Review: “Sin City” – Frank Miller

PODCAST:

S4E6B – Sin City (graphic novels)*

SHOW NOTES:

Wherein we discuss the prolific career and unarguable influence of this storied and stylistic comic book creator. I am joined by former co-host, David Wilkinson a/k/a Wilk, and his friend comic book aficionado, Rob Lloyd II.

Much of our exploration considered the gray morality dogging the vast ensemble of characters, which was in contrast to the majority of stark black and white artwork. We also talked about the amazing myriad of interweaving plots and detailed, but focused world-building that develops and unfolds as the neo-noir ethos of Sin City.

Everyone was in complete agreement that the Sin City yarns we discussed were impressive in both their content and artistic style as well as their ability to distinguish characters. While Ryan found that the dialog grew laborious at times while reading the stories straight through, he didn’t think he wanted anything else from the series. Rob and Wilk both felt that the stories were excellent and enjoyable, but were just shy of considering the work paramount for the simple fact that they enjoyed the author’s Batman work slightly more.

Lastly, Rob and Wilk describe their sordid gripping life on the road finding creepy motels to stay at near Ryan, as well as their secret-agenda-quest / real reason for coming to Chicago: to watch grunge rockers “Pearl Jam” live at Wrigley Field.

-Ryan

 

WRITTEN BOOK REVIEWS:

“Sin City” by Frank Miller (select graphic novels)

 

 

 

 

 

• “The Hard Goodbye (April 1991 – May 1992)” (V1)
• “A Dame to Kill For (November 1993 – May 1994)” (V2)
• “The Big Fat Kill (November 1994 – March 1995)” (V3)
• “That Yellow Bastard (February 1996 – July 1996)” (V4)
• “Booze, Broads, and Bullets (1998)” (V6)

*** * ***

Ryan: 5 Stars “…Imagine getting punched in the gut by some rogue lunatic underworld gladiator who promptly collapses into your kitchen chair and chomps down on a bowl of cheerios with his oversized mitts as you crouch on the floor stunned and drooling blood…there’s a knock on the door and you pick up your corpse of a body to stare through the peephole at a knife-wielding leather-clad dame grimacing while rare classic cars skid onto the scene followed by screaming cop sirens tolling in debauchery and corruption…then the color drops out and real nice like everything goes noir…”

Wilk: 4 Stars “…a juxtaposition of provocation with expectation…vice was not rewarded, but it was celebrated at the same time…”

Rob: 4 Stars “…I think there’s some seminal works that rank above this that are five star works, but it’s right there on the cusp…it’s awesome. I really enjoyed it…”

(Click the links to read full written reviews on Goodreads.com)

 

FUN FACTOIDS:

Frank Miller is a legend in the comic world. As mentioned in the episode, he inspired many other artists including the creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Here is an article called “The fascinating origin story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” by Andrew Farago for The Week on that origin story with early sketch work: https://theweek.com/captured/446321/fascinating-origin-story-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles.

The Guardian article referenced in the episode about Frank Miller’s past troubles was an interview by Sam Theilman and called “Frank Miller: ‘I wasn’t thinking clearly when I said those things'” and it can be read here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/27/frank-miller-xerxes-cursed-sin-city-the-dark-knight-returns.

On the podcast Wilk mentioned the all-things-horror themed Facebook page “Major Horror” run by his wife and past show guest, Laura Valle, which you can find here: https://www.facebook.com/welovescary/. The Michigan comic book store mentioned by Rob and Wilk during our recording is called “Vault of Midnight” and it can be found online here: https://www.vaultofmidnight.com/.

Lastly, much was made of Wilk and Rob’s true purpose behind their journey to visit Ryan–that being a concert at Wrigley Stadium by the famous grunge rock group Pearl Jam! The duo had a blast joining other friends (including former co-host Beam)! After the concert they joined Ryan at Dole’s abode for more fun before finally settling in to a new hotel (one less worrisome). Below is some pics (taken by Rob, Beam or Dave A) and promo images of the concert they attended:

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* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.

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Preview Episode (Sin City)

PODCAST:

S4E6P – Preview Episode (Sin City)

SUBJECT MATTER:

“Sin City” by Frank Miller (select graphic novels)

 

• “The Hard Goodbye (April 1991 – May 1992)” (Volume 1) – “It’s a lousy room in a lousy part of a lousy town. But Marv doesn’t care. There’s an angel in the room. She says her name is Goldie. A few hours later, Goldie’s dead without a mark on her perfect body, and the cops are coming before anyone but Marv could know she’s been killed. Somebody paid good money for this frame . . .” (from Amazon.com)
• “A Dame to Kill For (November 1993 – May 1994)” (Volume 2) – “Stuck with nothing but a seedy gumshoe job and some demons, Dwight’s thinking of all the ways he’s screwed up and what he’d give for one clear chance to wipe the slate clean, to dig his way out of the numb gray hell that is his life. And he’d give anything. Just to feel the fire. One more time. But he can’t let himself lose control again, can’t ever let the monster out. And then Ava calls.”
  (from Amazon.com)
• “The Big Fat Kill (November 1994 – March 1995)” (Volume 3) – “One of Sin City’s most fascinatingly conflicted characters, Dwight, returns in The Big Fat Kill, the third volume of Frank Miller’s seminal noir comic and the inspiration for one of the segments of the blockbuster Sin City film! This third edition is newly redesigned and features a brand-new cover by Miller-some of his first comics art in years! For Dwight, sometimes standing up for his friends means killing a whole lot of people . . . Not for revenge. Not because they deserve it. Not because it’ll make the world a better place. There’s nothing righteous or noble about it. Dwight’s gotta kill them because he needs them dead.” (from Amazon.com)
• “That Yellow Bastard (February 1996 – July 1996)” (Volume 4) – “The worst thing to be in Basin City is an honest cop, but it’s Hartigan’s last day on the job, and he plans to go out with a bang. Little Nancy Callahan, age eleven, has been kidnapped by a psycho who likes to hear children scream, and Hartigan’s going to find her no matter what it takes. No matter who the psycho’s daddy is. All the prison time in the world won’t change that. Hell of a way to start retirement . . .” (from Amazon.com)
• “Booze, Broads, and Bullets (1998)” (Volume 6) – “Collecting classics like “Just Another Saturday Night” and “Silent Night,” both starring the iconic big lug with a condition, Marv; “The Customer Is Always Right,” featured in the Sin City film; and “The Babe Wore Red,” starring Sin City‘s most enduring hero, Dwight; Booze, Broads, and Bullets spans every kind of dark business you might encounter on a cold night in Basin City. It’s sure to scratch your Sin City itch again and again, in just that way that makes you itch for more.” (from Amazon.com)

*** * ***

“Sin City” by Robert Rodriquez (Bruce Willis) (movie)

“Welcome to Sin City. This town beckons to the tough, the corrupt, the brokenhearted. Some call it dark. Hard-boiled. Then there are those who call it home. Crooked cops. Sexy dames. Desperate vigilantes. Some are seeking revenge. Others lust after redemption. And then there are those hoping for a little of both. A universe of unlikely and reluctant heroes still trying to do the right thing in a city that refuses to care. Their stories — shocking, suspenseful and searing — come to the fore in a new motion picture from co-directors Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, and special guest director Quentin Tarantino.” (from Amazon.com)

 

*** * ***

“Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” by Robert Rodriguez (Josh Brolin) (movie)

“Straight from the pages of Frank Miller’s cutting edge series Sin City, co-directors Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez reunite to bring the visually stunning stories back to the screen. Dwight McCarthy (Josh Brolin) struggles with his inner demons and tries to maintain control until his former lover, the goddess Ava Lord (Eva Green), returns wanting his help to escape her abusive husband. Though once he learns her true intentions are far more sinister than they appear, he recruits the help of Marv (Mickey Rourke) and Gail (Rosario Dawson). While a cocky young gambler (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) takes his chances winning against the most powerful man in Sin City, Senator Roark (Powers Boothe). But this is Senator Roark’s least of problems because Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) has been driven insane by John Hartigan’s (Bruce Willis) selfless suicide and is no longer a damsel in distress and is out for blood, compelled to avenge Hartigan by hunting down Senator Roark.” (from Amazon.com)

 

 

* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.

Review: “Altered States” – Ken Russell

PODCAST:

S4E1M – Altered States (movie)*

SHOW NOTES:

Wherein Wilk (former co-host) regaled us with his silly demands to his family regarding a vacation they were all to take together. Dustin and Wilk both mentioned how this movie was something they had heard about for many years and were looking forward to finally check out. Although Dustin thought the “volcano wife” was humorous and Ryan laughed at the “hobbit feet” in the film, we were overall impressed with the various special effects and production elements of this film. Infamous incidents of tension and drama between the author (who also wrote the screenplay) and the director (whom never worked in Hollywood again after this) were also discussed by the group. The ending struck us as abrupt, but everyone generally everyone felt the film was a much better adaptation of the underlying story than the book itself and a worthwhile watch over a reading of the book. An atypical conclusion on this podcast.

– Ryan

Ryan, Wilk and Dustin ready to record. ++

 

WRITTEN FILM REVIEWS:

“Altered States (1980)” by Ken Russell (William Hurt) (movie)

Ryan: 4 Stars “…Pitting ordained Hollywood royalty against a self-indulgent outsider–the result, a perfect clash of expression that elevates this already superior book material into something even better; a rarity…”

Wilk: 4 Stars “…I loved this movie. I watched it at one o’clock in the morning. I didn’t fall asleep. I wish I had more drugs when I watched it…”

Dustin: 4 Star “…I thought it was enjoyable…it summed up…the story much better than the book did and it’s obvious that…his screenwriting talents were evident in this film…”

 

FUN FACTOIDS:

Marc Maron did a podcast interview on his show “WTF” with actor Bob Balaban who played Arthur Rosenberg in the film. Balaan recounted working with director Ken Russell on this film at about the one hour mark into the podcast on Episode 923: http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-923-bob-balaban. Here is an article on the dancer who played the primal man in the film which we mentioned: Miguel Godreau – https://mobile.nytimes.com/1996/09/02/arts/miguel-godreau-a-lead-dancer-with-alvin-ailey-dies-at-49.html?referer=https://www.google.com. A screenshot from this movie was utilized by the English metal industrial act “Godflesh” on their critically acclaimed debut album “Streetcleaner.” Ryan and Dole went to see this band at Chicago’s famous venue the Metro a while back.

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#godflesh #godfleshtour #metalmusic #industrialmusic #postmetal #experimentalmetal #metal #heavymetal #electronicmusic #chicagometro

A post shared by Ryan Sean O'Reilly (@ryanseanoreilly) on Sep 25, 2015 at 9:31pm PDT

 

Not mentioned on the show, but also noteworthy is that Brazilian metal act “Sepultura” wrote a song called “Altered State” for their fourth album “Arise” inspired by the Ken Russell movie. An article quoting their original singer Max Cavalera can be found here: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/sepultura/altered-state. A live video of their 1991 tour in Barcelona playing this song can be watched here:

Ryan and Dole also saw the brothers from Sepultura touring through Chicago a while back with their newer band “Cavalera Conspiracy.” Check it out:

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#reggiesrockclub #chicago #cavaleraconspiracy #metal #thrashmetal #groovemetal #deathmetal #heavymetal #chicagomusicscene #metalforlife #reggieschicago

A post shared by Ryan Sean O'Reilly (@ryanseanoreilly) on Oct 7, 2016 at 8:28am PDT

 

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#cavaleraconspiracy #reggiesrockclub #chicago #metal #heavymetal #thrashmetal #grovemetal #deathmetal #metalhead #metalforlife #chicagomusicscene #reggieschicago

A post shared by Ryan Sean O'Reilly (@ryanseanoreilly) on Oct 6, 2016 at 9:26pm PDT

 

Wilk and his wife Laura Valle started a true crime podcast called, “How to Avoid Murder …and other awkward situations,” which he talked about on the show. The website for their podcast is: http://www.avoidmurder.com/. Please note that the recording of the episode took place some time ago, and Wilk’s true crime podcast is on indefinite hiatus as of the date of the release of this episode.

 

Dustin is the lead singer for the heavy metal outfit “I Decline.” Long-time NDIOS contributor Dole plays drums in this band. Check out their on their website: http://www.i-decline.com. We also mentioned that it’s available for steaming on such platforms asiTunes, YouTube, Amazon, and Spotify. Please note that as of the release of this episode the band’s long-standing unreleased project tentatively known as “The Galaxies” is still in a state of incompleteness. Many of the songs have been recorded and mixed, but final mastering and other administrative decisions remain. There is currently no set release date scheduled for this project, but we are hopefully that it will eventually see the light of day in the future at some point. Until that time, you can view some live videos for earlier versions of a few of these spacy sci-fi like songs on the band’s YouTube channel: Galaxy 1 and Galaxy 3.

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I Decline playing their trilogy "The Galaxies" at #reggiesrockclub (www.i-decline.com) #reggies #reggieschicago #chicagometal #metal #heavymetal #idecline #metalforlife #metalforever #stonerrock #hardrock #liveshow #chicagomusicscene

A post shared by Ryan Sean O'Reilly (@ryanseanoreilly) on Dec 29, 2015 at 12:42pm PST

 

++ Illustrated artwork in group photo is by Arik Roper for a Limited Edition poster for Ithaca Fantastik’s 2016 Retrospective Film Festival (see http://ithacafilmfestival.com/spotlight-arik-roper.php).

* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.

Review: “Altered States” – Paddy Chayefsky

PODCAST:

S4E1B – Altered States (book)*

SHOW NOTES:

Wherein Wilk (former co-host) compared reading this book to attending an art show by actor Gary Busey, not purchasing a painting by novelist Clive Barker (whom we covered in our episodes on “The Hellbound Heart” and “Hellraiser“), and reading the novel “Tarantula” by musician Bob Dylan. Things were further clarified when Wilk recalled some sagely advice given by his father regarding Herman Melville’s famous novel “Moby Dick” (Bob Wilkinson joined us for our review of “Starship Troopers“). Dustin Decline (from the heavy metal act “I Decline“) expressed and encapsulated the group’s general frustration with this author’s one and only attempt at writing proper prose due to the novel’s overabundance and general saturation of uninteresting technical terminology.

– Ryan

Ryan, Wilk, and Dustin ready to record.

 

WRITTEN BOOK REVIEWS:

“Altered States (1978)” by Paddy Chayefsky (book)

Ryan: 3 Stars “…Urgent and practical prose bolstered with dialog, that at times, feels weighted with jargon while fully acknowledging the supremacy of story, and at other times—stabs right into the heart of humanity…”

Wilk: 2 Stars “…Drugs will make you a superhuman until they don’t…”

Dustin: 1 Star “….A pretentious convoluted look at the human conscious…”

(Click the links to read full written reviews on Goodreads.com)

FUN FACTOIDS:

On the show we talked about the trend of early mankind films that were coming out around the time of the release of this book and film. One such notable movie that came out in 1981 was “Quest for Fire” which starred: Everett McGill, Rae Dawn Chong, Nameer El-Kadi and Ron Perlman. It also featured special language features by previous podcast author subject Anthony Burgess, who we discussed on our episode on “A Clockwork Orange.”

The father and son Dungeons & Dragon’s style game play podcast Ryan brought up during the discussion is called “The Adventure Zone” and it can be found here: https://www.maximumfun.org/shows/adventure-zone.

We also mentioned that this author was a renowned and highly celebrated script writer for Hollywood. He is probably most famous for a speech in the award-winning 1976 film “Network” directed by Sidney Lumet. In that movie one of the main characters (played by Peter Finch) is an anchor for a network news show. He goes live on the air working himself into a frenzy imploring that the audience join his frustration with the current state of affairs by opening their windows and screaming out into the streets: “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” You can watch a clip of this compelling scene here:

 

Not necessarily a “fun” factoid, yet it is worth noting (as we did not discuss it on the show) that Paddy Chayefsky was sued over this novel by one of his scientific advisers whom helped him research the book. Apparently the lawsuit was dismissed, but this would set the stage for future personal frustrations surrounding this project as the film adaptation was developed (see Paddy Chayefsky Papers: http://archives.nypl.org/the/21778).

 

Wilk and his wife Laura Valle started a true crime podcast called, “How to Avoid Murder …and other awkward situations,” which he talked about on the show. The website for their podcast is: http://www.avoidmurder.com/. Please note that the recording of the episode took place some time ago, and Wilk’s true crime podcast is on indefinite hiatus as of the date of the release of this episode.

 

Dustin is the lead singer for the heavy metal outfit “I Decline.” Long-time NDIOS contributor Dole plays drums in this band. Check out their on their website: http://www.i-decline.com. We also mentioned that it’s available for steaming on such platforms as iTunes, YouTube, Amazon, and Spotify. Please note that as of the release of this episode the band’s long-standing unreleased project tentatively known as “The Galaxies” is still in a state of incompleteness. Many of the songs have been recorded and mixed, but final mastering and other administrative decisions remain. There is currently no set release date scheduled for this project, but we are hopefully that it will eventually see the light of day in the future at some point. Until that time, you can view some live videos for earlier versions of a few of these spacy sci-fi like songs on the band’s YouTube channel: Galaxy 1 and Galaxy 3.

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Raising the #riffage with a little studio time! The #stonerrock #metal band #IDECLINE as they lay down some trax (www.i-decline.com). #heavymetal #hardrock #instametal #chicagomusicscene #chicagomusic #recordingstudio #studiorecording #metalbrothers #riff #metalforlife #minbalstudio #minbal

A post shared by Ryan Sean O'Reilly (@ryanseanoreilly) on Dec 11, 2016 at 1:01pm PST

 

* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.

Preview Episode (Altered States)

PODCAST:

S4E1P – Preview Episode (Altered States)*

SUBJECT MATTER:

“Altered States (1978)” by Paddy Chayefsky (book)

“Inspired by the work of John C. Lilly, Chayefsky spent two years in Boston doing research to write his science fiction novel Altered States (HarperCollins, 1978), which he adapted for his last screenplay. In the film Chayefsky is credited under his real first and middle name, Sidney Aaron, because of disputes with director Ken Russell. Some of the events portrayed in this film seem to be based on the studies of the French surrealist author Antonin Artaud; the protagonist visits a tribe of isolated Mexican tribal people & participates in their sacred shamanic ritual involving local hallucinogens for the purpose of investigating the common religious experience. Much of the setting of this part of the film also appears to be based on Artaud’s description of the natural, altho seemingly man-made landscape of the people. In the movie, this was represented by huge stone mushrooms often called hoodoos & attributed to the supernatural.“ (from Goodreads.com)

*** * ***

“Altered States (1980)” by Ken Russell (William Hurt) (movie)

“A Harvard scientist conducts experiments on himself with a hallucinatory drug and an isolation chamber that may be causing him to regress genetically.” (from Amazon.com)

 

 

 

 

* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.