The 50 coolest posters of 2013 so far

So far this year, I have laid eyes on hundreds and hundreds of movie posters. Many are terrible. Most are average. But sometimes I see a design that sticks with me. With half the year gone already, I hereby present my top 50 favourite movie posters released in 2013 so far – and no, before you ask, The Heat's UK poster didn't make it onto the list.

The centrepiece of an enjoyably naff series of posters, the Burt Wonderstone one-sheets are gaudy and cheesy and all the better for it. Comedy posters rarely convey the tone of humour in print, but this does the trick. Bonus points for looking like John Woo has ejaculated onto it.

A Safety Last! reissue poster could really only use one image, but you have to marvel at the execution here: the choice of fonts in particular is spot on.

The teasers for Vin Diesel's Riddick all have a pleasant low-budget feel about them – much like the film – but this IMAX special takes Diesel's ominous silhouette and gives it the comic-book makeover it deserves.

Playing on Anchorman's iconography, Ron Burgundy is a character so well known he can be identified from his moustache alone. It is the second movie in two years, after The Campaign, to have a poster so close to Will Ferrell's face, you can actually make out the pores in his skin. Gross.

The film's plot might be a little suspect, and the tagline – "They're crashing the system!" – seems to scream 'This is about computers because these are computer words!' but this inventive one-sheet actually manages to get across what The Internship is about with an interesting visual concept.

Nice lines, nice saturation, shame about the sparks – just one look at this poster tells you it's a very serious movie indeed and the gun-metal colour scheme is a hint at the Michael Mann-styled antics that wait within.

Superman has more than his fair share of iconography – the cape, the pants, the big red 'S' – but Man Of Steel's poster campaign was a tad unimpressive, possibly due to the need to differentiate from Superman Returns. However, this minimal one-sheet is literally a breath of fresh air.

Size is everything in Guillermo del Toro's monster movie, so designers would have been tasked with the tricky proposition of showing just how large the film's Jaegers are while keeping a human element in the mix too. Job done, you have to say, and it's even contextual to the story, too.

Alan's action hero wet dreams are about to come true in Alpha Papa, and this quad is a perfectly pitched antidote to the cop thrillers he so wishes to replicate – with the quaint Norwich skyline filling in for London/Paris/New York. Not sure why the Sun has just exploded, though.

You might think it's boring, I say it's bold – for an indie with names like Sam Rockwell and William H Macy it'd be almost too tempting to put their faces on the poster, but the designers here have opted for an atmospheric vista that piques the interest.

I don't know about you, but my major worry about a LEGO movie would be that CG would suck all the creativity out of the art-form. This teaser poster does a pretty good job of reassuring you that the tactile nature of the famous little bricks will be kept intact.

There wouldn't have been much for the designers to work with here, given the film was shot in low grade black and white, but Greta Gerwig's awkward dancing is as endearing in a single still frame as it is in motion.

A pretty simple concept, granted, but one that's really well executed. Pun very much intended, which is why I just pointed it out.

Play up the epic locations, play down the pissing of cash down the drain – that's why this Heaven's Gate reissue is so lovely. It almost makes the film look more austere than it actually is.

The final Desolation Of Smaug one-sheet will no doubt feature all manner of characters crammed onto it, so for now, enjoy this evocative teaser, with Bilbo framed in the centre – a very small man with a very large task.

Though I'm pressed to think if Tony Stark actually does plummet to Earth in a fireball in Iron Man 3, it's a striking image nonetheless – made all the more affecting by the lack of mask and Robert Downey Jr's expression.

A nice mix of iconography, a subtly placed cast list and no mention whatsoever of The Paperboy – a pretty special teaser poster, all told. Shame the White House looks a bit like a cake.

Bad movies can have good posters, and here's the proof. I'd rather wax my foreskin than watch the film, but even I have to admit this is a great gimmick that sells the concept of the movie – four men who never grew up. Poor Young Kevin James: he had so much to live for.

Sex, sweeties and the threat of violence – that's a pretty effective way of dressing up this psychosexual thriller. Also, if you have Saoirse Ronan and Alexis Bledel in your movie, you put their eyes on the poster. That's basic.

If you're going to go over the top, better you have a woman with giant breast cannons yelling in front of an explosion than holding back a little. I'd rather admire Sofia Vergara's physical form than Danny Trejo's anyway.

Smartly taking the focus off the 'ring' and instead concentrating on the 'bling' therein, this is a neat teaser poster – way better than anything in the actual campaign, in fact.

Good job I wasn't planning on sleeping tonight.

Save for the War Of The Worlds poster, on which he didn't even appear, this might be the smallest Tom Cruise has ever been in print (first person to say 'actual size' gets thrown out). All the more room for Joseph Kosinski's breathtaking 'scorched Earth' visuals, says I.

Blue and purple are so in right now. The colour scheme is a clear indication that this is not The Stath we know and love – like, he's not even holding a gun? – and it's befitting of the sordid corners of the Soho we typically avoid. That Reader's Digest quote isn't fooling any grannies, though.

A bonkers concept given the treatment it deserves, this uncomplicated one-sheet visualises the movie's insane sci-fi premise adeptly. Loses points for a horrible font, however; what the hell is 'Upside Nmoo'?