Behind the 'Spirit' mask, a substantial career for actor Gabriel Macht (New York Daily News)

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

BY ETHAN SACKS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

December 19th 2008, 4:00 AM

Gabriel Macht as the title character in the comic book-inspired film 'The Spirit,' opening Friday.

Who was that masked man?

The star of "The Spirit," opening Friday, may not be as recognizable – with or without the mask – as castmates Samuel L. Jackson and Eva Mendes, but the strong-jawed Gabriel Macht is ready for his closeup.

To get in the head of a character grappling with identity issues even as he wrestled with the bad guys, Macht plastered every inch of his trailer with storyboards and Xeroxes of the 1940s comic strips by Will Eisner that the movie was based on.

"His trailer was full of Spirit-phanelia," marveled Jackson. "He was dealing with his identity crisis all the time."

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The threads of THE SPIRIT (Mania.com)

Image by Strandell via Flickr

By Rob M. Worley
December 19, 2008

When we left the cast and crew of 'The Spirit' yesterday , actor Dan Lauria (who plays commissioner Dolan in the film) expressed his enthusiasm for the wardrobe he had in director Frank Miller's modern noir vision of Will Eisner's comic.

"I loved the costume you picked out for me. Right out of Bart MacLane's closet," Lauria said, referring to the actor who appeared in over a hundred classic movies including 'The Maltese Falcon'.

Of course the most important costume to get right were the threads Gabriel Macht wore as The Spirit.

"I worked hard on Gabe’s costume because at first it looked really foolish, until we spruced you up with the black outfit and everything," Miller told reporters but credits costume designer Michael Dennison for bringing the leading man's look to fruition.

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Spirit stars at abandoned warehouse (The Press Association)

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Dec 4, 2008

The stars of comic book film adaptation The Spirit have appeared at an abandoned warehouse.

Rather than a Leicester Square premiere, Samuel L Jackson, Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johannson graced the red carpet at the Old Post Office in central London, ahead of the film's world premiere in New York next week.

Jackson, who plays The Octopus, said his character was the villain to The Spirit's eponymous superhero. "He's kind of crazy, kind of wild, kind of genius and he wants to be the biggest criminal in the world," he said.

Johannson and Mendes both play sexy female characters. Mendes, wearing a ruffled yellow Bill Blass dress and Louis Vuitton heels, said she enjoyed baring her flesh for the film.

"It's so fun because it's not me. The minute I think it's me I wig out but it's so not me. I'm playing a character so if I drop my towel and show my bum it's not my bum."

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NY Times on Frank Miller's "The Spirit" Movie: "108 overstuffed, interminable minutes"

By A. O. SCOTT

December 25, 2008

"... I’m just trying to figure out why, somewhere in the middle of “The Spirit,” Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson arrive on screen decked out in swastikas and jackboots. Nothing in the logic of the film explains it, but then, to use the phrase “the logic of the film” when talking about “The Spirit” may be to take the “oxy” out of “oxymoronic.”

To ask why anything happens in Frank Miller’s sludgy, hyper-stylized adaptation of a fabled comic book series by Will Eisner may be an exercise in futility. The only halfway interesting question is why the thing exists at all."

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Scarlett Johansson and company get The Spirit (National Post)

Scarlett Johansson image via Wikipedia

By Bob Thompson

National Post

December 13, 2008

Tobias Schwarz/ReutersScarlett Johansson, left, and Eva Mendes, will star in Frank Miller's the Spirit.

If you can't wait to catch The Spirit. You are not alone. For those who might not know, The Spirit is the Frank Miller live-action film version of the classic 1940s Will Eisner newspaper strip and subsequent comic book series.

Opening on Dec. 25, the movie arrives with lots of anticipation and a question; as in can Miller translate the 1940s noir images onto the big screen? At least Miller gets The Spirit. He was an Eisner friend. And his resume suits the challenge. Plus his intention to shoot the movie in the fancy Sin City CGI style made sense to just about everybody.

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Samuel L. Jackson Did His Own Makeup In The Spirit (io9.com)

By Meredith Woerner

Dec 17 2008

Director Frank Miller rewrote the Spirit script to accommodate ScarJo and let Samuel Jackson improvise — and even reinvent his character's look. We met the director and cast, and learned just how much they collaborated.

Letting Frank Miller gallop across The Spirit film set unedited opened the doors for the actors to do so as well. In a press conference for his newly released film The Spirit Miller described how one should adapt a comic to film:

As far as what translates from comics to film, I find that they are the better source material, and would cite marvel's recent Iron Man and Incredible Hulk as wonderful witty jobs at adapting them. I think if they get too presumptuous, comic book movies tend to fall apart.

That's all fine and dandy to say, Mr. Miller, but revelations throughout the conference revealed that you and your cast went a little willy nilly with changes and additions. Case in point: the lovely Scarlett Johansson's part, Silken Floss, was completely rewritten and expanded once the gorgeous ScarJo wanted in on the project. And that was only the beginning of the actors dictating changes to the movie.

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Samuel L Jackson's make-up fun (Metro.co.uk)

Samuel L. Jackson image by Getty Images via DaylifeFriday, December 5, 2008

Samuel L Jackson has revealed he enjoyed wearing make-up for his latest film role, in his words, "a little too much".

The actor, known for his tough guy roles, wears outlandish costumes, head gear and make-up to play villain The Octopus in The Spirit - a film adaptation of Will Eisner's comic books.

Speaking at the launch party for the film, directed by Frank Miller, Sam said: "Frank wanted the eight teardrops tattooed onto my face and the rest of it he kind of let me do, so when it came to eye colour or eye shadow or eyebrows.

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Video: Behind the Scenes on The Spirit (Ugo.com)

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The Modern Noir of THE SPIRIT (Mania.com)

By Rob M. Worley
December 18, 2008

When 'The Spirit' arrives in theaters on December 25^th, moviegoers will be invited into a world that comics-auteur turned filmmaker Frank Miller calls "modern noir." It's a Chandleresque place the evokes Hollywood's tough guys of old, but still holds the modern conveniences of the present day.

This is the cinematic realization of Will Eisner's Central City.

"I’m pretty much an encyclopedia of film noir," Miller told reporters at a recent press gathering for the film.

Actor Dan Lauria, who plays Commissioner Dolan in the film, is also a student of the genre and made it his mission to test Millers' acumen.

"I’m a thief. I mean, whenever I do anything I rob from an old actor that nobody remembers," Lauria admitted. "So, I told Frank the last play I did I was doing Richard Conte. Nobody knew who he was. So he said, 'Who are you doing in this movie?' And I said, 'Ah, you wouldn’t know him' and he said, 'No, try me out.' and I says 'Bart MacLane'.

"He listed every Bart MacLane movie. I couldn’t do one bit without him telling me what movie I’d stolen from."

"Frank actually told me you were doing Dane Clark," Gabriel Macht, who plays Denny Colt, a.k.a. The Spirt, chimes in. However, the leading man agrees that the modern noir vibe helped shape his performance.

"I think tone is really important and I think this film is a great blend of what Eisner and Frank was able to create," said Macht. "There is a bit of the Raymond Chandler gumshoe detective. I think if you are not honest in your approach to the material it could get slapsticky and it could get schticky. We didn’t go there. I think, what’s up there on the screen, what we were able to get is a little bit more extreme in the sense that it’s a comic book movie."

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Johansson und Mendes stellen neuen Film vor (Welt Online)

Großansicht

Berlin (dpa/bb) - Zur Abwechslung mal ganz brav: Adrett und hochgeschlossen zeigten sich am Montag die US-Schauspielerinnen Scarlett Johansson (24) und Eva Mendes (34) bei der Vorstellung ihres neuen Films in Berlin. Dabei spielen die beiden Frauen in der Comic- Verfilmung «The Spirit» des amerikanischen Zeichners Will Eisner sehr erotische Rollen. Der Streifen von Regisseur Frank Miller («Sin City») erzählt die Geschichte eines jungen Polizisten (Gabriel Macht), der auf mysteriöse Weise vom Tod ins Leben zurückkehrt, um als «Spirit» (Geist) das Verbrechen in seiner Stadt Central City zu bekämpfen. Filmstart ist am 29. Januar.

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Getting into THE SPIRIT - A Mania Exclusive interview with Gabriel Macht

Gabriel Macht image via Wikipedia

By: Rob Vaux

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Gabriel Macht has been active in film, theater, and television for most of the last decade, starting with a role on the original Beverly Hills 90210. He has since been seen in such films as Behind Enemy Lines, The Recruit, A Love Song for Bobby Long, and The Good Shepherd. It took Frank Miller to give him a starring part, however: he's slated to appear as resurrected cop Denny Colt in Will Eisner's The Spirit, due for release Christmas Day. In an exclusive interview with Mania.com, Macht talked about stepping into the character's shoes, as well as working with Miller and meeting the expectations of a new generation of comic book films.

Question: How did you get involved with the project? Were you a big comics fan going in?

Gabriel Macht: I wasn't a crazy comic book fan, but I was a big fan of comic book movies. My agent sent me into this audition without saying much about it. It was only when I got in there that I found out it was for Frank Miller. My interest level jumped up by about a factor of 10. I had loved the Sin City movie and the 300 movie both, and suddenly here's the guy who created them introducing himself to me. I think every actor wants to work for someone with a vision, and Frank's is one of the strongest I've ever seen. I jumped on the Will Eisner stuff once I got the part, but in the early stages, what we had were Frank's storyboards for the film. And they were so clear and so beautiful and gave such a tremendous impression of where he wanted to go with this movie. We established a great chemistry right away--almost as soon as I read for it--and while the auditioning process was fairly long, I would get more and more excited about it with each step I took.

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Review - 30 minutes of Frank Miller's The Spirit (DenOfGeek.com)

Image by yotambientengosuperpoderes via Flickr

By Michael Leader

We've been to see some new footage from January's new comic-movie release...

Frank Miller's directorial debut, The Spirit, has been attracting a lot of fanboy rage and geek disdain. Adapted from the weekly newspaper comic by industry innovator Will Eisner, it is set to be the most divisive comic book movie of the year, putting a cap on what has been a superlative 12 months for heroes (super or otherwise) on the silver screen.

I just had the opportunity to see a preview clip-reel of the film, which consisted of short, less-than-5-minute segments, punctuated by introductory and explanatory sections from Deborah DelPrete, one of the producers. I'll save my overflowing emotions for later, let me give you the long and short of what we were allowed to see, in stylish prose.

Clip 1. Opening scene, plus credits. The Spirit (Gabriel Macht) gets a call (on his cell phone!) from Detective Sussman, telling him to get down to the docks. As the opening credits flash across the screen, The Spirit embarks: first through the cemetery, then atop apartment blocks - a black silhouette, with a red tie standing out in the night-time dark. A lone harmonica plays, building up to a full-blown rousing strings theme straight out of the Danny Elfman superhero theme text book. As he jumps from roof to roof, The Spirit speaks to his city through a voice-over - 'my city... she's there for me... my sweetheart... my play-thing'. He detours, after hearing a scream, and makes short work of the two goons holding up a dame in an alleyway. As he bids the girl farewell, she gasps at the sight of a knife in his back, and at the dismissive way he tugs it out and discards it. 'What are you?' she whispers; The Spirit looks confused, contemplative, and leaves without an answer. A cop sidles up to her, 'that's The Spirit'.

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The Spirit Movie Visual Companion

Frank Miller, Mark Cotta Vaz

Cinema : Colour · Hardback · 11in x 8.5in · 9781845768324 ·
December 2008

Will Eisner’s classic comics character makes the leap to the screen in this spectacular new live-action movie written and directed by Frank Miller (Sin City, 300), and starring Gabriel Macht as The Spirit, Samuel L. Jackson as his psychotic arch-nemesis The Octopus, and Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson as alluring femmes fatales.

In Central City, one man fights crime using nothing but his wits and his fists. He wears a mask, a suit and a fedora, and he is known only as The Spirit...

This stunning volume contains interviews with the cast and the crew, color photos & production art, and Frank Miller sketches and storyboards.

CONTENTS:

Introduction by Frank Miller

Chapter One - The Shadow of The Spirit
Chapter Two - The Comic Book Movie
Chapter Three - Never World
Chapter Four - Cast of Characters
Chapter Five - The Green World and Black World
Chapter Six - The Bunker
Chapter Seven - The Death of The Spirit
Chapter Eight - The Spirit Lives

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What’s so special about The Spirit? A review of The Spirit Special #1 (WednesdaysHaul.com)

By Scott Cederlund

November 25th, 2008

In a little over a month, you may end up seeing a movie called The Spirit. People are going to tell you how it’s directed by Frank Miller, creator of 300 and Sin City, to establish his comic book movie pedigree. They’ll probably even throw in the fact that Miller co-directed Sin City as well to bolster Miller’s cinematic credentials. They may even to tell you that The Spirit is based on an old and rather famous comic book by some guy named Will Eisner to try and give the movie a sense of history and importance. And in honor of this Christmas’s big movie release, DC has put out The Spirit Special #1, featuring four stories that presumably tie into the movie somehow.

The first story “Sign of the Octopus” from 1947 feels like it may be the closest in tone and mood to the movie if the movie’s trailer is any indication. Caught and beaten, the Spirit is basically tortured into giving up the whereabouts of a safe full of money. It’s a surprisingly brutal story from the late 1940s, complete with exploding grenades right under a henchman’s body and a bloody bat used to beat the Spirit but it is a reminder that The Spirit does live in a dirty and physical world. This issue features the Spirit’s enemy the Octopus who is played in the movie by Samuel L. Jackson. As what may be a sign that Miller doesn’t get it, Eisner never shows more of the Octopus than his arm. The character remains a mystery, always hidden in doorways, windows and shadows. He’s a threat but he’s never defined clearly. The Octopus is certainly not Shaft and was never trapped on a plane with snakes.

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Now, That's the Spirit (The Barer Cave)

Image by Getty Images
via DaylifeFrom DANNY BARER:

While I do wish the best to Frank Miller's movie version of THE SPIRIT, opening next month, I must say that the ads so far have not filled me with confidence. Yes, Miller was creator Will Eisner's friend, and his disciple, and much of Miller's comic book work has been, er, spiritually attuned to Eisner's. One of my favorite recollections of the Golden Apple Comics store in Hollywood is of the mid-1980's Saturday afternoon when I saw Miller -- who just weeks before had been feted at the same store for the release of THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, with lines stretching out the door as fans waited hours for his autograph -- slipping into the store without fanfare, and buying the latest issue of Kitchen Sink Press's reprint of THE SPIRIT.

But those ads. The most recent features the Spirit's arch-foe, the Octopus. Eisner's Octopus was a criminal mastermind whose true face was never seen, who stood behind curtains or went about in disguise, his only distinguishing feature his gloves with three fat vertical lines on the back. In the latest ad, Samuel L. Jackson, as the Octopus, has the gloves; but he also has outrageous mascara, and platform boots, and, well, a pimp coat. Stuff like this makes me suspect that the SPIRIT movie might meet the same fate as SPEED RACER.

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CBM Exclusive Sand Serif Spirit Wallpaper (ComicBookMovies.com)

Regardless of how the movie turns out, the one thing that can't be denied is that Frank Miller has got some of the hottest women in Hollywood for his upcoming "The Spirit" comic book adaptation.

Be sure and check out ComicBookMovies.com's The Spirit wallpaper area to see the new exclusive Sand Serif wallpaper, but also all of the "official" wallpapers that we could get our hands on!

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No Kool-Aid for Spirit Fans (Destructo Co.)

Image by Strandell via FlickrPosted by Mr. Stratford

I’ve got to admit, I never read The Spirit until they first announced the movie was going into production. Since then, I’ve picked it up a few times and haven’t really been impressed, let alone entertained enough to keep buying it. [However, if anyone cares to recommend a particular collection or time frame to read, I’d be willing to give it another try.] Therefore, I find it a little hard to care all that much when people start talking about how much Frank Miller has altered The Spirit for his film.

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Frank Miller: Will Eisner's 'The Spirit' moved him (Los Angeles Times)

Image by Strandell via FlickrBy Geoff Boucher
November 2, 2008

Reporting from San Francisco -- No comic-book creator has seen his work brought to the screen with more reverence than Frank Miller, whose ultra-violent graphic novels "300" and "Sin City" were adapted to film practically panel by panel. "It is very strange," Miller said, "to draw something and then have it come alive in front of you. You start to feel like a low-rent god, but, in my case, one with major feet of clay. . . . "

This minor deity, who favors fedoras and Winston cigarettes, is now attempting a new type of Hollywood trick and it starts on Christmas Day, no less; that's the release date of " The Spirit," the superhero film that Miller hopes will complete his unlikely transformation from comic-book artist to successful movie director, a career path that did not seem possible even at the start of this decade. "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man" may have racked up historic box-office numbers this summer, but if Miller succeeds with this particular pop-culture leap, it will be the most dramatic proof that comics have become hard-wired into the circuitry of Hollywood.

Interestingly, Miller, the most important comic-book artist of the last 25 years, chose to make his solo directorial debut with somebody else's superhero, and a relatively obscure and vintage one at that. The Spirit was created in 1940 by the late, great Will Eisner, a beloved figure in comics who brought a cinematic flair to his drawing board that influenced several generations. No one admired Eisner more than Miller -- in 2005, shortly after Eisner's death, the book "Eisner/Miller" hit shelves with 350 pages of collected conversation between the artists as a sort of comic-book sector version of the landmark 1967 film book "Hitchcock/Truffaut."

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Not The Spirit! New "Watchmen" Trailer (Trailer Addict.com)

Tired of speculation over how bad Frank Miller's The Spirit movie might be? Enjoy this second trailer from the Watchmen movie, which looks amazing.

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Frank Miller, Don't Read This, Part 14 (i09.com)

"Most of the people eagerly awaiting the Frank Miller-ized movie of Will Eisner's amazing comic The Spirit have never actually read the original comic. So they probably don't have a sense for the difference between the comic and Miller's campy Sin City-esque vision for the film version. So as a public service, we're presenting the best 12 splash pages featuring Will Eisner's masked hero, to show once and for all why Miller can't hope to bring their genius to life.

"From the visuals we've seen so far, Miller's distinctive vision seems to have scrapped the rapidly switching genre for his own usual film noir feel, as you can see in the poster at left. The high profile of the Spirit's female paramours also marks a shift from the original comic. There's also a major emphasis on a villain who's never directly represented in the comics, Samuel L. Jackson's The Octopus. Yet there was considerable brilliance in the original strip's directors of photography. Pioneer Will Eisner and his legendary group of collaborators pushed the form forwards in stunning artwork that deserves to be seen by all."
— By Alex Carnevale, writing at io9.com, "12 Splash Will Convince You Frank Miller Shouldn't Adapt The Spirit." Click HERE to Keep Reading!

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