16. Beasts of the Southern Wild
Beasts of the Southern Wile was one of the most unique films of the year, and this one sheet, with its blurriness, sparks and swath of colors, managed to perfectly capture the magic and energy that pervaded the film. Particularly in its opening scene from which this image was taken.
15. The Amazing Spider-Man
This first teaser poster really sold me - and many others - on the promise that this really was going to be a different, darker, new vision of Spider-Man. Of course, the subsequent advertising campaign shifted increasingly towards imagery familiar from the original trilogy's posters, and the film itself turned out to be a crushing disappointment. Still, this teaser image is just too beautiful to ignore.
14. John Carter
It's a shame, because I believe this beautiful teaser poster managed to capture the wide-eyed sense of wonder and adventure the film was clearly going for better than the film itself! As it is, this remains a stunningly gorgeous image promising something that the film version tried but unfortunately fell short of delivering (though, to be fair, I didn't think John Carter was really all
that bad - I actually kind of enjoyed it.)
13. The Man with the Iron Fists
The advertising company hired for this film clearly had a field day with the material and the presumed artistic freedom that comes with working on a vanity project - the film actually released a series of stunningly gorgeous posters. This one happens to be my personal favorite. It has nothing to do with the film as far as I know, but darn if it isn't just a beautiful, stunning graphic.
12. Moonrise Kingdom
Hand drawn posters were something of a trend this year, and this is one of the more charming examples: a beautiful watercolor render that perfectly captures the youthful innocence and untamed wilderness of the film. It is a very classically Wes Anderson-esque image but also carries a sort of vitality to it that makes it unique from his other one sheets.
