Got in to work at 7AM yesterday so that I could take off a little earlier (after a weirdish week). Took the newly discovered 168 bus up the hill. (What convenience! Since I somehow hurt my foot earlier in the week, and have been hobbling around ever since, this was a welcome development.) Went to the Paramount and bought my ticket for the "300".
Since moving to the hated 'burbs yea 3 years ago, my movie attendance has gone down the toilet, especially as I try to reconcile work, school, commute times, plus those of HCW(tm).
But this was one new movie I was not going to miss seeing at the theatre. For 2 reasons.
I absolutely loved Frank MIller's Sin City. Saw it at the theatre. Bought the DVD. Tossed the DVD out (or rather gave it to Guy-doune) when the Extended version came out, and then savoured that one too.
When I collected comics as youngster, I absolutely loved Frank Miller's work on Daredevil, Wolverine, Elektra, Batman and others. Both the stories, and especially the artwork. I had not read the Sin City book or the 300 series of comics for that matter either. But I knew what to expect in terms of cinematic style and visuals.
Funny, enough, I read the NY TImes review of the movie yesterday morning. The reviewer, A.O. Scott, in this case seemed to completely miss the point. He battered the movie for its over "manliness" and the violence. No that it wasn't either. But that is not the question.
The movie was a stylized, exaggerated recounting of a legendary encounter between two peoples, with larger than life characters. That was all it was supposed to be, and that was what it was. The source of the movie was a comic book, and that is what comic books offer. Escapism, and much more.
And the reviewer was criticizing the movie for doing just that. Oh well.
So I grabbed my ticket, and a coupon for a Coke and hot dog combo and made my way upstairs for avery enjoyable 2 hours of great visuals, wonderful larger than life characters demonstrating a sense of honour and nobility of purpose that one rarely sees today. It works for me.
'nuff said.