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Welcome to the Just Movie Posters.Com Blog. The place where you can get news about movie poster collecting—plus my thoughts on the hobby, on the movie industry and on collectibles/antiques in general. If there are questions that you have or subjects that you would like me to cover in this blog, please email me.
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Recently, the Library of Congress added 25 films such as Fargo, Halloween and Rocky to its film registry. The Library of Congress film registry was created to preserve films that are “…culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” A complete list can found at http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2754999.
The entries aren’t all art films, which explain the cultural and historical part, not that there’s anything wrong with art films. While films such as THX-1138 and Shoot The Piano Player, are discussed and picked apart in Art of Cinema classes in colleges throughout the U.S., these aren’t the films that you would go to see at your local megaplex. The films chosen by the Library of Congress speak to the average moviegoer about hopes and fears. Movies aren’t just entertainment, they are the storyteller for the collective. Whether the story is about an underdog, like Rocky, or a homicidal maniac, like Halloween, movies leave their mark on us. (Of course, some are more positive than others.) Movies can encourages us to dream big, touch our hearts or warn us about the things that go bump in the night. So, the next time you are enjoying a movie, think of how future generations will view it. Will they laugh? Will they cry? Or will they just sit back and enjoy the show?
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I’m going to take this opportunity to explain a little about movie posters sizes. Prior to 1985, movie posters in the U.S. were made in many different sizes. They ranged from One Sheets, which are 27 x 40 or 41 inches and feature artwork in a portrait format, (basically what everyone imagines a movie poster to be) to Lobby Cards, which are 11 x 14 inches. After 1985, the dominant movie posters size used in movie theaters in the United States is the One Sheet.
Still, movies have been around for a little over a hundred years and there are as many movie poster sizes as there are movie genres. What do all the names mean? Unless the poster’s dimensions were spelled out, I had no idea what One Sheet, Lobby Card and other names meant. I figured other people were in the same predicament. So, I did some digging around the Internet and I found the definitions of the most popular movie poster sizes. Of course, this is not the definitive list. If you have information about sizes and styles not listed here, please email me and I will list them in a future entry.
So, when you see the phrase Australian Daybill or U.S. One Sheet used to describe movie posters, you won’t wonder what those words means.
Source: (Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_posters.)
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Labor Day for the U.S. and Canada has come and gone. That means the 2006 summer movie season is over and the “serious” films, the ones that end up becoming Academy Award nominees, are now being released. This past summer I didn’t see any of the blockbuster releases, because none of them impressed me enough. I found the movies to be either subjects that are redos, as in Superman Returns and Miami Vice, or subjects that are difficult to deal with, as in Flight 93 and World Trade Center or just plain dumb sounding, as in Snakes On A Plane.
Still, summer movies, for the most part, are escapist cinema at its best. The protagonist gets the girl or guy. The hero/heroine saves the day. The villain goes to jail or gets what is coming to him or her. In the end, all is right in the world. Yippee!!
Yet, this is 2006 and there are loads of inexpensive entertainment options out there from the internet, to DVD rentals, to television. What is it about movies that make people leave their homes, drive their gas guzzling cars and spend their hard earned money on something that lasts only 120 minutes at most? Here’s what I think:
Well, those are my views on the enduring popularity of going to the movies. If you have other ideas, please share them with me.
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Ten years ago, online buying was very new. The only companies that gave people the opportunity to buy things via the internet were Amazon™ and Ebay™. Now all the major bricks and mortar retailers offer online buying and there are loads of web sites selling things such as, perfume, industrial supplies, books, DVD's--just to name a few. Still, just because you are buying something online, doesn't mean you can stop being a careful consumer. This post will focus on tips for buying posters online.
NOTE: These tips are based on my personal experience. Your experience may be different. If you wish to add to or dispute any of my tips, please email me and I will include your comments in a future entry.
Say you found a great movie poster online, does that mean you buy it before someone else does? Unless you know all that there is to know about the poster and the seller has a high rating or you are buying from a place with a money back guarantee, I say pause, take a deep breath, then do the following:
I hope this is helpful. Happy poster buying!
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To steal a line from a 60 Minutes* Correspondent Andy Rooney, have you ever wondered why one person’s junk is another person’s treasure? An episode of the television show, Antiques Roadshow featured the following items:
There are people who, if they had possession of these items, would do one of the following:
The lesson to learn from this is to collect what you know. The person who had the CSA currency note is a history teacher. The person who had the punch bowl just wandered into an antique store in Orlando, Florida and was fooled by a pretty looking bowl. The person who had the map of the U.S. has a Ph.D. in geography. So, if you have an affinity for a certain subject, be it U.S. History, porcelain, or movies—that’s the area where you should concentrate your collecting energies. You will be more likely to find items of value and you will get the most enjoyment out of your efforts. Of course, there are those that just get lucky and find a “Dewey Defeats Truman” newspaper or a Babe Ruth baseball card in a trash can. Those discoveries are rare, but that doesn’t stop people from dumpster diving.
*To learn more about 60 Minutes go to www.cbsnews.com and click on 60 Minutes.
**The Confederate States of America (CSA) lasted from 1861 to 1865. It was formed by 11 states that ceded from the United States of America over the issue of states rights, which included the future of slavery. The states in the Confederacy were Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisana, Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee. (Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America.)
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One of my favorite television shows is PBS’ Antiques Roadshow*, which is the U.S. version of the BBC show of the same name. After all, don’t we have enough “junk” that clutter up our homes (and lives). I know I do. So, what is it that compels matures adults to collect things as such as baseball cards or paintings or vases or movie posters. I think it is two things:
1. Beauty—A painting, vase, movie poster or even baseball card (depending who is featured) is pleasing to the eye and can make one’s surroundings more pleasant.