Movie Posters of Summer 2013: Winners and Losers

As Labor Day draws near, we look back at some of the best — and worst — posters of the past season.

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.Though the expression dictates that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, that is precisely what movie studies hope you’ll do with their posters. Even if the movie is terrible, maybe you’ll shell out 13 dollars to see it anyway because the posters allow us to ignore reviews. We’ve decided to draw attention away from the actual film, and look for a moment at the posters of Summer 2013, and separate them by category, looking at good, and just as well, the bad.

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And, now, without further ado…

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Poster - I'm So Excited

Sony Picture Classics

I’m So Excited

LOSER
Category:
Weakest Saul Bass Imitation

Blocky graphic elements, spare type treatments, and color fields
are nothing without lots of wit and imagination.

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Poster - The East

Fox Searchlight

The East

WINNER
Category:
How to Best Convey the Idea that the
Movie Will Have Multiple Confusing Plot Lines.

We’re guessing, somehow, the stories of a woman, another woman,
and a man and a woman will overlap.

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Poster - Last Exorcism 2

CBS Films

The Last Exorcism Part II

WINNER
Category:
Best Reminder to See Your Chiropractor

We don’t even want to think of
what a Part III poster might look like.

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Poster - The Great Gatsby

Warner Bros.

The Great Gatsby

LOSER
Category:
Excess in Art Deco

In case you hadn’t figured it out,
this film takes place in the 1920s.

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Poster - Oblivion

Universal

Oblivion

WINNER
Category:
Least Objectionable Example of
Sole-Figure-on-Desolate-Landscape Concept

Still a studio favorite. And having Tom Cruise’s
form highlighted by the waterfall is nice.

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Poster - World War Z

Paramount

World War Z

WINNER
Category:
Best Example of ‘Less is More’

Very Effective. We love how the zombies are
represented almost insect-like in their swarming fury.

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Paramount - Wolf of Wall Street

Paramount

The Wolf of Wall Street

WINNER
Category:
Best Urban Camouflage

It took us a few minutes before we realized it wasn’t
a 311 public-service announcement.

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Poster - The Wolverine

Twentieth Century Fox

The Wolverine

LOSER
Category:
Most Likely to Make Us Go ‘Wait, what?’

Even the release poster (this is the teaser) kept us
wondering: Where the &#$@ do those claws retract into?

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Poster - RIPD

Universal

R.I.P.D.

LOSER
Category:
Worst Example of ‘Just Show the Two Dudes!’ Concept

And the bar is set very low.

 

Poster - Man of Steel

Warner Bros.

Man of Steel

WINNER
Category:
Most Existential Depiction of a Superhero

Those relentlessly muted colors!