Sept 8: Sin City

"A film that explores the dark and miserable town, Basin City, and tells the story of three different people, all caught up in violent corruption."

Directed by: Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez, Rated: R, 124 minutes

Sin City is a film with balls- big, violent, hilarious balls. It's like nothing you've seen before and is a festival of eye candy, with each scene looking sexier than the last. The film features one hell of a cast, all obviously having one hell of a fun time with it, and manages to turn something 'pulpy' into something that's worth every moment of your time. It's simply too cool to ignore, even if you're not a fan of a violent, over-the-top, good ol' fashioned orgy of awesome. 

And Jessica Alba plays a stripper. That is all. 

In the city of Basin City, criminals and prostitutes are at every corner. You survive by paying off the cops, being a badass yourself, or being a sexy dame a guy would kill for. Sin City focuses on three individuals in this ultra-violent "Gotham"- Dwight (Clive Owen), Hartigan (Bruce Willis), and Marv (Mickey Rourke). Dwight's a do-gooder who knows the streets as well as the women of Old Town (Basin City's version of a red-light district, but the "women of the night" are in charge, not the cops). Hartigan's a cop, one of the few good ones left in the city. He tracks down a girl kidnapped by a rapist and swears to do whatever it takes to keep her safe, even if it means losing his own life. Marv, a hulk of a man, is bullet-proof in his mission, seeking the murderer of a pretty whore that gave him too much attention. Throw in a constant narration from each of the men, detailing their lives with the most noir-esque lines you can imagine, and Sin City turns into the perfect combination of classic detective stories, pulp novels, and the grindhouse style of the 70s. 

The best part of the film is the visual style, being one of the most faithful comic adaptations (of any kind, actually) of all time. The pages of Frank Miller's graphic novels come to life on the screen, each scene literally ripped from the pages. Even the color palette, a heavy black and white with colors for accents, come straight out of the novels. Not only is this beautiful to watch, but the color scheme fits the stylized nature of the plot and turns something so violent and bloody into a work of art. Robert Rodriguez, best known for his Mariachi Trilogy and yes, Spy Kids, continues to show how incredible he is with a camera and creates his own unique masterpiece, giving so much depth and character to a 2D world that the genius Frank Miller created. 

Sin City is one of those films everyone needs to see, if just for the technical aspect alone. Yes, it's incredibly violent and and not for the weak of heart, but the gorgeous detail put into the film as well as the a group of characters so perfectly cast makes it easier to swallow. Sin City is an instant classic in its own genre and shows you that faithful adaptations do exist. While comic adaptations of every nature fly into theaters every summer, Sin City still remains the best, even after seven years and the continued promise of a sequel. As we all know, if you turn the right corner of Sin City, you can find anything. Here's hoping that anything is that sequel. 

Mickey Rourke was born to play Marv. 

The Good:

a great cast, with each actor fitting his/her role perfectly

The Better:

dialogue so rich with awesome, with every line reminiscent of something you'd read or hear in the 50s, when being cool was everywhere and a lit cigarette made you a badass

The Best:

a unique style that turns the film into something more than a run-of-the-mill action flick and proves that graphic novels can make a perfect leap to film

Overall: 9.5/10

Trailer:

If you're not sold on the film now, just take a look at the rest of the cast- Rosario Dawson, Michael Clarke Duncan (RIP), Elijah Wood, Carla Gugnio, Josh Hartett, Powers Boothe, Rutger Hauer, Benicio Del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Devon Aoki, Alexis Bledel, Jaime King, and Tommy Flanagan.  

March 31: Immortals

"Theseus is a mortal man chosen by Zeus to lead the fight against the ruthless King Hyperion, who is on a rampage across Greece to obtain a weapon that can destroy humanity."

   Greek myths are some of the oldest stories in the world and are rich with morally good and evil characters. They are stories of love, courage, tragedy and mischief and they have been told for thousands of years and have been heard by millions of people. Yet, for some reason, no one can make a good film out of them. With such incredible source material, why can't Hollywood produce quality work? The worst part is that the visuals may be amazing (300, Immortals, Clash of the Titans), but it's always the damn dialogue and story that sucks. Some can argue 300 had great dialogue but, when looked at again, you realize it was all tailor-made for quoting over and over. There really is no excuse when countless books can be adapted to the screen in marvelous ways (Lord of the Rings, anyone?). 

Give these two a book of myths and... my gods...

    With Immortals, the plot is not necessarily awful, it's just really lacking. You think certain parts have promise but then soon realize the story is nothing you haven't seen before. A peasant's (Theseus) mother is murdered in front of him by Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), an evil king. He then swears revenge and magically becomes the perfect warrior and leads an army to stop the king. Hyperion is a rather interesting character. He plans on releasing the titans to kill the gods because he feels that, if they were good, they would not have let his family die from disease. But, in the meantime, he also plans on producing as many kids with as many women as he can because he thinks that if his bloodline continues, he'll be immortal through them. The whole thing is really kind of creepy and Rourke's presence only adds to the strange.  Henry Cavill plays Theseus and, although his character isn't as developed or as powerful as he is in myth, Cavill does show that he has what it takes to be a leading man, as well as the Man of Steel. 

Hell yes. 

    Now, even though the story isn't as strong as it could be and the script suffers from a case of "trying too hard", the acting is very good. The cast does as good of a job as they can given the dialogue. Luke Evans should also be mentioned for giving a terrific performance as Zeus. He brings a new face to the character, as we have grown accustomed to seeing the father of the gods with grey hair and a big white beard. As a matter of fact, all of the gods are young, beautiful people and, while at first I was thrown off by it, I realized that their appearance fit the ancient world much greater than what we have come to know them as. 

Abercrombie & Fitch meets Olympus

   The best parts of Immortals are the special effects and fight sequences. Tarsem Singh, the director, is a visual genius and the way he captures each sequence is mesmerizing. The entire film looks like a piece of art and each fight scene plays out like a ballet (with BLOOD). Tarsem is one of my favorite directors, having made The Fall and The Cell, both mind-f**k movies that rape your eyes with beauty. However, Tarsem doesn't realize that a pretty picture doesn't make a film. If the script was up to par, nay even half as good as the visuals, Immortals would be incredible. 

No, Tarsem! The script! Focus on the script!

   Even though Immortals is lacking a solid script and story, I still found it very enjoyable. There were enough bits of action to keep it from drowning in the shallow plot and you can't deny how good it all looks. I would recommend watching Immortals just to admire the special effects. Overall, Immortals is like the hot girl you see across the room/bar/church/school/street/internet, only to realize after talking to her for awhile, she's boring and just the same as everyone else. You realize that it's so close to the perfect package but missing vital pieces that would create its perfection. 

The Good:

mesmerizing visuals with epic action scenes

The Bad:

a mundane script with an unoriginal story

The Ugly:

realizing the film is close to amazing if only a few major things were changed

Overall: 6.4/10

Trailer: