1 comments about The Art of Skiing: Vintage Posters from the Golden Age of Winter Sport.

1. This book has great visuals, from all different countries, and is a perfect gift for the skier you know who likes old-school stuff. I actually bought this for someone who doesn't understand English, but the artwork stands on its own.

5 comments about The Lord of the Rings Poster Collection: Six Paintings by Alan Lee.

1. In the world of Tolkien artwork, two artists sit at the top of the heap: Alan Lee and John Howe. These two artists have devoted a lot of ink to sketching scenes from J.R.R. Tolkien's masterworks, and in the "Lord of the Rings Poster Collection," we get to see some of Lee's best work.
   
   "The Stone Trolls" shows the three trolls that Gandalf turned to stone in "The Hobbit." Now they're mossy and immobile, as the hobbits and Strider walk by. "The West Gate of Moria" is an exquisite play of light and shadow, showing the Fellowship looking up at the glowing doorway. And the best poster of all is "Battle of the Hornberg," a grimly detailed picture of the orcs flooding through the smashed fortress wall.
   
   On the Mordor front, we get three different posters. "The Black Gate" is a panoramic look at the hobbits and Gollum lurking on a stone outcropping, and watching as troops pass through the spiky Black Gate. "Gorbag and Shagrat" shows a pair of creepy orcs in full armor, waiting against a stained stone wall, apparently in conversation. And "Mount Doom" is a bleak slope of barren rocks, but with a light shining somewhere behind the mountain.
   
   Perhaps the only flaw of this collection is that three of the pictures are from "Return of the King," and only from Mordor. Don't expect any coronations or Grey Ships in this. A little more variation would have been nice, but the posters themselves are lovely -- high quality paper, clear reproduction. As for the pictures themselves....
   
   Alan Lee does "still work" the best -- even when his subjects are in motion, they look very quiet and almost dreamlike. There's a lot of detail poured into these, since even small twigs, cracks and stains make their way into his artwork. They also tend to have muted, faded colours, lots of soft greys, browns and greens. Some of them look like sepia photographs.
   
   Looking at these beautiful posters, it's easy to see why Lee was one of the designers for the "Lord of the Rings" movies' exquisite sets. A wonderful collection of fantasy artwork.



2. This collection features six works of Alan Lee who, along with John Howe, was one of the principle conceptual artists for Peter Jackson's films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings".
   
   The six works featured in this collection are:
   
   1. The Stone Trolls
   2. The West Gate of Moria
   3. The Battle of the Hornburg
   4. The Black Gate
   5. Gorbag and Shagrat
   6. Mount Doom
   
   The six works are large, stand alone posters on heavy stock contained within an attractive folder featuring The West Gate of Moria on the front cover. The prints--the originals were done in watercolor--have a black border with the name of the work and the artist at the bottom in small print.
   
   These prints are an excellent addition to any Tolkien fan's collection.



3. Having never owned any of Alan Lee's LOTR artwork before, I bought this collection on the advice I had found in many places online. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.
   It is true what is said about Lee's visual mastery of Tolkien's words. The images are often much like what I pictured from the books . . . even Gollum.

   My only issue was with the scenes chosen to be depicted in the collection. Three of the six are from Mordor (Gates of Mordor, Gorbag & Shagrat, and from the foot of Mount Doom), the artwork of which is not at all bad, but it is repetitive, when there is so much more. I'm most anticipatory to find Lee's depiction of the Ents somewhere. ^_^

   The paper quality is good & thick, and the posters come in a glossy protective folder with information on the artist, text bits that were the basis for the paintings, etc.




4. Tolkienýs ýThe Lord of the Ringsý is the first fantasy ý science fiction book I have ever read. It is hands down the best. No one writes with such prose and detail as Tolkien does. Granted, it does not have as much magical pyrotechnics as other fantasy books out there, but it makes up for that in a well-structured plot and the resourcefulness of the characters involved. The magic that does happen in the book is spectacular and well worth the wait. Tolkienýs battle scenes are excellent. He unfolds the story as it happens. There are no chapters that begin with ýTen years laterýý rather the story progresses in real-time. No wonder many people think that this work is the greatest of the 20th century.



5. As a collector of Tolkien artwork, I must say that Lee's paintings of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are some of the best in circulation (or out). This poster set is one more addition to a venerable stack of Lee artwork. If you're a Tolkien fan, this is a must!

3 comments about Attack of the 'B' Movie Posters (The Illustrated History of Moves Through Posters Series Vol. 14).

1. All of Bruce Hershenon's books are worth a dozen times what he sells them for; flawless, stunning reproductions of great movie posters. Buy them ALL!



2. What a book! All the poster/lobby card compilations by Hershenson and Allen are great, particularly Volume 10, Serial Movie Posters, which I suspect is their best seller to date, soon to be topped by this one.

   We can argue about the "B Movie" in the title, since many of the posters and lobby cards shown are for exploitation, road show, and drive-in films, and there are some A features to be found in these pages as well. But that's a quibble.

   What images! These were intended to get the farmers off their wagons and into the theatre, and they do serve that purpose. Have a gander at the incredible poster for I LOVE TROUBLE (39), a masterpiece in several senses of the word and from many points of view. The poster for TOMCATS (237) exhibits a very poor understanding of human anatomy but it would cause any healthy male of any age to fumble unconsciously in the general direction of the fly of his trousers. A number of posters and lobby cards feature the immortal Mamie Van Doren, protruding further than seems humanly possible (100, for instance) and Jayne Mansfield (for example 112) is no slouch along those lines herself.

   I'd love to have seen a poster for BOP GIRL GOES CALYPSO starring Judy Tyler, but one can't have everything! Highest possible recommendation, and keep those hands away from that fly.




3. This volume from the series of books from Bruce is fantastic.The beatifull artistic designs of the posters contained in this volume are true classic examples of the fond memories I have from my youth when drive-ins were at the peak of popularity. Although the films were Ed Wood grade z type shlock fare the posters promoting them were class a in artistic design. The general rule of thumbs used by us frequenting the weekly drive-ins was the more outragius off the wall display on those posters(usualy a scanty cladd female and verball quotation to entice the movie going individuals) the most likely the film is a real turkey.Many of us loved making the weekly treck to the driv-ins just to see if the latest presentation could topple the king Plan 9 From Outer Space in realy bad filmmaking.The color posters contained in this volume all are examples of classic poster designing that sadly is lacking in "bland" fare that has been created for film posters from the late 80's to the present day.I highly recomend this gem of a book to any lover of film posters, the price for it is "dirt cheap pocket change" considering the outstanding content it has.A truely unique one of a kind book that I long have searched for and untill now, was never available.

1 comments about Rock Posters of Jim Phillips.

1. ROCK POSTERS OF JIM PHILLIPS provides a 30-year retrospective of rock posters by Phillips, surveying the artist's life and times and following his career from early posters through present times. His computer painted posters as well as his classic rock art signature style is displayed in gorgeous full-page color reproductions paired with biographical and historical perspectives.

4 comments about 60 Great Sci-Fi Movie Posters (Illustrated History of Movies Through Posters, Volume 20).

1. War of the worlds, This Island Earth and Star Wars! Every big name movie or B-movie poster you could think of. And a few I've never heard of. Only one point away because some of the posters look like they were unfolded after being left in somebody's basement for a dozen years. Surly they could have found better copies or used computers to take out the flaws. But still, its cheap and holds a lot of poster images, so I really should not complain. Can't help but love the half naked women. Many of which were not in any of the films. Just there to hook the people.



2. With the exception of the more recent movie posters, I thought it was a fairly good collection of 54 classic science fiction posters.



3. All of Bruce Henderon's books are worth a dozen times what he sells them for; flawless, stunning reproductions of great movie posters. Buy them ALL! this is my favorite, though.



4. This is a TERRIFIC book, at a terrific price, filled with - you guessed it - terrific, clean, sharp, colorful images of some of the best science fiction and fantasy movie posters ever created. In that respect, it meets and exceeds a five-star rating.
   
   Alas... I'm still disappointed by it. Here's why. I already have a lot of the Bruce Hershenson books, as well as a number of other movie poster books. This book is Volume 20 in Hershenson's series, yet to those who have earlier volumes, it's a bit misleading to call it that. For earlier volumes, Hershenson took care to try not to duplicate images that had already appeared in the volumes that preceded it. There were occasional duplications, but even those were sometimes welcome to get the images in various sizes (for earlier volumes, the reproduction size would vary from 1 poster on a page to as many as 9 posters on a page). One of the great advantages of this volume is that ALL the posters are presented at full page size, 1 per page. There's even a wide margin at the spine side of the page so you don't have to force the book open wider to see the inside edge of the poster art. (Two thumbs up for that design feature!) My complaint is that the selection in this book - 60 posters - is almost entirely duplicated from earlier Hershenson volumes, AND are generally the same posters for the same movies that all the other poster books have printed ad nauseum over the years.
   
   In that respect, the "60 Great" movie poster books are really "Best Of" collections, which is why I think they should not have been numbered as part of the continuing series. Like a "Greatest Hits" collection from a band, these are spectacular collections, just don't be expecting anything other than the most familiar titles.
   
   Bottom line - it's unquestionably well worth having, but if you're an old hand at movie poster books, don't expect anything out of the ordinary.

No comments about Poster Collection 08: Black & White.

1 comments about Armin Hofmann (Poster Collection).

1. i am a design student and am working on poster design. this book certainly helped fuel my imagination. its scattered with great photos of Armin's various posters. great color pictures, very nicely put together and designed. i recomend it for students who want some good reference material. it will definately help. great book!

5 comments about The Complete "Masters of the Poster": All 256 Color Plates from "Les Maitres De L'Affiche" (Dover Pictorial Archive Series).

1. For those interested in the poster or in Art Nouveau or in the history of printmaking, specifically lithography, this is an essential reference book. The "Masters of the Poster" portfolios were reduced size reproductions of selected advertising posters of the late 19th century and included works by Mucha, Cheret, Bonnard, Toulouse-Lautrec and many, many others. These reproductions were printed by one of the major lithographic printing houses of the time and sold as annual editions to subscribers. Many of these lithographs are still available in galleries, although expensive. This Dover book includes 256 of the posters which represents the basic subscription portfolio as well as the supplemental lithographs of drawings especially prepared for the subscribers. It is rare to find such a definitive work at such an inexpensive price.



2. As stated, the book contains all 256 plates. But there is almost no informational material. If you just want to know what was included in this series, this is your reference manual.



3. Nice quality with large reproductions, nice heavyweight pages, and great color. Full of inspiring figurative artwork, graphic design, and lettering from a time and place when more work by hand and individual style made it into advertising.



4. i collect posters.
   i love posters.
   for some of the posters, this will be as close as i'll get unless i win the lottery.
   a great present to your friends or to yourself.



5. An an interior designer and a collector of antique posters, I completely rely on this book. Roger Marx brings to us an amazing selection of posters ranging from whimsical prints to dramatic and romantic pieces as well as thorough information on each piece. Featured on the cover is my most treasured posession.

5 comments about The Art of Noir: THE POSTERS & GRAPHICS FROM THE CLASSICAL ERA OF FILM NOIR.

1. The book has an excellent selection of art from the Noir period. I love every single page better than the last!



2. "The Art of Noir" is a big, beautiful book of 338 posters and lobby cards for crime films 1940-1960, plus a handful of later films. All the film noir greats are here, from A-list films to Poverty Row, though not every film represented is strictly "noir". "The Art of Noir" is 14 1/4" x 10 1/8" -too big even for oversized book shelves- but the results are stunning: Hundreds of full-page posters in bold, eye-popping color, along with a handful of 2-page spreads and some 2-to-a-page layouts. I could not overstate how great these posters look, and author Eddie Muller has made them more fascinating with informative captions and short essays. Each poster is captioned with the film's title, year, and studio, the size of the original poster, a brief analysis of the poster's style, and a little about the film.
   
   The posters are divided into six chapters, each with an introduction by Muller. Chapter 1 introduces us to the distinctive styles of different Hollywood studios. Chapter 2 takes us on a tour of film noir poster art around the world, with examples and explanations of how artists abroad altered or redesigned the posters for their markets. Chapter 3 focuses on thematic and iconographic elements in the posters. The icons are guns, racy women, and automobiles. The themes include bad cops, private eyes, and femmes fatales, among others. Chapter 4 showcases posters that feature the prominent stars of film noir, 9 actors and 9 actresses, with an introductory essay for each. The art of Chapter 6 is organized by writer -not only the famed Hammett, Chandler, and Cain, but also prominent noir screenwriters. Chapter 6 features the films of prominent noir directors and cinematographer John Alton.
   
   American and international posters are featured throughout the book. I had not seen foreign film noir posters before, and scrutinizing the posters and comparing the styles turned out to be a source of nearly endless fascination. Foreign artists departed from the bold color and lurid poses of American posters but created art from their own culture's perspective that is no less striking. "The Art of Noir" will absorb fans of film noir or poster art for hours. I am reviewing the hardback edition of the book, so I cannot comment on the reproduction quality in the paperback edition. But the color and sharpness in the hardback are excellent, on slick, white paper. This is Eddie Muller's best book yet.



3. Film noir is a fascinating field with a deserved faithful and ever widening audience. Eddie Muller scored impressively with "Dark City Dames," a study of the women of film noir with intimate portraits of such notables as Jane Greer, Marie Windsor and Ann Savage.

   Muller returns to a familiar theme here and achieves mightily in two respects, with glossy pictures which practically jump off the page at you, giving one a feel for time and place, as well as being a part of the scene, along with a text providing valuable information on the memorable films being showcased.

   San Franciscan Muller is one of the genuine authorities of the genre. He has a real feel for the world of darkness beset by flashing neon lights, smoke-filled bars, detectives in trench coats, and dangerous women.




4. A feast for the eyes! Gorgeous NOIR poster repros and interesting factoids highlight this weighty tome. Fans will swoon, and the casual viewer will have his/her interest tweaked. As a NOIR poster/lobby card collector, this book is an essential library addition, because I need to occasionally check out pictures of posters I'll sadly never be able to afford(!)



5. This book is a must for all film lovers. It contains the most complete collection of film noir posters anywhere. And since the book is "cofee-table" size, the posters are big enough that you can appreciate even the smallest details. The text is also very interesting, giving a short but insightful review of each film. Get this book now!!!!

1 comments about The Posters of Jules Cheret: 46 Full-Color Plates and an Illustrated Catalogue Raisonne, Second, Revised and Enlarged Edition.

1. This is the authoritative source for all the artwork and posters of Jules Cheret, who perfected color lithography in the late 1800's. There are a number of color slides of original Jules Cheret posters plus excellent descriptive information to help one identify a suspected Jules Cheret poster. The catalog is by theme or advertiser without an index or table of contents to help one located the exact page where, let's say, Moulin-Rouge or Olympia might start. This does then force scanning to find the start of the catagory one might want - an inconvenience. In spite of this, once you discover the catagory area, the material is informative and precise enough to help with identification.