The Projector #37: Time Crunch Poster Festival Edition (Patreon)

by Keith Phipps

This is going to be a shorter newsletter, sorry. I’ve been running late all week with deadlines so The Projector has gotten pushed back repeatedly. (It’s nice to have work though! No complaints.) Sorry about that. So, to compensate, how about some pictures? One of my favorite distractions is to look at old movie posters, especially Eastern European posters from before the end of the Cold War. Here’s a few favorites. (I wish I had more to offer in the way of background and commentary. Where’s Sam Smith when you need him?): 

Back to the Future, Polish poster by Mieczyslaw Wasilewski

Ignore the words and just focus on the image. Does Back to the Future come to mind when you see it? Probably not, but I think this one gets at the spirit of the movie anyway. It’s the eye staring off into the distance, suggesting an unsure expression on an otherwise detail-less face, that makes it.

Conan the Barbarian, Czech poster by Zdenek Vlach

I like the John Milius film quite a bit, but this suggests the dark, moody Conan movie I’ve always wanted to see that no one’s figured out how to make yet.

Jaws, Czech poster by Zdenek Ziegler

This one's all about the suggestion of slashing teeth and spots of blood.

Fanny and Alexander, Czech poster by Jan Tománek

I own a small version of this poster and never get tired of looking at that eye. There’s nothing that literally connects this to the movie, but I feel like it gets at the essence anyway.

Okay, hope you enjoyed that. Look for another installment the next time I’m pressed for time. 

In the meantime, we hope you’re enjoying this week's episode on Safe and that you’ll find the film Swallow as intriguing as we did. We also hope you're enjoying the various bonus episodes. More are on the way. And, if you’d like something to read, here are some items for you:

• At The A.V. Club (hey, I’ve heard of that site), Carrie Coon and Tracy Letts program a film festival for the quarantined.

• For The Guardian, our own Scott Tobias considers the 30th anniversary of the Twin Peaks pilot.

• At Vulture, Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan talk to Bilge Ebiri about ending their series of Trip films.

• What’s David Lynch up to during all this, you might ask? He shared his quarantine life with Vulture.

• Also for Vulture, our friends Tim Grierson and Will Leitch have launched The Replacements, a column of films to watch instead of those that were supposed to be released.

• For The Ringer, Keith Phipps considered the career of Domhnall Gleeson.

• What are voice actors doing these days? They’re working from home by way of some pretty impressive set-ups, as Trilby Beresford discovered for The Hollywood Reporter.