're going to use it as the inside.) In summary, I like it, but think it could have been better.

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE: I don't have the Wong Kar Wai boxset, but isn't this just the art from it? Overall I think it looks ok, and I understand why Criterion would simply use preexisting artwork for its individual release, but I really would have preferred something new.

Not a bad week for covers in my opinion.

[Quote Perf Unquote]

Looking at the "Power of the Dog" cover makes me realize now, some months after seeing the film, that it's really nothing more than the story of Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam's epic relationship.

[RIP Film]

Power of the Dog is overstated and obnoxious

So it’s the perfect compliment to the film?