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Sin City

-The folowing review of "Sin City" was contributed by Joshua Herman for RANT Magazine

This movie was amazing. If you're among the type who cringed at the last Batman or even the first X Men movie and shook your head thinking, "Why cant Hollywood ever get comic book adaptations right" this movie is for you. I can say this quite safely since, for the first time ever, this is a movie that never abandoned the comic book medium. Partly due to the director taking on Frank Miller as co-director in a rather unprecedented move in Hollywood, rumored to have lost Robert Rodriguez his directing license in the guild.

What's great about Sin City is, you never really leave the comic book. The characters come alive through the actors but the backdrop remains Franks vision of black and white Apocalypse. Succeeding in great strides at capturing the medium’s claustrophobic and maddening ambiance where live action or even an unhybridized animation could not have matched.

It's worth seeing Sin City just to witness the innovation that the two directors have given birth.. Luckily, like any thoroughly enjoyable movie, this one has a plethora of other redeeming qualities. The characters introduced are people you find yourself wanting to know more about. This is something that most comic book writers seem to have a certain penchant for, but I never expected to see so many characters I'd love. Usually, in a movie it will be the hero, or the sidekick, or the Falstaff type that you'll have a strong connection. Maybe one or two chara's that stand out as memorable, but in Sin City I can think of ten off the top of my head; all brilliantly realized and intriguing in their own unique ways.

Since this movie is an amalgam of Franks first three books, it appears they’ve put a lot of effort into making every chara's persona intriguing and approachable rather than focusing solely on the pro/antagonist point of view. This brand of continuity certainly helps, as the characters from different story's come in and out of the light and shadows throughout the movie.

Frank Miller seems a great deal more artistic than most comic book artists I have witnessed. There are scenes and still-shots in this movie, that you will experience, and afterwards, feel yourself moved, as well as changed by the perception Miller has chosen to convey.

The direction in this movie is nothing short of brilliant, Miller's strong avant-garde ink washes, and Rodriguez's film noir cinema style of writing makes it surreal, otherworldly, vivid and realistic at the same time. So much so, that at times the work can seem contradictory of itself and you'll have to generate a little mental reminder, "Oh...right, this is an action movie so he can be shot several times, or jump out that fifth story window". Fortunately, while this method of invincibility can be distracting, it doesn't take away from the plots realism. There are still rules to play by. They are just different here, in Sin City.

Drawbacks to this movie? Not many, although I can see a lot of people being turned off by all the violence. I noticed a lot of people leaving the theatre after some of the more extreme scenes.

This movie has more fucked up scenes than most Nightmare On Elm Street films, so if you're not the biggest fan of this generations "Clockwork Orange" flavored ultra violence you might want to avoid this one. We're talking the "shock and awe" kind, as our hapless President so eloquently put it.

The only other thing I can think of are the plot holes. You expect an action movie to have some, but there are numerous in Sin City, and of a much more glaring nature. Its easy to find yourself lost when Bruce Willis' character signs a confession that he's a child molester et al after being in prison for 8 years and the next day is out on the street. It's to the point where you wonder if the director is silently mocking your ability to put a storyline together. There are other's too; countless others. In one scene, a character is covered in blood, jumps into the ocean, swims underwater to his escape, then resurfaces STILL covered in the same blood. Like I said, “glaring”.

The question is, do these things really affect you having fun at this movie? They really don't. I found it thoroughly enjoyable despite these details. Remember, it's an action movie. The plot isn't the focus here, it's the whole roller coaster experience you get from watching a good action flick. And as far as that category goes, Sin City is one of the best I've yet to see in this genre.

-Joshua Herman for Rant Magazine

-The folowing review of "Darkness Falls" was written by the editor of RANT Magazine

Darkness Falls

One of the all-time worst movies ever.

The only thing that wasn't guessable and cliche' in this film was the scene during the power failure when they temporarily elude the monster that's chasing after them by running into the elevator.

How is it the elevator is working in the middle of a power failure? I was busy trying to figure out why I was still sitting in the movie theatre at this point so I'm not the one to ask.

But they pressed the elevator call button and it lit up and worked. As our heros sped away to the lobby, the monster was left scratching his head, as was the audience.

Not to worry, the monster soon enters the elevator shaft and comes after them.

I commented to my companion, "Power failure be damned! They shot this scene and then were damned if they were going to leave it out!"

Keep in mind, the entire premise of the film was that the monster would not attack you in the light. Someone should have told the creature about this caveat however, because it didn't appear to make any difference. For example, during a car crash, the monster doesn't attack the person in the dark car, even though there are no windows left, instead it attacks the guy in the headlights in front of the car. He happened to be an attorney, so that part, at least, made a little sense.

-RANT

The folowing review of "Full Frontal" was written by the editor of RANT Magazine.

Full Frontal

What?

I have no idea what this movie was about. All I know is that at some point even the movie isn't sure if its in the movie.

-The folowing review of "Ghosts Of Mars" was written by the editor of RANT Magazine.

Ghosts Of Mars

Do you watch The Simpsons? Well this is "Itchy and Scratchy" with humans. Light your cigarette with a $20.00 bill, it's the same value for your entertainment dollar.

-RANT

-The folowing review of "The Others " was written by the editor of RANT Magazine.

The Others

It's 3 in the morning, I just got back from seeing the movie "The Others".

Do yourself a favor if you see this film; don't turn off the cell phone, and if you're lucky enough to get a call...answer it.

Even the people sitting next to you will gleefully welcome any other dialog than what they're hearing on the screen.

This movie is a ghost story with a twist, the twist is that the entire plot takes place in ten minutes, unfortunately the last ten minutes of the film. Seventy minutes into the film, my female friend sitting next to me asked, "Has anything happened yet?"

This is a good film to see after a hard day at work because you can sleep through any of it and not miss anything. Want a soda? Popcorn? Need to go to the bathroom? Take your time, it'll be here when you get back, and in the same place.

Get a haircut if you want.

I didn't hate this film. I found myself wondering how I could have made God so mad at me though.

If you rent this on DVD, you won't last through it, so try to see it in a theatre.