list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around The Spirit 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/The_Spirit/287137/default.aspx Title: The Spirit
Year: 2008
Director: Frank Miller
Plot: A resurrected cop does battle with a villain whose quest for immortality threatens an entire metropolis in Sin City creator Frank Miller's adaptation of Will Eisner's acclaimed graphic novel. When a rookie cop is brutally killed and mysteriously brought back to life, he assumes the guise of The Spirit (Gabriel Macht) -- a masked crime fighter who prowls the shadows of Central City on a supernatural mission to keep the urban landscape safe. Upon discovering that his arch nemesis, The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), is determined to live forever even if it means wiping out the entire population of Central City, The Spirit must race to stop the diabolical villain from achieving his cold-blooded plan. But even with his unique powers, the brave masked crusader will face a series of deadly challenges as a bevy of treacherous beauties including deceptively sweet girl next door Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson), spitfire secretary Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson), wraithlike siren Lorelei (Jaime King), seductive policewoman Morgenstern (Stana Katic), and French black widow Plaster of Paris (Paz Vega) set out to seduce or consume him at every turn; even The Spirit's one true love, a volatile jewel thief named Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), could ultimately destroy our hero before he accomplishes his mission of saving Central City. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 32
Number of Lists: 8
Number of blog posts: 15
Number of discussion threads: 5
SpoutRating: 2
]]>Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:47:18 GMTThe Spirit2008Frank MillerA resurrected cop does battle with a villain whose quest for immortality threatens an entire metropolis in Sin City creator Frank Miller's adaptation of Will Eisner's acclaimed graphic novel. When a rookie cop is brutally killed and mysteriously brought back to life, he assumes the guise of The Spirit (<a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___263386/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Gabriel Macht</a>) -- a masked crime fighter who prowls the shadows of Central City on a supernatural mission to keep the urban landscape safe. Upon discovering that his arch nemesis, The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), is determined to live forever even if it means wiping out the entire population of Central City, The Spirit must race to stop the diabolical villain from achieving his cold-blooded plan. But even with his unique powers, the brave masked crusader will face a series of deadly challenges as a bevy of treacherous beauties including deceptively sweet girl next door Ellen Dolan (<a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___225067/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Sarah Paulson</a>), spitfire secretary Silken Floss (<a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___200222/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Scarlett Johansson</a>), wraithlike siren Lorelei (<a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___292250/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Jaime King</a>), seductive policewoman Morgenstern (<a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___477997/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Stana Katic</a>), and French black widow Plaster of Paris (<a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___272006/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Paz Vega</a>) set out to seduce or consume him at every turn; even The Spirit's one true love, a volatile jewel thief named Sand Saref (<a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___277850/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Eva Mendes</a>), could ultimately destroy our hero before he accomplishes his mission of saving Central City. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide32Tag Target (>10)81552http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/s287137.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/The_Spirit/287137/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/gerosimov/archive/2009/4/10/41540.aspx Post By: Gerosimov
Post To: Gerosimov Blog
Post Date: 4/10/2009 3:34:21 PM
Body: The Spirit is an awful mess of a movie. It has an all star cast, but they are all bad in this movie for some reason (director?). The story or the lack of it of makes absolutely no sense and quite frankly the whole script is just ridiculous. So Frank, don´t quite your day job...
]]>Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:34:21 GMTGerosimovGerosimov Blog4/10/2009 3:34:21 PM The Spirit is an awful mess of a movie. It has an all star cast, but they are all bad in this movie for some reason (director?). The story or the lack of it of makes absolutely no sense and quite frankly the whole script is just ridiculous. So Frank, don&acute;t quite your day job... http://www.spout.com/blogs/yinali/archive/2009/2/1/40126.aspx Post By: Yinali
Post To: Yinali Blog
Post Date: 2/1/2009 10:23:00 AM
Body: The Spirit is a great comic book story, and people like my grandfather used to read it. But this movie just completely ruined it!
]]>Sun, 01 Feb 2009 15:23:00 GMTYinaliYinali Blog2/1/2009 10:23:00 AMThe Spirit is a great comic book story, and people like my grandfather used to read it. But this movie just completely ruined it! http://www.spout.com/blogs/tuckzen/archive/2008/12/26/38867.aspx Post By: tuckzen
Post To: tuckzen Blog
Post Date: 12/26/2008 7:11:49 PM
Body: I joined this websight to profess how awful this movie was. I'm making it my mission for others to not lose ten dollars and two wonderful life hours. The only similar failure I've seen of this demension is the latest Indiana Jone's movie. I was most insulted that it was compared to Sin City and professed as a great super hero movie with award winning status. I should have broken the reel and taken the jail time. I can't even say anymore without becoming completely profain. Please don't support this garbage. Stay home, or come with me to protest outside of the movie theatre. My sign would say, "how dare you charge me money to listen to your retarded 3rd grade project.."
]]>Sat, 27 Dec 2008 00:11:49 GMTtuckzentuckzen Blog12/26/2008 7:11:49 PMI joined this websight to profess how awful this movie was. I'm making it my mission for others to not lose ten dollars and two wonderful life hours. The only similar failure I've seen of this demension is the latest Indiana Jone's movie. I was most insulted that it was compared to Sin City and professed as a great super hero movie with award winning status. I should have broken the reel and taken the jail time. I can't even say anymore without becoming completely profain. Please don't support this garbage. Stay home, or come with me to protest outside of the movie theatre. My sign would say, "how dare you charge me money to listen to your retarded 3rd grade project.." http://www.spout.com/blogs/cinemarian/archive/2008/12/26/38851.aspx Post By: CinemaRian
Post To: CinemaRian Blog
Post Date: 12/26/2008 1:50:39 AM
Body: Why do critics hate this movie? Presently, it has a rating of only 14% on Rottentomatoes, a job dropping figure for one of the year’s best films. What gives? Well, the consensus rating says it all: “Though its visuals are unique, The Spirit's plot is almost incomprehensible, the dialogue is ludicrously mannered, and the characters are unmemorable.” I suppose that is true if you were expecting a straightforward action adventure movie, a la Iron Man. The movie is probably mostly a failure when it comes to the standard stuff of these types of pictures: the action sequences aren’t very exciting and there is little suspense in the tradition sense. But so what? The Dark Knight was not a success due to its action sequences, but due to the drama- we got involved in the characters and cared what happened to them. Indeed, the fact that The Spirit is based on a famous comic strip (by Will Eisner) might work against it in terms of audience expectations. It’s more like Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy than all of the X-Men films and there ilk. Like Beatty’s film, the movie is all style. The “ludicrously mannered” dialogue is intentionally so, the characters are archetypes, the plot is essentially irrelevant. I doubt that anyone over the age of nine or ten is going to care whether Doctor Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) is going to drink the Blood of Hercules and take over the world, or are going to have any real doubt about whether or not he’s going to succeed. The point is not the story, it’s about how the movie looks and feels, which is wicked cool. In a way, this is the movie that Sin City wanted to be, though this one has a heart and real sense of fun. The art direction and cinematography, which are mixes of real sets and props and CGI constructions create a look that fun to watch throughout the whole film. It is pleasurably startling, to see real people standing in drawn settings. Yes, I know that this is not the first film to use this technique, but it looks the best. The picture is perfectly cast, and the actors all do a great job in their archetypal roles, which is not easy to do. Gabriel Macht is sensational as The Spirit, holding the picture with flair while wearing a mask throughout the entire film, something that is no easy to do. Jackson gives the funniest performance of his career as Octopus, playing every scene to the hilt. Scarlet Johansson gives her best performance as his sidekick, Silken Floss, showing a degree of skill with light comedy that she has not displayed previously. Finally, Eva Mendes manages to bring a level of pathos (no pun intended) as Sand Saref, a jewelry thief with a past of shattered innocence. Did I get across the idea that I love the characters in this movie? So should you see The Spirit? Having never read the comic strip, I cannot comment on its faithfulness, but this does not seem like the kind of movie that fan boys would typically enjoy. It’s too visually sophisticated and uninterested in ticking off the mandatory clichés, except to have fun with them. If you are a movie fan however, you might be interested in hearing some of the funniest dialogue and joyfully stylized performances of the year. And certainly, it looks better than any film I’ve seen in a long time.
]]>Fri, 26 Dec 2008 06:50:39 GMTCinemaRianCinemaRian Blog12/26/2008 1:50:39 AM Why do critics hate this movie? Presently, it has a rating of only 14% on Rottentomatoes, a job dropping figure for one of the year&rsquo;s best films. What gives? Well, the consensus rating says it all: &ldquo;Though its visuals are unique, The Spirit's plot is almost incomprehensible, the dialogue is ludicrously mannered, and the characters are unmemorable.&rdquo; I suppose that is true if you were expecting a straightforward action adventure movie, a la Iron Man. The movie is probably mostly a failure when it comes to the standard stuff of these types of pictures: the action sequences aren&rsquo;t very exciting and there is little suspense in the tradition sense. But so what? The Dark Knight was not a success due to its action sequences, but due to the drama- we got involved in the characters and cared what happened to them. Indeed, the fact that The Spirit is based on a famous comic strip (by Will Eisner) might work against it in terms of audience expectations. It&rsquo;s more like Warren Beatty&rsquo;s Dick Tracy than all of the X-Men films and there ilk. Like Beatty&rsquo;s film, the movie is all style. The &ldquo;ludicrously mannered&rdquo; dialogue is intentionally so, the characters are archetypes, the plot is essentially irrelevant. I doubt that anyone over the age of nine or ten is going to care whether Doctor Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) is going to drink the Blood of Hercules and take over the world, or are going to have any real doubt about whether or not he&rsquo;s going to succeed. The point is not the story, it&rsquo;s about how the movie looks and feels, which is wicked cool. In a way, this is the movie that Sin City wanted to be, though this one has a heart and real sense of fun. The art direction and cinematography, which are mixes of real sets and props and CGI constructions create a look that fun to watch throughout the whole film. It is pleasurably startling, to see real people standing in drawn settings. Yes, I know that this is not the first film to use this technique, but it looks the best. The picture is perfectly cast, and the actors all do a great job in their archetypal roles, which is not easy to do. Gabriel Macht is sensational as The Spirit, holding the picture with flair while wearing a mask throughout the entire film, something that is no easy to do. Jackson gives the funniest performance of his career as Octopus, playing every scene to the hilt. Scarlet Johansson gives her best performance as his sidekick, Silken Floss, showing a degree of skill with light comedy that she has not displayed previously. Finally, Eva Mendes manages to bring a level of pathos (no pun intended) as Sand Saref, a jewelry thief with a past of shattered innocence. Did I get across the idea that I love the characters in this movie? So should you see The Spirit? Having never read the comic strip, I cannot comment on its faithfulness, but this does not seem like the kind of movie that fan boys would typically enjoy. It&rsquo;s too visually sophisticated and uninterested in ticking off the mandatory clich&eacute;s, except to have fun with them. If you are a movie fan however, you might be interested in hearing some of the funniest dialogue and joyfully stylized performances of the year. And certainly, it looks better than any film I&rsquo;ve seen in a long time. 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/groups/Coming_Soon/Holiday_movies_pt_II_Brad_Pitt_ages_backwards/216/38731/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: spout
Post To: Coming Soon
Post Date: 12/22/2008 4:49:21 PM
Body: Looks like Frost/Nixon finally opens wide on Christmas, but I'm still eagerly awaiting a wide release of The Wrestler. Meanwhile, here are some films that'll be everywhere on Christmas day: New Movies 12/25 Wide release 1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -- Watch the trailer. Read the review. The Curious Case of Mork and Mindy, er, Benjamin Button, headed Karina's list of The Most Disappointing Movies of 2008. That surprised me a little, considering the excellent cast. By the way, the studio tried to get Karina to take her review down. Hear the story in FilmCouch 98. 2. Valkyrie -- Watch the trailer. Based on a true story, Tom Cruise plays a German colonel who became part of a plot to assassinate Hitler. Cruise can play "intense" well enough, and he looks great in his eyepatch, but I've never been very interested in watching him play a hero. I think he's better suited to play suave villains (Collateral) and total creeps (Magnolia). 3. The Spirit -- Watch the trailer. Frank Miller gives Will Eisner's classic comic strip the Frank Miller treatment. My friend Kevin Buist (porcupine)saw it, and he thought it was extraordinarily bad. While most will agree that Miller's reinvention of Batman was inspired (I recommend the 1986 graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns), porcupine says Miller's mojo failed him in this re-imagining of the Spirit. Porcupine's review will appear this week on blog.spout.com. 4. Marley & Me -- Watch the trailer. Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston raise a troublesome golden retriever. What can I say? If you like dogs, you'll probably like this movie. 5. Bedtime Stories -- Watch the trailer. This Disney flick is the latest family comedy from Adam Sandler. It looks kind of like a more broadly comic Stranger Than Fiction (two kids are the authors of Sandler's life), but the trailer still makes me laugh some. Limited release 12/25 6. Revolutionary Road -- Watch the trailer. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio together again, only this time it's the 1950s, they're married, and they feel stifled by their ordinary suburban lives. Looks really depressing and, just maybe...really good? 7. Waltz With Bashir -- Watch the trailer. Read the review. Based on true events, Ari Folman finds that he has almost no memories from Lebanon's 1982 invasion of Israel. Kevin Buist says in his review that it's like one part Waking Life, one part Schindler's List. I'm looking forward to it. 8. Last Chance Harvey -- Watch the trailer. Dustin Hoffman plays "Last Chance Harvey," a tired and desperate man. Then he meets Emma Thompson...
]]>Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:49:21 GMTspoutComing Soon12/22/2008 4:49:21 PMLooks like Frost/Nixon finally opens wide on Christmas, but I'm still eagerly awaiting a wide release of The Wrestler. Meanwhile, here are some films that'll be everywhere on Christmas day: New Movies 12/25 Wide release 1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -- Watch the trailer. Read the review. The Curious Case of Mork and Mindy, er, Benjamin Button, headed Karina's list of The Most Disappointing Movies of 2008. That surprised me a little, considering the excellent cast. By the way, the studio tried to get Karina to take her review down. Hear the story in FilmCouch 98. 2. Valkyrie -- Watch the trailer. Based on a true story, Tom Cruise plays a German colonel who became part of a plot to assassinate Hitler. Cruise can play "intense" well enough, and he looks great in his eyepatch, but I've never been very interested in watching him play a hero. I think he's better suited to play suave villains (Collateral) and total creeps (Magnolia). 3. The Spirit -- Watch the trailer. Frank Miller gives Will Eisner's classic comic strip the Frank Miller treatment. My friend Kevin Buist (porcupine)saw it, and he thought it was extraordinarily bad. While most will agree that Miller's reinvention of Batman was inspired (I recommend the 1986 graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns), porcupine says Miller's mojo failed him in this re-imagining of the Spirit. Porcupine's review will appear this week on blog.spout.com. 4. Marley &amp; Me -- Watch the trailer. Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston raise a troublesome golden retriever. What can I say? If you like dogs, you'll probably like this movie. 5. Bedtime Stories -- Watch the trailer. This Disney flick is the latest family comedy from Adam Sandler. It looks kind of like a more broadly comic Stranger Than Fiction (two kids are the authors of Sandler's life), but the trailer still makes me laugh some. Limited release 12/25 6. Revolutionary Road -- Watch the trailer. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio together again, only this time it's the 1950s, they're married, and they feel stifled by their ordinary suburban lives. Looks really depressing and, just maybe...really good? 7. Waltz With Bashir -- Watch the trailer. Read the review. Based on true events, Ari Folman finds that he has almost no memories from Lebanon's 1982 invasion of Israel. Kevin Buist says in his review that it's like one part Waking Life, one part Schindler's List. I'm looking forward to it. 8. Last Chance Harvey -- Watch the trailer. Dustin Hoffman plays "Last Chance Harvey," a tired and desperate man. Then he meets Emma Thompson... http://www.spout.com/groups/Community_Recommendations/Re_Collaboration_Best_Films_of_2008/643/38152/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mercurial
Post To: Community Recommendations
Post Date: 12/9/2008 6:30:49 PM
Body: Liked these (in no particular order): Cloverfield Incredible theatrical experience. Might be hampered watching at home. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Cutesy teen flick. Had a great 80's feel to it. Hamlet 2 Perverse and just plain hilarious throughout. Great original music. House Bunny I'm a sucker for Anna Faris and she plays a ditzy Playmate perfectly. The Dark Knight A comic geek's wet dream. My Winnipeg Immensely creative, original film. A flurry of emotions in a bizarre little package. WALL-E Heartbreakingly sentimental love story; action packed galactic adventure. Iron Man Another comic geek's wet dream. And Robert Downey Jr. Nuff said. The Fall Just insanely wondrous film. Deserves the comparisons to The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Speed Racer Seizure inducing fanboy fun. Savage Grace Frightening 'Based on a True Story' film. Amazing performances. The Strangers Nothing new, but executed perfectly. Dark, abysmal terror. My Blueberry Nights Subtle, nuanced performances and beautiful direction. Packed with emotion. Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day Carefree, fanciful period flick. Amy Adams and Frances McDormand are a perfect slapstick duo on screen. Jumper Big budget Sci-Fi blockbuster without all the annoying garnishes. Watching the Detectives Made for cinephiles about cinephiles. Hokey fun. Movies that might be on my list that I haven't seen yet: Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Spirit Doubt The Wrestler The Brothers Bloom Revolutionary Road Repo! The Genetic Opera Humboldt County Just Buried Milk Australia Rachel Getting Married W. Fear(s) of the Dark Synecdoche, New York Zack and Miri Make a Porno Towelhead Vicky Cristina Barcelona The Wackness Brideshead Revisited Glass: A Portrait in Twelve Parts
]]>Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:30:49 GMTmercurialCommunity Recommendations12/9/2008 6:30:49 PMLiked these (in no particular order): Cloverfield Incredible theatrical experience. Might be hampered watching at home. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Cutesy teen flick. Had a great 80's feel to it. Hamlet 2 Perverse and just plain hilarious throughout. Great original music. House Bunny I'm a sucker for Anna Faris and she plays a ditzy Playmate perfectly. The Dark Knight A comic geek's wet dream. My Winnipeg Immensely creative, original film. A flurry of emotions in a bizarre little package. WALL-E Heartbreakingly sentimental love story; action packed galactic adventure. Iron Man Another comic geek's wet dream. And Robert Downey Jr. Nuff said. The Fall Just insanely wondrous film. Deserves the comparisons to The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Speed Racer Seizure inducing fanboy fun. Savage Grace Frightening 'Based on a True Story' film. Amazing performances. The Strangers Nothing new, but executed perfectly. Dark, abysmal terror. My Blueberry Nights Subtle, nuanced performances and beautiful direction. Packed with emotion. Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day Carefree, fanciful period flick. Amy Adams and Frances McDormand are a perfect slapstick duo on screen. Jumper Big budget Sci-Fi blockbuster without all the annoying garnishes. Watching the Detectives Made for cinephiles about cinephiles. Hokey fun. Movies that might be on my list that I haven't seen yet: Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Spirit Doubt The Wrestler The Brothers Bloom Revolutionary Road Repo! The Genetic Opera Humboldt County Just Buried Milk Australia Rachel Getting Married W. Fear(s) of the Dark Synecdoche, New York Zack and Miri Make a Porno Towelhead Vicky Cristina Barcelona The Wackness Brideshead Revisited Glass: A Portrait in Twelve Parts http://www.spout.com/blogs/mibtp/archive/2008/11/19/37461.aspx Post By: mibtp
Post To: mibtp Blog
Post Date: 11/19/2008 4:04:41 PM
Body: ATTEND THE SPIRIT MOVIE PREMIERE / We're a non-profit charity that hosts an online auction. We have just added THE SPIRIT movie premiere and after-party. Attend the red carpet event, star gaze, see the movie before it's released.For more info, go to: www.HollywoodCharityAuction.com----------------
]]>Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:04:41 GMTmibtpmibtp Blog11/19/2008 4:04:41 PMATTEND THE SPIRIT MOVIE PREMIERE / We're a non-profit charity that hosts an online auction. We have just added THE SPIRIT movie premiere and after-party. Attend the red carpet event, star gaze, see the movie before it's released.For more info, go to: www.HollywoodCharityAuction.com---------------- 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/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/8/15/34045.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 8/15/2008 12:00:50 PM
Body: MTV Music Videos MTV Shows Entertainment News We lost two great men last weekend, Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes. So, in a timely promotion of the upcoming film Soul Men, which costars Mac and features Hayes in a cameo, MTV has posted four new clips, including the one seen above of Hayes’ appearance. Seeing the two late stars together (with Samuel L. Jackson) somehow doesn’t bring tears to my eyes, but I guess their deaths still haven’t hit me. Perhaps when Soul Men actually arrives in theaters November 14, or maybe when they’re included in the memoriam montage at the Oscars, I’ll appreciate this scene more. While this clip is relatively short, the other three at MTV.com are pretty substantial, especially considering The Weinstein Co. (via Dimension) still haven’t released a trailer for the movie. My favorite is the first clip, which features an entire performance from Mac and Jackson at a country western bar. Of all the cool scenes that Samuel L. has been in, this one of him line dancing takes the cake. He may not be swearing or beating the crap out of anyone, but he’s the only person I’ve ever seen that doesn’t make the dance seem lame. It almost makes up for his other clip this week, in which he makes The Spirit look really lame. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:00:50 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com8/15/2008 12:00:50 PM MTV Music Videos MTV Shows Entertainment News We lost two great men last weekend, Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes. So, in a timely promotion of the upcoming film Soul Men, which costars Mac and features Hayes in a cameo, MTV has posted four new clips, including the one seen above of Hayes’ appearance. Seeing the two late stars together (with Samuel L. Jackson) somehow doesn’t bring tears to my eyes, but I guess their deaths still haven’t hit me. Perhaps when Soul Men actually arrives in theaters November 14, or maybe when they’re included in the memoriam montage at the Oscars, I’ll appreciate this scene more. While this clip is relatively short, the other three at MTV.com are pretty substantial, especially considering The Weinstein Co. (via Dimension) still haven’t released a trailer for the movie. My favorite is the first clip, which features an entire performance from Mac and Jackson at a country western bar. Of all the cool scenes that Samuel L. has been in, this one of him line dancing takes the cake. He may not be swearing or beating the crap out of anyone, but he’s the only person I’ve ever seen that doesn’t make the dance seem lame. It almost makes up for his other clip this week, in which he makes The Spirit look really lame. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/romance/MemberTagFilms.aspxromance
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