I enjoyed El Mariachi and Desperado so I'll hold out hope that this might be good - but I admit my optimism isn't too high.
First of all, if this movie is shot in ANYTHING but black-and-white I won't see it (okay, that's a lie - I will see it, but not in the theatre). Secondly, it shouldn't even be live action. It should be animated, using the comics as storyboards and style sheets.
The thing that puzzles me is that I would have expected Frank Miller to feel the same way, so Rodriquez must have shown him something pretty impressive to get the rights. Interesting.
I have never read SIN CITY, but I will, more than likely see this, movie. I think Robert Rodriguez is a VERY talented director and have enjoyed almost all of his movies a great deal.
Regarding this being shot in black & white: the Mel Gibson movie PAYBACK (one of my favorite movies) was a throwback to b&w noir movies, but it didn't shoot in b&w. They did sort of what I call "color b&w": very cool, muted colors giving the whole movie a sort of blue gray cast. A similar effect was used in LAST MAN STANDING, but the pallete was comprised of warmer color. Would something like this be an acceptable alternative to actual b&w?
This message has been edited by jstockwell on Feb 26, 2004 10:37 AM
I have had a script adaption of the original Sin City in the drawer for 8(?) years now. I naively even tried to send it to Miller via Dark Horse and got a cease and desist letter from Dark Horse LOL.
From my pov the best template for the look of a Sin City film not shot in B&W is The Crow. That film is as close to B&W as color ever gets and even better, it doesn't use blue at all, unlike virtually every other "dark" film in the last 20 years.
i've been sitting on this info FOREVER and i'm so happy about it. Choudhury... you're wrong on this one. Rodriguez has already done an amazing job on the 10 minutes he's shot.
as for the black and white issue, i'm not at liberty to say, but this is a line from Rodriguez in the Variety article... he wants to "translate it to the screen with the same visual flourishes that Frank used so well." Nuff said. And who the hell is this "Nuff" guy and why is what he says such a big deal?
he wants to "translate it to the screen with the same visual flourishes that Frank used so well." Nuff said
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That's reassuring, at least. My next concern, however, would be that in the current political climate will the Sin City movie be as explicit as the comic. If most Sin City tales were translated directly to the screen they'd almost certainly be courting an NC-17 rating - what studio is going to fund that in these Post-Superbowl-Boobies times?
Now, tone down the sex and gore a little and the Sin City movie becomes a hard R, which still might be a hard sell to studios who are nervous about being called in front of congress.
And should it even be as explicit as Miller makes it? Frankly, the two-hour violence fest that was Kill Bill left me flat - I'd hate to see Sin City do the same. Violence is easy to film but boring - Noir is hard to film but much more interesting to watch.
You, too? I thought I was the only one. You don't happen to have a "Next Men" screenplay lying around, too, do you?
My only worry about this project is that "Sin City" is, itself, a celebration of old noir films. The reason it works, IMO, is because it's not a film. If you then adapt that back into a film, I think it may lose a lot of what made the story appealing in the first place. Kind of like copying a copy of a copy.
While I agree that Rodriguez’ “serious,” “adult” movies are vastly overrated, all three of his “Spy Kids” flicks were a heckuva lot of fun! I generally don’t like movies designed primarily for kids—and I was just lamenting in another thread that there’s not enough entertainment out there aimed at adults!—but each “Spy Kids” movie was far more engaging than just about any James Bond film that’s been released since the mid-70s (with the exception of the very last Bond film, which was really cool). So perhaps if Rodriguez approaches this movie as an all-ages appropriate spectacle which just happens to incorporate certain grim & gritty elements, rather than as an all-out gorefest, it won’t be nearly as awful as JB and others here are anticipating.
(BTW, as I stated once before on this board, there’s a creature in “Spy Kids 3D” I could swear was inspired by JB’s “tundra villain” from Alpha#1. It could certainly just be a visual coincidence, but I suspect that Robert Rodriguez was quite the Byrne fan as his sensibilities were being shaped.)
Robert Rodriguez is a very talented director (although I could have done without the overly silly Spy Kids 2. I hope this movie makes it in every way so people will know how to make a real comic movie.
well, all I can say in regards to Next Men is that during my trip to LA several of us sat around and argued about the hows and why's of doing it right.
Truth be told though, if I was going to adapt a JB project, it would be Whipping Boy. That one I do have something lying around, I just can't do anything with it LOL
If I ever get my Sin City script transcribed and put back on disc I would be happy to email it to anyone who is curious.
...is that Rodriguez optioned Mike Allred's Madman a few years back and hasn't done anything to get it on the big screen despite Mike's enthusiastic support. Now, he's ALREADY got some of Sin City shot?
That aside, I'll look forward to it like I do every comic adaptation hoping someone will get it right. Richard Donner can't be the ONLY one, right?
So perhaps if Rodriguez approaches this movie as an all-ages appropriate spectacle which just happens to incorporate certain grim & gritty elements, rather than as an all-out gorefest, it won’t be nearly as awful as JB and others here are anticipating.
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When did I say this was going to be awful???? You cannot honestly think my comment above FOLLOWED BY A FRICKIN' SMILEY FACE was meant to be a serious comment???
I'm trying to brainstorm some ideas for the roles of Senator Roark and Cardinal Roark in Sin City. I think it would be cool to cast old movie or t.v. stars who have slipped into obscurity and are waiting to be re-discovered. Any thoughts?
Orson Welles referred to Black and White film as, "The actor's friend." He posited that color distracted from the intensity of the performance and that he had never seen a truly great acting performance in color.
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Mike Nebeker - Super Genuis Good Judgement comes from Experience
And Experience comes from... Bad Judgement
