The weekend so far

[dreamshark]

Not nearly as productive as last weekend, to put it mildly. I managed to get out in the nice weather yesterday by biking all over town on trivial shopping expeditions. I installed the two minor bike accessories I had purchased, and that's about it for productivity.

Richard went off to filking and I was bored, so I watched Sin City. Yikes! To say this film is gruesome seems like a gross understatement. Yet, I watched it to the end, something one really has no obligation to do with a Netflix, so I guess I must have liked it. It's a movie adaptation of graphic novels by Frank Miller, a very talented DC Comics artist/writer who tended toward the grim even when comic books were just comic books. When graphic novels came along, he was finally free to abandon the comparative sweetness and light of the Daredevil and Dark Knight years and explore his dark side. Frank Miller's dark side is pretty alarming. I rented the movie because it got critical raves, and I can see why. Technically and artistically it is remarkable. The director simply used the panels of the original graphic novels as story boards, interpreting them cinematically as heavily computer-assisted film noir. The result is very unusual and very striking. I would recommend this movie to anybody who has actually read Sin City and liked it, to Frank Miller fans who have always wanted to see what he would do if he didn't have to fit his artistic vision into a PG setting, and to anybody who would like more decapitation and dismemberment in their movie-going experience. Quentin Tarantino fans would probably like it too. Tarantino actually guest-directed one scene, not because this film needed one more director credit, but because of a dare or a barroom bet or something along those lines at the bar where the filmmakers hang out.

Now it's Sunday, and I have spent several hours cleaning up my website, which had fallen into disarray when my domain hoster decided to make some "improvements" and screwed up all the permissions and email accounts. It's all behind the scenes housekeeping with very little external effect except that the email address attached to my Netflix and Apple accounts should be working now. Enough of that. Maybe I'll bike around the lake and try out my new bell.

Comments

[jbru.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of Frank Miller's work and so, of course, adored Sin City. I also really liked 300. Both films capture well the look and feel of the graphic novel originals. Back when I first read the graphic novel 300, I remarked on its layout (landscape rather than portrait) as giving it a particularly cinematic feel.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

While I'm curious to see Frank Miller's work on screen, I'm not in any need of seeing more decapitations or dismemberments in my life. I'm undecided...

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine that you would like it.