Showing posts with label Saul Bass. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saul Bass. Show all posts

Friday, June 27, 2008

Genius Marketing #24
Striking Resemblances #2
Burn After Reading

coens
otto
I guess a simple "homage" tag may be a better phrase than "Striking Resemblances" but I wanted to go ahead and bump up that number a bit before eventually writing about how the 2008-09 Grizzlies will resemble the 2006-2008 Hawks (only they'll be better cuz they'll be more varied and they'll have Ovinton at off-guard). But enough of that. This is about how the Coens, aside from controlling every step of production, must have a say in their marketing campaigns, too. The goofy trailer makes Burn After Reading look like a funny version of the DC-specific elements of Syriana, Raising Arizona-style but this poster makes BAR (?) look like a goofy update on this old Saul Bass creation. I guess the movie could be similar, too, in that the Preminger picture took place in DC, but wasn't that some kind of self-aggrandizing exposé type of flick -- and Pulitzer-winning book? In any event, the poster is simple, the tagline funny, and my fanboy-mode is in full gear. I trust the Coen Brothers to make a picture about the current American "intelligence" quagmire sooner than I do a lot of other pompous lefty sloganeers like, say, Stephen Gaghan or Tony Gilroy -- because they're funnier, better and, on the whole, smarter filmmakers. They know about movement. Among other things. Like guns and dumb blabbermouths and language and editing and hypocrisy and America and low-angle set-ups and hiring Emmanuel Lubezski for their first picture without Roger Deakins since Miller's Crossing. They know their shit. --RWK

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Title sequences #9: Vertigo


It's just gonna turn into a series on Saul Bass if I keep this up. But this one really is great. As is the Bernard Hermann score. No fronting: I would listen to that right now instead of Glenn Gould. --RWK

Monday, April 21, 2008

Title sequences #5: North by Northwest


Blam! One of the most iconic sequences ever. Tell me you aren't ready for some wow after that! [Sequence by Saul Bass] --RWK

Title sequences #3: Alien


This one is maybe the best so far. But why? Why is subtlety so much more attractive than flash? Maybe it's just I prefer this kind of insinuation-horror to the plain ugly horror of Se7en. I don't know. The horror genre is still an odd thing for me. All I know is this music is scary, too. Way scarier than Trent Reznor. [Sequence by Saul Bass even though I'm sure Ridley Scott's ad man mind played a part in its design.] --RWK

Title sequences #1: Casino


My memory is foggy but it tells me this is the best thing about this movie. However, I think I may like this picture more a second time, if only because I would be more generous. And cuz I'm into the idea of it as an argument for the operatics of cinema. It would be great to see real big and loud in The Nestrick Room. Or, you know, The Castro. [Sequence by Saul and Elaine Bass] --RWK