I wanted to do something different to all the other ‘top 2009′ posts about and base one on film posters instead. We all love film posters, it’s a known fact. In this top of 2009 post we have 28 beautiful, incredible and inspiring movie posters.

There’s nothing better than a poster that actually suggests the kind of film genre it is. I know, I know, “never judge a book by it’s cover”… Luckily enough, however, these aren’t books! Films always have been and (hopefully) always will be good at making their posters relate to the films storyline.

What one is your favorite and why?

Adam

This simplistic poster uses a fantastic composition and makes great use of white space, leading your eyes into the beautiful photography, elegant slogan and the image-based movie title.

Bitch Slap

The grungy colors and border really suggests the type of movie this is (and I’ve never seen it!). The comic strip style movie title has been composed very well and also suggests there is some humor in the film, which most of us always like!

Blood: The Last Vampire

Although some of the blood splatters seem a little unrealistic, I love the overall feel and look to the poster. Simple techniques such as motion blurs and layer masks have been used to produce a three-dimensional look.

Brief Interviews With Hideous Men

The washed out and grungy feel to the poster is what attracted me to this one in the first place. I love the old-processed look and the way the cast of the movie is presented in a comical way.

Burrowers

We all love photo manipulations, so this one deserved a spot. Great techniques have been used to combine photographs and edit lighting and colors in this poster. I especially like the vintage style border.

Cake Eaters

The empty (cloud) space in the center of the poster leaves you with an open mind, making you wonder what the film could actually be based on. The simple, dark typography makes this a pleasant and easy to digest poster, the watercolor subtle grungy effect used in the top right of the poster just tops it off – the cherry on the top.

Cloud With A Chance Of Meatballs

I couldn’t resist but to include this in the showcase. Ever since seeing it full-size on the side of Vue cinema the image and name of the movie has just stuck in my mind – just what a poster is meant to do. I’ll let you make your own minds up with this one!

Couples Retreat

This simple but comical film really stands up to the movie (which is superb, by the way!). The use of a strong color scheme taken from the hills and mountains in the backgrounds and the ocean is used in opposite areas of the poster (blue from ocean used in text in sky, and orange from hills use in text in the ocean) works really well and makes the poster read much easier.

Did You Hear About The Morgans

You can’t get much more simplistic than this! At least 80% of this poster is made up of pure white, making it easy to read, stand out from a mile away and it’s all topped off with some nice typography and very bright yellow cab… and a bull!

District Nine

I was shocked when I saw this film just a couple of weeks ago, I do wish I saw it in the cinema though! The posters (there are quite a few of them) are all great, but this one is the one that particular stood out for me when choosing one. I love the grungey background, the realistic bullet holes and of course the silhouette of the so called Alien!

Dungeon Masters

Another very simple poster but one that uses several trends of the year 2009. Simple vectors, limited colors and vertical typography, strange but quite cool!

Escapist

The simple and subtle use of grunge in the background of this texture sets the whole thing off and makes it come to life. The barbed wire silhouette on the movie title is a great little touch and has great attention to detail.

Grace

You know what I”m going to say… GRUNGE! We all love it. This is actually quite a freaky poster, too, but it’s minimalistic grungy feel just had to secure it a place in this showcase.

Haunting In Connecticut

Another simple poster with lots of noise, a dark color scheme and dark grungy type. The way this would make most people feel however is the main reason it has made my top posters of 2009. They most definitely got the slogan right: “Some things cannot be explained”.

I Love You Beth Cooper

This film is one of the ones this year that had me in tears of laughter several time, it’s one of those you either love it or hate it movies.. I loved it, and there’s a great hand-drawn poster to go with it!

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Without the white space in this poster it wouldn’t be the same. The comical look on their faces is sure to make everyone laugh, if not at least a little grin. For that reason is why it is here.

In A Dream

I’d never seen this poster before, or heard of the film, until researching films from 2009. The hand-drawn collage(y) poster has a wonderful natural look to it, which I’ve been staring at for over an hour now (only joking, but almost!).

In The Loop

If you’ve ever said something along the lines of “vectors are just to clean” this is where you should be taking that line back. This is a brilliant example of where vector images DON’T need texture. I have nothing against texture, though!

Knowing

The glowing sci-fi style in this poster is what space scenes are all about. The realistically of the burned letters coming from the center of the earth makes me wish I knew who designed it – I’d love for him to write a tutorial for Circlebox!

Monsters vs Aliens

Just like the Ice Age poster, Monsters vs Aliens uses white space to its advantage. The 3D text is great, too!

Objectified

Every designer has to love this poster, it actually makes me want to design icons! There is one other great thing however, looking carefully you’ll notice icons of the iPod control wheel, sunglasses, a toothbrush, a paperclip and various other objects spell ‘Objectified’. Can you spot it?

Only

You know why I chose this one… 3 colors, vector images, and a brilliant composition. You must be able to spot this one on a bus from several miles away!

Order of Chaos

The composition of this is the reason it has been chosen. I just love it! I’ll have to try something like this one day.

Soundtrack For A Revolution

Colors, typography, monochromatic image, more typography.. Wow! It can be a little difficult to read I admit, but the overall look is fantastic and I’m sure a lot of you will agree with me.

Star Trek XI

The simplicity of this poster is what makes it work. Minimal typography (there aren’t many posters about these days with no highlighted cast areas) and simple motion blurs are the center and outer of this poster.

The Brothers Bloom

The English version of this poster just wasn’t as good, this one however is superb. I love the antique, vintage look as I’m sure a lot of you will know from my vintage showcases all around the design community.

This Is It

Although I think this shouldn’t have been released as a movie, it’s what it is classed as and it uses some great manipulation techniques and has a attention grabbing color scheme.

Where The Wild Things Are

This looks like a very (very) strange film, but I’m going to have to watch it at some point in my life. The composition of this a long with the hand-drawn text and mouthful of tree missing in the background are my favorite parts… I know, that’s almost the whole poster!

So what is your favorite poster of 2009? It doesn’t have to be on this list!