Movie Art-chive

Part of the fun of movies is all the stuff that goes along with them — the smell of popcorn at the theater, the previews before the show and, of course, the posters. From the iconic mid-century designs of artists like Saul Bass to today’s Photoshopped promos for computer-generated blockbusters, there’s definitely an art to the movie poster.

Right now we’re loving the online poster gallery Internet Movie Poster Awards. The IMP boasts one of the largest poster collections on the web and it’s constantly being updated. Be the first to see promos for new releases or browse by year, actor or designer for a cinematic trip back in time.

In addition to its archives, each year, the site nominates the best and worst posters of the past 12 months. Look at this year’s nominees for some hilarious commentary and find out what Paris Hilton and Angelina Jolie have in common and which 2008 film poster was inspired by an ’80s Brat Pack classic.

Answers after the jump…

 

So what do Jolie and Hilton have in common? They were both contenders for worst movie poster of 2008, for ‘The Changeling’ and ‘The Hottie and the Nottie,’ respectively. Funny, since the reviews for both films were equally bad. (Both lost out though, to Nicolas Cage’s disastrous ‘Bangkok Dangerous.’ )

 

As for 2008’s movie-poster homage, check out the  ‘American Teen.’ The poster for the high-school documentary is a clever play on one of the most iconic high school films of all time — 1985’s ‘The Breakfast Club.’

image: poster for ‘Hello Dolly!’ by Richard Amsel, 1969; ‘American Teen’ and ‘Breakfast Club’ posters via IMP