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originally printed 04.07.05 in the Eureka, California newspaper The Times-Standard.
Sin City
Durant: Being only a fringe comic book guy over the course of my life, I was always aware of Sin City, the art in the comic book shops would catch my eye, but I never opened it up and took a look. I'm sure if I did I would have gone absolutely ape droppings over this movie. It was very nice to look at, very comic booky, in the fashion of the book from what I could tell from the posters. The movie was very violent and even made me (a Scorsese and Tarantino fan) squeamish at times. Most of the time the blood isn't red, but white or black or even yellow. This makes it easier for Joe Moviegoer to take it down, I believe. It's pretty in-your-face with other crimes too. The film noir dialog fits and feels natural and all the actors and actresses became their characters, especially Mickey Rourke and Bruce Willis. Maybe the best comic book movie ever made true to the comic book, both art and stories.
Rating: L/T
Faulk: I knew that when my 9-month-old boy Henry reached out and grabbed a chunk of my face with his small but painfully sharp fingernails, the evening was not going to go my way. I have the mark now under my right eye - a short red line carved by baby claws - but no film review. Witnesses saw the power with which my child attacked and refused to babysit. Noting his already apparent predisposition toward a strange kind of loving violence, I thought it better to keep him away from the carnage to be found in "Sin City." My apologies to the thousands of readers who depend on my opinion to help them decide which film's are worthy of their attention, but it wasn't worth another bite at the hands of Mr. Ferocious.
Rating: Three and a half scratches
DVD
Busted: A citizen's guide to handling encounters with police.
Durant: I picked this up at the recent NORML conference in San Francisco. It's a step-by-step "how to" for people who get pulled over, stopped on the street or have the police come to their house. The three scenarios are first played out the wrong way, and then the right way with narration by former ACLU chief Ira Glasser. The scenarios have just the right amount of cheese to them and dont distract the viewer from the tips with crappy acting and unreal dialog. I learned some things, and hope to never have to practice them. What the DVD doesn't tell you is how to handle it when the cop starts beating your butt for being such a smart-aleck.
Rating: L
Faulk: If I ever saw a police officer act like the first blue-shirted thug in this DVD, I'd get arrested for indecent esposure after laughing my ass off. Luckily, most cops are real people and not club-brandishing automatons out to bust a hippie's head. The purpose of this DVD seems to be helping people who are breaking the law to not get caught. An unfortunate premise for a video that ends up having a good amount of useful information on how to protect your rights.
Rating: L
7:00 PM
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