list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Sin City on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Sin_City/242411/default.aspx Title: Sin City
Year: 2005
Director: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez
Plot: The Eisner Award-winning comic series Sin City comes to life in this live-action feature adaptation from director Robert Rodriguez and creator Frank Miller. Interweaving multiple storylines from the series' history, this violent crime noir paints the picture of the ultimate town without pity through the eyes of its roughest characters. There's the street thug Marv (Mickey Rourke), whose desperate quest to find the killer of a prostitute named Goldie (Jaime King) will lead him to the foulest edges of town. Inhabiting many of those areas is Dwight (Clive Owen), a photographer in league with the sordid ladies of Sin City, headed by Gail (Rosario Dawson), who opens up a mess of trouble after tangling with a corrupt cop by the name of Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro). Finally, there's Hartigan (Bruce Willis), an ex-cop with a heart problem who's hell-bent on protecting a stripper named Nancy (Jessica Alba). Featuring a who's who supporting cast that includes Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Devon Aoki, and Nick Stahl, Sin City promises to be one of the most direct translations from page to screen of a comic series, with shots and dialogue adapted straight from the original comic's panels. Rodriguez quit the Director's Guild when they refused to let Frank Miller co-direct the film, a deal hashed out after the two collaborators developed and shot the opening scene utilizing a green-screen process to harness the stark, black-and-white look of the books as a litmus test for the rest of the production. Quentin Tarantino was brought in and reportedly paid one dollar to direct an extended scene between Del Toro and Owen that amounts to one issue of The Big Fat Kill miniseries. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 128
Number of Lists: 136
Number of blog posts: 23
Number of discussion threads: 21
SpoutRating: 4
]]>Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:29:56 GMTSin City2005Frank Miller, Robert RodriguezThe Eisner Award-winning comic series Sin City comes to life in this live-action feature adaptation from director <a href="/players/P___151002/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Robert Rodriguez</a> and creator Frank Miller. Interweaving multiple storylines from the series' history, this violent crime noir paints the picture of the ultimate town without pity through the eyes of its roughest characters. There's the street thug Marv (<a href="/players/P____61810/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Mickey Rourke</a>), whose desperate quest to find the killer of a prostitute named Goldie (<a href="/players/P___292250/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Jaime King</a>) will lead him to the foulest edges of town. Inhabiting many of those areas is Dwight (<a href="/players/P____54491/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Clive Owen</a>), a photographer in league with the sordid ladies of Sin City, headed by Gail (<a href="/players/P___199028/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Rosario Dawson</a>), who opens up a mess of trouble after tangling with a corrupt cop by the name of Jackie Boy (<a href="/players/P____18343/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Benicio Del Toro</a>). Finally, there's Hartigan (<a href="/players/P____76618/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Bruce Willis</a>), an ex-cop with a heart problem who's hell-bent on protecting a stripper named Nancy (<a href="/players/P___268078/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Jessica Alba</a>). Featuring a who's who supporting cast that includes <a href="/players/P____77309/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Elijah Wood</a>, <a href="/players/P___200519/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Brittany Murphy</a>, <a href="/players/P___360230/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Devon Aoki</a>, and <a href="/players/P____67497/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Nick Stahl</a>, Sin City promises to be one of the most direct translations from page to screen of a comic series, with shots and dialogue adapted straight from the original comic's panels. Rodriguez quit the Director's Guild when they refused to let Frank Miller co-direct the film, a deal hashed out after the two collaborators developed and shot the opening scene utilizing a green-screen process to harness the stark, black-and-white look of the books as a litmus test for the rest of the production. <a href="/players/P___113658/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Quentin Tarantino</a> was brought in and reportedly paid one dollar to direct an extended scene between Del Toro and Owen that amounts to one issue of The Big Fat Kill miniseries. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide128Tag Target (>10)13623214http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t68300n2eo9.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Sin_City/242411/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_August_17_Death_Row/625/43612/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mercurial
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 8/18/2009 3:29:56 PM
Body: The Night of the Hunter - Not really about an execution, but the film centers around some money that the cellmate of a death row inmate overhears and takes upon himself to find upon his release. Sin City - The film that brought back Mickey Rourke from mediocrity. Not to give anything away but his character Marv was one fucking badass that just wouldn't die peacefully. Capote & Infamous - Both good films about the murders that took place in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and the subsequent executions of the murderers. Elizabeth - The first act of the film centers on whether Elizabeth is going to be executed or become queen. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - I believe the latter part of the film centered around an execution but all I remember is the bizarre orgy. Need to watch it again. Marie Antoinette - The one thing that got a lot of people mad about this film was the lack of any depiction of her execution. The Messenger - Again, doesn't get to the actual act, but nonetheless. Alice in Wonderland - OFF WITH HER HEAD! Salo - Kinda sorta fits the theme. A bunch of young girls and boys are kidnapped from the countryside and ritualistically tortured and executed. Worth checking out if you feel like vomiting. Dancer in the Dark - I love von Trier and Bjork but not so much together in this film. Definitely on my re-watch list. Starship Troopers - There is a particularly hilarious scene in the film where a murderers execution is going to be aired on live television.
]]>Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:29:56 GMTmercurialWeekly Theme8/18/2009 3:29:56 PM The Night of the Hunter - Not really about an execution, but the film centers around some money that the cellmate of a death row inmate overhears and takes upon himself to find upon his release. Sin City - The film that brought back Mickey Rourke from mediocrity. Not to give anything away but his character Marv was one fucking badass that just wouldn't die peacefully. Capote &amp; Infamous - Both good films about the murders that took place in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and the subsequent executions of the murderers. Elizabeth - The first act of the film centers on whether Elizabeth is going to be executed or become queen. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - I believe the latter part of the film centered around an execution but all I remember is the bizarre orgy. Need to watch it again. Marie Antoinette - The one thing that got a lot of people mad about this film was the lack of any depiction of her execution. The Messenger - Again, doesn't get to the actual act, but nonetheless. Alice in Wonderland - OFF WITH HER HEAD! Salo - Kinda sorta fits the theme. A bunch of young girls and boys are kidnapped from the countryside and ritualistically tortured and executed. Worth checking out if you feel like vomiting. Dancer in the Dark - I love von Trier and Bjork but not so much together in this film. Definitely on my re-watch list. Starship Troopers - There is a particularly hilarious scene in the film where a murderers execution is going to be aired on live television. http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_March_30_Strippers/625/41415/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mercurial
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 4/2/2009 3:52:29 PM
Body: Well, since it appears I picked another topic that nobody wants to talk about I'll just have to do the talking. Not the greatest movie ever made but a landmark film nonetheless, Showgirls made an impact by being one of the few NC-17 films to get a wide theatrical release. And of course it turned the innocent bookworm Jesse Spano from Saved By The Bell into a knife wielding nymphomaniac stripper. Another film that made a big splash was Striptease. Demi Moore showed just how good a mother in her thirties can look by exposing her recently enhanced assets to the world. Jessica Alba helped increase sales of chaps and lassos in Sin City. Natalie Portman showed up those critics of her work in the Star Wars prequels by showing some skin in Closer. Not the best adaptation of a Chuck Palahniuk novel, but Choke does have a number of choice scenes, one of which involving the main characters predilection for strip clubs. After remarking to one of the exotic dancers that blondes have a higher chance of skin cancer and that one of her moles should get checked out, said stripper returns next time with her hair dyed brown and thanks him for telling her the thing about blondes. Ha ha ha. Pecker taught me what muff and tea-bagging was. Thanks John Waters! And lastly, Gilda with Rita Hayworth showing just how sexy stripping can be without removing hardly any clothes at all.
]]>Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:52:29 GMTmercurialWeekly Theme4/2/2009 3:52:29 PMWell, since it appears I picked another topic that nobody wants to talk about I'll just have to do the talking. Not the greatest movie ever made but a landmark film nonetheless, Showgirls made an impact by being one of the few NC-17 films to get a wide theatrical release. And of course it turned the innocent bookworm Jesse Spano from Saved By The Bell into a knife wielding nymphomaniac stripper. Another film that made a big splash was Striptease. Demi Moore showed just how good a mother in her thirties can look by exposing her recently enhanced assets to the world. Jessica Alba helped increase sales of chaps and lassos in Sin City. Natalie Portman showed up those critics of her work in the Star Wars prequels by showing some skin in Closer. Not the best adaptation of a Chuck Palahniuk novel, but Choke does have a number of choice scenes, one of which involving the main characters predilection for strip clubs. After remarking to one of the exotic dancers that blondes have a higher chance of skin cancer and that one of her moles should get checked out, said stripper returns next time with her hair dyed brown and thanks him for telling her the thing about blondes. Ha ha ha. Pecker taught me what muff and tea-bagging was. Thanks John Waters! And lastly, Gilda with Rita Hayworth showing just how sexy stripping can be without removing hardly any clothes at all. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2009/3/5/40839.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 3/5/2009 10:00:20 AM
Body: Many smart cinephiles and comic book geeks will avoid watching Watchmen this weekend. Not to avoid the crowds of opening weekend, and not to patiently await word of mouth from friends and reactions from critics. No, these bright few will ignore the out-of-season blockbuster event because there is absolutely no reason to see this movie. They recognize that any Watchmen adaptation (particularly this one that’s been made) is completely unnecessary. Well, for anyone not out to profit from it, anyway. Of course, even Warner Bros. might have been better off not producing the thing, since the studio won’t be making as much money as it had initially envisioned thanks to that profit-participation settlement with Fox. The point of this post is not to call Watchmen watchers stupid. Rather, our list of five reasons the film is unnecessary is to help moviegoers get smart. After reading this, though, if any of you are still determined to waste your time sitting through almost 3 hours of redundant, rehashed, irrelevant, ridiculous and inescapably disappointing superhero cinema, we’ll be left with no choice but to consider you mindless sheep, the kind that deserve to be duped. And if Dr. Manhattan chooses to vaporize us (or fans choose to curse us out in the comments section) for exposing the truth about this enterprise of excess, then so be it. We believe we’ve served justice here. 1. Faithful adaptations of graphic novels are redundant Comic books and movies, though both visual and (for the most part) processive forms of storytelling, are certainly different mediums. Yet there is good reason for people to believe film adaptations of graphic novels are easy, particularly when they’re meant to be faithful reproductions. Recreating a comic panel exactly and then giving it motion isn’t necessarily a simple process, but it is a pointless one. In the past, such redundancy has been fully evident in the sinfully unnecessary movie Sin City, and now Watchmen is furthermore putting the super in superfluous with its attempt to mostly please fans of the classic comic by meticulously replicating Alan Moore’s script and Dave Gibbons and John Higgins’ artwork for the big screen. But in addition to indulging the narrowly satisfied fanatics, a movie as resembling of its source material as Watchmen is may be accepted as substitute and partly render the graphic novel obsolete to newcomers. This is of course a problem with adaptations in general, regardless of the type of medium being adapted. Yet it’s all the more potentially displacing when the film is both based on a visual work and intended to be as precise an imitation as possible. Recently, writing for ThePlaylist, Christopher R. Adams pointed out that, “the best comic book films (”The Dark Knight”, “X-Men 2″ and Iron Man) were not adapted word-for-word and panel-for-panel to the screen. They weren’t even culled from one single story!” So why would anyone think it a good idea to make an exact copy of a graphic novel? Well, defenders of both Sin City and Watchmen will undoubtedly argue that it’s “neat” to see the two-dimensional and relatively static images from the book given the added depth and movement, but then so is it similarly curious to see what happens when you drive a car into a wall. So, devout Watchmen readers, why not simply honor the graphic novel by letting it stand alone and experiencing it in its intended medium? 2. So many movies satirizing and subverting superheroes already exist Watchmen may or may not have been the first subversive twist on superhero comics, but the movie is hardly the first of its kind. From the really lame (Superhero Movie) to the really great (The Incredibles), films making fun of or merely playing on the concept of superheroes have been around for about as long as the Watchmen graphic novel has been in print. And so, like our list of movies that made the recent Get Smart obsolete, it would be quite easy to name examples of movies and TV shows that, whether or not they were directly influenced by the Watchmen comics in the first place, have seemingly superseded the Watchmen story and therefore made its film adaptation a stale, or at least surplus, endeavor. Why should anyone unfamiliar with the graphic novel need to see Watchmen after experiencing Hancock, Mystery Men, The Tick, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Hellboy, Unbreakable, The Specials, Sky High, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, The Meteor Man, Blankman, et al.? Well, there may be those superhero movie completists who will see any example of the genre, but such people are likely to be the most unimpressed with a story as seemingly dated and done before as Watchmen’s. Really, in a way, The Incredibles was the best possible movie to come out of the graphic novel’s wake, and The Dark Knight was the darkest and most realistic. Comparatively, even a decently made Watchmen adaptation should seem a pale wannabe. That’s why it’s easy to side with IMDb user Richard Brunton’s concern from years ago: “There is so much similarity to The Watchmen that those who haven’t read the graphic novel will be saying ‘That’s the Incredibles movie’ when Watchmen finally comes to fruition.” And already someone made the mashup trailer to encourage such a concern. 3. Watchmen has no contemporary relevance A movie of Watchmen in 2009 has a problem of relevance in two regards. One relates to the previous point about how plenty of subversive superhero movies have already been made prior to this adaptation. Yet even without the preexistence of all those titles the Watchmen movie, as it’s been made, would fail on other levels of innovation and relevance. Paul DeBenedetto of the comics blog Wednesday’s Child, writing us in defense of his decision not to bother with the movie, says, “The greatness of Watchmen (the book) lies not so much in the story as it does the storytelling. Thus a great adaptation of the book would not be a straight retelling of the story, no matter how accurate.” Indeed, when Watchmen was published it was groundbreaking in its medium, totally revolutionizing the art of superhero comics. But not just because of how it played with superhero character conventions, because it also deconstructed the superhero comic’s narrative style. True Watchmen fans, and likewise comics experts, should therefore see no purpose in a Watchmen movie that isn’t analogously cinematically groundbreaking. This Watchmen movie will unfortunately have no notable affect on the film medium, despite being helmed by an alleged “visionary director” (as the film’s marketing has labeled Zach Snyder). The other way in which a current and faithful adaptation of Watchmen is problematically irrelevant is due to its retention of the book’s setting. The book’s themes might not translate completely were the story updated, but the movie could be better off for developing its own themes, whether to modernize certain elements (Vietnam becomes Iraq; Bush is substituted for Nixon) and comment on contemporary abuses of power or to hypothesize how real-life superheroes might deflect the desire for a super-president like Barack Obama. Such a movie would barely be recognizable to fans of the book, but again, adaptation is best when not directly lifted. As the movie was in fact directly lifted, it only functions as a curiosity, like a “What If…” comic or an alternate history novel, both of which are slightly interesting though mainly dispensable works. 4. What was once intended for realism now comes off as ridiculous Considering how the Watchmen comics aimed to take superhero conventions and adapt them to see how they’d function in the real world, it’s a great shame that the Watchmen movie looks and is being criticized for being quite silly (one indirectly reported response compared the adaptation to the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, while The Hollywood Reporter’s Kirk Honeycutt labeled it campy soap opera). But it shouldn’t be surprising that directly lifting from the pages of a dark, serious and relatively realistic comic would result in camp. Because realism on the page is hardly the same as realism on the screen. And because many literary techniques, even those working with visual cues, don’t translate well to audio and visual media. A Watchmen movie shouldn’t look as cartoonish as this one does, but due to the artificial feel of the sets, the stylish cinematographic style and the garishness of the costumes, it seems to have more in common with Joel Schumacher’s Batman movies than with Christopher Nolan’s. 5. There was only ever room for disappointment As with anything as highly anticipated as the Watchmen movie, there isn’t much room for satisfaction. Even if the Star Wars prequels weren’t as bad as they are, for instance, they’d still have been unavoidably disappointing to a majority of fans. Maybe not to the biased diehard fanatics, who will forever defend The Phantom Menace, the Matrix sequels, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Godfather Part III or Watchmen, but certainly to those whose expectations were so high they could only focus on whatever flaws the respective films have. Last month, Graeme McMillan wrote at io9 that only the fans will be disappointed due to how much they’ve been building the film up in their minds, and that Warner Bros. should have therefore concentrated the marketing at mainstream audiences. Yet really, for those familiar with the Watchmen comic, the movie might not be as faithful (i.e. as redundant) as hoped or it might be too faithful (i.e. irrelevant and silly looking), but they will enjoy it for the most part. However, those unfamiliar with the comic are likely to be the most disappointed, because they’re the ones going into this in response to the immense hype and recommendation that’s come with the book for more than 20 years. It’s the same reason that some of us who read the graphic novel late had a “that’s it?” response. Those bypassing the book, however, won’t get at least the benefit of reading a quality work that merely seems overrated (due to the unfortunate perspective of high expectations). And their “that’s it?” will be, to them, even more of a “that’s all it will ever be.” Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:00:20 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com3/5/2009 10:00:20 AMMany smart cinephiles and comic book geeks will avoid watching Watchmen this weekend. Not to avoid the crowds of opening weekend, and not to patiently await word of mouth from friends and reactions from critics. No, these bright few will ignore the out-of-season blockbuster event because there is absolutely no reason to see this movie. They recognize that any Watchmen adaptation (particularly this one that’s been made) is completely unnecessary. Well, for anyone not out to profit from it, anyway. Of course, even Warner Bros. might have been better off not producing the thing, since the studio won’t be making as much money as it had initially envisioned thanks to that profit-participation settlement with Fox. The point of this post is not to call Watchmen watchers stupid. Rather, our list of five reasons the film is unnecessary is to help moviegoers get smart. After reading this, though, if any of you are still determined to waste your time sitting through almost 3 hours of redundant, rehashed, irrelevant, ridiculous and inescapably disappointing superhero cinema, we’ll be left with no choice but to consider you mindless sheep, the kind that deserve to be duped. And if Dr. Manhattan chooses to vaporize us (or fans choose to curse us out in the comments section) for exposing the truth about this enterprise of excess, then so be it. We believe we’ve served justice here. 1. Faithful adaptations of graphic novels are redundant Comic books and movies, though both visual and (for the most part) processive forms of storytelling, are certainly different mediums. Yet there is good reason for people to believe film adaptations of graphic novels are easy, particularly when they’re meant to be faithful reproductions. Recreating a comic panel exactly and then giving it motion isn’t necessarily a simple process, but it is a pointless one. In the past, such redundancy has been fully evident in the sinfully unnecessary movie Sin City, and now Watchmen is furthermore putting the super in superfluous with its attempt to mostly please fans of the classic comic by meticulously replicating Alan Moore’s script and Dave Gibbons and John Higgins’ artwork for the big screen. But in addition to indulging the narrowly satisfied fanatics, a movie as resembling of its source material as Watchmen is may be accepted as substitute and partly render the graphic novel obsolete to newcomers. This is of course a problem with adaptations in general, regardless of the type of medium being adapted. Yet it’s all the more potentially displacing when the film is both based on a visual work and intended to be as precise an imitation as possible. Recently, writing for ThePlaylist, Christopher R. Adams pointed out that, “the best comic book films (”The Dark Knight”, “X-Men 2″ and Iron Man) were not adapted word-for-word and panel-for-panel to the screen. They weren’t even culled from one single story!” So why would anyone think it a good idea to make an exact copy of a graphic novel? Well, defenders of both Sin City and Watchmen will undoubtedly argue that it’s “neat” to see the two-dimensional and relatively static images from the book given the added depth and movement, but then so is it similarly curious to see what happens when you drive a car into a wall. So, devout Watchmen readers, why not simply honor the graphic novel by letting it stand alone and experiencing it in its intended medium? 2. So many movies satirizing and subverting superheroes already exist Watchmen may or may not have been the first subversive twist on superhero comics, but the movie is hardly the first of its kind. From the really lame (Superhero Movie) to the really great (The Incredibles), films making fun of or merely playing on the concept of superheroes have been around for about as long as the Watchmen graphic novel has been in print. And so, like our list of movies that made the recent Get Smart obsolete, it would be quite easy to name examples of movies and TV shows that, whether or not they were directly influenced by the Watchmen comics in the first place, have seemingly superseded the Watchmen story and therefore made its film adaptation a stale, or at least surplus, endeavor. Why should anyone unfamiliar with the graphic novel need to see Watchmen after experiencing Hancock, Mystery Men, The Tick, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Hellboy, Unbreakable, The Specials, Sky High, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, The Meteor Man, Blankman, et al.? Well, there may be those superhero movie completists who will see any example of the genre, but such people are likely to be the most unimpressed with a story as seemingly dated and done before as Watchmen’s. Really, in a way, The Incredibles was the best possible movie to come out of the graphic novel’s wake, and The Dark Knight was the darkest and most realistic. Comparatively, even a decently made Watchmen adaptation should seem a pale wannabe. That’s why it’s easy to side with IMDb user Richard Brunton’s concern from years ago: “There is so much similarity to The Watchmen that those who haven’t read the graphic novel will be saying ‘That’s the Incredibles movie’ when Watchmen finally comes to fruition.” And already someone made the mashup trailer to encourage such a concern. 3. Watchmen has no contemporary relevance A movie of Watchmen in 2009 has a problem of relevance in two regards. One relates to the previous point about how plenty of subversive superhero movies have already been made prior to this adaptation. Yet even without the preexistence of all those titles the Watchmen movie, as it’s been made, would fail on other levels of innovation and relevance. Paul DeBenedetto of the comics blog Wednesday’s Child, writing us in defense of his decision not to bother with the movie, says, “The greatness of Watchmen (the book) lies not so much in the story as it does the storytelling. Thus a great adaptation of the book would not be a straight retelling of the story, no matter how accurate.” Indeed, when Watchmen was published it was groundbreaking in its medium, totally revolutionizing the art of superhero comics. But not just because of how it played with superhero character conventions, because it also deconstructed the superhero comic’s narrative style. True Watchmen fans, and likewise comics experts, should therefore see no purpose in a Watchmen movie that isn’t analogously cinematically groundbreaking. This Watchmen movie will unfortunately have no notable affect on the film medium, despite being helmed by an alleged “visionary director” (as the film’s marketing has labeled Zach Snyder). The other way in which a current and faithful adaptation of Watchmen is problematically irrelevant is due to its retention of the book’s setting. The book’s themes might not translate completely were the story updated, but the movie could be better off for developing its own themes, whether to modernize certain elements (Vietnam becomes Iraq; Bush is substituted for Nixon) and comment on contemporary abuses of power or to hypothesize how real-life superheroes might deflect the desire for a super-president like Barack Obama. Such a movie would barely be recognizable to fans of the book, but again, adaptation is best when not directly lifted. As the movie was in fact directly lifted, it only functions as a curiosity, like a “What If…” comic or an alternate history novel, both of which are slightly interesting though mainly dispensable works. 4. What was once intended for realism now comes off as ridiculous Considering how the Watchmen comics aimed to take superhero conventions and adapt them to see how they’d function in the real world, it’s a great shame that the Watchmen movie looks and is being criticized for being quite silly (one indirectly reported response compared the adaptation to the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, while The Hollywood Reporter’s Kirk Honeycutt labeled it campy soap opera). But it shouldn’t be surprising that directly lifting from the pages of a dark, serious and relatively realistic comic would result in camp. Because realism on the page is hardly the same as realism on the screen. And because many literary techniques, even those working with visual cues, don’t translate well to audio and visual media. A Watchmen movie shouldn’t look as cartoonish as this one does, but due to the artificial feel of the sets, the stylish cinematographic style and the garishness of the costumes, it seems to have more in common with Joel Schumacher’s Batman movies than with Christopher Nolan’s. 5. There was only ever room for disappointment As with anything as highly anticipated as the Watchmen movie, there isn’t much room for satisfaction. Even if the Star Wars prequels weren’t as bad as they are, for instance, they’d still have been unavoidably disappointing to a majority of fans. Maybe not to the biased diehard fanatics, who will forever defend The Phantom Menace, the Matrix sequels, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Godfather Part III or Watchmen, but certainly to those whose expectations were so high they could only focus on whatever flaws the respective films have. Last month, Graeme McMillan wrote at io9 that only the fans will be disappointed due to how much they’ve been building the film up in their minds, and that Warner Bros. should have therefore concentrated the marketing at mainstream audiences. Yet really, for those familiar with the Watchmen comic, the movie might not be as faithful (i.e. as redundant) as hoped or it might be too faithful (i.e. irrelevant and silly looking), but they will enjoy it for the most part. However, those unfamiliar with the comic are likely to be the most disappointed, because they’re the ones going into this in response to the immense hype and recommendation that’s come with the book for more than 20 years. It’s the same reason that some of us who read the graphic novel late had a “that’s it?” response. Those bypassing the book, however, won’t get at least the benefit of reading a quality work that merely seems overrated (due to the unfortunate perspective of high expectations). And their “that’s it?” will be, to them, even more of a “that’s all it will ever be.” Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Polls/Which_of_these_films_based_on_graphic_novels_is_yo/657/40619/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 2/24/2009 3:28:14 PM
Body: Please reference this thread for the rules of this group. Watchmen is coming out pretty soon, and up until last week I don't think I could ever say I'd read a graphic novel before. Someone lent me their copy of this book, and I'm actually only halfway through it still, but I'm really hooked. So for this poll I tried to pick movies that came strictly from graphic novels. For instance there were some I was originally going to add, but my research indicates that The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book series and 30 Days of Night is a comic book mini-series. In the case of American Splendor I couldn't tell if these were "comic books" or "novels" (I haven't seen the movie either...) so I just left it off to keep the list as focused as possible. And as for anything Japanese or manga based, that's just another huge world that I might do another poll about later, but for now I didn't include anything from that. Sorry if I missed your favorite, but please feel free to discuss. Please vote only once in each poll. Movies referenced in this poll:300From HellGhost WorldA History of ViolencePersepolisRoad to PerditionSin CityV for Vendetta
]]>Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:28:14 GMTRisseladaMovie Polls2/24/2009 3:28:14 PMPlease reference this thread for the rules of this group. Watchmen is coming out pretty soon, and up until last week I don't think I could ever say I'd read a graphic novel before. Someone lent me their copy of this book, and I'm actually only halfway through it still, but I'm really hooked. So for this poll I tried to pick movies that came strictly from graphic novels. For instance there were some I was originally going to add, but my research indicates that The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book series and 30 Days of Night is a comic book mini-series. In the case of American Splendor I couldn't tell if these were "comic books" or "novels" (I haven't seen the movie either...) so I just left it off to keep the list as focused as possible. And as for anything Japanese or manga based, that's just another huge world that I might do another poll about later, but for now I didn't include anything from that. Sorry if I missed your favorite, but please feel free to discuss. Please vote only once in each poll. Movies referenced in this poll:300From HellGhost WorldA History of ViolencePersepolisRoad to PerditionSin CityV for Vendetta http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/12/24/38830.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 12/24/2008 5:01:08 PM
Body: Frank Miller’s film adaptation of Will Eisner’s The Spirit is an elaborately stylized train wreck. It would be easy to see only the glaring dissonances, such as childish one-liners sharing the screen with a scene in which a man is bludgeoned with a severed head, and write off the film entirely. But this wouldn’t do it the justice it deserves. The Spirit is a kind of “what if?” that populates the daydreams of only the most committed comic book nerds, which by some miracle has actually been made into a film. It’s a film that exists to answer an outlandish hypothetical question: what if two of the greatest comic artists of all time, Will Eisner and Frank Miller, teamed up to make a movie?!? Fortunately for Mr. Eisner, he didn’t live to see the result The plot of the film is really unremarkable, and serves only to deliver the more considered stylistic elements. One of the big questions the film needs to answer, but doesn’t, is whether or not it’s a comedy. And what does “comic” mean here? In Eisner’s original Spirit comics, noir serials syndicated in newspapers in the 1940s, the two meanings of the word ‘comic’ were not very far apart. While Eisner’s The Spirit did go beyond “the funnies” and into more in-depth material, the tone, in terms of both art and subject matter, was generally light. There were gags, it was okay for villains to be goofy –– comics were comic. Things are very different today, thanks in large park to Frank Miller. Miller’s gritty 1986 adaptation of Batman, The Dark Knight Returns, took the character from Adam West camp to the gritty vigilante we know today in just four issues. In the nineties Miller stunned the comics world again with his violent and unflinching series, Sin City, which resulted in a film adaptation of Sin City co-directed by Miller and Robert Rodriguez that matched the dark aesthetic and brutal violence of the original. Comics, especially Miller’s, are not so comic anymore. Eisner and Miller do have common ground on which to stand: noir. Both The Spirit and Sin City are derivatives of classic film noir, and for this reason it seems to make sense for Miller to direct an updated film noir using Eisner’s classic source material. Or does it? The Spirit the comic isn’t really a derivative of classic ’40s noir, it actually is ’40s noir, albeit for the page rather than the screen. Miller’s brand of noir truly is derivative, with updates and distortions that render it something completely different than the old detective and dame yarns we all know. Sin City builds an overly stylized world and dares you to inhabit it, forcing you to ask whether people are really that depraved and violent. The Spirit the film, on the other hand, dares you to inhabit a world where you’re forced to ask if people are really that silly. Much of the dissonance that plagues the film is evident simply by looking at the art of Eisner’s Spirit compared to Miller’s in Sin City. Eisner was a master of classic cartoon lines. The ink flows in a clear and playful way. The lines could describe Mickey Mouse as easily as they could render a dame or a dead body –– Eisner took that classic visual language and pushed it to new places. Miller pushed the medium, too, but Miller’s ink isn’t suited to anything classic or comical. With large chunks of black cut violently by stark white, Miller draws like he’s dipping his pen in his best friend’s bullet-riddled corpse. It looks amazing, but it couldn’t be more different from Eisner. It may seem like this wouldn’t matter –– it’s a live-action film after all –– but it matters a great deal. In directing The Spirit, Miller attempts to force Eisner’s soft, jovial character into his brutal, hard-edged world, and it just does not fit. The credits of the film roll over a series of drawings of The Spirit, done by Miller. They’re stunning. The masked crusader looks like he would fit right into Sin City’s gritty world, at least on the page. On the screen, it looks like Miller ruined a perfectly good storyboard by turning it into a movie. And yet, The Spirit is still worth seeing, if just to watch Miller try to pull it off. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:01:08 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com12/24/2008 5:01:08 PMFrank Miller’s film adaptation of Will Eisner’s The Spirit is an elaborately stylized train wreck. It would be easy to see only the glaring dissonances, such as childish one-liners sharing the screen with a scene in which a man is bludgeoned with a severed head, and write off the film entirely. But this wouldn’t do it the justice it deserves. The Spirit is a kind of “what if?” that populates the daydreams of only the most committed comic book nerds, which by some miracle has actually been made into a film. It’s a film that exists to answer an outlandish hypothetical question: what if two of the greatest comic artists of all time, Will Eisner and Frank Miller, teamed up to make a movie?!? Fortunately for Mr. Eisner, he didn’t live to see the result The plot of the film is really unremarkable, and serves only to deliver the more considered stylistic elements. One of the big questions the film needs to answer, but doesn’t, is whether or not it’s a comedy. And what does “comic” mean here? In Eisner’s original Spirit comics, noir serials syndicated in newspapers in the 1940s, the two meanings of the word ‘comic’ were not very far apart. While Eisner’s The Spirit did go beyond “the funnies” and into more in-depth material, the tone, in terms of both art and subject matter, was generally light. There were gags, it was okay for villains to be goofy –– comics were comic. Things are very different today, thanks in large park to Frank Miller. Miller’s gritty 1986 adaptation of Batman, The Dark Knight Returns, took the character from Adam West camp to the gritty vigilante we know today in just four issues. In the nineties Miller stunned the comics world again with his violent and unflinching series, Sin City, which resulted in a film adaptation of Sin City co-directed by Miller and Robert Rodriguez that matched the dark aesthetic and brutal violence of the original. Comics, especially Miller’s, are not so comic anymore. Eisner and Miller do have common ground on which to stand: noir. Both The Spirit and Sin City are derivatives of classic film noir, and for this reason it seems to make sense for Miller to direct an updated film noir using Eisner’s classic source material. Or does it? The Spirit the comic isn’t really a derivative of classic ’40s noir, it actually is ’40s noir, albeit for the page rather than the screen. Miller’s brand of noir truly is derivative, with updates and distortions that render it something completely different than the old detective and dame yarns we all know. Sin City builds an overly stylized world and dares you to inhabit it, forcing you to ask whether people are really that depraved and violent. The Spirit the film, on the other hand, dares you to inhabit a world where you’re forced to ask if people are really that silly. Much of the dissonance that plagues the film is evident simply by looking at the art of Eisner’s Spirit compared to Miller’s in Sin City. Eisner was a master of classic cartoon lines. The ink flows in a clear and playful way. The lines could describe Mickey Mouse as easily as they could render a dame or a dead body –– Eisner took that classic visual language and pushed it to new places. Miller pushed the medium, too, but Miller’s ink isn’t suited to anything classic or comical. With large chunks of black cut violently by stark white, Miller draws like he’s dipping his pen in his best friend’s bullet-riddled corpse. It looks amazing, but it couldn’t be more different from Eisner. It may seem like this wouldn’t matter –– it’s a live-action film after all –– but it matters a great deal. In directing The Spirit, Miller attempts to force Eisner’s soft, jovial character into his brutal, hard-edged world, and it just does not fit. The credits of the film roll over a series of drawings of The Spirit, done by Miller. They’re stunning. The masked crusader looks like he would fit right into Sin City’s gritty world, at least on the page. On the screen, it looks like Miller ruined a perfectly good storyboard by turning it into a movie. And yet, The Spirit is still worth seeing, if just to watch Miller try to pull it off. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/risselada/archive/2008/12/19/38590.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Risselada Blog
Post Date: 12/19/2008 11:16:45 AM
Body: The Dark Knight I’m finally writing about The Dark Knight. So much has been blogged about this movie since years before it came out, to the massive avalanche of advertising well before the release date of the film, through the record breaking box office attendance, and still in its aftermath and upcoming award season. It’s kind of overwhelming, and I’m not sure I have anything new to say for anyone who really cares about the movie at all. Yeah Heath stole the show. It’s sad that he’s dead since it seemed like there wasn’t much resolution for the Joker character and they were probably originally intending on bringing him back in a sequel. But apart from the Heath’s performance, the rest of the film wasn’t much more impressive to me than Batman Begins which did not blow me out of the water the way it did for many people. But I never expected it to. Christopher Nolan’s take on the world of Batman is a very realistic one. It was extremely strange to see so many familiar parts of Chicago, the city I live in, on the screen with Batman running around, especially since nothing was covered up or glossed over. It basically looked like a real, dirty street without any of this comic book stylizing that has been so popular recently like in Frank Miller’s Sin City or 300 for extreme examples. But I just can’t accept a realistic Batman. I’ve always said Adam West was my favorite Batman and “real comic book fans” usually think I’m joking or are appalled. The producer on that show thought comic books were silly and played up the campy aspects. Well that’s the way I enjoy them too. I was actually at a bar last night celebrating my girlfriend’s birthday with some of our friends, and one of the TVs was playing the old Adam West Batman movie. Now that’s fun! And when they pull out that Bat Shark Repellent you can laugh at it and say boy that’s silly, what fun! But in The Dark Knight when they invent this device that lets them create some kind of remote 3-D model of the real world by somehow using people’s cell phones, they act like you are supposed to believe it!!! I’m not saying that The Dark Knight wasn’t fun, I’m just saying maybe that’s all a Batman movie should try to be (in my opinion)… Rating: 7/10
]]>Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:16:45 GMTRisseladaRisselada Blog12/19/2008 11:16:45 AMThe Dark Knight I&rsquo;m finally writing about The Dark Knight. So much has been blogged about this movie since years before it came out, to the massive avalanche of advertising well before the release date of the film, through the record breaking box office attendance, and still in its aftermath and upcoming award season. It&rsquo;s kind of overwhelming, and I&rsquo;m not sure I have anything new to say for anyone who really cares about the movie at all. Yeah Heath stole the show. It&rsquo;s sad that he&rsquo;s dead since it seemed like there wasn&rsquo;t much resolution for the Joker character and they were probably originally intending on bringing him back in a sequel. But apart from the Heath&rsquo;s performance, the rest of the film wasn&rsquo;t much more impressive to me than Batman Begins which did not blow me out of the water the way it did for many people. But I never expected it to. Christopher Nolan&rsquo;s take on the world of Batman is a very realistic one. It was extremely strange to see so many familiar parts of Chicago, the city I live in, on the screen with Batman running around, especially since nothing was covered up or glossed over. It basically looked like a real, dirty street without any of this comic book stylizing that has been so popular recently like in Frank Miller&rsquo;s Sin City or 300 for extreme examples. But I just can&rsquo;t accept a realistic Batman. I&rsquo;ve always said Adam West was my favorite Batman and &ldquo;real comic book fans&rdquo; usually think I&rsquo;m joking or are appalled. The producer on that show thought comic books were silly and played up the campy aspects. Well that&rsquo;s the way I enjoy them too. I was actually at a bar last night celebrating my girlfriend&rsquo;s birthday with some of our friends, and one of the TVs was playing the old Adam West Batman movie. Now that&rsquo;s fun! And when they pull out that Bat Shark Repellent you can laugh at it and say boy that&rsquo;s silly, what fun! But in The Dark Knight when they invent this device that lets them create some kind of remote 3-D model of the real world by somehow using people&rsquo;s cell phones, they act like you are supposed to believe it!!! I&rsquo;m not saying that The Dark Knight wasn&rsquo;t fun, I&rsquo;m just saying maybe that&rsquo;s all a Batman movie should try to be (in my opinion)&hellip; Rating: 7/10 http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_December_1_The_Anti_Hero/625/37830/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mercurial
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 12/1/2008 9:30:22 PM
Body: Great theme Leeroy! The Silence of the Lambs - Hannibal Lector Sick, perverse yet you can't help rooting for him to get out of prison. A Clockwork Orange - Alex DeLarge Again, sick and perverse but you're still rooting for the bastard. The Professional - Leon Minimalist. Botanist. Cold-blooded killer. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - Max You thought he wasn't gonna help those aboriginal kids, didn't you! Natural Born Killers - Mickey & Mallory Knox Bring on the arguments, but I loved this cute little couple. Kill Bill - Beatrix Kiddo Trained assassin that shows (almost) no mercy. Great female anti-hero. Pitch Black - Riddick Great role for Vin Diesel. He barely spoke the entire film. Constantine - John Constantine Smoker. Sinner. Blasphemer. Suicidal. But still cool a pretty cool guy. Hellboy - Anung un Rama, The Beast of the Apocalypse Again, smoker, blasphemer, jerk. But really nice to pyrokinetics, cats and the occasional human baby. From Dusk Till Dawn - Seth Gecko Mass murderer. Kidnapper. Bank Robber. But we all still think he's badass. Even if it is George Clooney. Brick - Brenden Frye Loner. Plays rough with the ladies. Blackmailer. Smart little hard-boiled detective. Point of No Return - Maggie Hayward Druggie. Runaway. B*#$h. But really likable towards the end. The Fifth Element - Korben Dallas Complete a*&#@le but does good and gets the alien chick. The Crow - Eric Draven Goth freak vigilante revenant (?) serial killer. But the good kind. Fight Club - Tyler Durden Thief. Terrorist. Womanizer. Soap Maker. Made every straight man just a little gay with his abnormally perfect abdominal muscles. The Boondock Saints - Connor & Murphy McManus Blah. Blah. Murderers. Blah. Blah. Alcoholics. Blah. Blah. Inspirational Vigilantes. Sin City - Marv Brutish ogre with a soft spot for big breasted woman.
]]>Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:30:22 GMTmercurialWeekly Theme12/1/2008 9:30:22 PMGreat theme Leeroy! The Silence of the Lambs - Hannibal Lector Sick, perverse yet you can't help rooting for him to get out of prison. A Clockwork Orange - Alex DeLarge Again, sick and perverse but you're still rooting for the bastard. The Professional - Leon Minimalist. Botanist. Cold-blooded killer. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - Max You thought he wasn't gonna help those aboriginal kids, didn't you! Natural Born Killers - Mickey &amp; Mallory Knox Bring on the arguments, but I loved this cute little couple. Kill Bill - Beatrix Kiddo Trained assassin that shows (almost) no mercy. Great female anti-hero. Pitch Black - Riddick Great role for Vin Diesel. He barely spoke the entire film. Constantine - John Constantine Smoker. Sinner. Blasphemer. Suicidal. But still cool a pretty cool guy. Hellboy - Anung un Rama, The Beast of the Apocalypse Again, smoker, blasphemer, jerk. But really nice to pyrokinetics, cats and the occasional human baby. From Dusk Till Dawn - Seth Gecko Mass murderer. Kidnapper. Bank Robber. But we all still think he's badass. Even if it is George Clooney. Brick - Brenden Frye Loner. Plays rough with the ladies. Blackmailer. Smart little hard-boiled detective. Point of No Return - Maggie Hayward Druggie. Runaway. B*#$h. But really likable towards the end. The Fifth Element - Korben Dallas Complete a*&amp;#@le but does good and gets the alien chick. The Crow - Eric Draven Goth freak vigilante revenant (?) serial killer. But the good kind. Fight Club - Tyler Durden Thief. Terrorist. Womanizer. Soap Maker. Made every straight man just a little gay with his abnormally perfect abdominal muscles. The Boondock Saints - Connor &amp; Murphy McManus Blah. Blah. Murderers. Blah. Blah. Alcoholics. Blah. Blah. Inspirational Vigilantes. Sin City - Marv Brutish ogre with a soft spot for big breasted woman. http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_November_17_In_The_Nude/625/37420/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mercurial
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 11/18/2008 8:43:22 PM
Body: So many to list . . . so how about I go with the most shocking (to me). Julianne Moore / Heather Graham / Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights Kevin Bacon in Wild Things Never have I wanted to rip out my eyes so badly before. Denise Richards in Wild Things Makes up for Kevin Bacon. Kate WInslet in Titanic Jennifer Connelly in Requiem for a Dream Holly Hunter in Crash Mena Suvari in American Beauty Michael Pitt in The Dreamers Kate Hudson in Almost Famous Get your pause buttons ready. Dina Meyer in Starship Troopers Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love Monica Bellucci in Irreversible Laura Harring in Mulholland Dr. Out of the middle of nowhere, BAM! Lesbian Sex Scene! Elizabeth Berkley / Gina Gershon in Showgirls From Saved By The Bell to this. Nice transition. Jaime King in Sin City Vinessa Shaw in Eyes Wide Shut Wait? She was wearing a mask? I didn't notice. Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element Selma Blair in Storytelling Some people only saw a big black censored square over her. Find the unrated version of the film. Selma Blair in A Dirty Shame So they are obviously fake, but holy &#$%! Uma Thurman in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen So she's almost completely naked. Who cares! Sheryl Lee in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me They couldn't do that on television! Rose McGowan in The Doom Generation Erika Eleniak in Under Siege Happy Birthday to me! Erika Eleniak in Chasers Amy Adams in Psycho Beach Party Before she was an Academy Award Nominee. Natalie Portman in Hotel Chevalier Heather Matarazzo in Hostel 2 Christina Ricci in The Opposite of Sex Christina Ricci in Black Snake Moan WOW! Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet Ewan McGregor in Velvet Goldmine Emmanuelle Seigner in The Ninth Gate Straddling Johnny Depp next to a burning castle. Hot! Demi Moore in Striptease I think that's enough for now. And yes, I am a pervert.
]]>Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:43:22 GMTmercurialWeekly Theme11/18/2008 8:43:22 PMSo many to list . . . so how about I go with the most shocking (to me). Julianne Moore / Heather Graham / Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights Kevin Bacon in Wild Things Never have I wanted to rip out my eyes so badly before. Denise Richards in Wild Things Makes up for Kevin Bacon. Kate WInslet in Titanic Jennifer Connelly in Requiem for a Dream Holly Hunter in Crash Mena Suvari in American Beauty Michael Pitt in The Dreamers Kate Hudson in Almost Famous Get your pause buttons ready. Dina Meyer in Starship Troopers Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love Monica Bellucci in Irreversible Laura Harring in Mulholland Dr. Out of the middle of nowhere, BAM! Lesbian Sex Scene! Elizabeth Berkley / Gina Gershon in Showgirls From Saved By The Bell to this. Nice transition. Jaime King in Sin City Vinessa Shaw in Eyes Wide Shut Wait? She was wearing a mask? I didn't notice. Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element Selma Blair in Storytelling Some people only saw a big black censored square over her. Find the unrated version of the film. Selma Blair in A Dirty Shame So they are obviously fake, but holy &amp;#$%! Uma Thurman in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen So she's almost completely naked. Who cares! Sheryl Lee in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me They couldn't do that on television! Rose McGowan in The Doom Generation Erika Eleniak in Under Siege Happy Birthday to me! Erika Eleniak in Chasers Amy Adams in Psycho Beach Party Before she was an Academy Award Nominee. Natalie Portman in Hotel Chevalier Heather Matarazzo in Hostel 2 Christina Ricci in The Opposite of Sex Christina Ricci in Black Snake Moan WOW! Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet Ewan McGregor in Velvet Goldmine Emmanuelle Seigner in The Ninth Gate Straddling Johnny Depp next to a burning castle. Hot! Demi Moore in Striptease I think that's enough for now. And yes, I am a pervert. http://www.spout.com/groups/Top_5/Top_10_Scene_Stealers/190/37066/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: SkyPilot
Post To: Top 5
Post Date: 11/7/2008 2:48:03 PM
Body: Some of these movies are better than others, but they all share one thing in common: whenever the following actors leave the screen, you wish they'd come right back. 10. Kurt Russell: Stuntman Mike in Death Proof 9. Mickey Rourke: Marv in Sin City 8. Gene Wilder: Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 7. Bill Murray: Carl Speckler in Caddyshack 6. Jack Nicholson: the Joker in Batman 5. Brad Pitt: Chad Feldheimer in Burn After Reading 4. Daniel Day-Lewis: Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York 3. Heath Ledger: the Joker in The Dark Knight 2. Anthony Hopkins: Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs 1. Harrison Ford: Han Solo in Star Wars: A New Hope
]]>Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:48:03 GMTSkyPilotTop 511/7/2008 2:48:03 PMSome of these movies are better than others, but they all share one thing in common: whenever the following actors leave the screen, you wish they'd come right back. 10. Kurt Russell: Stuntman Mike in Death Proof 9. Mickey Rourke: Marv in Sin City 8. Gene Wilder: Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 7. Bill Murray: Carl Speckler in Caddyshack 6. Jack Nicholson: the Joker in Batman 5. Brad Pitt: Chad Feldheimer in Burn After Reading 4. Daniel Day-Lewis: Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York 3. Heath Ledger: the Joker in The Dark Knight 2. Anthony Hopkins: Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs 1. Harrison Ford: Han Solo in Star Wars: A New Hope http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/10/23/36615.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/23/2008 10:01:08 AM
Body: We talked about Frank Miller’s highly anticipated film adaptation of Will Eisner’s long running comic book The Spirit back at Comic-Con when the scenes failed to impress us. In fact, they felt like they were straight out of Sin City Redux. It’s been a few months since we were underwhelmed; have the filmmakers changed anything? Not based on the clip we were sent this week. Despite being a self-proclaimed fan of Will Eisner, Frank Miller is managing to stomp the life out of every facet that made The Spirit a compelling comic. Check out the video after the break, and find out why we’re not happy. The Spirit, which has been called “the Citizen Kane of comic books,” ran from 1940 through the early 1950s, and even appeared as a Sunday comic strip for three years in the early 40s. Eisner had been approached by publishers who wanted to get in on the comic book, but that didn’t really appeal to Eisner. As a result, he created a hero without superpowers who fights crime wearing a bright blue business suit, a fedora, and a domino mask. The charm was in both Eisner’s appealing art style, and the gee-whillikers style writing that combined detective noir with goofball wit. In Eisner’s book, Denny Colt was a young detective who was apparently killed on the job, but was later revealed to have been in “suspended animation” and used the fact that the world thought he was dead to create a new identity for himself to fight crime as The Spirit. Sort of like Michael Knight without the talking car. He doesn’t have any powers or special abilities, except maybe the ease with which he seems to attract women. Straight from the mouth of Frank Miller in this clip, his movie version of The Spirit has mysteriously returned from the dead and has “unusual powers of healing.” As if this wasn’t affront enough, you’ve got Samuel L. Jackson as a vamping villain version of The Octopus (only seen in the comics as a pair of gloves) who shouts “I’ve got 8 of everything!” while blasting away with a multitude of enormous guns. We imagine there’s a joke about his eight penises somewhere in the film as well. Miller even goes as far as saying, “This movie’s not a tribute to Will Eisner, it’s a tribute to The Spirit“. Sadly, it seems like it’s more a tribute to Miller’s obsession with green screen, guns, over the top acting, and his own Sin City. The Spirit was entirely Will Eisner’s creation. To not feature what made it so popular is a slap in the face to the memory of Eisner, and Miller should know better. This would be like taking Miller’s own version of The Dark Knight Returns, giving Batman some sort of arbitrary superpower (Hey! Now he can talk to bats!) and making it a slapstick comedy. Even the poster for Miller’s film tries to ape the splash page style that Eisner often opened his comics with. Although where Eisner’s pieces were gorgeous works of art, Miller’s comes off as an amateurish horror film copy. “My City Screams” also seems a lot harsher than the madcap adventures that Eisner’s hero often found himself in. He’s even changed The Spirit’s blue suit and mask for black versions, and he’s trying to make his bright red tie as iconic as Superman’s cape or Batman’s symbol. Our advice is to just wait for Sin City 2, when Miller is free to apply the style of filmmaking that suited Sin City to his own artwork so well, for better or for worse. As far as The Spirit is concerned, imagine if Quentin Tarantino remade Citizen Kane, because that’s about as messy as this movie sounds. Miller is so concerned with making this his own, that he’s thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Even DC Comics, who publishes a monthly The Spirit comic book, calls it “Will Eisner’s The Spirit” on the cover of each book. Miller’s version feels like it left Will Eisner on the curb — or more likely spinning in his grave somewhere. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:01:08 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com10/23/2008 10:01:08 AMWe talked about Frank Miller’s highly anticipated film adaptation of Will Eisner’s long running comic book The Spirit back at Comic-Con when the scenes failed to impress us. In fact, they felt like they were straight out of Sin City Redux. It’s been a few months since we were underwhelmed; have the filmmakers changed anything? Not based on the clip we were sent this week. Despite being a self-proclaimed fan of Will Eisner, Frank Miller is managing to stomp the life out of every facet that made The Spirit a compelling comic. Check out the video after the break, and find out why we’re not happy. The Spirit, which has been called “the Citizen Kane of comic books,” ran from 1940 through the early 1950s, and even appeared as a Sunday comic strip for three years in the early 40s. Eisner had been approached by publishers who wanted to get in on the comic book, but that didn’t really appeal to Eisner. As a result, he created a hero without superpowers who fights crime wearing a bright blue business suit, a fedora, and a domino mask. The charm was in both Eisner’s appealing art style, and the gee-whillikers style writing that combined detective noir with goofball wit. In Eisner’s book, Denny Colt was a young detective who was apparently killed on the job, but was later revealed to have been in “suspended animation” and used the fact that the world thought he was dead to create a new identity for himself to fight crime as The Spirit. Sort of like Michael Knight without the talking car. He doesn’t have any powers or special abilities, except maybe the ease with which he seems to attract women. Straight from the mouth of Frank Miller in this clip, his movie version of The Spirit has mysteriously returned from the dead and has “unusual powers of healing.” As if this wasn’t affront enough, you’ve got Samuel L. Jackson as a vamping villain version of The Octopus (only seen in the comics as a pair of gloves) who shouts “I’ve got 8 of everything!” while blasting away with a multitude of enormous guns. We imagine there’s a joke about his eight penises somewhere in the film as well. Miller even goes as far as saying, “This movie’s not a tribute to Will Eisner, it’s a tribute to The Spirit“. Sadly, it seems like it’s more a tribute to Miller’s obsession with green screen, guns, over the top acting, and his own Sin City. The Spirit was entirely Will Eisner’s creation. To not feature what made it so popular is a slap in the face to the memory of Eisner, and Miller should know better. This would be like taking Miller’s own version of The Dark Knight Returns, giving Batman some sort of arbitrary superpower (Hey! Now he can talk to bats!) and making it a slapstick comedy. Even the poster for Miller’s film tries to ape the splash page style that Eisner often opened his comics with. Although where Eisner’s pieces were gorgeous works of art, Miller’s comes off as an amateurish horror film copy. “My City Screams” also seems a lot harsher than the madcap adventures that Eisner’s hero often found himself in. He’s even changed The Spirit’s blue suit and mask for black versions, and he’s trying to make his bright red tie as iconic as Superman’s cape or Batman’s symbol. Our advice is to just wait for Sin City 2, when Miller is free to apply the style of filmmaking that suited Sin City to his own artwork so well, for better or for worse. As far as The Spirit is concerned, imagine if Quentin Tarantino remade Citizen Kane, because that’s about as messy as this movie sounds. Miller is so concerned with making this his own, that he’s thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Even DC Comics, who publishes a monthly The Spirit comic book, calls it “Will Eisner’s The Spirit” on the cover of each book. Miller’s version feels like it left Will Eisner on the curb — or more likely spinning in his grave somewhere. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/love/MemberTagFilms.aspxlove
Number of films tagged: 12478

Number of people who tagged: 338

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]]>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:28:29 GMT124783381480Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/murder/MemberTagFilms.aspxmurder
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]]>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:57:25 GMT8748157830Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/amazing/MemberTagFilms.aspxamazing
Number of films tagged: 179

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]]>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:49:13 GMT179156253Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/beautiful/MemberTagFilms.aspxbeautiful
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]]>Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:08:38 GMT259149416Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/revenge/MemberTagFilms.aspxrevenge
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]]>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:13:41 GMT5189145489Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/dark/MemberTagFilms.aspxdark
Number of films tagged: 223

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]]>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:40:47 GMT223137390Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/sex/MemberTagFilms.aspxsex
Number of films tagged: 2414

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]]>Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:12:14 GMT837099Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/noir/MemberTagFilms.aspxnoir
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]]>Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:23:43 GMT7767134Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/art/MemberTagFilms.aspxart
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]]>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:09:48 GMT67466116Tag