Cool Stuff: Fake Criterion Covers For The 'Harry Potter' Film Series [Image Gallery]
Fake Criterion covers have become a pretty popular form of fan art as of late. Design-inclined cinephiles have fake-Criterioned everything from Orson Welles' Macbeth to a French version of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle to Kickpuncher (which is itself a fake movie), and it's no wonder why. Criterion DVDs often get the kind of cool, artsy covers you would never find on 'normal' DVDs, which usually opt for something more tame and immediately recognizable.
The latest property to get the fake-Criterion treatment is the Harry Potter film series, which concludes this weekend with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Cooper Union graduate Patrick Sullivan created this stunning collection for his student portfolio, and it saddens me to know they'll never actually be used. Flip through his cover collection after the jump.
[Harry Potter Criterion Collection via Vulture]
Each cover is gorgeous on its own, but the icing on the cake is revealed when you line up all the DVDs in order — together, the spines form an image of Harry's world-famous lightning bolt scar and his equally iconic glasses. Sullivan also had the clever idea of making the back of each cover appear to be an edition of The Daily Prophet, complete with the wizard paper's unusual formatting. (No moving photographs for us, though — Sullivan was clearly working with Muggle equipment.) As Ron might say, "brilliant."
My personal favorite is a toss-up between the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire cover, with its elegant representation of the Triwizard Tournament, or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I + II, with its simple yet striking image of a battle-ready Harry.
Discuss: Which fake-Criterion Harry Potter cover is your favorite? And while we're at it... Which Harry Potter film is actually your favorite? What about your favorite book? (My favorite of the actual films is Prisoner of Azkaban; my favorite of the book series is Order of the Phoenix.)