FilmRoar

Having been a big fan of Frank Miller for many years it was with great anticipation that I waited for the cinematic adaptation of the Sin City comic series. Robert Rodriguez‘ assertions that he intended to be true to the original work allayed fears I had of a Hollywoodization of the moody story. As behind the scenes footage and trailers began to make their appearance a new fear developed that the story might be lost as it was embalmed under layers of stylistic CG effects. The movie thankfully escapes this tar pit and delivers a fun and beautiful show that should meet the expectations of both casual watchers and die hard fans.

Many people have asked me for my opinion of the movie, either to match notes or because they were trying to gauge whether to go see it themselves. I found myself repeating two statements that I think relay the nature of the film:
1. This is one of the most accurate and honest movie adaptations of a book I have seen.
2. Anyone who has not read the books is warned that they are very violent as is the movie. To quote my friend Sean:

“Saying that Sin City is kind of violent is like saying that the Care Bears Movie (1985) is kind of cute”.

To be more detailed, if any of you remember the scene from “The Hard Goodbye” where Marv casually drives down the street while holding a guy’s face down on the pavement: yup, it’s in there.
You have been warned.

I have heard some people complain that the stories are misogynistic and cliché. This seems and odd criticism to me since Sin City (2005) is based on (and at times a send up of) the old pulp-noir novels. Of course they are misogynistic and cliché. Realize that, and enjoy the extreme sex, extreme violence and extreme cool that the book/movie captures with such beauty and style.

A turnoff for me was the unevenness of the acting. Most of the roles were spot-on, a testament to the actors and more so to the director and casting agent that got talent like Benicio Del Toro in for Jackie Boy, Mickey Rourke in for Marv, Clive Owen in for Dwight or my favorite surprise of the movie Elijah Wood nailing the silent psycho Kevin. I was however rather disappointed with the wooden performance Jessica Alba gave as Nancy, a character that seems to be following the script and little more. Bruce Willis also at times failed to convince as Hartigan, the aging cop trying to survive long enough to ‘do the right thing’. This is a minor complaint though, there was nothing bad about their work, I just felt it somehow could have been better.

I was careful not to let the anticipation for Sin City built up to the point where it could not be met. I was very happy with the movie and recommend it to anyone who is “into that kind of thing” (if you prefer the Care Bears, give this one a skip). I am also happy to retain some happy anticipation as the forthcoming Sin City DVD is expected to include the full versions of “The Hard Goodbye”, “The Big Fat Kill” and “That Yellow Bastard” which were edited down to make them fit into a theatrical time. Even better, Rodriguez and Miller have said they would like to make more movies and eventually adapt the full series.

Previously on GeekRoar.com:

Film Roar: Full Sin City Trailer Online

Geekroar.com Gallery :: Pictures from Sin City

Peter Jackson was in a precarious position with the release of the last in movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy started by The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and followed by The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002). On the one had Jackson had a captive audience and guaranteed ticket sales (the first two movies have grossed over $650,000,000 in US ticket sales alone) on the other he had a complex weave of an epic story to conclude, throngs of critical J.R.R. Tolkien fans to appease and the ‘curse of the sequels’ (the expected let down from a sequel to a great movie felt by followers of cult movies like Star Wars (1977), Alien (1979), and The Matrix (1999)). I was happy then to find that The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) not only delivered but did so in a masterful way.

One of the greatest advantages and challenges for the adaptation of the 1,200 page epic story (not including The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, or any of the many other works that describe Middle Earth) is the vast and rich world that Tolkien created for his protagonists to inhabit. There is so much detail in each of the books that it would be impossible to portray the whole adventure on screen without spending many hours on each book. Jackson does in fact spend hours on each book, but the three-hour theatrical release takes care to extract key story elements, abbreviate and reorder the sequence of events to keep the audience engaged and entertained throughout. With Return of the King Jackson has the aggregated problem of trying to include all of the information from the third film as well as some bits of the story skipped over in Fellowship and Two Towers. Not only do the various story lines have to come to some sense of conclusion, but also the relationships of the characters have to be resolved. That is a lot to expect and the movie gladly delivers.

Warning: The rest of this article includes story spoilers, so if you have not seen the movie and do not want to know what happens this is a good place to stop
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Gorogeous cinematography and a labyrinthine plot enchanted me to the Spanish movie Lucía y el sexo (2001) [Sex and Lucia]. With a braiding of intertwined lives the plot is too complex to attempt to explain (or even understand at first) but engaging enough to have kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. I was reminded of a good soap opera (if there is such a thing) as characters lost and found each other, people died, some found joy while other suffered and they affected each other’s lives in ways they might never understand.

What really captured me was the rich and sensual cinematography of director of photography Kiko de la Rica who used a Sony HDW-F900 (the same camera used for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)) to capture stunning views of the

The richness of the images compliment the richness of the story in a way that makes Sex and Lucia touching and mesmerizing. The richness of the color and composition of every scene make the movie sexy and sensual in the full meaning of the word (it is a feast for the senses.) As a fan of effective use of cinematography I dearly hope that people take the time to find and watch this movie and experience what a well-crafted film feels like.
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Director Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke (1997), Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)) again wows us with his superb animation and story telling skills in Spirited Away (2001). This beautiful film left me feeling like I had just come back from a trip to Fearie Land where I had been treated to a performance where I could only understand a quarter of what was being presented. I am sure that someone who had grown up in Japan would have a much deeper understanding of this movie, but that understanding is not necessary to be enchanted by it. Rather than attempt to describe the movie any further, I suggest that you go experience it yourself.

Directed by Tony Scott (The Hunger, Top Gun, Enemy of the State) and written by Quentin Tarantino (Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction, Natural Born Killers, Reservoir Dogs), True Romance (1993) is an violent ode to the best of the action-crime genre, with a twist of love story. The movie boasts a simply astounding cast with Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette in the lead roles with Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, Bronson Pinchot, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Rapaport, Saul Rubinek, Chris Penn and Tom Sizemore in supporting roles. If you are not impressed yet go back and read that list again. True, some of these actors (Walken, Oldman, Hopper, Jackson) are only on screen for a couple of scenes, but wow, what incredible scenes they are! The scene where Walken (playing a ruthless gangster out to get our downtrodden heroes) interrogates Hopper (who plays Slater’s father) is superbly written and executed. It would be hard to imagine anyone but Walken and Hopper pulling this one off. What is more important than brief appearances by a few grade A actors is that the leading cast is itself top-notch and carries the movie through. Slater and Arquette have a screen chemistry that conveys the eerily demented love their characters share throughout. Rapaport and Pinchot have more screen time than other in the supporting cast and nail their characters.

I had not seen True Romance since it was out in theaters and was urged to go back and watch it again by a challenge to my blasting of Tarantino from my friend Nick. I am very glad that I did, not only did I enjoy the movie but I was glad to re-discover what can be considered a true classic in its genre. As an added bonus True Romance has bumped Quentin Tarantino back up a notch in my book of modern filmmakers.

I have one pet peeve with the DVD production of this great movie that I want to air. This is the sort of detail that you have to look for to notice, but will bug a cinephile like myself. In the Walker/Hopper scene one of the hit men, freshly arrived form Sicily and unable to speak or understand English, has to ask another for a translation of the interrogation. This is a small but important detail to notice since in a scene later on, it is this same gangster that does not understand the police instructions to lay down his guns and answers all challenges in Italian leading to a deadly shoot-out. When I watched the DVD I had subtitles turned on to understand what was being said above the gunfire. Whomever laid the subtitle track down decided to translate the hit man’s Italian to English loosing the motivation for the dramatic reaction for anyone unable to hear the dialogue.

Though it is not a favorite movie of mine, I do feel compelled to give it a top rating of 5 since it is top notch for it’s genre. The question of ‘what would you consider to be the best representation of a genre’ is an interesting one and one that I have written about (though not in this forum? yet) and spoken to before (I presented on the subject at a convention in 2001). For action-crime, I give True Romance the honorary title of ‘Represents the Best of the Genre’.

Visually stunning, Requiem for a Dream (2000) is a testament to Darren Aronofsky’s cinematographic genius. Aronofsky proved himself in the independent-film gone right Pi (1998), then followed it right up with another hit by adapting Hubert Selby Jr.’s Requiem into this superb film. Uncompromising, disturbing, superbly written and excellently acted, Requiem is one of those special movies that refuses convention in favor of innovation and artistry.

Easily one of the movies on my top five list, The Princess Bride (1987) is beautiful and enchanting. Beautifully written, wonderfully directed and perfectly cast, The Princess Bride is one of those few rare films where nothing should be changed.

In a masterful improvement over his own fairy tale, screenwriter William Goldman offers us enchanting scene after quotable, enchanting scene. It is hard to guess at the formula that makes Princess Bride so enchanting, but I guess it is a fine balance between all the elements that go into making a movie good. If you know me, you should probably watch this movie just so you can understand where I get the quotes that I use daily.