Comments on: A Spirited Failure http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/01/a-spirited-failure/ Lollards in the high church of low culture Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:24:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: jel http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/01/a-spirited-failure/#comment-571621 jel Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:53:59 +0000 http://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=12995#comment-571621 Here is my review of it, which I posted on my crappy blog: Today, I decided to go and see the 11:10am showing of the Spirit. I enjoy eating my lunch at the movies, and usually the cinema is empty at this time. There were only two other people in the cinema, and they were sitting on the aisle near the front, which I thought was a bit odd (haha, I’m calling other people odd). Anyway, the film, hmmm, it was er, watchable? It seemed to be a cross between Sin City (well, duh, that’s because of Frank Miller) and Tim Burton’s Batman…it tried to be a ’screwball caper with sexy dames’ and ‘a hard-boiled grimy crime drama’, and this sorta tore the film apart. I would have just stuck to the ’screwball caper’… The Spirit himself lacked substance, no sorry that’s a cheap joke…he was actually a little more than that, but not that charismatic to be honest, he liked cats and cats liked him, so that’s cool. Eva Mendes played jewel thief Sand Serif who was his first love. Samuel L. Jackson looked like he had fun playing the Octopus, the same goes for Scarlett as Silken Floss. The weirdest scene involved, the Octopus and Floss dressed as Nazi’s which ended in the disintegration of a kitten which really riled the Spirit…I think this scene was meant to be “lol” funny, but it just seemed a bit wrong. The plot revolved around the blood of Hercules, and some golden fleece. Oh, and it was snowing. Here is my review of it, which I posted on my crappy blog:

Today, I decided to go and see the 11:10am showing of the Spirit. I enjoy eating my lunch at the movies, and usually the cinema is empty at this time. There were only two other people in the cinema, and they were sitting on the aisle near the front, which I thought was a bit odd (haha, I’m calling other people odd).

Anyway, the film, hmmm, it was er, watchable? It seemed to be a cross between Sin City (well, duh, that’s because of Frank Miller) and Tim Burton’s Batman…it tried to be a ’screwball caper with sexy dames’ and ‘a hard-boiled grimy crime drama’, and this sorta tore the film apart. I would have just stuck to the ’screwball caper’…

The Spirit himself lacked substance, no sorry that’s a cheap joke…he was actually a little more than that, but not that charismatic to be honest, he liked cats and cats liked him, so that’s cool. Eva Mendes played jewel thief Sand Serif who was his first love. Samuel L. Jackson looked like he had fun playing the Octopus, the same goes for Scarlett as Silken Floss. The weirdest scene involved, the Octopus and Floss dressed as Nazi’s which ended in the disintegration of a kitten which really riled the Spirit…I think this scene was meant to be “lol” funny, but it just seemed a bit wrong.

The plot revolved around the blood of Hercules, and some golden fleece. Oh, and it was snowing.

]]> By: Pete Baran http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/01/a-spirited-failure/#comment-571565 Pete Baran Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:23:43 +0000 http://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=12995#comment-571565 I liked Sin City a lot more than The Spirit. I guess the difference lies in their respective genres. Sin City wasn't just a noir film, it relied on noir tropes to fill in the blanks on its bass asses and hookers. The Spirit is more of a camp superhero film, with a lead who doesn't look like a superhero living in a noir world. It has almost zero characterisation and lurches from one expositionary sequence to another. But it still looks great in places, is occasionally very funny and entertains on a very basic level. I'd say see it at the Prince Charles or a cheap cinema. I liked Sin City a lot more than The Spirit. I guess the difference lies in their respective genres. Sin City wasn’t just a noir film, it relied on noir tropes to fill in the blanks on its bass asses and hookers. The Spirit is more of a camp superhero film, with a lead who doesn’t look like a superhero living in a noir world. It has almost zero characterisation and lurches from one expositionary sequence to another. But it still looks great in places, is occasionally very funny and entertains on a very basic level. I’d say see it at the Prince Charles or a cheap cinema.

]]> By: a logged-out pˆnk s lord whatnot http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/01/a-spirited-failure/#comment-571529 a logged-out pˆnk s lord whatnot Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:49:39 +0000 http://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=12995#comment-571529 i imagine the signif diff is taken care of by one robert rodriguez, acclaimed director of the <a href="http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/see/2004/12/ft-top-100-films-1/" rel="nofollow">FT Best Film of All Time</a> (i haven't seen sin city but dr v!ck liked it a lot, even tho she couldn't remember its title and knows nothing of comix: "it's all grey" was how she decsribed it to me while raving) i imagine the signif diff is taken care of by one robert rodriguez, acclaimed director of the FT Best Film of All Time

(i haven’t seen sin city but dr v!ck liked it a lot, even tho she couldn’t remember its title and knows nothing of comix: “it’s all grey” was how she decsribed it to me while raving)

]]> By: Martin Skidmore http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/01/a-spirited-failure/#comment-571512 Martin Skidmore Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:04:07 +0000 http://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=12995#comment-571512 Would most of your complaints not also apply to Sin City? I ask because I loved that film, and wondered if I should avoid The Spirit or not. Obviously I know loads about the character as depicted by Eisner, but I don't care if that is changed, as I don't think he was a particularly great character, just one whose comics were executed in a way that was almost peerless (excepting Jack Cole and some newspaper strips, which The Spirit sort of wasn't) in '40s comics. Would most of your complaints not also apply to Sin City? I ask because I loved that film, and wondered if I should avoid The Spirit or not. Obviously I know loads about the character as depicted by Eisner, but I don’t care if that is changed, as I don’t think he was a particularly great character, just one whose comics were executed in a way that was almost peerless (excepting Jack Cole and some newspaper strips, which The Spirit sort of wasn’t) in ’40s comics.

]]> By: pete http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/01/a-spirited-failure/#comment-570628 pete Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:55:00 +0000 http://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=12995#comment-570628 I think the tonal problems (earnestness to camp) are exactly the same problems with Miller's All-Star Batman And Robin, to the extent that perhaps Miller has lost sight between the distinction between playing it straight with a wink and playing it straight with a yawn. The hidden model here is the Batman series (or perhaps film) of '66 which looked back on affectionately now, manages the tricky task of playing its camp straight enough for two audiences. The violence and stabs for serious architype gold alienates the camp audience, and the film is too violent and cat dissolving for kids. But in the end the Spirit is not a billionaire who dresses up as a bat, he is an indestructible bloke in a suit and a tie. One of these is inherently silly, the other inherently dull. I think the tonal problems (earnestness to camp) are exactly the same problems with Miller’s All-Star Batman And Robin, to the extent that perhaps Miller has lost sight between the distinction between playing it straight with a wink and playing it straight with a yawn. The hidden model here is the Batman series (or perhaps film) of ’66 which looked back on affectionately now, manages the tricky task of playing its camp straight enough for two audiences. The violence and stabs for serious architype gold alienates the camp audience, and the film is too violent and cat dissolving for kids.

But in the end the Spirit is not a billionaire who dresses up as a bat, he is an indestructible bloke in a suit and a tie. One of these is inherently silly, the other inherently dull.

]]> By: MBI http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/01/a-spirited-failure/#comment-570500 MBI Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:13:22 +0000 http://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=12995#comment-570500 Scene b) that you mention is quite possibly the worst scene in the history of movies. You don't even mention the real reason why this movie is terrible, that it teeters between unbearable over-the-top camp and deadly boring earnest stretches in which nothing happens seemingly for hours. This movie completely and thoroughly hates itself. Scene b) that you mention is quite possibly the worst scene in the history of movies.

You don’t even mention the real reason why this movie is terrible, that it teeters between unbearable over-the-top camp and deadly boring earnest stretches in which nothing happens seemingly for hours. This movie completely and thoroughly hates itself.

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