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.

Click HERE to keep reading!

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.

CLICK HERE to Keep Reading!

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.”

CLICK HERE to Keep Reading!

“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.”

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

‘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."

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

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.

Subscribe to Mr. Media's RSS/XML Feed

Get MR. MEDIA Interviews delivered by email! Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

INDEX to MR. MEDIA INTERVIEWS

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

Related articles by Zemanta

• The Mad Science of Doc Savage (politedissent.com)
• Discuss: The Trilogy Meter (cinematical.com)
• Zack Snyder Promises Giant, 'Hardcore' Blue Wang In Uncut 'Watchmen' [Watchmen] (defamer.com)

'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.

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

Subscribe to Mr. Media's RSS/XML Feed

Get MR. MEDIA Interviews delivered by email! Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

INDEX to MR. MEDIA INTERVIEWS

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 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!

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

Subscribe to Mr. Media's RSS/XML Feed

Get MR. MEDIA Interviews delivered by email! Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

INDEX to MR. MEDIA INTERVIEWS

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

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.

Subscribe to Mr. Media's RSS/XML Feed

Get MR. MEDIA Interviews delivered by email! Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

INDEX to MR. MEDIA INTERVIEWS

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

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

Subscribe to Mr. Media's RSS/XML Feed

Get MR. MEDIA Interviews delivered by email! Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

INDEX to MR. MEDIA INTERVIEWS

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

Related articles by Zemanta

• Cinematical Seven: The Worst MPAA Ratings of 2008
• Discuss: When Ratings Go Wrong
• Max Payne noir-ly gets an 'R,' MPAA settles on 'PG-13'
• Happy 40th Birthday, Movie Ratings
• Fan Rant: An R Rating for 'Slumdog Millionaire'?! Give Me a Break!
• 'Zack And Miri,' Making Trouble In Some Ad Markets
• Will Smith's Hancock May Not Be Kid-Friendly
• DC Error and Recall Comics

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

Subscribe to Mr. Media's RSS/XML Feed

Get MR. MEDIA Interviews delivered by email! Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

INDEX to MR. MEDIA INTERVIEWS

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

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.

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

Subscribe to Mr. Media's RSS/XML Feed

Get MR. MEDIA Interviews delivered by email! Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

INDEX to MR. MEDIA INTERVIEWS

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

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."

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

Subscribe to Mr. Media's RSS/XML Feed

Get MR. MEDIA Interviews delivered by email! Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

INDEX to MR. MEDIA INTERVIEWS

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

Related articles by Zemanta

• Eva Mendes & Scarlett Johansson Show Their Spirit
• The Spirit Moves to London With Scarlett and Eva
• Frank Miller's The Spirit Trailer
• PICS: Scarlett Johansson Brings Sexy Back to 'The Spirit'
• Lakeview Terrace Ny Premiere Photos Samuel Jackson, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Kerry Washington

'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?

Click HERE to See Photos and Keep Reading!

Subscribe to Mr. Media's RSS/XML Feed

Get MR. MEDIA Interviews delivered by email! Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

INDEX to MR. MEDIA INTERVIEWS

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

Related articles by Zemanta

• PICS: Scarlett Johansson Brings Sexy Back to 'The Spirit'
• Scarlett, Paz and Eva Step Up For More Spirit
• Frank Miller Blogs About 'The Spirit', NYCC, and Hitting on Eva Mendes
• Eva Mendes & Scarlett Johansson Show Their Spirit

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"

Subscribe to Mr. Media's RSS/XML Feed

Get MR. MEDIA Interviews delivered by email! Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

INDEX to MR. MEDIA INTERVIEWS

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

Related articles by Zemanta

• Comic Book Contest for Apple IIe
• L.A. Times Has Good News Too!
• New screens for Batman: Arkham Asylum are dark
• EXCLUSIVE: Final Poster for 'The Spirit'!