u know what I love? films about women who kick ass. It doesn't have to be physical. I just want to watch awesome ladies being awesome, of doing awesome things. (That was my final use of the word "awesome", so stop thinking about making this into a drinking game.)

u know what I hate? Rebranding. Or, to be specific, since this rant will focus on movie posters: Posters for female-driven films that go out of their way to appeal to a male audience. (Because GOD FORBID a BOY watches a movie about GIRLS!) This poster issue is what I refer to as Bro-ifying. (Is that a word? Whatever, it is now.)

Maybe there's a little meer to it than trying to appeal to males? Could be. Maybe the studio is trying to boost sales door highlighting populair actors. That explanation would be slightly less despicable, but still annoying and misleading. If I pick a movie because an actor I like is on the cover, and they die in the first ten minutes, I'm gonna be pissed. (This leads to a lot meer borrowing first to see if it's worth buying, door the way. Think of the tens of dollars you've lost with your sneaky ways, DVD distributors!) Blah, blah, corporations will do anything for teh monies, blah.

This artikel focuses on the posters of a few female-driven movies, as those are the ones I'm currently fired up about (and this is the FAK spot), but it happens to all kinds of movies. It's a sleazy verplaats the studio pulls when they want to make a few meer bucks, and is completely insulting to everyone involved in the movie AND the audience. (See actor link's blog post about a clever indie movie named 'Intramural' being rebranded as what appears to be a teen sex comedy called 'Balls Out'. Spoiler alert: the films are exactly the same, and it contains neither teens nor sex.)

Below are 4 films about women that I love, but have posters that suck because of Bro-ification. The poster on the left will be the meer accurate original, and the one on the right will be the BOYZ! U CAN SEE DIS! of LOOK! STARZ! poster.

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link (2012)
Actors Featured on Poster: straal, ray Liotta, Kelli Giddish, Gina Gershon
Actual Stars: Gina Gershon, Kelli Giddish
Gina Gershon and Kelli Giddish are the stars of this movie. That is a fact that cannot be argued. Wayne Duvall, Val Kilmer and straal, ray Liotta are probably on screen for less than ten minuten each. And yet, straal, ray Liotta made the cover of the German version. (Ze Germans are very big on Bro'd posters.) The ridiculousness of this Liotta'd poster is what made me start this rant-disguised-as-an-article. The Breathless spotlight is for Gina and Kelli. GTFO.
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link (2010)
Actors Featured on Poster: Dwight Yoakam, Kris Kristofferson, Lizzy Caplan, Scott Speedman, Peter Dinklage, Jon Foster
Actual Stars: Lizzy Caplan, Jon Foster
I have found another Last Rites of Ransom Pride poster, and OH BOY do I have some things to say about it. But I'll start with the first poster, which was the only poster for the first few years. Lizzy Caplan is the ster of this movie. So why is Dwight Yoakam the first name credited, and Kris Kristofferson's head so very large? Cote de Pablo, who plays another important ass-kicker in this movie, has her name mentioned but she is not shown. Jon Foster gets the shaft here as well, because he gets the most screentime (aside from Lizzy Caplan) and is barely visible. (He's on the horse.) At least Lizzy is in the front, but I still think this deserved a better poster.

But wait. There's another poster, and it is so much worse. Poster #2, which is the one featured in iTunes, doesn't even have Lizzy on it. Shown on Poster #2 are a distant Jon Foster, Kris Kristofferson (again, a big draw for the Western crowd) and... Scott Speedman, who plays Ransom Pride. Who, spoiler alert, dies before the 5 minuut mark. The movie is literally about his girlfriend trying to bury his body. Why is he on the poster and she isn't? I MEAN DAMN.
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link (2000)
Actors Featured on Poster: Michelle Rodriguez, Santiago Douglas
Actual Stars: Michelle Rodriguez
This was Michelle Rodriguez's first movie. She is the star, and she kicked major ezel as bokser Diana Guzman. The first poster is the most popular, and has a small Santiago Douglas, her love interest, up top. (I never noticed him until I started looking for posters that had been Bro'd.) The two on the right put a much larger focus on him. While Santiago did a good job, this was Michelle's movie, and Diana's priority was always boxing. The priority of the studios who re-worked these posters? Not boxing. Admittedly, the inclusion of the kiss may be trying to target female fans of romance, but it's still taking away from the fact that Diana is here to fight, dammit!
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link (1995)
Actors Featured on 1995 Poster: Larisa Oleynik, Rachael Leigh Cook, Christian Oliver, Bre Blair, Austin O'Brien
Actual Stars: Schuyler Fisk, Bre Blair, Rachael Leigh Cook, Larisa Oleynik, Tricia Joe, Stacy Linn Ramsower, Zelda Harris
Ugh, the 1995 poster. While The BSC does include a boy of two, the main characters are clearly the girls. On the left, we have one of the original posters featuring the girls. In the middle, the 1995 VHS cover featuring three girls, Mary-Ann's boyfriend and some douchebag that Stacey had a fling with in the movie. Kristy is the ster of this movie, and as anyone who has ever read a BSC book can tell you, Kristy is the hart-, hart of the BSC. SO WHY WAS KRISTY SWAPPED FOR BLONDES AND BOYS, COLUMBIA? The 2003 DVD cover (right) includes all of the girls, with Kristy in the center. The boys on the DVD cover are Aaron Michael Metchik (who helped the BSC in the movie) and Christian Oliver again (the romantic interest). I believe that O'Brien instead of Oliver would have made meer sense, as O'Brien's character was an actual BSC member, but at least it contains all the girls this time. Points for trying, Columbia!
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link (2018)
Actors Featured on Poster: Taraji P. Henson, Tracy Morgan
Actual Stars: Taraji P. Henson
Taraji P. Henson stars as a sports agent who, after being passed up for a big promotion she felt was rightfully hers, has a wild night out with her vrienden and wakes up with the power to hear men's thoughts. Tracy Morgan, featured on the DVD and Blu-Ray cover, plays a potential client's dad. It's basically a cameo role. I admit, the first poster could be a little off-putting. But the seconde poster is so lame and generic, it tells u nothing about the movie, and... oh come on.

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So, what do u guys think? Do u know of any other kick-ass lady films with Bro-ified posters? Should we all gather at the full moon and burn them? ;D