Movies I Watched This Fall and Their Posters

Fall is here, which means longer evenings at home and more time to watch movies. In this post, I’m sharing the movies I watched in September, and since this blog is all about graphic design, I’ll also be taking a closer look at their posters.

Runaway Bride (1999) The movie: Such a sweet, nostalgic small American town, a charismatic lead, a lovely love story, and from the first few minutes you know exactly how it's going to end. But honestly, what more do you need for a cozy night in? I laughed out loud in some parts and my jaw literally dropped in others (that rehearsal dinner scene, omg 🫣). Overall, a really fun watch. My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5

The poster: One look and you instantly know it's a rom-com. As for the aesthetics - I'm not a huge fan of frames like this, but here I get it. The main character needed something to prop her foot on, and the frame does the job. My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5

The Cider House Rules (1999)

The movie: At first glance, this one might seem bleak and sad. It opens in cold, snowy Maine, in a struggling orphanage, and there are plenty of hard, painful, unfair moments throughout. And yet there's sooo much light and kindness in it. I honestly can't even say what genre it is - tragedy, comedy and romance all blend together, and it's done beautifully. I laughed, I cried, and I walked away feeling just a little bit lighter than before. My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5

The poster: I get it, capturing such a layered movie in a single poster is hard. Here I only see one storyline - the romance. But there was so much more to it! The title alignment raises some questions, but if the designer went that way, maybe they had their reasons. My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

The movie: Oh, it's so beautiful. 1950s New York, then the Italian sun and sea. Gorgeously shot. And the cast? Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law??? Could you even put together a better-looking cast? I don't think so. But - if in The Cider House Rules bright hearts were hiding under a harsh surface, here it's the opposite. Behind all the beautiful scenery, there's something really ugly going on inside. It's gorgeous to watch, but that creepy feeling never leaves you for the whole movie - and that contrast is charming in its own way. My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5

The poster: A classic character collage. You can tell right away that Matt Damon is the lead and the other two are secondary. I like that clarity. My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5

Billy Elliot (2000)

The movie: They say you can become whoever you want in life. I don't really think so. We carry our inclinations and desires with us from childhood. Everything is already inside you - you just have to let it come out and follow whatever makes your heart beat a little faster and your eyes shine a little brighter. Sometimes it's the standards and expectations around you that get in the way, and sometimes it's you. Billy Elliot is a wonderful, inspiring story about listening to your heart, even when everyone around you thinks it's nonsense. And then there's the actor. I can't remember the last time I saw such a charismatic lead - and he's just a kid! My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5

The poster: Perfect. I'd hang this one on my wall. The photo captures the movie and the main character beautifully, and the text is clear without getting in the way. My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5 A couple of general thoughts:

• Looks like 1999-2000 were amazing years for movies. I loved all of these, and I can confidently recommend them to you too.
  

• If you looked closely, you probably noticed that every poster has a big block of text at the bottom that's hard to read, or REALLY hard to read. Do all these designers not know what they're doing? Not quite. There's a legal side to it - actors, directors, producers and other creators have to be credited according to their contracts. In a regular font size, so everything's readable, that text could take up half the poster. But a poster's job isn't to tell you every name involved in the movie (most of them you've never heard of anyway). Its job is to get the message across: what kind of movie this is, what it's about, what to expect, and to make you want to go see it. That's why the focus stays on the title and the image.