Gino Pagliuca

This one's all about confidence. You have an up-and-coming filmmaker fresh off his Oscar-nominated film (Juno), and the equally celebrated and likeable George Clooney toplining the pic, so why not use that goodwill to focus on the elements that make the movie? The imagery in this Up in the Air promo poster echoes airport, traffic, etc... and having Clooney's plane symbolically going off course is just enough to foreshadow what might happen with his character. I admire it's simplicity, it reads incredibly well and if all you had was a moment to glance at it you knew you'd have something to look forward to in the Fall.

Even at a glance, you know this is a Wes Anderson film. The typography used is as much a signature of the director's work as the family themes that tie into his films. Suggesting this might be the animated companion to The Royal Tenenbaums, it appeals primarily to fans of Anderson's work and is perhaps a little too dark and detailed to catch an ankle-biters eye. This was probably a smart move since marketing Fantastic Mr.Fox solely to typical animated film audience would have only lead to disappointed and restless kids and angry parents who didn't know what they got themselves into.

Such as with In the Loop, going with a graphical representation of the film's theme was the way to go, especially considering the films sensitive subject-matter. A striking image that almost makes you want to look away when you see that hand, it certainly warns you that Precious probably shouldn't be your choice for date night. Apart from the prominent placement of it's Sundance wins as a call out to cinephiles, there's a nice tip of the hat to Saul Bass too.

Another clever use of the giant-head theme. In this case we have Paul Giamatti as a Russian matryoshka doll (it describes a key lieu of his journey and sheds light on his identity switch and crisis), and yet again, that Apatow glow which at this point immediately signals that Cold Souls is "a comedy" (no more in 2010 guys). Simple, effective, and really doesn't need any explanation; it's all right there.

The look on Matt Damon's face is the first thing I noticed, then that slight glow around it that made me think of the one-sheet (view) for Judd Apatow's The 40 Year-Old Virgin. The hair, glasses and mustache hints at both the characters overall dorkiness and that the film possibly takes place sometime in the 80s (early 90's in fact).