SIN CITY week-of jitters

[thehefner]

They just released some clips of SIN CITY, so of course I had to see them. And now I'm starting to worry if I hyped myself up too much. I mean, for one thing, Jessica Alba, from all I've seen, just seems wrong wrong wrong for Nancy. Aside from the "I didn't get naked like she was in the comics because, like, I thought she was sexy enough already, and besides my Dad would have totally killed me!"-ness of Alba's comments, she just seems to damn... sorority girl for a Sin City gal, especially Nancy.

I also fear that in his zeal to preserve the faithfulness to the comics that Rodriguez might have sacrificed the quality of the film itself. Pacing in comics and movies are two very, very different beasts. I mean, how many times have we seen panels where a character is delivering whole lines of dialogue as he punches a guy out, an action that takes less than a second?

And speaking of dialogue, that's another huge fear. The dialogue in Sin City is not bad, just extremely stylized. And that's the real trick for the movie, will those lines be delivered in such a way that they sound believeable, or utterly, eye-rollingly laughable? The clips didn't exactly fill me with confidence.

Come on, Friday. Prove me wrong. I know these comics inside and out by now. Bring them to life and do them justice, I pray you.

Comments

[spacechild.livejournal.com]

transferring comics to film is tough because its two very different mediums that do the same thing: tell a story.

comic-talk dialogue sounds campy when said aloud.

in this case, add to it the fact that its as much deep crime noir novel as it is comic book, and you are now trying to take both aspects and make them work acted out.

still, i'm excited. i want to believe.

get over the Jessica Alba thing.. Nancy being great isnt that crucial. she is the impetus and motivation for Hartigan.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Which is precisely why she IS crucial, as I see it.

And one thing I forgot to mention, it's not that SIN CITY's dialogue is typical "comic book", its roots are actually in the classic gangster tough guy noirs of the 30's and 40's, pumped way up. It's not comic book norm, necessarily. And hell, I've heard dialogue in movies that makes some comics look like David Mamet.

[spacechild.livejournal.com]

Nancy EXISTING is crucial. what she represents is his honor and integrity, his character and his sense of what is truly important. he must save her and protect her because she, and ultimately those ideals, are the only thing he has left. its all he lives for.

so yes, she is important.. but its going to be Bruce Willis who drives that story, not her.

i think that Jessica Alba will do fine meeting the needs of the role. but thats my opinion.

and what you are saying about not being typical comic book dialogue, but rather is noir.. thats the exact thing i am saying. its both.

once again you and i are pretty much on the same page.

and by the way.. i believe i am coming this friday with my friend Holly. she is driving from VA to get me and then we will go to Arundel Mills. the only issue is how early she and i can manage to get there.. she cant come get me until she gets out of work.. 5 or 6 at the earliest.

it could take us an hour or more to get to arundel mills.

what time is the movie? you know i'm bending reality to my will to make this happen, because i want to see this movie with you.

i also want you guys to meet Holly, she's a costumer for Arena Stage Theatre.

[spacechild.livejournal.com]

btw.. i stole that icon.

[tompurdue.livejournal.com]

With the right cinematography, even comic-book dialogue can sound really interesting on screen. I wish I understood it better, but I've been stunned to see how bad cinematography can make actors look bad. I find it funny sometimes to see "behind the scenes" footage and even performances I liked very much sound silly. You can see it all the time on MST3K, where performances that might have gone unremarked in a regular movie sound awful in those movies.

I really, really wish I understood it.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

You should read the play BEYOND THERAPY by Christopher Durang and then see the movie by Altman, whose stilted and choppy trademark editing style and understated direction completely and totally DESTROYS the flow, dialogue, and performances, taking an insanely funny play and turning it (without a word of dialogue changed) into a dull and painful experience.

[surrealname.livejournal.com]

I've been saying since day one that Alba was bad bad bad bad bad news. They needed some one slutty and sleazy. Even nancy, good and pure hearted as she is, is a slutty, sleazy, sin city girl. That chick from freddy vs. jason might have been good. a poor man's britney murphy would be just fine for nancy.