Tagged: Frank Miller

REVIEW: The 300 Spartans

the-300-spartans-9609899We have Frank Miller to thank for reminding us of the valiant tale of the Battle at Thermopylae as 300 Spartans fought off an invading force from Persia. His 300 graphic novel is a wonderful retelling of the tale and a pretty damn fine film from Zack Snyder. With the film sequel forthcoming any second now, 20th Century Home Entertainment has wisely issued the Blu-ray debut of the film that inspired Miller when he first saw it as a kid. The 300 Spartans may lack the visual panache of Snyder’s version but it makes for compelling viewing.

Oh, the script is nowhere near interesting although it does a nice job of sticking to the historic facts as Leonidas (Richard Egan) is asked by Themistocles of Athens (Ralph Richardson) to lead the army against King Xerxes (David Farrar). Not a single soldier is as ripped as Snyder’s army nor is Gorgo (Anna Synodinou), Leonidas’ wife, given as much to do as Lena Hedley, but fills the screen nicely. There is some other soap opera elements, though, as Leonidas’ niece Ellas (Diane Baker) learns her fiancée Plylon (Barry Coe) has been dishonored and cannot marry her. And Xerxes has a gal pal of his own, Artemisia (Anne Wakefield).

An interesting historic note here is that a religious holiday kept many of the soldiers at home so Leonidas takes his person squad of 300 to defend all of Greece, a suicide mission under any circumstances.

The pacing is slower but it gives cinematographer turned director Rudolph Maté a chance to make the landscape beautiful to watch. He’s ill-served by the script and its leaden expository dialogue although we get the immortal “Then we’ll just have to fight in the shade!” Geoffrey Unsworth’s cinematography is gorgeous here, displaying all his skills making you long for more of the European locales to be better used.

This presentation of the cult film is sharp, which makes up for a lot. Like the 2004 DVD release, it has rich colors and excellent sound. Unfortunately, like the DVD, the bonuses are limited to a trailer and television spots.

Man of Steel Infographic Traces Route from Krypton to Earth

  • News
  • November 6, 2013

mos_lak_4in1_all_pre-e1383776476987-9710957In advance of next week’s release of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel on Blu-ray and DVD, Warner Home Video has released this infographic. This tells you al you need to know about Krypton, or at least the world as depicted in this past summer’s reimagining of the Action Ace. The film has grossed over $662 million worldwide, which, given its production budget of $225 million, means it is on the cusp of profitability. Ancillary sales, including the domestic home video release, should push it into the black before the year is out. Box Office Mojo notes that it may not have soared to the heights anticipated by Warner Bros and its DC Entertainment subsidiary. In dollars, it ranks tenth as a comic book adaptation, although it is the top grossing Superman film dating all the way back to Superman and the Mole Men.

Rotten Tomatoes says the film was perceived as only 56% fresh, dubbed by major media critics as too somber. Richard Roeper, for example, noted, “There’s very little humor or joy in this Superman story.” Fans were divided over this sterile and somber version of the archetypal superhero, sharply criticism the filmmakers and DC for letting Superman commit murder. In comparison, this weekend’s Thor: The Dark World is already trending at a strong 75% fresh.

DC Entertainment has bet a lot on this interpretation, letting it be known that this should be considered the first installment in a unified DC Cinemaverse. Already shooting for a summer 2015 release is a sequel which will include a Caped Crusader owing much to Frank Miller’s groundbreaking The Dark Knight Returns. Fans already have their knives sharpened for flaying Ben Affleck’s performance as the Darknight Detective without seeing a single frame of film, a habit that can be traced back to the first announcement of Michael Keaton donning the cape and cowl. The sequel is also rumored to be introducing Diana, the Princess of Themyscira with current theory being that Jamie Alexander, Lady Sif in the Thor series, is in talks with the studio.

What is expected to follow would be a Justice League movie while DC and Warner have been coy about whether or not the television reality seen in Arrow and its intended Flash spinoff would also be set in the same reality. Given the success of Disney, Marvel and ABC has had with integrating Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with the feature films, one would think they would follow suit.

Look for our Man of Steel review next week.

Mindy Newell: To Tell The Truth

steven-colbert-with-elements-of-style-fourth-edition-william-strunk-jr-author-e-b-white-author-roger-angell-foreword-5809441Embellishment.

Is it a dirty word, especially when it comes to writing? Well, it depends. Simply put, there must be no embellishment when writing for a professional journal. The truth must be told.

There is a big difference between writing for a professional journal and writing fiction, or even this column. Writing for a professional journal must follow a proscribed style set by peer-reviewed organizations whose rules on grammatical usage, word choice, elimination of bias in language, the proper citation of quotes and references and the inclusion of charts and tables have become the authoritative source for all intellectual writing. This means that for me, as an RN, BSN, CNOR, I must adhere to the styles and standards set by the Publication Manual Of The American Psychologoical Assocociation (APA), which is “consulted not only by psychologists but also by students and researchers in education, social work, nursing, business, and many other behavioral and social sciences” (VanderBros, 2010) if I submit a paper or article to the Journal of the Association of Operating Room Nurses (AORN) for publication.

Does this mean that when I write fiction, or this column, I am allowed to freely embellish my stories? Does it mean that I am allowed to not to tell the truth?

Fiction writers do not really have one easily referenced professional publication in which the governance of grammar and punctuation are laid out in indisputable terms, in which the standards of style are set – though this does not mean I can sit down in front of my computer screen and write just one continuous sentence that goes on and on for pages and pages – well, perhaps I could if I was James Joyce. But all writers do need to start somewhere, and for anyone who has ever taken a creative writing course, or even tried to stay awake in their English high school class, the classic Elements Of Style, first written in 1918 by Professor William Strunk, Jr., is a good place to start. Strunk said something in that first edition that, 95 years later, has withstood the test of time and which, I believe, every writer, aspiring or published must integrate into his or her understanding of the art of writing:

“Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.”

Elements was first revised in 1957 by New Yorker writer E. B. White (the author of the children’s classic Charlotte’s Web), and by 1979s third edition, listed 11 rules for grammar, 11 principles of writing, 11 standards for form, and 21 recommendations for style. (A search on Amazon revealed that Chris Hong updated The Elements Of Style for Kindle readers in 2011.) But there’s a lot more advice out there. A little while ago I entered “standards for fiction writing” on Google, and got 15,400,000 hits in 0.23 seconds.

On my bookshelf I have not only Elements of Style, but also Zen in the Art of Writing – Essays on Creativity by Ray Bradbury, Write for Yourself – The Book About The Seminar and Telling Lies for Fun and Profit, both by Lawrence Block, Write in Style – Using Your Word Processor and Other Techniques to Improve Your Writing by Bobbie Christmas, How I Write – Secrets of a Bestselling Author by Janet Evanovich with Ina Yalof, Inventing the Truth – the Art and Craft of Memoir edited by William Zinsser and which includes essays by such notables as Russell Baker, Annie Dillard, Toni Morrison, and Frank McCourt, Is Life Like This? – A Guide to Writing Your First Novel in Six Months by John Dufresne, The Weekend Novelist Rewrites the Novel by Robert J. Ray, Writing Fiction from the Gotham Writers’ Workshop, and Writers on Comics Scriptwriting which includes interviews with such illustrious authors as Peter David, Kurt Busiek, Garth Ennis, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, Jeph Loeb and Grant Morrison.

I also have Eisner/Miller – Interview Conducted by Charles Brownstein, which is wonderful not only for its historical perspective, but for a peep into two great creative minds, and “Casablanca – Script and Legend” by Howard Koch,” which is incredibly instructive in detailing how magic sometimes happens despite ornery studio heads, battling co-writers, and an inability to decide how the story ends. I also have Stephen King’s “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” on my to-buy list.

And to tell the truth, I sometimes think that all this advice is still not enough.

Reference: Vandehaus, Gary R. (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. (6th ed., pp. xiii – xiv). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

To Be Continued…

TUESDAY MORNING: Emily S. Whitten

TUESDAY AFTERNOON: Michael Davis

 

Dennis O’Neil: Comic Book Career Day

oneil-column-art-120517-4417872I leaned across the desk and shook his hand.

“Congratulations, young man,” I said. “You scored in the ninety seventh percentile on the comic book writing aptitude exam and so you’re my new Batman writer. I’ll need twenty-two pages by the end of the week.”

He smiled and left my office. A moment later, I glanced through the open door and saw him waiting for the elevator, straightening his tie. From forty feet away I could admire the gleam on his shoes.

Okay, it didn’t happen that way, or any way like that. It couldn’t, because there is no aptitude exam for aspiring comics writers. There is, as a matter of woeful fact, no defined career path, and if there were one, it would probably be changing about now.

But the god of full disclosure, if such there be, compels me to admit that, matter of fact, once there was a test for comics writing wannabes and I took it and I passed and that explains my life from about age 25 on. Roy Thomas, who had recently joined Stan Lee at Marvel Comics, sent the test to me at the office of the small newspaper where I was working and pissing people off. It consisted of four pages drawn by, I’m pretty sure, Jack Kirby, a piece of a comic book that was lacking words. The task was to add word balloons and maybe captions. Well, wouldn’t you have done it? Simple, easy, kind of fun. I typed something or other and sent it to Roy and late one evening a week or so later, he called offering me a job. I got into my battered station wagon and started trekking east…

I can’t say that I began a career in comics because I don’t consider what I’ve done a “career.” That term – career – implies planning and goals and maybe a timetable.  None of that for me, thank you. It was catch-as-catch-can, a series of jobs, meeting the right people at the right time, screwing up, being given second chances, getting fired, getting hired, finally settling into a position that was everything a butcher’s kid from north St. Louis could ask for and retiring still young enough to get angry at politicians.

So I am not the guy you come to for advice on how to become the next Neil Gaiman or Frank Miller or pick your personal favorite comic book success story. I didn’t do what those guys did and maybe I couldn’t do what those guys did. But will that stop me from pontificating on the subject? Who you talking to?

Ergo: next week I’ll share with you the paltry few strategies I employed when my various editorial gigs required me to hire staff members or freelance creative types.

The thrills just keep coming…

FRIDAY: Martha Thomases is Whedon Out Women

 

Marvel Movie Round-Up UPDATED

  • News
  • August 8, 2011

As this summer season winds down, Sony is looking three years ahead. According to Deadline, they have already staked out May 2, 2014 for the sequel to 2012’s Amazing Spider-Man. James Vanderbilt, who penned the first script, has already been tapped for the sequel although it’s way too soon to know anything about the content. The first film continues production although footage shown at Comic-Con International wowed skeptical audiences. Additionally, fans were stunned when star Andrew Garfield took the mike, dressed in a store-bought Spidey suit and read from notes about what the character means to him, apparently truly heartfelt words.

UPDATE:  The Hollywood Reporter says that Marvel has staked out two weekends in 2014 for two unnamed films. Two weeks after the Spider-Man sequel, May will see Marvel To Come #1. The second Marvel movie will open June 27, and since that’s around July 4 we’re willing to bet this will be eventually be called Captain America 2 .

Meanwhile, Naturi Naughton, about to be seen weekly in NBC’s The Playboy Club, has been signed to portray Cecilia Reyes in 20th Century-Fox’s The Wolverine. The sequel, starring Hugh Jackman, is in production for a 2012 release. Directed by James Mangold, the story is largely based on the classic Wolverine miniseries written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by Frank Miller and is set in Japan. Reyes was not a character in that story, introduced decades later.

In the Marvel Film Universe proper, 2013’s Thor 2 may see Brian Kirk in the director’s chair. Kirk, who gained acclaim for his work on HBO’s Game of Thrones, would replace Kenneth Branagh, who bowed out recently.

In a decision seeming out of left field, Twitchfilm reports that Marvel Studios has placed the futuristic Guardians of the Galaxy into active development. First introduced in Marvel Super-Heroes #18, released in 1969, the quartet of freedom fighters from the 27th Century. The team has grown and evolved through the years with more than a few ties to the modern day Marvel Universe. Whether those connections would remain on screen is unknown. It joins Black Panther, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, and Iron Fist in the second tier of characters being readied.

While an early announcement, Amazing Spider-Man 2 is not the first major property to stake out 2014 dates. Already on the schedule are DreamWorks’ Mr. Peabody & Sherman, due out March 21 and their How to Train Your Dragon 2 is expected June 20. In the same THR report, Pixar has claimed Memorial Day weekend for an untilted film as well.

As for Marvel’s rival, DC Entertainment has announced no super-heroics beyond 2013’s Supeman: Man of Steel although The Flash, Green Lantern 2, and Justice League of America were all recently mentioned by Wanrer Bros. President Jeff Robinov as being developed

Some Thoughts on DC’s New World Order

dcspin-std-bl-jpg-2In 1986, as the Crisis on Infinite Earths was winding down, Marv Wolfman made the radical suggestion that DC indicate the universe had truly changed by altering the numbering on all the titles and restart everything with a #1. For a number of reasons, it was a great idea but the timing couldn’t allow the move. Years later, Dick Giordano indicated it as one of his greatest editorial regrets. However, he can’t be blamed since the Crisis was wrapping up while DC was still negotiating to relaunch its flagship heroes. At that time, only Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli had been lined up for Batman: Year One while John Byrne was still being wooed for Superman, and very late in the process, Greg Potter and George Perez were circling Wonder Woman.

Had the stars aligned, it could have avoided two decades of constant revisions to the reality.

It now seems DC’s executive team has spent the last year moving the stars around. Today’s bombshell announcement indicates the rebooted line will kick off in September, with Justice League #1 previewing the new order on August 31.

I can only hope that DC has its house in order and can avoid embarrassing fill-ins and radical creative team changes early in a title’s run – problems which have plagued the core titles for the last few years.  The worst example may well be Batman: The Dark Knight, written and drawn by David Finch. After debuting in November, the fifth issue of this monthly series is not coming out until August and only then with a fill-in artist.

That aforementioned new Justice League book is coming from DC’s two busiest executives: Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. Sure, it’ll read well and look great, but will it be a monthly and for how long will the talent remain intact? At minimum, these new titles, all 50 of them, need consistent talent on board for at least the first six issues and fill-ins need to be carefully integrated. (more…)

Michael Jelenic is ‘The Brave & The Bold’

  • News
  • November 8, 2008

Batman’s next animated incarnation will take on the form of Batman: The Brave and the Bold debuting on the Cartoon Network wnext Friday night.   This is based the DC Comics titles that evovled into a team-up title between super-heroes and ultimately featured Batman as its co-host from issues #73 though its cancellation with issue #200 in 1983. The animated series targets a younger demographic than the most recent animated incarnation. 

Each episode will introduce Batman to a partner and a villain from the DC universe.   Fans of Frank Miller’s comic book Batman and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight movie franchise should take note that this particular series focuses on the more jubilant and innocent aspects of the iconic character.   The color palette seems to be brighter than the animated series of the mid nineties, and viewers can expect a throwback to the golden and silver age DC Comics.  

After speaking with Story Editor Michael Jelenic, it became clear that this series was a throwback to an older more simple time for comics and super-heroes.  Jelenic  said that the dark, brooding Batman had become the norm, and by creating this series they were doing something different that the hardcore comic heads and kids could all enjoy together.  

“Previous incarnations of Batman were serious.  This was an opportunity to go into a new series, and see how Batman interacts with different characters from the DC Universe.”  These different characters all come from the extensive DC mythos, and many of these characters have never appeared in cartoon form before.  Animated versions of the rarely seen Blue Beetle and Red Tornado will make their small screen debut with Brave and the Bold.  When asked if this new take on the Batman will affect die hard fans of Frank Miller’s Batman or Christopher Nolan’s movie version, Jelenic responded by saying, “You will always have people that think you got it wrong.  Anytime you deal with icons you run that risk, but if the series doesn’t talk down to the viewer, then you can get it right.” 
 

New ‘Watchmen’ and ‘Spirit’ Footage

silk-spectre-4811001At the Spike TV 2008 Scream Awards last night, Watchmen director Zack Snyder and actors Malin Akerman, Carla Gugino and Jeffrey Dean Morgan introduced a never before seen extended trailer for the film. Highlights of the trailer include:

– Dr. Manhattan with Silk Spectre on Mars
– Rorschach investigating The Comedian’s apartment after his death
– A glimpse of Adrian Veidt’s arctic lair
– Manhattan blowing up a tank, a Vietnamese soldier, and sticking his hand in the middle of Ozymandias’s base
– The dream sequence where Nite Owl and Silk Spectre kiss against an atomic backdrop
– An extended look at The Comedian’s death, including a good look at the bloodied smiley face button.

To check out the trailer for yourself, as well as a rundown of new scenes featured in the trailer, head over to Watchmen Comic Movie.

Additionally, Yahoo! has premiered a featurette for Frank Miller’s upcoming The Spirit. The video offers a behind-the-scenes look at the history behind the character and the making of the movie. Highlights include:

– Samuel L. Jackson as the Octopus, wearing a never-before-seen samurai garb
– The Octopus beating down on the Spirit while shouting, "There’s nothing I like better than kicking your ass all night long!"
– Frank Miller’s insight into the character: "He can’t fly, he’s not super strong, but he can take an awful lot of punishment."
– Beautiful women, including Scarlett Johansson’s Silken Floss, Eva Mendes’ Sand Saref and Paz Vega’s Plaster of Paris
– Frank Miller’s claim that "this film is not a tribute to Will Eisner, it’s a tribute to The Spirit."

Check out the featurette by clicking here.

Zack Snyder on ‘300’ Sequel/Prequel

  • News
  • October 3, 2008

With the wild success of Zack Snyder’s 300, it’s hardly a surprise that there’s a sequel in the works. Yes, most of the cast is dead by story’s end, but before you call call madness, remember that this, is, SPARTA!! we’re talking about here.

IESB caught up with Snyder at a Watchmen event in Hollywood the other day, and got his two cents on the film’s follow-up. According to the director, development on the film project will only occur when Frank Miller has finished writing and illustrating the graphic novel’s sequel. Snyder wants Miller to have full creative control of the novel’s story, as was the case with 300.

It’s hard to imagine a sequel to 300 with Leonidas and the gang considering the film’s ending. There’s been speculation that the project would be a prequel rather than a sequel, thereby allowing Leonidas to return to fight again. Snyder set the record straight by pegging the film’s timeline between the Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of Platea. In the film’s final narration, which takes place just before the Battle of Platea, Dilios reveals that Leonidas "died barely a year ago." Snyder says that the sequel will take place during this time, so the odds of Leonidas returning are pretty slim unless it’s in rotting carcass form.

300, based on a graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller, is a dramatization of the famous Battle of Thermopylae where 300 Spartan warriors battled against the Persian Empire. The film, released in March 2007, was the biggest March opening weekend of all time and the third biggest opening for an R-rated picture. The untitled sequel will be based on an as yet completed graphic novel, also by Frank Miller.

‘300’ Sequel in the Works. Wha?

Those who got red in the face over the historical discrepancies of Frank Miller’s 300 and the massively successful film adaptation might have more to grumble about, as reports are airing that a sequel is in the works.

You might be thinking that almost all the 300 Spartans died at the graphic novel and film’s conclusion, and that such a lack of protagonists would be a major obstacle for a sequel. Apparently not, writes Cinema Blend.

This morning Variety is confirming news that probably won’t surprise anyone. 300, the graphic novel adaptation that cost virtually nothing to make but grossed over $200 million last spring, is getting a sequel. Well, probably. Legendary Pictures, which is also developing The Watchmen, is interested in the graphic novel Frank Miller is currently working on, which may be a prequel or some kind of spinoff.

300 director Zack Snyder, as he said to Collider.com last week, will probably be as much a part of it as Miller is. That is, if the graphic novel is any good, Snyder will be on board. It almost seems beside the point for a 300 sequel to exist, given how many parodies have cropped up since the movie became such an unexpected success. And, of course, there’s the issue of revisiting the same characters, given that — SPOILER ALERT — most of them died at the end of the first film.

At the very least, it can’t be worse than Meet the Spartans… Right?

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