Now I know I'm not supposed to like "The Spirit" but... aw hell I'll go ahead and do it anyway.

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Finally got around to watching "The Spirit" on dvd. Though it was roundly panned as a bad movie because of lousy acting, too many characters not enough plot, Miller directing, etc... I actually liked it.

First off: It was gorgeous to watch if you like that style of mixing Black/White graphic novel like shots with gritty real action. If you liked Sin city it's more of the same with similar effects but stood on it's own. It didn't seem quite as violent (or at least violent in a different less graphic way somehow) than Sin City. I actually did think Sin City was great.

Second: I didn't take the movie too seriously going in. So it was all a pleasant surprise when it did work well. There were laughable parts by design and then others that I just found amusing or funny by myself. But then I sometimes laugh at the damnedest things. I found this movie entertaining. Not the first or last time I will like something others don't. Reviews don't really tell me if I'll like it or not. They just don't pay folk like me to review movies... (now there's a surprise right?)

Third: No one in this movie is hard at all to watch. Eva Mendes as Sand Saref was a knockout (all the women in this movie were lookers...) Spirit was okay and Samuel Jackson (Octopus) was good. Yes, the characters were a bit shallow but pleasing to watch. They had to work with the lopsided dialog they were given and sometimes it was well... silly while angling for that dark noir, detective, thriller, angsty action pulp process.

If you like graphic novels, gritty stuff like the first Batman movie and thought the way they shot (and pieced together) Sin City was amazing then go ahead and buy or rent The Spirit. It won't knock your socks off by a long shot and I wouldn't skip anything truly important to watch it but... you likely will enjoy it. Perhaps a guilty pleasure to be had whilst complaining of all those reasons to not like it so you don't have to say "Yup. I liked it" to anyone.

And yes, I admit the running moody narrative of the Spirit himself got mildly annoying at times and didn't add much really to the, er, plot but oh well. Trying to add to the overall picture of the pained psyche I suppose.

I doubt Eisner would have been exactly crazy about The Spirit but most movies aren't perfect or even remotely perfect.
The artist in me that would love to put some of her stories into graphic novel format likes watching these movies a lot.
I can understand however why many people wouldn't have liked it. It isn't a fantastic movie but it's definitely watch-able.

Don't go by me though, I loved The Crow, Sin City, Pulp Fiction and thought Kill Bill was somewhat amusing.
Hopeless eh?

G'night,

Laura

Alan Moore's "Watchmen" in a movie: not fantastic but not bad either

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Finally decided to see “Watchmen” in the movies tonight.
I wasn’t at all sure that I really wanted to see it.
You see I was one of the few people out there that wasn’t crazy over the “V for Vendetta” movie though I really liked the graphic/comic series. The story and actors were good, and the movie wasn’t bad but it wasn’t what I wanted it to be.
Alan Moore wasn’t at all behind the Hollywood production of “Watchmen” so…
By the way Alan Moore is really rather odd but damn good at writing interesting series and being himself I suppose. He’s in “The League of Extraordinary Gentleman” as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve been a long time “graphic (for lack of any better term) novel” reader, though not a fanatic.
Couldn’t afford to be one. Started with comics, and underground comics, Heavy Metal before it turned into well… whatever. I still have the first 3 years worth saved around here somewhere and a few Fat Freddy’s Cat too. Began reading comics and graphic novels early on (Once upon a time I wanted to be an illustrator and went to college for Advertising Art and Design) and never stopped loving the comic/graphic medium to this day.

Unfortunately I got rid of all my comic books (girls weren’t supposed to read them: grow up and all) so when I moved out of parents house they were all given away.
Based on my reaction to the comic book tables at a few I-Con/Otacon visits I’ll never go to a comic-con I’d just sit and cry. Sadly, I had just about everything all the original stuff.
It’s not their monetary value that I get upset about it’s just that it makes me want them back to read and have. I loved comic books with a passion. It would have been better if I realized my interests were mine before I tried to “grow up” and be someone that I wasn’t as comfortable with.
Ah well, water under the bridge.


Back to Watchmen: I had mixed feelings about this movie. Yes, I enjoyed it and it followed the story all right… It wasn’t as gory as it could have been, yet not too watered down either.
Full frontal male nudity sort of (it’s CGI of course). Though Dr. Manhattan was done fairly well and the other characters were fine, I found something lacking in the movie. Maybe it’s because I enjoyed the comic series? I think I’ll have to see it again to fully decide if I really liked it or not, sometimes I have an attitude towards a movie and it effects the viewing. Certainly entertaining enough.

The distraction problem I had with the movie was that I couldn’t get Zena Warrior Princess out of my head (not that Laurie/Silk Spectre was anything like zena really I think it was her haircut, dark with bangs, or something)
Now Zena alone wasn’t too bad if it wasn’t coupled with a strange association in my mind between the unmasked Night Owl (Dan Dreiberg) and Chevy Chase of SNL/Fletch era. I know that’s weird and I seriously don’t get it myself but it took me more than half the movie before I wasn’t distracted by it. Don’t know why Chase got in my head but it definitely wouldn’t have even occurred to anyone young anyway. It’s just weird, maybe it was the glasses, or his mannerisms, no clue.

I’ll watch it again at some point, to give it a fairer chance.
Thumbs up I guess… but with reservations. Btw: semi-gratuitous comic book sex is thankfully far shorter than the silly Night Owl/Silk Spectre scene in Watchmen (seriously hitting the fire button… really lame) Don’t listen to me however, go see it whether you read the comics or not, you’ll probably like it… It was reasonably violent though so if you don’t like blood, etc., you might not. Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan and The Comedian were pretty good castings.

Some comic/graphic novels make better cross overs for movies than others especially if you’ve read them previously: for instance I loved Sin City and thought The Crow was absolutely stunning.
Pretty hard to compare with The Crow, at least in my mind.

I’ve said before that I have odd taste in movies and reading materials for a female it seems.

G’night,

Laura

Five days left and GW gives his formal BuhBye...

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Obama gets his 350 billion relaeased from TARP. And floats the $825 billion stimulus plan… Whew. Don’t know what to think about the economic package yet, it’s beyond my scope of “do we have any money left for gas?” life.

Was watching the rescue of the 155 people onboard the US Airways plane just after take off from La Guardia Airport in New York. They saved them all. Seems that the accident was caused by a flock of birds just after takeoff forcing an unexpected landing into the Hudson River. Scary. One thing I never want to hear in my lifetime is the pilot saying over the speaker “We’re going down Brace for impact.” Oldest son came home and went back over the holidays to DC on a similar flight in and out of La Guardia. Amazing landing and thanks to all those boats that helped out. Please give the pilot a key to the city or something.

Perhaps a lukewarm welcome to Senator Roland Burris from Illinois, but confirmation nonetheless. Took longer than I expected it to.

George W Bush gave his formal BuhBye speech, have nothing to say about that at the moment but “thank you.”

Is waterboarding torture? You betcha. No real way around it. We have condemned it in the past towards others, so if we don’t prosecute people here for engaging in it, what does that say about us I wonder?

I read somewhere I don’t remember now where at the moment that Christopher Hitchens (the journalist) volunteered to undergo Waterboarding himself. He stated his belief that it was clearly torture. It will be interesting to see what the new administration thinks about waterboarding, illegal wiretapping et al…

But clearly the best news of all is the Spiderman/Obama inauguration comic book issue is ready to go and I shall have one. Okay so admittedly it’s only great news to me but then I love comics to begin with. Anyway here’s the cover:



G'night,
Have a pleasant tomorrow.

Laura

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