24x36: A Movie About Movie Posters

I don't know how this one flew under my radar, because movie posters are one of my many passions, and a documentary about just that very thing would have immediately stuck in my head. But alas, I somehow missed this one. And I'm not entirely sure how I came across it now, but it looks like it was released back in 2016, but I guess it's never late than never. So let's dig in.

I think the topic of movie posters, and their ever-changing and evolving style is such a brilliant idea for a documentary. It's a topic that's rarely ever discussed anymore, except when complaining about the prices that any new Mondo release goes for. As for the state of movie posters in general, it's pretty sad, and I know I'm not the only one who really dislikes where they are right now with the big studios. Movie posters used to be an art form, just look at any of them beginning with the 20's going on through the 80's. Each decade offered a different style, but each very much an artistic endeavor, with the work being done in the 80's being a critical and commercial high point. Once we got into the 90's, it all started to change, with photography creeping into the format more and more and hand-drawn or painted artwork going out the window. And it's only gotten worse with Photoshop, where every single new film is either a floating head of the star, or a badly rendered collage of images from the film. Just look at most of Marvel's superhero films. Though I am loving DC's Wonder Woman marketing campaign and their colorful almost art deco approach to her posters, as well as Kong: Skull Island's classic artistic approach.

Personally I found this documentary to be highly enlightening, and thoroughly entertaining. It's not perfect, but a very fun way to spend 2 hours of your life, especially if you're an artist or collector of movie memorabilia. For the most part, I really enjoyed it, but I felt that it devoted too much time to the state of modern-day posters today rather than the art and skill of it in decades past. Meaning, a good chunk of this film's running time is pretty much spent on Mondo and other's like it, which is cool because they are the ones who reinvigorated the "hand-drawn movie poster" movement, but I really would have liked to have learned more about the older posters and their artists, which they do touch on early on, but I guess not enough for my liking.

At the same time it was interesting getting to see in person the artists that I currently follow, some of who's work adorns my walls, and their thoughts on the current movement and where it's headed. It also brings up an issue that I have with these new posters, and that's the flippers who buy the extremely limited quantities out within seconds and immediately flip them around for ridiculous fee's on eBay in a matter of minutes. I knew I wasn't the only one who had an issue with this and I was glad to hear from the artists themselves how it pretty much makes them sick that some (flippers) are only in it for the money and take so much away from the collectors who just want one to hang on their wall, not for profit. It's good that most new companies out there that do the same thing are mass producing them instead of limited runs of 100 like Mondo, that way anyone can get one if they want. I like that idea.

Definitely worth a watch and it's a fun one at that. Just wish so much time hadn't been spent on the current movie poster crisis, and instead focused on the classics and their lasting appeal compared to the over- Photoshopped nightmare we're currently in. But I get it, trust me I do. There's a resurgence and an urgency and art about the movie poster format and it's because of companies like Mondo and others. Hell, I still try to grab one from time to time because some of them are just too killer. One thing's for sure, watching this will definitely get you into wanting to track down some old favorites, or even check out what new artists are doing with them these days. www.robotGEEKSCultCinema.blogspot.com

The first half hour or so of 24x36 is a fair enough, if cursory, overview of the history of movie posters. The Documentary focuses mainly on the 50s to the 80s and such artists as John Alvin, Bob Peak, Reynold Brown, Richard Amsel and Drew Struzan and includes some interviews with an about them (including some vintage footage). Movie poster collectors and dealers are also interviewed. But when the movie turns to towards the late-80s and 90s and the era where photo-shopping photos rather than original painted artwork started to dominate, it takes a sharp turn. Director Kevin Burke becomes enamored with Mondo, an offshoot of the Alamo Drafthouse and turns over his movie into a veritable infomercial. Mondo specializes in producing original pieces of art geared towards cult and fanboy movie favorites - Star Wars, Lord Of the Rings, Tarantino, Carpenter etc.. Some of the posters are no doubt striking, but, when you see collector after collector talk about how you can 'flip' a limited edition $60 poster into thousands of dollars in a matter of hours it kind of shows how misplaced the priorities are (for both these so-called 'fans' -- and this Doc itself). If the Mondo section was a little side diversion that would be one thing, but, instead the bulk of the rest of the movie mainly revolves around all the knock-off and cash-in artists who were 'inspired' by the Alamo company. The gold rush in Nostalgia posters is breathlessly detailed -- setting aside the fact that almost none of these works ever actually end up being used to promote actual films. At the very end, we see how a few of these Nostalgia posters have been used to sell mainly re-issue DVDs and Blu Rays, and in rare cases, an actual movie or two (usually tiny indies). 24x36 certainly has some eye-catching art to view, but, it's a messy Doc about a subject that is worthy of a proper Documentary.

So I finally got past the title. It's a phenomenally crappy title, given that the standard "movie poster" size is a one-sheet, which is 27"x40/41"

The trick is this movie spends way more time focusing on "unofficial" movie-related screen-prints which *are* 24x36, which is a bit of a disappointment. I'd rather they spent more time documenting the history of movie posters and the stories behind those posters, than focusing on some random artists doing unofficial work.

If you've seen anything on movie advertising, you know what you're getting with 24x36: celebration of the art form, a brief history, all of that . . .

... kind of.

The effort is made and the usual suspects are present - Drew Struzan, John Alvin - for the most part (no Saul Bass??). But that accounts only for the first third of the movie; the remainder is devoted to Mondo and its contributing artists, third-party scarcity, etc. It is a tonal shift to be sure, and that narrative swerve sucked the air right outta this thing. I would argue that Mondo is an industry unto itself, and might deserve it's own documentary. In this particular case, it's a competing interest.

It depends on what you expect from the title, which could be seen as a bit misleading. I was jumping up and down in the first 30 min, with the history of movie posters, great examples, the artists who were big. How illustrations were great, but lost space. I thought they would go then into the bad models that generate 300 similar posters nowadays...but then it drifted away.

The so-called "second movie" is about illustrations and artistry. Models created as an alternative to the official posters, and how there is a market and a community around these models. It's certainly a good topic, full of art and value, but not connected to what I expected. Probably better posters than the original, art, but...another thing. It becomes "a movie about posters that could be *the* movie posters (but aren't)".

I just don't think it ended the discussion of how the industry has dealt with posters. That was just a great introduction to bring the alternate world as the main course. If you are into it, you should really this doc.