Permanent Damage by Steven Grant (Comic Book Resources)

" Frank Miller's style, in his early DAREDEVIL work, could easily be dismissed as an amalgam of thefts from Will Eisner, Steve Ditko and Gil Kane..."

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The Spirit (Movie Review; The National, Abu Dhabi)

Rating:

By Fatima Mulla

The National
August 24. 2009 6:17PM UAE / August 24. 2009

“Pardon me, but is there a point to all this?” the protagonist laments in one scene and the viewer can’t help but agree. How could 90 minutes be spent watching such a pointless movie? Here’s an explanation of how ludicrous the movie is: The Spirit (Gabriel Macht), a cop brought back from the dead, has an eerie obsession with protecting his city. With his idiosyncratic red tie, black mask and hat, The Spirit is well known around the city – especially among the women. He is also the obsession of his arch enemy, The Octopus (Samuel L Jackson). The hero and villain always put on a “dog-and-pony show” (as the police commissioner likes to put it) both suffering injuries yet always surviving in the end. During the end of a routine brawl, The Octopus appears to know the reason behind this immortality. The Spirit, curious to find out what he really is, searches the hideout of The Octopus to find some answers and end him once and for all. Meanwhile, The Octopus and his accomplice, Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson), try retrieving an immortal-aiding substance from Sand Saref (Eva Mendes) who just happens to be The Spirit’s old flame. Based on the comic-book series by Will Eisner and produced by the creator of Sin City and 300, this movie, however, is an absolute waste of time with a ridiculous script filled with punning lines that lack humour. The real joke, surely, is the impressive cast. One can’t help but wonder how these actors ever considered taking part in such an ill-conceived story.

Nope, 'The Spirit' movie doesn't work in Zaire, either (Post Online)

All-star cast cannot save story
2009/09/04

BASED on the graphic novel by Will Eisner, this film is a prime example of the film makers spending too much on the visual effects and the cast’s salaries, and not paying enough attention to telling a decent story.

Given that it is directed by Frank Miller, the man behind Sin City and 300, you will know what to expect visually – although real actors are used, it has the feel of reading a graphic novel, complete with all the comic book violence.

Told in film noir style, it focuses on the rivalry between The Spirit (Gabriel Macht) and The Octopus (Samuel L Jackson), two immortals with super powers who regularly beat each other senseless, even if they are unable to kill each other. There’s also a sub-plot involving The Spirit’s childhood sweetheart Sand Seref (Eva Mendes) who has now turned evil and is seeking to get her hands on the Golden Fleece from ancient mythology.

At the same time The Octopus is trying to get the blood of Hercules. Don’t ask why, it doesn’t make much sense.

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Live Blog -THE SPIRIT (Movie)

By Jay Stringer

August 22, 2009

You know the drill. I’m watching a film, and commenting on it as i go.

My spelling will get bad. My grammar will be non existent. But who needs those things, anyway?

I like to do introductions before a live blog. A little context to my history with the character or property. But to be truthful, in this instance its more the creator that i’ve had a long term connection to. Sure, if you’re into noir, hardboiled fiction and comics, you have to love Will Eisner. The man was a visionary, a genius, and a pioneer of the medium. His work with THE SPIRIT still stands as some of the best work done in the funny books, racist wharts and all. BUT for any person of my generation, the name FRANK MILLER carried weight long before WILL EISNER.

I’ve written before of my fragile six year old mind being warped by mr Miller. I’ve never been a fan of THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, but his BATMAN: YEAR ONE and DAREDEVIL :BORN AGAIN are as good as it gets. I spent a long time arguing that hollywood needed a dose of Miller. Then it got one and……ahem. I know the exact moment i started to lose faith in him. Is was with oe single comic book, BATMAN VS SPAWN. It was bad. And i don’t just mean bad, i mean this thing was almost enough to drive me away from comics. Anywhoo….on with the show.

ROLL CREDITS!!!!

-Hey, it’s a left over Danny Elfman score. Or if it isn’t, it should be.

-Oh no. Scrap that. It was a false alarm. Straight into a flatline on the screen with some creepy music.

-Hey, word to the wise? Anyone who introduces themselves with the words “i am death”, is probably not Death. Especially if she’s in her underwear.

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Frank Miller's BUCK ROGERS Kaput? (Mania.com)

By Rob M. Worley
May 13, 2009
Mania.com
Source: Various

In what appears to be, in part, fallout from the underperformance of Frank Miller's 'The Spirit', Variety reports that Odd Lot Entertainment chief Deborah Del Prete is paring ways with the company after 23 years.

According to Variety's sources, the spectacular crash-and-burn of the comic-based movie is a contributing factor, although Odd Lot CEO Gigi Pritzker denies that it is the sole reason behind the departure. Indeed, Odd Lot has embarked on a multiyear first-look deal with Del Prete's new shingle Coronet Films.

Also contained in the article is mention that Del Prete and Pritzker have "moved off" of plans to have Frank Miller direct the revamp of 'Buck Rogers'. However, that shouldn't be taken as a sign that they're swearing off the comic-creator-turned-filmmaker.

"Frank was a fantastic partner, and while everybody was disappointed the film didn't perform better, it wasn't the end of the world," Pritzker said. "You always try to mitigate risk, but this is a very mercurial business and you take a swing and sometimes you don't hit it. At the end of the day, we'll be OK. Certainly, when things don't go as planned, it presents an opportunity for people to step back and think about where you are going. Deborah and I have been together for 23 years, and we've been fortunate enough to enjoy many triumphs, but we had the desire to go in different directions. We are friends as well as partners and we will continue to do projects together."

Lessons from bad movies - "The Spirit" (The Bitter Script Reader)

This weekend I Netflixed a film I knew better than to spend $12 on when it was in wide release - Frank Miller's The Spirit. I'd seen the presentation for this film at last year's Comic Con, where one previewed scene played so horribly to the audience that the producer was practically apologizing for it after running the clip. I knew I shouldn't spend theatre prices on this turkey, but it immediately earned a place in my Netflix queue.

Most of the major critics took their shots at this one back when it first came out, so I'm not going to waste time with a broad review. Also, I've never really followed the Will Eisner comic upon which this is based, so I can't speak too deeply to the film's fidelity to the source material. Still even with the limited exposure I've had to the comics, I can tell that visually, the film looks nothing like Eisner's vision. It looks more like... well... Sin City, which Miller co-directed with Robert Rodriguez.

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The Spirit Movie (The Onion, A.V. Club)

by Tasha Robinson April 28, 2009

Crimes:

• Turning Will Eisner’s iconic series about a heroic Boy Scout type into an overwrought, sexed-up noir version of Frank Miller’s Dark Knight books

• Echoing the all-green-screen, high-contrast, slo-mo-then-sped-up look of 300 and Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow, for an aesthetic that looks cheap and shallow

• Having no sense of pacing or momentum

• Giving the actors terrible, cheesy lines, then letting them get away with horrifically flat or cartoonishly emphatic line-readings

Defenders: Writer-director Frank Miller, producer Deborah Del Prete

Tone of commentary: Playful, teasing, collegial, and weirdly at odds with the film’s overwrought, fakey grittiness. Both participants sound like they’re constantly on the verge of laughter, with Del Prete frequently giggling. Their verbal volleying is cheesy, but they’re far more lighthearted and fun to spend time with than the movie is: When Miller turns up in a bit role, Del Prete says “Oh, look at that actor! We had to go very far and wide to find the actor to play this role.” Miller responds “Isn’t that Anthony Hopkins?” Del Prete cracks up. Later, when his character is decapitated, she brings his role up again. Miller says gravely, “Deborah is not a nice woman.” She cackles again and ripostes “I’m lovely.”

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“You belong to the city, you belong to the night…” (Random Access)

Random Access: Tonight was Date Night. As it was a cold evening, we wound up staying in and watching CSI: and a Redbox movie.

For our movie, we opted for The Spirit. Despite many a bad review, I still wanted to see it and SaraRules, God bless ‘er, was kind enough to indulge me.

Wow.

It was… something. I believe that loonybin88 would refer to it as “a flaming pile of poo.”

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‘The Spirit’ Rocks as Cutting-Edge Retro Ride (DVD Planet)

From DVDPlanet: "I seem to recall critics generally panning “The Spirit” and audiences avoiding it. I just don’t know why. I want a sequel."

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Sucking "The Spirit" Out of Will Eisner's Vision (The Stute)

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

My city screams...for better plot development

Matt Neuteboom

3/20/09

Did you manage to catch a viewing of "Watchmen" while on Spring Break? If you're a Stevens student, that should be an automatic "yes." While I would love to sit down and dissect the ups and downs of that brilliant movie, this week it is my unfortunate privilege to review a different comic book movie: "The Spirit."

I wish "The Spirit" was half as awesome as Watchmen, but the two simply cannot be compared. "The Spirit" is Frank Miller's creative reinterpretation of Will Eisner's post-WWII comic about an ex-detective named Danny Colt who returns from the dead as the superhero The Spirit (Gabriel Macht). The Spirit seems to be some sort of weird Batman spin-off, except for the fact that he walks around in broad daylight and his closest friend is a cat.

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‘The Spirit’ Producers Explore The Origins Of Will Eisner’s Femme Fatales, And We Get The Scoop! (Splash Page MTV)

By Rick Marshall
February 10, 2009
Splash Page MTV

This week, the producers of Frank Miller’s big-screen adaptation of “The Spirit” return to Will Eisner’s classic hero with a three-part story that kicks off in issue #26 of DC’s ongoing “The Spirit” comic book series — but this time, their focus will be on the hero’s notorious femme fatales. MTV News sat down for a chat with film and comics veteran Michael Uslan and his longtime creative partner F.J. DeSanto to discuss their upcoming run on “The Spirit” and why an examination of the series’ leading ladies is way past due.

“This is the most daunting, challenging, terrifying thing I have ever done in my career,” said Uslan of taking the reins on DC’s “The Spirit” series — no throwaway remark, given Uslan’s role as producer of all the various Batman movies (as well as many other comics-inspired films of the last few decades) and his long list of comics writing credits.

“To me, The Spirit is the greatest creative work ever to come out of the comic book industry,” Uslan told MTV News. (Read on for more from Uslan and DeSanto on their three-part story arc in “The Spirit.”)

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TV Stars * TV Producers * Movie Stars * Movie Directors, Producers, documentary Filmmakers and Screenwriters * Politicians and Political Writers * Stand-Up Comedians * Health Experts * Magazine Editors * Radio Stars * Bloggers, Podcasters and Web Producers * Novelists * Musicians and Music Journalists * Sexuality Experts * Culture and Society Experts * Food Experts * Biographers, Historians and A.J. Jacobs * Athletes and Sports Experts * Photographers * Journalists * Crime Experts * CEOs and Business Experts * Comic Book Creators * Cartoonists * Will Eisner Co-Workers, Friends and Experts

‘The Spirit’ DVD And Blu-Ray Specs Released, Including Alternate Ending & BD Live Features (Splash Page MTV)

By Rick Marshall
February 2, 2009
Splash Page MTV

It feels like just yesterday we were telling you about this upcoming film based on Will Eisner’s “The Spirit” comics, but time flies when you’re covering the goings-on in the comics and movie scenes.

The last we heard from “The Spirit” crew, they were discussing the sequel potential for Frank Miller’s interpretation of Eisner’s classic character and his universe. Now, we have all the specs for the film’s April 14 release on DVD and Blu-Ray posted after the jump — including an alternate ending for the film and the debut of “Lionsgate Live” online elements. What a world, eh?

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TV Stars * TV Producers * Movie Stars * Movie Directors, Producers, documentary Filmmakers and Screenwriters * Politicians and Political Writers * Stand-Up Comedians * Health Experts * Magazine Editors * Radio Stars * Bloggers, Podcasters and Web Producers * Novelists * Musicians and Music Journalists * Sexuality Experts * Culture and Society Experts * Food Experts * Biographers, Historians and A.J. Jacobs * Athletes and Sports Experts * Photographers * Journalists * Crime Experts * CEOs and Business Experts * Comic Book Creators * Cartoonists * Will Eisner Co-Workers, Friends and Experts

Creatively Speaking: Will Eisner’s Spirit Speaks! (Mental Floss)

Will Eisner image via Wikipedia

by David K. Israel

Mental Floss

January 7, 2009

Will Eisner, the creator of The Spirit comic series, is in the house today. Well, not exactly. As you might know, Will died some years ago. But we were fortunate enough to get an interview with the man who runs Will Eisner Studios, the curator of his estate, Will’s nephew Carl Gropper. Frank Miller (Sin City, 300) has a new film out based on the Eisner character, so we thought it would be a good time to learn a little more about the man some credit with creating the first graphic novel, the man who the comic industry awards are named after (The Eisner). Check out the interview with Gropper below.

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TV Stars * TV Producers * Movie Stars * Movie Directors, Producers, documentary Filmmakers and Screenwriters * Politicians and Political Writers * Stand-Up Comedians * Health Experts * Magazine Editors * Radio Stars * Bloggers, Podcasters and Web Producers * Novelists * Musicians and Music Journalists * Sexuality Experts * Culture and Society Experts * Food Experts * Biographers, Historians and A.J. Jacobs * Athletes and Sports Experts * Photographers * Journalists * Crime Experts * CEOs and Business Experts * Comic Book Creators * Cartoonists * Will Eisner Co-Workers, Friends and Experts

"The Spirit" movie coverage in The New Yorker

Image via Wikipedia

By Tad Friend

The New Yorker

“The Spirit,” based on an obscure Will Eisner comic strip from the nineteen-forties, was Lionsgate’s attempt to build a tent-pole franchise. Frank Miller, the celebrated comic-book author, had written and directed a moody, snowy, sumptuous film about a masked charmer with a self-healing body who lives to protect his city. Palen produced a crescendo of three trailers, and everything from “Spirit” trading cards to snow globes to iPhone applications.

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TV Stars * TV Producers * Movie Stars * Movie Directors, Producers, documentary Filmmakers and Screenwriters * Politicians and Political Writers * Stand-Up Comedians * Health Experts * Magazine Editors * Radio Stars * Bloggers, Podcasters and Web Producers * Novelists * Musicians and Music Journalists * Sexuality Experts * Culture and Society Experts * Food Experts * Biographers, Historians and A.J. Jacobs * Athletes and Sports Experts * Photographers * Journalists * Crime Experts * CEOs and Business Experts * Comic Book Creators * Cartoonists * Will Eisner Co-Workers, Friends and Experts

Write Now: RIP February 2009 (Magazine Death Pool)

I'm sorry that this magazine died, but this post announcing its demise on Magazine Death Pool made me laugh:

Write Now!: RIP February 2009

After a mere 20 issues over six years, Write Now! magazine, geared for "writers of comics, animation and sci-fi" closed down.

If I put the lame film version of The Spirit on my cover, I'd worry about carrying on too.

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Movie Review: THE SPIRIT (KyleBaker.com)

Image by Strandell via Flickr

By Kyle Baker

KyleBaker.com

I am appalled and outraged by director Frank Miller’s lack of respect for not one but two cartooning Legends; Will Eisner, and Eisner's beloved creation The Spirit.

To treat such icons with irreverence is beyond reprehensible. To tarnish a character beloved by millions, both young and old is… hubris is not a strong enough word. Evil. That’s it. Miller is evil.

There is a reason the Spirit has long been one of the most popular cartoon characters in the world. A reason children repeat his well-known catch phrase. A reason Eisner’s stories have so often been adapted into movies, television, and toys since the character’s debut. But Miller has no respect for Eisner’s winning formula, Miller refuses to stick with what works.

Miller seems to think that merely because his own stark visual technique was embraced by millions of fans in hugely successful films and books, we will want to see him do what he is famous for yet again. Miller’s use of heavy black shadows is completely inappropriate for The Spirit’s world, and betrays a complete disdain for the source material, which should be rendered in a more chiaroscuro style, as this illustration shows:

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TV Stars * TV Producers * Movie Stars * Movie Directors, Producers, documentary Filmmakers and Screenwriters * Politicians and Political Writers * Stand-Up Comedians * Health Experts * Magazine Editors * Radio Stars * Bloggers, Podcasters and Web Producers * Novelists * Musicians and Music Journalists * Sexuality Experts * Culture and Society Experts * Food Experts * Biographers, Historians and A.J. Jacobs * Athletes and Sports Experts * Photographers * Journalists * Crime Experts * CEOs and Business Experts * Comic Book Creators * Cartoonists * Will Eisner Co-Workers, Friends and Experts

On Christmas Day, Vermonter's 'Spirit' comes to life (TimesArgus.com)

The Spirit image by TCM Hitchhiker via Flickr

By Daniel Barlow

Vermont Press Bureau

December 24, 2008

MONTPELIER – During a recent interview to promote his film adaptation of Will Eisner's "The Spirit" comic strip, Frank Miller remembered first discovering reprints of the cartoonist's work in a small drugstore in Barre.

"I was 14 years old, driving my bicycle in Vermont, and I would go to two drug stores to buy all my comic books," Miller told the Film Journal International earlier this month. "And at the second drug store in Barre, Vt., I came across this oversized magazine that was in black-and-white and I was entranced."

That comic was a 1970s reprint of Eisner's work decades earlier on "The Spirit," which ran for 12 years as a supplement to newspapers' Sunday comics section. Miller quickly devoured Eisner's work – forever influencing his own artistic direction.

More than 30 years later, Miller, who grew up in the Barre area and attended high school in Montpelier, brings his own version of "The Spirit" to the big screen on Christmas Day. The film stars Gabriel Macht as Denny Colt, a police officer who fights crime as the masked, noirish Spirit.

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TV Stars * TV Producers * Movie Stars * Movie Directors, Producers, documentary Filmmakers and Screenwriters * Politicians and Political Writers * Stand-Up Comedians * Health Experts * Magazine Editors * Radio Stars * Bloggers, Podcasters and Web Producers * Novelists * Musicians and Music Journalists * Sexuality Experts * Culture and Society Experts * Food Experts * Biographers, Historians and A.J. Jacobs * Athletes and Sports Experts * Photographers * Journalists * Crime Experts * CEOs and Business Experts * Comic Book Creators * Cartoonists * Will Eisner Co-Workers, Friends and Experts

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• Samuel Jackson's bad to the bone in The Spirit (canada.com)

Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist @ Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, Jan. 19, 2009

Image via Wikipedia

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (http://www.ajff.org/) will be showing Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist, at Lefont Sandy Springs, on Monday, Jan 19, 2009, 4:40pm. It's possible a representative from ASIFA-Atlanta will introduce the film and do a Q&A. This will be the Atlanta premiere of the film, which is a documentary on Will Eisner. Mark Mayerson writes about it here:

http://mayersononanimation.blogspot.com/2008/05/will-eisner-portrait-of-sequential.html

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'The Spirit' employs Crestline, Ohio, company's special effects (Cleveland.com)

by Julie E. Washington/Plain Dealer Reporter

Tuesday December 30, 2008, 3:24 PM

Lionsgate Films"The Spirit," in theaters now, uses special effects from a Crestline, Ohio, company, Precinct 13.

CRESTLINE -- Superman's got his cape, Batman rocks a cowl and the Spirit protects his secret identity with a mask. "The Spirit" director Frank Miller turned to an Ohio special-effects company, Precinct 13, to design the trademark mask for his film adaptation of the Will Eisner comic.

"Frank had very specific ideas about what he wanted," said makeup-effects supervisor Al Tuskes, who lives in Lakewood. The mask had to hold its shape and mold exactly to actor Gabriel Macht's face, and it had to look like something that the Spirit made himself.

Working from a life mask of Macht's face, Precinct 13 sculptor Gino Crognale designed the mask, and Tuskes replicated 80 masks by hand out of sculpted foam.

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TV Stars * TV Producers * Movie Stars * Movie Directors, Producers, documentary Filmmakers and Screenwriters * Politicians and Political Writers * Stand-Up Comedians * Health Experts * Magazine Editors * Radio Stars * Bloggers, Podcasters and Web Producers * Novelists * Musicians and Music Journalists * Sexuality Experts * Culture and Society Experts * Food Experts * Biographers, Historians and A.J. Jacobs * Athletes and Sports Experts * Photographers * Journalists * Crime Experts * CEOs and Business Experts * Comic Book Creators * Cartoonists * Will Eisner Co-Workers, Friends and Experts

That's The Spirit! (National Post)

Image via Wikipedia

Frank Miller's noir craftsmanship inspired actresses Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes to embrace the femme-fatale flourishes of his newest film

Bob Thompson

National Post

December 22, 2008

The renowned graphic novelist Frank Miller knows how to write about anxiety, but he might have trouble dealing with his own as the opening of The Spirit approaches.

The Spirit is Miller's much anticipated live-action film version of the classic 1940s Will Eisner newspaper strip and subsequent comic book series. Opening on Christmas Day, the movie arrives with an important question: Can Miller --on his first solo directorial effort -- translate the stylish 1940s noir images onto the big screen?

There's a good chance he can. For one thing, Miller appreciates The Spirit's creative origins. He was an Eisner friend and associate, and admits that he based some of his more popular graphic novels on Eisner's tones and textures. Miller also codirected and co-wrote the digital Sin City film with Robert Rodriguez and penned the popular graphic novels Sin City and 300 (the movie became a worldwide hit). And Miller also famously made over Batman as the brooding Dark Knight in comics that inspired Christopher Nolan's hit movies Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

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TV Stars * TV Producers * Movie Stars * Movie Directors, Producers, documentary Filmmakers and Screenwriters * Politicians and Political Writers * Stand-Up Comedians * Health Experts * Magazine Editors * Radio Stars * Bloggers, Podcasters and Web Producers * Novelists * Musicians and Music Journalists * Sexuality Experts * Culture and Society Experts * Food Experts * Biographers, Historians and A.J. Jacobs * Athletes and Sports Experts * Photographers * Journalists * Crime Experts * CEOs and Business Experts * Comic Book Creators * Cartoonists * Will Eisner Co-Workers, Friends and Experts

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The Spirit's Sidekick (ComicBookMovie.com)

An early incarnation of the Spirit’s sidekick has been the center of controversy for many years. Here’s a look at the past issue the character faced.

Whether you agree with Frank Miller’s interpretation of the character, see eye to eye with the film’s similarity to his Sin City’s, or believe he butchered Eisner’s masterpiece, The Spirit has dealt with serious issues. The Spirit is considered to be one of the first comics with serious adult tones, creating a road for mainstream comics.

In the series’ living city, its inhabitants were always occupied with things. Whether they were criminals wanting to thieve, or female fatales in New York- style tenants, the people always had drama to deal with. According to Eisner, it “gave [him] an adult audience.” He managed to fill the pages with dramatic stories that were crime-noir dramas that had adventure, love stories, mystery and sometimes horror, and of course its noted humor.

One of the comedic elements that Eisner tried to inhibit was through The Spirit’s sidekick. Ebony White, an African-American citizen growing up in the harsh city, would constantly aid the masked hero. Not necessarily a sidekick like Robin or Bucky who would help the hero fight, but more of an Alfred/Jarvis assistant who would help in tough situations and drive him around in a taxi.

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TV Stars * TV Producers * Movie Stars * Movie Directors, Producers, documentary Filmmakers and Screenwriters * Politicians and Political Writers * Stand-Up Comedians * Health Experts * Magazine Editors * Radio Stars * Bloggers, Podcasters and Web Producers * Novelists * Musicians and Music Journalists * Sexuality Experts * Culture and Society Experts * Food Experts * Biographers, Historians and A.J. Jacobs * Athletes and Sports Experts * Photographers * Journalists * Crime Experts * CEOs and Business Experts * Comic Book Creators * Cartoonists * Will Eisner Co-Workers, Friends and Experts

Frank Miller gets in 'The Spirit' (Jam! Showbiz)

Image via Wikipedia

Comic-book icon channels The Spirit of his mentor in latest film

By JIM SLOTEK -- Sun Media

NEW YORK -- Apart from Marvel's Stan Lee, if there is a figure who represents the link between the comic books of old and the movies coming to a theatre near you, it's Frank Miller.

The artist-writer, who gave us 300, Sin City and the Dark Knight incarnation of Batman, began his career in the colourfully ink-stained New York-based cauldron of comic-book art, mentored by the likes of Jim Shooter, Neal Adams -- but most of all, the legendary and prolific Will Eisner.

Theirs was a strange, combative relationship -- one in which Miller is finally getting the last word, three years after Eisner's death, making his solo directorial debut with a stylized movie of Eisner's signature noir hero from the '40s, The Spirit. Wherever he is, the female-form-obsessed Eisner must appreciate the casting -- Scarlett Johansson (Silken Floss), Eva Mendes (Sand Saref) and Jaime King (Lorelei), all playing various forms of femmes fatale tormenting our mordant hero (Gabriel Macht).

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TV Stars * TV Producers * Movie Stars * Movie Directors, Producers, documentary Filmmakers and Screenwriters * Politicians and Political Writers * Stand-Up Comedians * Health Experts * Magazine Editors * Radio Stars * Bloggers, Podcasters and Web Producers * Novelists * Musicians and Music Journalists * Sexuality Experts * Culture and Society Experts * Food Experts * Biographers, Historians and A.J. Jacobs * Athletes and Sports Experts * Photographers * Journalists * Crime Experts * CEOs and Business Experts * Comic Book Creators * Cartoonists * Will Eisner Co-Workers, Friends and Experts

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• 'The Spirit' Is Weak (Which Is Bad In A Superhero)
• Eva Mendes & Scarlett Johansson Show Their Spirit
• The Spirit Special #1

The Eva Mendes Spirit Interview: Kicking Ass And Revealing Some Too (NewsBlaze.com)

Image via Wikipedia

By Prairie Miller

Even though Eva Mendes has a reputation lately for playing simultaneously gorgeous and evil in movies, like The Women, Ghost Rider and now Frank Miller's comic book thriller The Spirit, don't ever talk to her for a minute about being all body and no brains.

At this gab session get-together for The Spirit, Eva, in the midst of fighting off a serious case of jet lag, gave a detailed discourse on her philosophy of vamp attitude, while listing the various thrills of flaunting 1940s 'dames' and 'broads' type of appeal, all in a day's work. And how an uncontrollable lust for diamonds on the part of her materialistic-minded femme fatale Sand Saref, is not necessarily all about doing the gold digger thing. But don't even think about turning Eva into a mere female accessory, hot or not, in a movie, even if the leading man, whether in Spirit only, happens to be Gabriel Macht. In other words, revealing her fabulous body in nothing but a towel slipping off her rear end is fine, but there had better be an impressive high IQ in evidence behind it, no pun.

What was it exactly that lured you into The Spirit?

EVA MENDES: Yeah I think...Um, what was the question?

Well, what turned you on about your character Sand Saref?

EM: Yeah, I loved that my character was created in the 1940s. So you know, I have this real 'dame' and 'broad' kind of appeal to the character. And she was just so over the top. And fantastical. And, she has some of the best lines in the movie, you know what I mean? Like, 'Shut up and bleed!'.

That's one of my favorites. Which, strangely, I've used it since! But for me, this movie was just so collaborative. That was the main thing. Am I even answering your question? I'm sorry, I'm in the middle of jet lag!

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Paz Vega…UH YUMP!!! (StraitPinkie.com)

Not much to read here, but if you'd like to see a mess of photos of lovely Paz Vega, who co-stars in The Spirit movie, this is your site.

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Catholic News Service Reviews "The Spirit" Movie

"The film contains generally stylized but briefly graphic violence, fleeting rear nudity, suicides, occasional sexual references and innuendo, much crass language and at least a dozen uses of profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13." —John Mulderig, Catholic News Service

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Mr. Media

"This would qualify as a trailer, except that it tells you nothing about the plot or the characters. It's just two minutes of hot women making moves on our hero, complete with 'come-hither' lines that were cheesy before high school. Proof-positive that Frank Miller apparently got laid less in high school and college than the average nerd." -- Scott Mendelson, Huffington Post

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Bob Thompson: Scarlett Johansson and company get The Spirit (National Post)

By Bob Thompson, National Post

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.

After all, Miller co-directed and co-wrote the digital Sin City with Robert Rodriguez and wrote the popular graphic novels Sin City and 300 and restored Batman as the brooding Dark Knight in comics which inspired Christopher Nolan's hit movies Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

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VIDEO: Eva Mendes Gets In "The Spirit" (The Early Show, CBS)

Eva Mendes image via Wikipedia

(CBS) From Denzel Washington and Johnny Depp to Will Smith and Nicholas Cage, actress Eva Mendes has worked with some of the Hollywood's hottest leading men.

Mendes is now co-starring in the "The Spirit," a film based on a 1940s comic book series. She plays Sand Saref, a woman who has a special relationship with The Spirit.

"They are childhood sweethearts, explains Mendes. "This film is visually stunning. It comes from the creative, genius mind of Frank Miller. What's really unbelievable with my character is I get to play not only a jewel thief, but a woman who's been married 14 times and killed every last one of her husbands. I mean, ladies, is that not just -- it's a sick fantasy, but, still a fantasy. Somewhat of a fantasy."

"Now she is quite a dame," adds Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen. "[She's] got the lashes."

"She's a dame. She's a broad," says Mendes. "We paid homage to the women back then, in the 1940s -- the Rita Hayworths and Bette Davis' of the world, the Ava Gardners. I had a lot of fun paying homage to those women."

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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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Exclusive: Frank Miller Gets Into The Spirit (Superherohype.com)

By Edward Douglas

Dec. 19, 2008

When you talk about the comic book characters who have been around the longest, the first ones that will come to mind are Superman, who first appeared in 1938, and Batman a year later. In both cases, you can probably list and discuss their movie and television incarnations, as well as the cartoons and comic books in which the two have appeared. Then there's the case of Will Eisner's The Spirit, a pulpy comic character created by legendary cartoonist Will Eisner for a Sunday comics insert in 1940 that's only ventured off the comic pages once, in 1987, for a television movie.

The Spirit is the reincarnated alter ego of police officer Denny Colt, who was shot and killed on duty but then returned later as the indestructible crime fighter who works with Commissioner Dolan to take down Central City's tougher criminal element. Eisner's work was influenced by the early days of film noir, but it was also filled with humor and pathos and a never-ending supply of beautiful femme fatales to tempt and tease The Spirit. The character continued to appear in strips and comic books throughout the '40s, '50s and '60s, and then was reprinted extensively after that, most recently in a series of hardbound archives from DC Comics, who also resuscitated the character with new stories by top comic book talent.

When it came time to give The Spirit his first big screen feature film, there really was only one man to call for the job, and that was Will Eisner's close friend and frequent sparring partner Frank Miller, whose work during the '80s and '90s was as much influenced by Eisner as it was an antithesis to the virtues of The Spirit.

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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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Eva Mendes captures 'Spirit' of film genre (NJ.com)

by Lisa Rose

The Star-Ledger

Thursday December 18, 2008,

Glamorous, enigmatic and cutthroat in a literal way, the women in films and graphic novels from Frank Miller tend to be a bit more, er, proactive than typical comic genre female characters.

"The Spirit," opening Christmas Day, features Eva Mendes as a jewel thief/ace swimmer named Sand Saref. She co-stars with Scarlett Johansson as murderous scientist Silken Floss and Paz Vega as knife-wielding belly dancer Plaster of Paris.

Based on a 1940 comic by Will Eisner, the picture is the sole directorial debut from Miller who co-directed his graphic novel adaptation of "Sin City" with Robert Rodriguez. The writer's swords-and sandals epic "300" has also been made into a hit film.

The title character (Gabriel Macht) is a masked misfit for whom death is a curable condition. He battles a fashionable nemesis called the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson).

On paper, Sand Saref could seem a type, a woman fixated with diamonds. Mendes says, however, that the character's neurotic need for shiny things is more than simple materialism.

This is the Cuban-American star's second appearance in a comic book adaptation, following her performance in "Ghost Rider" as a journalist in love with the engine-revving hero (Nicolas Cage). At 34, she has a list of credits that ranges from early roles in music videos to big parts in comedies -- "Hitch" -- and dramas -- "We Own the Night."

LIONSGATEEva Mendes in "The Spirit," opening Christmas Day.

We sat down for a chat with Mendes -- looking fab in a strapless dress -- during a "Spirit" press day at a New York hotel last weekend.

Q: Frank Miller is such an interesting visual stylist, how would you describe his technique working with the cast, helping you work on the characters?

A: He was very specific. Sometimes, when he was trying to communicate something to me about a scene, he would draw it out for me. In two seconds, he'd draw me as Sand Saref. I was like, "Can you sign that for me?"

Q: Did you get to keep any of them?

A: I kept a couple.

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A Lump of Coal for This Christmas 'Spirit' (icv2.com)

Miller's Movie Lost in Xmas Shuffle

12/29/2008

Lionsgate’s decision to move up the release date of Frank Miller’s adaptation of Will Eisner’s The Spirit from January 16th to December 25th (see “Lionsgate Gets the Christmas Spirit”) proved to be anything but fruitful as The Spirit was the only one of the five new films debuting on Christmas Day that tanked. Finishing in ninth place, The Spirit only earned an estimated $6.5 million over the 3-day weekend ($10.3 when Christmas Day totals are included) thanks to a poor per theater average of $2,593. Lionsgate actually mounted a strong promotional campaign for The Spirit including TV spots running during televised sporting events, but in spite of the ads and a perceived lack of male-oriented action film competition, The Spirit failed to get its share of the Christmas pie.

Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): Dec. 26-28, 2008

Rank	Film	Weekend Gross	Screens	Avg./Screen
1	Marley and Me	$37,000,000	3,480	$10,632
2	Bedtime Stories	$28,069,000	3,681	$7,625
3	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	$27,000,000	2,988	$9,036
4	Valkyrie	$21,531,000	2,711	$7,942
5	Yes Man	$16,450,000	3,434	$4,790
6	Seven Pounds	$13,400,000	2,758	$4,859
7	The Tale of Despereaux	$9,368,000	3,107	$3,015
8	The Day the Earth Stood Still	$7,900,000	2,402	$3,289
9	The Spirit	$6,510,000	2,509	$2,595
10	Doubt	$5,675,000	1,267	$4,479

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FAST CHAT Frank Miller talks about 'The Spirit' (Newsday)

Frank Miller in London, image by juliet_a via Flickr

Frank Lovece
Dec. 21, 2008

One of the few comics creators who has become his own brand, writer-artist Frank Miller first made his mark with a gritty, film-noir take on Marvel Comics' "Daredevil." He went on to pop-culture stardom with DC Comics' " The Dark Knight Returns," a 1986 miniseries envisioning a bitter, reactionary Batman a few decades from now, fighting against a corrupt world as seen through Miller's Ayn Rand-devotee eyes. His vision helped inspire the similarly dark Batman movies, and the less successful "Daredevil" film (2003).

Miller went on to such creator-owned comics as "Sin City" and "300," from independent publisher Dark Horse. Each became the basis of a popular movie, with director Robert Rodriguez granting Miller co-director credit for his help on "Frank Miller's Sin City" (2005).

Now flying solo, Miller, 51, has adapted " The Spirit," Will Eisner's legendary 1940-52 comics series that appeared as seven-page stories in Sunday newspapers. (The movie opens Thursday.) Its tales of an average-Joe-masked crime-fighter in a rumpled suit, encountering both Everyman criminals and exotic international thieves, became famous for both their humanistic fables and Eisner's pioneering techniques. Miller recently spoke at the Waldorf- Astoria with frequent contributor Frank Lovece.

For those poor, deprived souls who don't know his work, what makes Will Eisner so important to comics?

Well, it's like asking what Thomas Edison did for the lightbulb. Eisner was one of the people who created [the medium of] comic books. He was one of the first people who ever took comics out of the four-panel strip and showed the possibilities of the full page. And so he was one of the founding fathers. It's like asking what Thomas Jefferson had to do with the Constitution.

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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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Scarlett Johansson Says She'll Record Another Album, Still Has Leonard Cohen On The Brain (MTV.com)

MTV Shows

Actress released Tom Waits cover LP in the spring.

By Jocelyn Vena, with additional reporting by Josh Horowitz

Scarlett Johansson has had quite an active year. She starred in a couple of movies, married actor Ryan Reynolds and even indulged her inner rock star by releasing an album. But don't think that Johansson is done with the music business just yet, because she has plans for a follow-up.

Back in the spring, Johansson released a Tom Waits cover album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, and she promises it isn't her last. "I would love to do another album," she told MTV News while promoting "The Spirit," the new film based on Will Eisner's comic book.

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Students Make Better Spirit Posters Than Frank Miller (Big Head Design)

Frank Miller set tongues wagging when Odd Lot Entertainment released his first image of "The Spirit" and it was downhill from there. But one of the positive twists in all this is that Odd Lot opened the door to students at a number of art and design schools to come up with their own campaigns for the movie. There is a lot of talent out there, as you can see above and by clicking HERE and HERE.

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Eva Mendes & Scarlett Johansson Show Their Spirit (JustJared.com)

Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes attend the launch party for their upcoming film The Spirit at London’s Old Sorting Office Thursday night.

Scarlett, 23, plays femme fatale secretary Silken Floss, while Eva, 34, portrays Sand Saref, a love interest for The Spirit himself.

Written and directed by Frank Miller, the film is adapted from a classic Will Eisner comic and also stars Gabriel Macht as The Spirit and Samuel L. Jackson as his nemesis, The Octopus.

The Spirit is scheduled for release on December 25th.

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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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Mask of Zero (BigPictureBigSound.com)

Image via Wikipedia

The Spirit: Movie Review By Joe Lozito
Rating (out of four):

Will Eisner and Frank Miller are kindred spirits (pardon the pun). Will Eisner wrote the book on comic books back in the 1940s, when he introduced his masked crimefighter "The Spirit" as a weekly newspaper insert. Frank Miller is the creator of some of the genre's contemporary classics. His "The Dark Knight Returns" graphic novel clearly influenced Christopher Nolan's wildly successful Batman films, and "300" and "Sin City" have both been adapted into hyper-stylized movies based on the Miller esthetic. When that latter film was made, Mr. Miller got co-director credit with Robert Rodriguez. Now the author branches out on his own to adapt Mr. Eisner's Spirit character for the big screen. Ironically, "The Spirit" - a stiff dud of a movie - might seem a bit more groundbreaking if "Sin City" had not already been made - and made so much better.

Clearly, Mr. Miller was paying attention to his directorial mentor. "The Spirit" cribs some of Mr. Rodriguez' techniques verbatim (the shocks of color, white-on-black blood, etc). Of course, one can't blame Mr. Miller for that. Mr. Rodriguez was, after all, riffing off Mr. Miller, who in turn has sited Mr. Eisner as inspiration. It's all a very incestuous cycle. And it has produced an offspring in "The Spirit" that is somewhat less than the sum of its parts.

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'The Spirit' Premieres: ScarJo Is A Lover, Not A Fighter (Socialite Life)

Dec. 18, 2008

Scarlett Johansson, one of the cadre of curvaceous female co-stars in Frank Miller's The Spirit chatted on the red carpet about her real-life grappling abilities and whether or not she co-star or Eva Mendes would win in a fight against one another.

Johansson told Entertainment Tonight, "Probably Eva. I might slice her with my verbal kung fu though." Ha! She just called Eva dumb. Oh, I'm just trying to start some shit to see if we can't get these ladies to fight for real. Imagine how much money we could get for selling a tissue used to clean their bloody noses?

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Washington Post Review—'The Spirit': Enough Ham To Lay a Great Big Egg

Image via Wikipedia

By Carina Chocano

Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, December 25, 2008

"...A goofy parody of hard-boiled detective fiction, larded with indigestible globs of expository voiceover and clunky catchphrases, the movie preemptively mocks itself at every turn, as if trying to beat the rest of us to the punch.

"This should prove dispiriting to fans of Eisner's work, if any are to be found among the film's intended audience...

"...the result is dreadful. Good comic books suggest action through abstraction, but "The Spirit" plays like an overproduced diorama. Watching it is like watching three dimensions trying to pass themselves off as two"

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'The Spirit' lastest superhero to hit comics-crazed box office (Chicago Tribune RedEye)

Image by unforth via Flickr

By Elliott Serrano

For RedEye

Published December 20 2008

You don't need to be a comics nerd to know a little bit about Batman, Spider-Man or Iron Man--or any number of the X-Men, for that matter.

But as the comics-to-movies craze continues to explode, there have been quite a few new characters making their way to the big screen who may be unfamiliar to some audiences.

Case in point: The Spirit. The hero created by the late comics master Will Eisner makes his big-screen debut Thursday in the movie of the same name directed by Frank Miller. (That's the guy behind the hit flicks "300" and "Sin City.") Miller's new movie has been getting a lot of buzz, even though there's been very little background for casual audiences.

But fear not. If all you know about "The Spirit" is that it's about a crime-fighting guy who might or might not be dead and who encounters a slew of smoking-hot babes in his pursuit of bad guys, RedEye is here to help.

Here are the Top 10 things you need to know about "The Spirit"--before it hits theaters.

1. The Spirit

The titular hero once was known as detective Denny Colt, who was shot--and apparently killed--in the line of duty. His mysterious "resurrection" leads to his taking on the persona of the Spirit, a ghost who seeks vengeance against those who would prey on the weak.

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It's (Almost) Unanimous: Frank Miller Screwed Up Will Eisner's "The Spirit"

Image via Wikipedia

Okay, I give up.

I've been monitoring the reviews of Frank Miller's The Spirit movie -- which, thankfully, the marketing people stopped calling "Will Eisner's The Spirit" -- and there isn't much good to be found. Rather than posting separately for each bad review, I'm providing links to many of them below.

USA Today was the first to have found anything nice to say—the Houston Chronicle, Kansas City Star and Chicago Tribune are somewhat complimentary. FilmCritic.com says The Spirit is "neat-o."

But almost everyone else uniformly gave the film raspberries. At least Miller can look forward to being a star at this year's Razzies. And you have to wonder if the owners of the rights to Buck Rogers aren't having second thoughts about letting Miller get his mitts on their property...

USA Today, Claudia Pulg
"The Spirit is uneven, but its campy adventure provides some amusing, escapist fun."

Kansas City Star, Jason Heck
"'The Spirit' is terrific entertainment. It’s a better and a more complete film than “Sin City” or “300.” Having a comic book genius create a comic book movie is a very, very good idea indeed."

Chicago Tribune, Web Behrens
"Produced and directed by guys who grew up with a deep appreciation for Eisner, the film remains largely faithful to the quirky, well, spirit of the 60-plus-year-old creation."

Houston Chronicle, Rick Bentley
"The bold visual strokes comic artist Frank Miller used to create Sin City revealed he was the only director who could do justice to the film version of Will Eisner’s ground-breaking comic series The Spirit.

"Eisner redefined comics in the 1940s and early ’50s with his creation of a print version of the film noir style. His stories were gritty. He used humor like a hidden weapon, exposed only when he needed to make a point.

"Miller has shown the same in-your-face skill in the creation of his comics and films. The result of Miller’s vision of Eisner with The Spirit is a visual explosion ignited by at times campy acting and melodrama so thick it will hurt your teeth."

Time Magazine, Richard Corliss
"The joke — the prank — is on all of us. Whether you're a deep-dish Eisnerphile or an ordinary Christmas moviegoer looking for some action-adventure in a mall full of Oscar contenders, you will be obliged to proclaim this Spirit a calamitous botch. Miller has misread the original, turning dark drama into strained comedy. Of course, artists have the liberty to make fun of any source material, however hallowed; but Miller lacks the simple competence to make the movie move. The facility he has on the page doesn't translate to the screen."

Los Angeles Times, Sam Adams
"'The Spirit' might bear the name of Will Eisner, on whose 1940s comics it is loosely based, but it bears as much resemblance to Eisner's inventive, lighthearted creation as "The Dark Knight" does to its candy-colored '60s television predecessor."

New York Daily News, Elizabeth Weitzman
"'The Spirit' one of 'the worst movies of the year'"

Star-Ledger, Stephen Whitty
"Miller has as uncertain a hand on his actors as he does on the tone."

The Oregonian, Mike Russell
"'The Spirit' is a loony, embarrassing mess that takes the late Will Eisner's classic comics creation and beats it senseless with a giant toilet bowl (literally, at one point)."

Roger Ebert.com, Roger Ebert
"'The Spirit' is mannered to the point of madness. There is not a trace of human emotion in it. To call the characters cardboard is to insult a useful packing material. The movie is all style -- style without substance, style whirling in a senseless void. The film's hero is an ex-cop reincarnated as an immortal enforcer; for all the personality he exhibits, we would welcome Elmer Fudd."

E! Online, Alex Markerson
"The Spirit is as thin as the newsprint from which it springs."

Denton Record-Chronicle, Bob Allen
"Miller makes his turgid tale devoid of color, with blood just as gray and bland as everything else in the film except for the Spirit’s tie and Scarlett Johansson’s lips."

Arizona Republic, Bill Goodykoontz
"Although the acting in Sin City was campy and the story over-the-top, it worked in the context of the film. Too often The Spirit is just not very good."

The Plain Dealer, Julie E. Washington
"'The Spirit' is bizarre -- and not in a good way."

St. Petersburg Times, Steve Persall
"The Spirit could be retitled The Light Knight, since Frank Miller's movie is the antithesis of everything that made The Dark Knight the quintessential comic book movie."

San Francisco Chronicle, Peter Hartlaub
"Miller's distinction as one of the all-time best comic book writers is strong enough to withstand his role in making one of the worst comic book movies ever."

Boston Herald, Stephen Schaefer
"...nothing meshes, much less enthralls..."

Newsday, Frank Lovece
"Will Eisner's "The Spirit" was the "Citizen Kane" of comics, pushing the limits of the medium and expanding its visual vocabulary. Appearing in a Sunday-paper comic-book supplement from 1940 to 1952, it starred an average-Joe masked crime-fighter in a rumpled suit - a vulnerable but insouciant Everyman in humanist fables.

"Little of that makes it on-screen in this adaptation by writer-artist turned filmmaker Frank Miller. The auteur of comics "Sin City," "300" and " Batman: The Dark Knight Returns," Miller retained only Eisner's film noir surface, jettisoning characterization, soul and anything remotely human."

Boston Phoenix, Peter Keough
"Awful on every level "

Orlando Sentinel, Roger Moore
"...talk about empty-headed..."

Vancouver Sun, Katherine Monk
"The Spirit is an ambitious mess with no life"

Toronto Star, Jason Anderson
"At which exact point The Spirit hits rock bottom is a matter of debate. Maybe it's when we first see our eponymous hero scampering across rooftops in a fashion less appropriate to a movie superhero than to a cast member of Guys and Dolls.

"Or maybe it comes during the first fight sequence, when he's clobbered over the head with a bathroom fixture by a supervillain who then howls, "C'mon, toilets are always funny!" He is not correct"

The Globe and Mail, Liam Lacey

"Unfortunately, Miller's first solo effort is a cinematic non-starter, with a cluttered story, paper-thin characters who seem to speak in self-mocking clichés, a bland hero, a hysterical villain and a surfeit of pouting vamps. Miller's visual technique, which was astonishing in Sin City, now feels familiar - and with a more careful PG-13 rating in the U.S., the film feels like a paler imitation of its predecessor."

The London Free Press, Jim Slotek

"From Stephen King to Michael Crichton, dyspeptic writers have plopped themselves down into a director's chair and gone all do-it-yourself on us.

"Often it's a huge mistake (see King's Maximum Overdrive).

"The Spirit -- the solo directorial debut of graphic novel darling Frank Miller (300, Sin City) -- is one of those mistakes"

Huffington Post, Marshall Fine

"If you're expecting the dark, wicked humor and dazzlingly gruesome violence of Sin City, you'll be sorely disappointed."

New York Press, Simon Abrams
"Miller is more than eager to argue for the legitimacy of comics’ pulpy roots. But he’s not doing it in the right way."

Vue Weekly, Josef Braun
"There are flourishes of visual expressionism, but all the eye candy, from the misty skies of fluttering snow to Eva Mendes’ immaculate ass, begins to wear as the story proves itself bereft of feeling. The characters are stereotypes. Their stories get very boring."

Now Toronto, Norman Wilner
"Spiritless: Frank Miller doesn’t have the slightest clue how to put a movie together"

Examiner.com, Matthew Razak
"I don't believe I have ever walked out of a theater more torn about a movie than when leaving the theater after seeing The Spirit. My movie critic selves were in complete and total conflict with each other. The camp loving, B-grade movie addict in me was saying, "You wait and see, ten years from now this is going to be one of those crazy cult classics." The professional critic in me was shouting over that about how the film is a jarring mish-mash of comic book camp, pulp fiction writing and themes that are far too dark for either. I was seriously just plain confused."

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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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