Seriously, is this a joke?

The 25th Anniversary DVD artwork is just awful. Gandhi looks dead (or at least dozed off) on the DVD. This is really unfortunate and inexplicable, for such an award-winning film. This is one of the worst DVD covers ever: I’m simply stunned this got approved…which makes it a natural for the Revized treatment.

Danny Boyle’s masterpiece isn’t out on DVD yet, but I’m jumping the gun and am willing to bet the farm that I’m going to be disappointed with the artwork.

Sometimes, I like to see stills used as DVD artwork. Especially in the case of Wong Kar-Wai’s films, which feature some of the most gorgeous photography ever used in cinema.

Due to rights issues, Hal Hartley‘s genius 1991 film, Trust, has sadly never been officially available in the US. This is the film that was my awakening to American indie cinema, which stars the late Adrienne Shelly. Here’s how I imagined it might look like if Criterion got to release it on DVD. One can dream.

The design is adapted, obviously, from the one-sheet–itself, a bit rebellious and unorthodox, as it is designed in horizontal format. The image is iconic, amongst indie film fans. Yes, I know the title is illegible and would thus disqualify it from even getting to a Hollywood distributor in the first place. What, no critic’s quote and star names on the cover? Gotta love Criterion, the only company who could get away with such a marketing faux pas.

Forest Whitaker is one of my favorite actors. While The Last King Of Scotland wasn’t exactly an excellent film, Mr Whitaker himself was excellent, and well-deserving of the Oscar for Best Actor. Creative Impact Agency’s poster is a striking example of graphic design, but the “Idi Amin triplets” treatment on the DVD is just plain ridiculous. The co-lead, James McAvoy, is nowhere to be seen on the box. Ah, marketing. Here’s a Revized look at how reducing CIA’s brilliant poster art to the DVD would’ve been way too easy (and smart).