What is Sin City?

Freakin' awesome! Everyone in it was wonderfully cast. Great storylines that really drag you in. Highly stylized action. Quirky humor. And really put together well. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but if you're into this kind of stuff, you'll walk away really pleased.

There was quite a bit of...uh...castration, though...

Saw this today with Jesus Pimp. I thought it was a pretty awesome experience. It's not so much a story driven movie as it is an art exhibition - the art of noir - the art of cinematography - the art of comic books coming to life. The stories are gripping by themselves, but they would be nothing without the awesome packaging.

The themes are very very very grim and the gore is absolutely... fantastic. Just be warned.

I've been describing it like this: Take what you know about noir, then take what you know about comic books, then add frank miller's fucked up mind and a dash of quentin tarentino, and turn the volume up to 11. The pacing is so fucking fast that in the middle of the movie, when it's going at half speed (which is still about as fast as a Darren Aronofsky film) it tends to actually drag. However, it picks it up again for a nice ending.

Great stuff.

I just saw it this afternoon. Great movie, but I love this stuff.

*may contain slight spoilers*
Some things I'm confused with having not read the comics: for one thing the 3 (or 4) different story lines in the movie made me a bit confused because they weren't really connected (in the usual movie sense.) Though it wasn't that bad a thing, it made me concentrate on trying to figure out if bruce willis, for instance, was really the scar guy and how the story lines were connected beside the fact that they just all happen to be in the same city.

The other thing was--what was with the normal/good acting-normal/good acting-normal/good acting-odd pause make some obscure reference to film noir comment/bad acting thing? I dunno, the way they did it just sort of broke the tempo of the movie to me. I assume they were meant to be a small homage.

One more thing was that it was confusing as to which characters were supposed to be super hero semi invincible as some could take repeated damage to the head, shot, stabbed, jump off 5 stories, and still be standing while some would get knocked out in an open handed slap. So that was a bit inconnsistent.

The violence and nudity seemed to fit, and if they were taken out I'd think it would seem to lack.

/manly
Damnit, Alba was a stripper! And nothing!
/end manly

All in all still a very good movie.

I just got back from seeing this movie, and I was blown away. It ended and I just sat there with my mouth open. My date just laughed at me... Man, it blew my mind. I'm going to pick up the comic books as soon as I can and maybe that will fill some of the holes.

Did anyone else feel that Brittany Murphay was abit out of place? I haven't read the comics so perhaps she portrayed the character exactly right.... but it sure seemed like she was over-acting ALOT.

I hear ya. I think mainly it's the fact that it's all in happening in this setting. The idea is, if these guys are the best that this city can offer, people that are dregs and tragic heroes, then this city is in some deep shit.

I think the dialogue was taken almost exactly from the graphic novel, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. If there's any references to the fact that it's film noir, those are Frank Miller's doing.

Welcome to film noir. Femme fatales are usually knocked down, with a bit of blood on the lip. The more tore up a hero looks, the more invincible they are, but can still get brained in the back of the head.

Agreed.

Not only was this movie absolutely fucking incredible, and left me in awe as I left the theater, but it further reiterated how cool my girlfriend is, because she loved it as well. The action, the acting, the cinematography, everything fell into sync and created a gritty , no holds barred movie that wasn't scared to rile up the censors (Miller and Rodriquez had to fight for an R rating). It was exactly the type of movie to reinvigorate my faith in modern movies. Fucking astounding

This movie was absolutely amazing. The comics were translated to the screen perfectly, with many shots being taken directly from panels in the original. As a fan of the comic I don't think I could have asked for more.

I'm really glad to see that this movie has encouraged people who have never read the comics to pick them up. Comics generally seem to be considered trash or kid's stuff, but there are some excellent titles out there that shouldn't be missed, Sin City being one of them.

The Mickey Rourke section was phenomenal. It stood head and shoulders above the rest of the film. It was a great movie, but after that adrenaline rush, the rest seemed to drag a bit. It's great to see him get a badass part like that.

*WArning Post may contain Spoilers*








The only negative part this movie has is Jessica Alba's bad acting. It would hav sufficed if she had ver minimal linee. It just seems she was so out of place IMO.

Excellent movie. I had very little idea of what it was about going into see it...I mostly just thought it looked cool and heard from a friend it was excellent. I have to agree completely. Loved it. Am probably going to see it again this week. Normally I dislike movies with lots of violence but this movie pulled it off with panache.

Freaking awesome.

Awesome movie. I will be getting the DVD as soon as I can. I watched it Saturday night and my dreams were... vivid... to say the least. The cinematography is astounding. This movie represents the very best that is film noir. I recommend this movie to any and everyone who isn't squeamish.

Highly recommended.

I had trouble getting sucked into the story because of how great it was technically. The "Big Fat Kill" section with Dwight I found easier to be drawn into, perhaps because I hadn't read that one. I got what I was hoping for with Elijah: very creepy, and I was impressed with the Marv vs. Kevin fights. I really wondered how they'd get Mickey Rourke in prosthetics fighting with Elijah, but it was very fluid and just like in the book.

Those of you who haven't read the books are really in for a treat.

The one main con for me was the score. In parts it was fine, but in others it was inconsistent. For example, for most of the movie we have the typical film noir stuff, which is fine, but then in, say the climax of the "Yellow Bastard," during the final confrontation, there was a strange brassy and percussiony score which wouldn't be out of place in Star Trek original series.

Something else I really liked about the movie. I've noticed that in most comic book adaptations, character voice overs are suspiciously missing. All those thought bubbles of people's dialogue really reveal a lot about them. This movie had plenty of voice overs. Now whether it was a byproduct of being a comic book or just an implementation of film noir narration, it was done well.

And to think, Wood never met Rourke once during filming. Great editing job.

As far as the voice over, for me its really a must for film noir. Along with the stark style, it a staple of the genre. When the directors cut of Bladerunner, future noir IMO, omitted Harrison Ford's voice over, I really think it hurt the movie and the development of Decker as a character.

I didn't know that! Holy crap! Although it's probably for the best (as images of the rainy stairwell scene from the never to be filmed movie "9 1/2 Hobbits" fills my mind).

What is Sin City? Besides amazing?

My friends got me to read all the comics just recently, I haven't been at all into graphic novels until now, but the movie just got me hooked. Got a five pound stack here, Watchmen, Sin City, and some others. Reading them like candy, if sweets were to be injested eyewise.

While talking about the movie in Timmies afterwards (it's the thing to do in Canadaland), we decided an almost perfect three word desrciption for it is Film Noir Pulp. As in Fiction.

And look at that, all the words are four letters long.

I have to go out and see Sin City again, damn. So good!

muttonglutton: Is Alan Moore's V for Vendetta in your stack? If not, go get it. It's the best noir comic book ever made, and I'd put it ahead of Watchmen--not noir, but well worth reading--as Moore's best.

Also, Film Noir Pulp is a good description. Film noir cribbed it's content chiefly from, you guessed it, pulp fiction novels of the 20's and 30's like The Shadow, and detecive pulps like Sam Spade and Lew Archer.

gilda: V for Vendetta better than the Watchmen!!!???? Did I just hear that?

For the record, though, it's a contender. While we're recommending Alan Moore stuff, check out Top Ten. As with a lot of Moore's stuff, it's about deconstructing the idea of the super-hero. In this one, he tells the story of a police precinct in a world where eveyone and his dog (literally) are super-heroes. What could the function of a police force possibly be? I know I sound like a blurb advertising the book, so I'll stop, but check it out!

Yep, V for Vendetta is IMO better than Watchmen. If you think that's provokative, check this out: I think Moore's run on Supreme is just as good as Watchmen. The best Superman stories ever written didn't have Superman in them.

Gilda

I recently saw it and left the theater feeling more satisfied than I have in years.

Good to know! I haven't read it but I'll have to seek it out. Just when I thought I've read all the Moore there is, I find out about more, then I read it. Then I become depressed again. :) Ever check out Promethea?

There are two volumes: The Return and Story of the Year. The Return starts in the middle of the run of Supreme, but you don't need any background. It works well as a first issue. It's a big plus if you're familiar with the silver age Superman, Superboy, and Justice Leage comics, as the story in Supreme is s deconstruction of those, and at the same time, a loving recreation of them.

Yep. I have the complete run of Promethea in trade. I've also got a full run of Tom Strong from the beginning, which I enjoy even more.

Ok, spoiler alert!! Well, more in the answer than the question...




WTF was up with the very first scene in the movie? How did that tie in with any of the other stories? Or did it?

Spoiler: The Man? He's a hitman. And it does tie in. He comes in at the end to kill Becky. We only recognize him from the beginning and his nonchalant offer of a cigarette.

Is that all? There's no other importance to that scene? That would be lame...

Spoiler: The end sequence provides closure to "The Big Fat Kill" without getting too complicated. The intro sequence was what Rodriguez shot to entice all the actors to join him on this project. I don't know where it falls in the graphic novels. Probably in the same order. Get the DVD and listen to the commentary. :D

He actually shopped it too everyone, including Frank Miller. He wanted to have something to show Miller so that he could prove that it would be true to the comic. As I understand it they had tried to get the Movie made in the 90s as well, but Miller wasn't happy w/ the direction of the film so he pulled the plug on it.

If you read the forums at the end of the Sin City comics, Miller mentions a few times that he was against a movie being made. Rodriguez really must have impressed him to get the go ahead. He impressed the hell outta me.

I just saw this and was amazed. I really thought "nah, I won't get into this.. it'll be like Sky Captain (which I couldn't stand)"... but I was sucked in, well and truly. There are slight (meaningless?) connections between the stories that I still have to think about. I need to watch this movie again, I think.

I loved it.

Saw it again last night. Have to say it was even better the second time around. As soon as it's out on DVD, it shall be mine. Muahaha.

As soon as I got out of this movie I let out a sigh of relief... I was so worried that they would fuck it up and for once they didnt. I could nit-pick about a few things but lets face it, its one of the few times where they got a movie from a previous source and it rocked for the fans of the comics and for fans who have never heard of Sin City before. I've read most of the graphic novels and my GF had never heard of them before the movie. We both loved it. Yup I'm gushing thats how much I loved it.

I saw it this past weekend and it was awesome! Loved the film noir look and feel of the entire movie. I have to say the Marv (Mickey Rourke) storyline really made this movie!!!....oh and having Jessica Alba dancing around a pole didn't hurt either.

"We shot the full stories of the books," Rodriguez says. "And I knew we could truncate it down, we weren't going to lose any scenes. Eventually they would all be available for people to see. The DVD will come out with the theatrical cut, and then there will be a separate disc that's got the individual episodes separate with their own title card and you could just watch The Big Fat Kill from beginning to end in its full cut as a single story and then switch over and watch The Yellow Bastard, and that's 45 minutes. It will have all the material back in, so it will be like the experience of picking up the books where you pick up one story and you read it from beginning to end and it will have all the material in it. So you can kind of shuffle your own version of the movie and just watch them all separately."

http://dvd.ign.com/articles/600/600858p1.html?fromint=1

saw it tonight and i thought it rocked. rourke, wood were great. i'm not familiar with the graphic novels, so i guess i need to check 'em out.

I guess I'll have to buck the trend. Feel free to attack me for not "getting it" etc, but I really didn't care for Sin City.

It was neat to watch, but I really didn't leave with much of any feeling about it at all. I certainly didn't hate it, or even dislike it. Or, even leave feeling "wtf was that?" Just felt like I'm pretty sure I didn't like it.

It was violent, but since I had no reason to care, or feel, for any of the characters I guess I didn't care very much. Actually, that about sums it: I just didn't care for it; it gave me no reason to.

I enjoyed it alot, but I wanted more when I walked out. I couldn't believe it was over. I understand how they wanted to clone the comic book, but it seemed like this could've been two movies. I especially would've loved more Jessica Alba is fantastic looking but she never brings anything to a role. Rosario Dawson, Carla Gugino and Devon Ioki were amazing. Heck, even the girl from Gilmore Girls was sexier in my mind. Bruce Willis was poor casting in my mind because they guy just showed up and played Bruce Willis.

I should probably see it again, maybe the visuals were so awesome that I didn't fully take the whole thing in. I wanted more of the great stuff: Marv,Goldie,Dwight,Johnny Boy, Miho etc...especially Carla Gugino, now thats a woman!

WOW! Loved the whole movie from beginning to end. The style was amazing . . . the acting, superb, i certainly want to see it again!!! :D

There was something satisfying about the 'bad' individuals getting it at the end of each segment and not just dying . . . but suffering the way they made their victims suffer . . . i think that satisfied some barbaric urge we all have to see people get what's coming to them.

Oh and the women . . . SMOKING HOT!!! :crazy:
:)

Sweetpea

I enjoyed this movie a bit, though I'm not gushing over it like some. I will say that it has stuck with me. I keep hearing Spoiler: HE MADE ME WATCH!!! and seeing Spoiler: Lucille's stump every time I close my eyes. No exaggeration, that. I can't get it out of my head.

Not to drag up arguments from earlier in the thread, but.. I wasn't all that impressed with V for Vendetta. IMO, it certainly was no Watchmen in terms of the richness of the world or the completeness and complexity of the story. It's very nice social commentary, but you have to be more up on your Brittish History than most Amerians are.

I think the other Moore work that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Watchmen is From Hell. The art is similar in style to Sin City, actually, and you'll never EVER think about the Whitechapel Murders (the so-called Jack the Ripper case) the same way again. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was great too, but stand one notch below the other two in my estimation.

/threadjack (but if you don't know Alan Moore's work <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/002-3547683-7988024">GO DIRECTLY TO AMAZON, DO NOT PASS GO</a>!)

Just came back from seeing Sin City tonight. Effing brilliant. I've never read the G-novels, but now I have to. The scene in the car with the Jackie-boy and Dwight was just amazingly creepy and funny and brilliant.