This is no recent trend, but the recent release of
A History of Violence reminds me how much I hate it. Instead of trying for any sort of artistry with ttheir packaging, movie studios will simply shove a DVD out onto the shelf plastered with a close up of the actors faces. Lazy, lazy marketing, especially for a David Cronenberg film.
It is especially egregious when the original poster art is something worthwhile. One of the worst examples is the DVD cover for the movie
One Crazy Summer, one of my favorite screwball comedies.
Compare this:
To this:
Terrible. Not only does it demolish the original art, it gives off the entirely wrong tone for the movie. It's as if the designers had come to the table only knowing John Cusack and Demi Moore were in the movie, instead of actually watching it.
These DVD covers are lazy and stink of "movie as product", which is a terrible thing.
That's it. First thing tomorrow morning I'm going to go down to the movie studio and punch their marketing guy in the back of the head.
