Micah’s Picks:

10. Comic Book Franchise Teasers (Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider Man)

These two posters caused a lot of nerdgasms across the interwebs this year. And for good measure, both are stunning examples of goodness from Ignition Print and BLT & Associates.

9. Madison County

Tom Hodge (The Dude Designs) has created some of my favorite posters of the year. Check out his site. It’s loaded with great stuff. I chose this one over his more popular  ”Hobo With A Shotgun” because, frankly, pig masks and bikinis are what great B-movie posters are all about.

8. The Bunny Game

This poster gives me the heebe jeebes (technical term, obviously). The black and white is a big draw for me along with the emaciated and tied up victim presumably in a bunny mask. But the big payoff here is the abnormal length of the arms and fingers, something that would have given me nightmares as a kid.

7. Cold Sweat

Hakrens back to the glory days of a hero carrying a beauty to rescue. But in this version, we’re not so sure what is going on. The red blood drip on the title treatment suggests that all is not right with the image. Color me intrigued.

6. Human Centipede 2

While the movie is one of the worst turds of the year, the poster keeps up the franchise’s ability to make people say, “Ewwwwwwwwwww!” That’s a good thing in a world with so many bland posters. I saw this a bunch of things happened: I became aroused, then grossed out, then I laughed a bunch, and finally, made sure everyone I know also got to experience it. It’s the 2 Girls, 1 Cup of 2011 movie posters.

6. Silver Bullets

So simple. So perfect. It’s the perfect “transformation” image. The film is loosely based around a werewolf horror story in which the lead actress catches the amorous eye of the director, causing her boyfriend to lose his sh*t. The poster extrapolates the themes from the film perfectly into print. It’s sexy, scary and something, as a piece of art, that could proudly be hanging in a gallery or on my wall.

5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Non-Puritan Edition)

Dear Middle America, sorry.

4. London Boulevard

What’s not to like about this highly stylized effort? It takes the same old boring star sell/action/gun movie setup and adds some wild colors and a modern kick ass title treatment. Crazy how much better this looks than simple photography on a white background.

3. Blame

My favorite title treatment / tagline of the year. It’s eye-catching, it sets the stage for the film and most importantly, it just works.

2. Shame

If you couldn’t already tell by me picks, I love simple posters. It doesn’t get much more simple than this. Funny, if the title treatment wasn’t there this would be an unremarkable photo. But add “Shame” and a whole new context is given. My thoughts go from Sears catalog, to drunken one night stands, the “walk of shame” and other moments my mother would not be proud of. Love the deep green as well.

1. We Need To Talk About Kevin

Certainly, this is one of the year’s darkest and most haunting films (and in my top 10 overall). The poster treatments have been equally as good. The bright, bold, bloody red shivers me timbers through and through. Kevin’s creeptastic mask and the simple scratched out title treatment work well to create a sense of foreboding – an element that is crushingly oppressive throughout the film.

Rebecca’s Picks:

10. Alps

There is always something about strange design that piques curiosity regardless of what the underlying message is–this is no exception. The deliberate repetition of the triangle shape throughout each element is a unique and compelling choice.

9. Cold Weather

I’m really digging the 70s throwback vibe. It feels like it could be a Godard film poster or some such thing. Interestingly, it doesn’t give off the mood that you’d expect for a murder mystery type movie but I love the simplicity and graphic style.

8. Beloved

Primary colors, geometric division of the canvas and a lovely title treatment. It’s striking and starkly different than most of the photorealistic driven posters out on the market today.

7. Hesher

It’s rare to see a penciled illustration in entertainment advertising these days and so it stands to reason, this would draw attention to itself. But in addition, the rock and roll inspired title treatment and iconic/symbolic imagery give this piece plenty of substance.

6. Sound of My Voice

I can’t quite place why I like this poster so much…it’s mysterious, haunting, ethereal and intriguing (wtf is up with the oxygen tube??). A great example of less is more that resoundingly says, “Want to know more? Come see me.” Which, ya know, is what you want a poster to do.

5. The Innkeepers

Like Micah, I’m a Tom Hodge fan. His style is unabashedly classic. This poster is full of the magic and wonder a Bob Peak or Drew Struzan might hold. The design and execution is simply beautiful and the title treatment is a leader in the running for my favorite ever.

4. A Good Old Fashioned Orgy

This poster ranks high on my list purely for its brilliant concept and ability to convey a raunchy idea in the most tasteful and tongue-in-cheek manner I can imagine.

3. Undocumented

Laz Marquez has MANY great posters. This is yet another. Manipulating an iconic war time image to convey a completely opposite and negative message is bold. The concept and execution is flawless.

2. Sucker Punch

Yes. The movie was pure manure. But no one can deny the ad campaign is gorgeous and features one of the best title treatments I’ve seen in YEARS. This billboard is my favorite piece out of the campaign. It’s a beautifully rendered, seamless montage spanning the color spectrum with tons of action.

1. Shit Year

Oh this poster makes my day every time I look at it. Tragically funny, conceptual (notice the homage to Sad Clown?), positive/negative space, lovely illustration and type treatments…basically bucket loads of brilliant design. In this, I see all that is good and wonderful about movie posters.