Monday, April 25, 2005

I have no theme...

...but if I did it would be “Nothing Happened Today” by the Boomtown Rats

Sin City

Being something of a Comic Book Geek I am ashamed to admit that I have never read Frank Miller’s Sin City graphic novels. My bad...Never got around to it. Sorry. I am familiar with his work on the Batman “Dark Night” series for DC and the Daredevil/Elecktra stories and those were enough to tell me that he is a visionary in the field. He has a signature style of story telling that has sparked many and far lesser imitators. He knows the medium better that anyone save the late great Will Eisner.

There’s a reason the movie is called “Frank Miller’s Sin City”. It looks like Miller’s art. Minimal. Stark. Explicit...It sounds like Miller’s writing. The dialogue is noirish ... sarcastic ...snappy.

So why do I have mixed emotions about this movie?

Dunno...

It’s a visually stunning film. The B&W with selected colour highlights is very effective and strengthens the graphic feel of the film. The CGI Backgrounds are gritty and bring you into this world that these characters inhabit. Imagine L.A. at half the space and twice the density.

It’s got some great actors. Bruce Willis is better here than he’s been in years.
Like it or not, Mickey Rourke is back and he’s great. Clive Owen shows why they were considering him for the next James Bond (which he was smart enough not to take...Who really wants that elephant on their back?). There’s great support from the likes of Josh Hartnett, Powers Boothe, Elijah Wood, Rutger Hauer, Benicio Del Toro and particularly Nick Stahl as Yellow Bastard (if all you know him from is Carnivale and Terminator 3, catch this one. I think he’s the real deal).

The women don’t come off as well, however. With the exception of Rosario Dawson and her gang of Killer Whores, the women are flat. Mostly one dimensional eye candy (including Rosario Dawson and her killer whores....I just like typing Rosario Dawson and her Killer Whores).In fact that particular sequence, the one that includes Clive Owen and Rosario Dawson and her Killer Whores, is the best in the film. It’s “guest directed” by Quentin Tarantino, and has a lighter feel than the rest of the film.

I guess my real problem with Sin City was that I found some of it felt repetitious...The heroes are too much alike. They speak with a similar voice. I suspect the reason I feel that way is the Chandleresque voice over gimmick they all use. And none of them is as funny as Philip Marlowe.

As for the violence...Deal with it. Besides, most of the blood spilled in the movie is actually paint or ink anyway.

More things wrong with Daytime TV (since you asked):

Career College Commercials. Next to ads for drugs with more side effects than relief, Career College ads are the most heinous thing on TV. One suspects that one of the offered courses is “How to make Cheap Ads for TV” and these commercials are the result. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished that when the smug little bitch in scrubs leans into her friend’s car and smirks “Sure beats flipping burgers!”, that the friend would step on the gas and drag the little twerp about 7 or 8 blocks...They’re all bad but Bryman’s are the worst...Closely followed by the ITT Technical School ads where people read bad copy, about their improved “quality of life”and how they’re “really quite happy”...NOBODY TALKS LIKE THIS!!!. Also is anyone actually still watching Springer and the Maury “Who’s Yo Baby’s Daddy?” Show?
I won't even bring up the SCAN Commercials...Okay I will...The Scan commercials consist of the most boring man in the world trying to pitch a too good to be true health care plan to a room full of seniors, and then to bolster his argument calls up a Doctor to speak. The Doctor speaks in the same dull monotone and looks a lot like him, so I suspect they're siblings. These commercials are the cure for any sleep disorder you may be experiencing. I have an alternative campaign for them. Buy the plan or we'll send this guy to your house...
I say we need another court show at 9:00...unless of course someone has a job out there I could do?