Mondo premieres brand new Shepard Fairey 'They Live' poster at special screening
You can check out Shepard Fairey's exclusive new poster here
You will enjoy Shepard Fairey's 'They Live' poster for Mondo. You will enjoy Shepard Fairey's 'They Live' poster for Mondo. You will enjoy Shepard Fairey's 'They Live' poster for Mondo.
I think it's safe to say I'm a fan of John Carpenter and his films.
If you're someone who has seen all of his movies already and you crave something new, "The Ward" just arrived on VOD and is available for rental from Netflix as of yesterday. I reviewed the film when I saw it at last year's Toronto Film Festival, which is the same place where I recorded a special podcast with Scott Weinberg where we talked about all of Carpenter's films.
Tonight, though, I wish I was in Austin for Mondo's "They Live" screening. I love that film. I think it's one of John's more underrated movies overall, and it's one of the best satires of the '80s. And from the '80s. Both. The film works just as the surface story about a guy who discovers a conspiracy that involves the whole world, but what really makes it a better-than-average film by John is the way the subtext also works so well. If there's anything I'm not crazy about, it's the hyper-abrupt ending of the film. Even so, it's a movie that actually seems better in hindsight, smarter and more prescient with each passing year.
Inside Analysis
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Shepard Fairey got mega-famous when he was sued over his Obama poster, but he's been gradually building his name as a street artist over the last decade, and he's a great choice for a Mondo screening. Remember, these are designed to feature not just a movie, but a poster artist, like the Tyler Stout "Akira" screening last month. Fairey's been using "They Live" as a motif in his art for a while anyway, so having him contribute a new poster for the film just seems like a natural fit.
John Carpenter even shot a new introduction for the film tonight, and you can check that out right here:
And you should definitely check out the poster for the event, which they'll be making available to the audience at the screening with a very limited supply available online later:
Want to see it even bigger? You can get a larger version right here.
As always, I am jealous of those of you in Austin who have year-round access to all the great programming at the Alamo Drafthouse, and I hope they're enjoying this one. It sounds like a hell of an evening.
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About This Blog
Los Angeles has changed since 1990, and Drew McWeeny, all-around Chauncey Gardner of movie fandom, has seen it all as an industry insider and screenwriter who wrote for 12 years as "Moriarty" for Ain't It Cool News.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupJohn-Locke
June 9, 2011 at 9:21PM EST Reply to CommentWANT
CinemaPsycho
June 10, 2011 at 1:33AM EST Reply to CommentThe Ward is definitely NOT available from Netflix. It is available On Demand, however. Hate to be "that guy" but I'm very tired of people saying that films which haven't even been released on DVD and/or streaming are "available on Netflix".
mmcb105 It IS available on Netflix. Not for streaming, but for DVD rental. Maybe next time we should actually check before we rant.
June 10, 2011 at 9:56AM ESTdrew Yes, Cinemapsycho, it absolutely IS available. Just as a disc, but that's still available.
June 10, 2011 at 6:33PM ESTI. S.
June 10, 2011 at 9:45AM EST Reply to CommentEasily one of Carpenter's best. There are not many SF movies over 30 years old that you can look at and say, "now more relevant than ever". Some enterprising person should adapt it for TV.
Megalodon
June 10, 2011 at 11:46AM EST Reply to CommentMy comment concerns the poster "artist". I have about as much respect for Fairey as I do the guy who invented scientology. He is a phony, plagiaristic, money-grabbing, and manipulative hack, and as an artist I feel insulted by his work. True, it takes balls to make a name for yourself by simply flooding the market with meaningless phrases, stolen images, and fake propaganda, but it's disgusting that he's managed to convince everyone else he's got something to say when no message exists but "BUY MY CRAP! BUY IT ALL!"
Daggor I'm with you, Megalodon. The article mentions he was sued over the Obama poster, but it is important to always spell out that he was sued because "his poster" was a tracing of a photograph taken by someone else. A photographer used his expertise to get the right angle, the right mood and took an iconic photo. Farley makes collages.
June 10, 2011 at 11:59AM ESTdan Daggor - Ducking into this fray quickly: You'll have to show me places in which the original AP photo had become iconic prior to Fairey's appropriation of it ("theft of it," "improvement of it" take your pick). The AP photo was one of thousands of AP photos of Obama. The reason the photo is iconic is Fairey's appropriation. Does that free Fairey from the same legal responsibilities that anyone might have to the copyright holder on the original image? That's for the courts to decide. But the notion that that "Hope" image became iconic because of the AP photo at its core, rather than Fairey's "approach to it" (describe it however you choose to) is laughable. Note the endless increasingly less creative parodies of the image are plays on Fairey's style, not of random AP pictures of Barack Obama.
June 10, 2011 at 12:23PM ESTAnd what's wrong with collages? Is that not art?
-Daniel
Megalodon I really don't care about the Obama poster so much, because appropriating an unknown photo doesn't say "plagiarism" to me. It's the history behind his work (he *has* flat-out plagiarized), the "OBEY" message on everything, the truly hideous Andre the giant face that he inserts like a signature, with absolutely no message attached. All he did was churn out so much material that looked the same that he eventually created a brand out of himself. And the fact that a talentless... someone give me a better word for "hack"... is now known for a very mediocre poster image that lucked into becoming iconic just kinda pisses me off.
June 10, 2011 at 6:25PM EST