Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.3

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#1 Post by **Matt** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 5:12 pm

Please post and discuss cover art in this thread only. Posts of cover art and discussions of cover art in other threads may be moved to this thread or deleted.

Previous versions of this thread:

Criterion Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.1

Criterion Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.2

Gregory · #2 Post by **Gregory** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 2:45 pm

Matt wrote:
javelin wrote:
Matt wrote:And how damn long is it going to take them to get an Adrian Tomine or Chris Ware cover. I'd buy that no matter what movie it was for.
A real long time for Tomine, I imagine. He probably won't be drawing so much anymore: his eyesight is nearly gone. One of the greats, too.
He's still doing regular illustrations for the New Yorker, though. And he can't go blind until after he does the cover of my novel.

For the record, this rumor has been confirmed as false by Tomine's publisher. So, Criterion, if you're reading this, get in touch with Adrian Tomine via Drawn and Quarterly Press and start lining up a DVD cover (please)!

#3 Post by **Matt** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 4:10 pm

Gregory wrote:So, Criterion, if you're reading this, get in touch with Adrian Tomine via Drawn and Quarterly Press and start lining up a DVD cover (please)!

And don't waste it on some '90s indie nonsense, no matter how much you think Tomine's style is perfect for that. May I suggest Le Jour se lève as an appropriate title. Or perhaps your The Third Man reissue. Or possibly those early Fullers you're sitting on. And please get Chris Ware to do the package design for Berlin Alexanderplatz. Holy shit, can you imagine that?!?!?

Tribe · #4 Post by **Tribe** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 4:35 pm

Berlin Alexanderplatz. Holy shit, can you imagine that?!?!?[/quote]
Not only would that be the shit, but think of the possibilities...S. Clay Wilson on Pabst's Threepenny Opera? Robert Williams on Cronenberg's Crash?

Tribe

javelin · #5 Post by **javelin** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:58 pm

Gregory wrote:For the record, this rumor has been confirmed as false by Tomine's publisher. So, Criterion, if you're reading this, get in touch with Adrian Tomine via Drawn and Quarterly Press and start lining up a DVD cover (please)!

Well, that's his publishing company trying to bullshit for his sake. I have a friend who was Tomine's roommate for a bit. She sees him regularly. Says he can't recognize her before hearing her voice. Whatever: the guy can obviously still draw, but he is definitely blind or near-blind.

Gregory · #6 Post by **Gregory** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 11:11 pm

I was relying on a statement on the Comics Journal forum by Kim Thompson, co-founder of Fantagraphics Books, that there is no truth to this rumor that he has any kind of visual impairment. I had never been to that forum but the rumor spread over there from CriterionForum. Thompson asked Chris Oliveros (head of Drawn and Quarterly, Tomine's main publisher) and Richard Sala (a friend of Tomine's and of course another prominent artist) about it. Since Tomine can apparently still draw such perfect lines despite supposedly having a visual impairment that would prevent him from recognizing an acquaintance's face, this would suggest it's likely only near-sightedness or something else unlikely to impact the future of his ability to draw, so I'm not sure why he would get people to lie for him. I'm not sure it would hurt his career anyway. His artwork will be in demand as long as he keeps up the quality.
I hope it went without saying that my dubiousness shouldn't be taken personally.

Cinephrenic · #7 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:19 pm

Bicycle Thieves is one of the worst covers i've seen. A blowup picture Antonio Ricci and a wacky 'C' in a 'B'????

I love Woman Ascends..., and Green for Danger. Nice styles.

Tribe · #8 Post by **Tribe** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:21 pm

The "c" in the "b" is indeed for the birds...if they can do something about that, the cover is not bad at all.

Tribe

Lino · #9 Post by **Lino** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:23 pm

Cinephrenic wrote:Bicycle Thieves is one of the worst covers i've seen. A blowup picture Antonio Ricci and a wacky 'C' in a 'B'????

I love Woman Ascends..., and Green for Danger. Nice styles.

My feelings exactly.

Cinephrenic · #10 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:23 pm

Also, SRP: $49.95? Hopefully that is a typo because its steep for the lack of extras. I mean no commentary?? Is neorealism too simple for experts.

Antoine Doinel · #11 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:33 pm

Cinephrenic wrote:Bicycle Thieves is one of the worst covers i've seen. A blowup picture Antonio Ricci and a wacky 'C' in a 'B'?

Agreed. So intrusive and ugly on an already mediocre cover.

portnoy · #12 Post by **portnoy** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:46 pm

Green for Danger is one of the best covers

godardslave · #13 Post by **godardslave** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:48 pm

all feb 07 covers so far posted are excellent, including Bicycle Thieves!

Cinephrenic · #14 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:50 pm

Perhaps the "C" in the "B" is a broken bicycle wheel. =P~

mikeohhh · #15 Post by **mikeohhh** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:55 pm

portnoy wrote:Green for Danger is one of the best covers

Yeah, who's the artist? It almost looks like Genndy Tartakovsky.

On the other hand, that Bicycle Thieves cover is the fucking worst.

#16 Post by **Matt** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:58 pm

Asking too much for someone to link, apparently...

#17 Post by **Matt** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 7:01 pm

Tribe wrote:
Cinephrenic wrote:Bicycle Thieves is one of the worst covers i've seen. A blowup picture Antonio Ricci and a wacky 'C' in a 'B'????
The "c" in the "b" is indeed for the birds...if they can do something about that, the cover is not bad at all.

I think the new design template is hampering them in ways they never even imagined. Kudos to the designer for doing something with the wacky C.

CSM126 · #18 Post by **CSM126** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 7:05 pm

Okay, what the fuck is going on in the Green for Danger cover? It's the most confusing thing I've seen in a long time.

The rest are nice. The wacky C in the B on Bicycle Thieves doesn't bother me so much. Besides, just look at it like this: it coulda been bright blue or some other random color, like the bright red C on The Beales.

#19 Post by **zedz** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 7:07 pm

Matt wrote:I think the new design template is hampering them in ways they never even imagined. Kudos to the designer for doing something with the wacky C.

Yeah. I don't mind the cover, but the template screws it up - not just the C in the B, but the Peekaboo T behind the tab. Maybe they should windowbox this cover (as I'm sure they have the transfer)?

Green for Danger is spectacular, though, and accommodates the template beautifully. And this one would have been problematic with the old line across the top.

I may not be a designer, and I will buy great films with ugly covers, but that cover has piqued my interest in a film with which I was previously only vaguely familiar.

Cinephrenic · #20 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 7:12 pm

Green for Danger reminds me of Russian constructivism style. It's great.

foggy eyes · #21 Post by **foggy eyes** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 7:19 pm

Love the Naruse. Simple and elegant: just right.

#22 Post by **Jeff** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 7:20 pm

CSM126 wrote:Okay, what the fuck is going on in the Green for Danger cover? It's the most confusing thing I've seen in a long time.

I think that it might be my new favorite. I'm not sure exactly where your confusion stems from, so I'll be as pedantic as possible. It is from the point of view of the patient lying on the table. Three doctors in green scrubs are hovering over him, as is a bright white surgical spotlight. Alistair Sim's fedoraed Inspector Cockrill is peering through the round window of the operating room door.

CSM126 · #23 Post by **CSM126** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 7:24 pm

Ohh...okay, I see it now. Before it just looked like random blobby eyeballs floating in an infinite sea of green with a random black block in the middle of it. I didn't think of scrubs...whenever I've been in a hospital, the staff has always had blue scrubs and never green, so that's what confused me.

jon · #24 Post by **jon** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 7:32 pm

Green got a great cover, best since the new "C" design. Well, second best, while the best being Border Radio. Har.

Bicycle Thieves looks terrible, and it's not even the C in B part of the cover that bothers me.

I think I like Woman Ascends, but the blue street lights are bothering me. It's growing on me, though.

I especially like the 40 and 50 dollar price points. Does the commentary and interview (+ booklet) warrant a $40 price? There have been amazing $30 packages in the past for more well-known films...can't remember off the top of my head, but i remember there were some...

Anyways, with the format war and the windowboxing, and now the $40 dollar price points for almost all releases, i'm kind of wary.

#25 Post by **domino harvey** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 7:32 pm

Green For Danger has an all time best cover, up there with Eyes Without a Face. amazing work, Criterion!