The movie designed by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, in collaboration with the Jim Henson Company is credited to be both stunning, original and cheap (developped for only $4 millions with off-the-shelf software).

From the early images and trailers, it does look stunning. This is THE movie any fan of Dave McKean’s visual work and Neil Gaiman’s imagination have been waiting for for years.

Now that the movie is here, the problem will be to actually watch it.

It is released in selected theaters only (although produced with Sony Pictures). I haven’t found any word about a possible general release.

Since this is a movie to see on a big screen, I will have to find where the nearest theater will be from here.

No chance to see it in the sorry excuses of theaters I have around me

For more images, art and the movie trailers, check out Mirrormask official website. 

For those who spent the last month under a stone, "Sin City" is a direct translation to screen of Frank Miller’s graphic novels.

I am not saying ‘comics’ as well because the original work is far from the empty pages of most of what is accepted as comic books. Under brutal and sometimes shallow apearances, the world of Sin City is rich with a web of tormented characters and interconnected story-lines.

I am not saying ‘adaptation’ because this is one of the most literal and successful translation of a graphic novel into a motion picture that I know of. 99% of what you see on screen has an equivalent frame somewhere in the books. And 99% of the dialogs come directly from the text in print, including the dreaded voice overs (which unconventional use take a little to get used to). This is arguably the most faithul adaptation to date, and a wonderful confirmation that respect of the original material is not only possible for a movie, but  it is also paramount to a succesful movie. What was already demonstrated by movies such as Hellboy, Constantine or The Lord of the Rings  culminates here with a literal translation down to the graphic style.

The visual style nurtured by Frank Miller is a character in its own right. His use of saturated lights, pitch black shadows, plain black and white details or a touch of color are doing much more than giving a ‘drawn’ look to the pictures of Sin City. They draw your attention, guide you through a labyrinth of details that would be lost in any attempt at realism.

If you can get past the brutality of its story (and the controversial reviews), Sin City is a real visual experience that has to be seen at least once. For me, that will be at least twice…

The text is of a rare quality in a movie of that scale, which makes it that much more enjoyable. It is the kind of text that reminds you what is really important in life, and if you can dig under the first layer of romantic quest of soulmates in the afterlife, it is a powerful tool to refocus away from what can become a dull daily routine.

As for the fantastic imagery… the major part of the movie is a succession of living paintings, from surrealistics to expressionists. There are so many details that it is difficult to take it all in with a single viewing.

I can only compare watching this living, breathing painted world to what I felt the first time I watched ‘Pleasantville’ : a brilliant expression of how something that could only exist in imagination can be translated on a movie screen.

This kind of visionary display is very different from showing dinosaurs or galaxies far far away. More than simply showing what can already be done with current visual effects, it hints at the kind of visions that are yet to come on screens.

I tried to stay away from reading anything about that movie to not spoil my first impression when I finally watched it.

Of course the story is flat, the characters dull and the dialogs contrived. That was to be expected from the very premise of the movie. You could not get an hommage to 1940 movies to work if it had not been that way. People who complain about this are missing the point – this movie is not about storytelling, it is about sitting on a visual ride.

I had a great time just sit through it and enjoy the trip while trying to spot the many nods and references to classical sources.

The visual effects are simply stunning. Except for a couple of scenes, like when Cap’s plane is emerging to the surface of the water in the tropical island, it is difficult to remember that the sets are completely computer generated.

The soft blur applied to the images throughout the whole movie was a little intense at times (or maybe I am getting older and I am starting to lose my vision). It surely helped to blend in characters and sets, but it could have been more discrete at times.

It is actually refreshing for a while to sit through a story that is so openly discarding any consideration of gravity, acceleration, pressure, and other laws of physics. Unlike movies like Armageddon or Independance Day, which were misleadingly advertised as serious dramas, this one is fun to watch…. But then again, I loved ‘Mars Attacks’…

Maybe it is because of the incredible creative freedom provided by computer graphics special effects, or maybe it is because like Peter Jackson or Brian Singer, Gillermino DelToro cares about his subject – “hellboy” shows there is a hope for movie adaptations of comics or novels.

Like with “X-Men” or “The Lord of the Rings”, “Hellboy” is a joy to watch for a fan of Mignola’s creature.

Everything is there : crazy nazis, the absolute evil of Rasputin, the torments of Liz Sherman, the oddity of Abe Sapiens, and of course, Hellboy’s low key humor. There was a sense of jubilation watching Hellboy as a baby, and even better, witnessing him as a demon king contemplating the destruction of mankind.

The movie was a little slow at times, and probably difficult to follow without knowing the comics, but the mix of plot lines from several stories turned out to be a faithful adaptation of Hellboy’s universe. It doesn’t really matter that the story was not religiously identical to the comics, changes are easily forgiven when thedirector respects the original material.

Maybe now someone can take care of adaptations of H.P.Lovecraft’s stories that would be worth seeing. After “hellboy”, Cthulhu on screen feels just around the corner…

After the let down of the Matrix, it was comforting to see that such an epic project came out unspoiled. In spite of the missing scenes and changes to the characters, the Lord of the Rings remains a strong story, with heroes and monsters, braves and cowards, dark corners and flamboyant cities.

Like the first two chapters, the conclusion has its share of wining Bilbo (I still want to get up and shake him half of the time), slow and whispering Arwen (does she really have to whisper all the time ?), impossible stunts from Legolas and inside jokes from Gimly coming straight from a table of Dungeon and Dragons…. but who cares ? The irritating defaults of the movie are vastly overwhelmed by the mix of the rest of the movie. The music and the scenery play parts that are just as important as the actors themselves.

And for a change, here is a movie using computer graphics and special effects at the service of a story and not as a display of the latest shading techniques coming from a studio (Hulk anyone ?). The movie is this effective because the time right – the technology is here. How else would it be possible to express emotions through a dying eye wraped into flames ? or a spiraling battle of Eagles and Dragons ? or heavy rocks rolling across an army like in a bowling alley ?

Since  I read it about 15 years ago, I used to think about the Lord of the Rings as the standard of what is possible to show on a screen. I used to think they are getting closer… Lord of the Rings is possible. Now that the movie is here, anything is possible. Any story, no matter how ambitious and fantastic, is now possible. All it takes is commitment from movie studios and dedication from people who believe it can be done.

“Silly caucasian girl who likes to play with samurai swords…. “

It is rare these days why I get to spend some time in a movie theater. Even more rare when that time is spent keeping my jaw from hanging and telling to myself … Oh My God.

Kill Bill – Vol 1. was one of those movies. A movie that polarize whoever watch it – you either love it or hate it. There is no middle ground. The last one before that was Moulin Rouge… which I happened to love too. Go figure..

Where to even begin. The story of the revenge of the nameless bride against her former team mates, the Deadly Vipers Assassination Squad and her former employer, Bill, is outrageous, comical, and yet noble and sad throughout the movie.

The characters are tormented or mad, or both. The Bride lost her loved ones, including her unborn child on her wedding day and spent four year in a coma. She wakes up with an obsessive goal in mind – payback. Vernita Green is a deadly stay at home soccer mom. O-Ren Ishii watched her parents be executed by yakuza when she was a child. Fortunately for her, the murderer of her parents was a pedophile. She got even with him at 12 while he was trying to take advantage of her. Go-Go Yubari is an insane schoolgirl in uniform. Even the Man from Okinawa, Hattori Hanzo, is haunted by a promise to never make a sword to kill someone again. And finally, the Crazy 88, O-Ren Ishii’s private army.

The cheezy music from the  60s and 70s is as much a character as the others. It carries the movie as efficiently as the dialogs, playing on contrasts and enhancing the drama. Throw in some over the top gore effects, arms flying, heads splitting, and the mix becomes an electrifying story between Bruce Lee, Anime and Sergio Leone.

Favorite moments:

• Anime background story of O-Ren Ishii…. pure joy to watch
• Split screens dialogues
• Long shots of the brides’  toes
• The Pussy Wagon
• Interruption of the fight by little girl coming back from school on a bus
• Spanking of the last of the Crazy 88 …. “Go back to your mother”
• Go-Go Yubari gigling insanely  before smashing her flail into the bride’s shoulder
• Sound of water features in zen garden before the last fight
• O-Ren Ishii with the top of her skull missing
• Dialog between the Bride and Hattori Hanzo, the sword maker
• The Blip sounds each time the Bride says her name
• Arrival of O-Ren Ishii and her gang into the club
• O-Ren Ishii polite talk to the yakuza council after beheading one of their founding members
• Enio Morricone music in the background

Now… if the next movie doesn’t have a long scene of standoff under the sun, with close ups on the eyes of Michael Madsen’s sad eyes, I am going to be seriously disappointed..