Just because it's Halloween week don't go expecting a whole new array of horror films to enjoy, as bar one or two exceptions, we're in for a tame October 31st. It's not a bad week for fans of mumblecore, American indies and Emily Blunt though, so good news for me.
In case you've not heard of Darling Companion, it's the new film from Lawrence Kasdan, acclaimed director of such classics as The Big Chill and Body Heat and screenwriter of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, no less. Given that his last film was the truly horrendous Stephen King adaptation, Dreamcatcher, it's no wonder he's been a bit quiet of late.
Starring one indie film superstar in Mark Duplass, one popular TV actress in Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss and no less than five actors who can claim to be either Oscar nominees or winners (for what it's worth), the makers of this poster didn't see fit to use any of their faces on their primary marketing tool, instead sticking a big photo of a dog front and centre with a poorly photoshopped leg that definitely doesn't belong to either Diane Keaton or Dianne Weist. Why bother using the substantial star power of your cast when you can focus your attention on attracting people who like dogs to be the main characters?
A film that's not aimed at anyone under 60, did they really need to include the quasi-futuristic QR code that links to the trailer? I'm all for silver surfers, but I can't see too many grandmothers whipping out their smart phones when they see the poster. I'm not sure that I even know how they work yet. Looking like it's advertising Air Bud: The Retirement Years, you'd probably expect the dog to be a major part of the story, but after viewing the trailer it looks like the dog, cruelly named Freeway in a constant reminder of his past trauma, hardly features in the film at all.
Given the overall blandness of the family that takes him in, you can't really blame him for doing a runner, can you? In answer to my initial question, this may not be the worst movie poster of all time (that's obviously going to be an ongoing fight to the death), but it's got to be the dullest.
The latest film from the indie film geniuses that are the Duplass brothers (The Puffy Chair, Baghead and most recently, Cyrus), the first trailer for Jeff Who Lives At Home has just hit the net. Check it out, next...
