Category: Photoshop

  • Streaming Movie Adventures: Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

    Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.
    Rob Reiner in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.

    The end of my three part “Stuck in a Hotel in San Francisco” mini movie festival. I hadn’t watched this because I was afraid it would be a depressing retread of the first film, but it actually has new jokes. The band is older. They’re not partying, they’re just rehearsing and reconnecting. It’s not as laugh out loud funny as the first movie, but it’s warm and comfortable, which is probably the best kind of Rob Reiner film to watch right now.

    Today’s poster is okay- a remake of a poster for a more famous sequel- but it’s personally significant: this is my 250th poster this year. If each poster took an hour (and many of them took more time than that) I’ve spent more than ten full days making these things!

    A fake poster Spinal Tap II: The End Continues mimicking the poster for The Godfather Part II.

  • Streaming Movie Adventures: Elf

    Bob Newhart in Elf.
    Zooey Deschanel in Elf.

    I’ve seen Elf many times, but I’ve never seen it as a complete movie. The first time I watched it was at an early preview screening before most of the effects were completed, so I didn’t know about the animated characters until years later. I’ve watched chunks of it out of order. This time I watched half of it one day and half the next as part of my Stuck in my Hotel Room Movie Party.

    Boy, Buddy is annoying. He’s loud, he has no self control, and he’s constantly destroying things. If I were James Caan I’d probably send him to the mail room, too.

    Got a pretty good fake poster out of this one. I didn’t even realize the original poster used Christmas colors until I was laying out the text!

    A fake poster for Elf mimicking the poster for Bullitt.

  • Movie Pass Adventures: Hamnet

    Jessie Buckley in Hamnet
    Paul Mescal in Hamnet.

    Has a hard time getting started, but it gets there.

    Also: Jacobi Jupe deserves a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

    I almost didn’t do this fake poster because I didn’t want to recreate the title type. Then I learned it’s a barely altered font and decided to go for it. Then I realized halfway in that there’s a ton of custom shading and I ended up doing more work than I expected. But I think it’s funny, so it’s worth it.

    A fake poster for Hamnet mimicking the poster for Shaft.
    Fediverse reactions

  • Streaming Movie Adventures: Jay Kelly

    Adam Sandler and George Clooney in Jay Kelly.
    George Clooney and Adam Sandler in Jay Kelly.

    I had planned on seeing this in a theater, but I only got around to it when it was streaming- and even then, it took being stuck in a hotel room to get me to watch.

    The acting is strong, George Clooney is charming, Adam Sandler again shows he’s good at serious parts, Billy Crudup has a scene that steals the movie. But I had a hard time connecting to a story about a massively successful movie star who has trouble with real world relationships. I think I would have been more engaged if the movie was from Crudup’s point of view, or if both stories were told in parallel.

    Today’s fake poster comes from a different new movie that’s about a much less successful performer.

    A fake poster for Jay Kelly mimicking the poster for Marty Supreme.
    Fediverse reactions

  • Walk of Fame Movies: Straight Shooting with Harry Carey

    Harry Carey in Straight Shooting
    Harry Carey, Dan Duffy, and Vester Pegg in Straight Shooting

    This is John Ford’s first full length film, and he made it through trickery. He was supposed to shoot a two-reeler, but pretended some of the film was damaged during shooting so they’d give him more stock.

    Composite picture. On the left, a mockup of Harry Carey's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On the Right, a black and white portrait photo of Harry Carey.

    This was not Harry Carey’s (1521 Vine Street) first appearance as Cheyenne Harry. He first play the character a decade earlier, and played him in dozens of movies. When movies went to sound he was too old to play leads, but he was a popular character actor for decades.

    Today’s fake poster is all about shooting.

    A fake poster for Straight Shooting mimicking the poster for A Shot in the Dark.

    Fediverse reactions

  • Classic Movie Adventures: The Cameraman

    Buster Keaton surrounded by women in The Cameraman
    Buster Keaton and Marceline Day in The Cameraman

    Buster Keaton is SO DAMN GOOD at making ridiculous situations seem plausible. You’ve been separated from your date on a double-decker bus? Obviously, you should climb down the side and sit on the fender next to her. Lost your swimsuit in the public bath? The only solution is to steal someone else’s pants.

    Hey, look- there’s actually a connection between this movie and the one the fake poster is based on!

    A fake poster for The Cameraman mimicking the poster for Blow-Up.
    Fediverse reactions

  • Walk of Fame Movies: Hold That Ghost with Joan Davis

    Joan Davis and Lou Costello in Hold That Ghost.
    Left to right: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Evelyn Ankers, Joan Davis and Richard Carlson in HOLD THAT GHOST

    I watched a VHS rip of this from the Internet Archive. I only watched Abbott & Costello if it was the only thing on TV when I was a kid, so the picture quality felt right.

    The story was the same structure I remembered: Someone needs to do an unpleasant/scary/dangerous thing, and Abbott browbeats Costello into doing it. And the Andrews sisters show up to sing a couple of songs.

    Composite picture. On the left, a mockup of Joan Davis's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On the Right, a black and white portrait photo of Joan Davis.

    The best part of this movie is Joan Davis (1521 Vine Street). She’s got great timing and was a gifted physical comedian. I need to find more of her stuff.

    Today’s fake poster is brought to you by the word “that.”

    A fake poster for Hold That Ghost mimicking the poster of She's All That.
    Fediverse reactions

  • Walk of Fame Movies: The Battle of the Sexes and Belle Bennett

    Jean Hersholt and Phyllis Haver in The Battle of the Sexes.
    Jean Hersholt, Phyllis Haver, and Don Alvarado in The Battle of the Sexes.

    Not really a battle of the sexes; more of a dumb husband deciding to leave his wife for a gold digger. Not great.

    Composite picture. On the left, a mockup of Belle Bennett's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On the Right, a black and white portrait photo of Belle Bennett.

    Belle Bennett started as a child performer in the circus, but by this time she had been typecast as “the mother.” She died of cancer at 41, four years after this movie was released.

    Ooooh! There was a movie this year with “Battle” in the title and a poster that’s not too hard to mimic!

    A fake poster for The Battle of the Sexes mimicking the poster for One Battle After Another.
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  • Movie Pass Adventures: Dust Bunny

    Sophie Sloan and Mads Mikkelsen in Dust Bunny.
    Mads Mikkelsen in Dust Bunny.

    When I told my spouse I was going to see Dust Bunny, they said “But that’s a horror movie, and you don’t like horror movies.” That’s not exactly true these days, but usually I’d prefer to not see a splatterfest. Lucky for me then that this is about as much of a horror movie as Beetlejuice.

    I made FOUR fake posters today- a personal best! I’m also ten posters behind- a personal worst!

    A fake poster for Dust Bunny mimicking the poster for The Brown Bunny

    Fediverse reactions

  • Walk of Fame: All-American Co-Ed and Frances Langford

    Johnny Downs and Frances Langford in All-American Co-Ed.
    Noah Beery Jr and Johnny Downs in All-American Co-Ed.

    I watched this movie a month ago but forgot to do the review & poster thing for it- probably because I didn’t care for it.

    The plot: a women’s horticultural college named Mar Brynn (gee, where did they get that name?) decides to boost their flagging enrollment by forbidding frat boys from Quinceton (gee, where did they get that name?) from coming on campus. Luckily for the Quinceton boys, they just did a drag show on campus, so they send Bob, one of their members, in drag to infiltrate the school. A boy acting like a girl? CRAZY! Then the hi-jinks start, and don’t end until the school puts on a big musical number and the boy and the lead girl fall in love. Along the way, Jim Rockford’s dad tries to hook up with the boy while he’s cross-dressing, and the Skipper from Gilligan’s Island carries a small plant.

    Composite picture. On the left, a mockup of Frances Langford's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On the Right, a black and white portrait photo of Frances Langford.

    Frances Langford (1500 Vine Street) is Virginia, the girl Bob falls for. She was a popular singer who also did a ton of USO shows with Bob Hope. I wish I’d seen her in a better film.

    And I wasted a good original poster on this thing.

    A fake poster for All-American XCo-Ed mimicking the poster for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
    Fediverse reactions
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