Par Three

As remakes go, Michael Haneke’s new take on his own 1997 film Funny Games is a horse of a different color. A very stark, white one, based on a lot of the film’s promo materials. As of this week, there are now three posters for the film in circulation, and two of them resemble Apple ads. Who knew Helvetica could be so scary?



The first piece is perfect, if your name is Criterion Collection and you’re selling special edition DVDs. Theatrically, though, I don’t think it works. I like the tear in Naomi Watts’ eye, but when I see this shot I can’t help but think it’s advertising a remake of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” video rather than a twisted psychological horror movie.



And while we're wang-chunging... did Duran Duran just take the stage? Or is it Hall & Oates? They can't be Milli Vanilli; they don't have the shoulder pads. Utterly awful design.



But the third bowl of porridge is just right. It looks more like a teaser poster as it is, but just slap the credits on the bottom and you’re done. The artwork does the movie’s job for it, really. Looking at this image, your mind starts to churn up all sorts of nasty uses for that golf club. Tut, tut. Good show, gents.