That's The Spirit! (National Post)

Image via Wikipedia

Frank Miller's noir craftsmanship inspired actresses Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes to embrace the femme-fatale flourishes of his newest film

Bob Thompson

National Post

December 22, 2008

The renowned graphic novelist Frank Miller knows how to write about anxiety, but he might have trouble dealing with his own as the opening of The Spirit approaches.

The Spirit is Miller's much anticipated live-action film version of the classic 1940s Will Eisner newspaper strip and subsequent comic book series. Opening on Christmas Day, the movie arrives with an important question: Can Miller --on his first solo directorial effort -- translate the stylish 1940s noir images onto the big screen?

There's a good chance he can. For one thing, Miller appreciates The Spirit's creative origins. He was an Eisner friend and associate, and admits that he based some of his more popular graphic novels on Eisner's tones and textures. Miller also codirected and co-wrote the digital Sin City film with Robert Rodriguez and penned the popular graphic novels Sin City and 300 (the movie became a worldwide hit). And Miller also famously made over Batman as the brooding Dark Knight in comics that inspired Christopher Nolan's hit movies Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

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

• Marshall Fine: Review: The Spirit is disspiriting
• What's that evil smell? It must be The Spirit
• The Spirit
• A Pg-13 Rating Would Be the Most Promising Sign:
• The Desperation Of "The Spirit" Marketing Is Now Just Pathetic

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

FAST CHAT Frank Miller talks about 'The Spirit' (Newsday)

Frank Miller in London, image by juliet_a via Flickr

Frank Lovece
Dec. 21, 2008

One of the few comics creators who has become his own brand, writer-artist Frank Miller first made his mark with a gritty, film-noir take on Marvel Comics' "Daredevil." He went on to pop-culture stardom with DC Comics' " The Dark Knight Returns," a 1986 miniseries envisioning a bitter, reactionary Batman a few decades from now, fighting against a corrupt world as seen through Miller's Ayn Rand-devotee eyes. His vision helped inspire the similarly dark Batman movies, and the less successful "Daredevil" film (2003).

Miller went on to such creator-owned comics as "Sin City" and "300," from independent publisher Dark Horse. Each became the basis of a popular movie, with director Robert Rodriguez granting Miller co-director credit for his help on "Frank Miller's Sin City" (2005).

Now flying solo, Miller, 51, has adapted " The Spirit," Will Eisner's legendary 1940-52 comics series that appeared as seven-page stories in Sunday newspapers. (The movie opens Thursday.) Its tales of an average-Joe-masked crime-fighter in a rumpled suit, encountering both Everyman criminals and exotic international thieves, became famous for both their humanistic fables and Eisner's pioneering techniques. Miller recently spoke at the Waldorf- Astoria with frequent contributor Frank Lovece.

For those poor, deprived souls who don't know his work, what makes Will Eisner so important to comics?

Well, it's like asking what Thomas Edison did for the lightbulb. Eisner was one of the people who created [the medium of] comic books. He was one of the first people who ever took comics out of the four-panel strip and showed the possibilities of the full page. And so he was one of the founding fathers. It's like asking what Thomas Jefferson had to do with the Constitution.

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

• Sin City 2 works out its snags; April start date planned
• A Modern Animated History of Robin
• Advance Reviewer Pans Miller's The Spirit
• Dark Knight Makes AFI's Top Ten

Frank Miller interview (TheList.co.uk)

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

By Miles Fielder

Dec. 11, 2008

Graphic novelist Frank Miller talks about his film adaptation of comic book legend Will Eisner’s groundbreaking 1940s crime-fighter strip, The Spirit.

‘At first I found it too daunting, because Will Eisner had been my mentor. But after three minutes of careful thought I decided that nobody else could touch it. So I went from protecting The Spirit to exploring what I perceived as Will’s intent, which was to create something new and exciting. Accordingly, I didn’t want to make a piece of stodgy memorabilia. I wanted to do something with modern technology that was as adventurous as Will was with his horsehair brush and ink.

‘We use digital effects similar to the ones Robert Rodriguez and myself used in Sin City. What’s happened with computer technology is perfectly timed for someone with my set of skills. I tell stories with pictures. What I love about CGI is that if I can think it, it can be put on the screen.

‘The stories that make up the core of this movie were three: ‘Sand Saref’, ‘Bring in Sand Saref’ and ‘Showdown’. The first two introduce one of The Spirit’s many femme fatales, played in the film by Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, Jaime King and Paz Vega. The third story was a bloody fight between the Spirit and the villain the Octopus, played by Samuel L Jackson, that demonstrated both of them could withstand inhuman punishment. Working out how to justify that allowed me to make the Spirit a man who is existentially confused about why he came back from the dead – he knows that he is a cop who was shot dead and mysteriously came back to life, but not why.

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

TV STAR Interview Index to Mr. Media


TV PRODUCER Interview Index to Mr. Media


MOVIE STAR Interview Index to Mr. Media


MOVIE DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER and SCREENWRITER Interview Index to Mr. Media


POLITICAL Interview Index to Mr. Media


STAND-UP COMEDIAN Interview Index to Mr. Media


HEALTH EXPERTS Interview Index to Mr. Media


MAGAZINE EDITOR Interview Index to Mr. Media


RADIO STAR Interview Index to Mr. Media


BLOGGER, PODCASTER and WEB SITE PRODUCER Interview Index to Mr. Media


NOVELIST Interview Index to Mr. Media


MUSICIAN Interview Index to Mr. Media


SEXUALITY EXPERT Interview Index to Mr. Media


CULTURE & SOCIETY EXPERT Interview Index to Mr. Media


FOOD EXPERT Interview Index to Mr. Media


BIOGRAPHER, HISTORIAN and A.J. JACOBS Interview Index to Mr. Media


ATHLETE and SPORTS EXPERT Interview Index to Mr. Media


PHOTOGRAPHER Interview Index to Mr. Media


JOURNALIST Interview Index to Mr. Media


CRIME EXPERT Interview Index to Mr. Media


BUSINESS EXPERT Interview Index to Mr. Media


COMIC BOOK CREATOR Interview Index to Mr. Media


CARTOONIST Interview Index to Mr. Media


WILL EISNER Interview Index to Mr. Media

OK, Frank Miller, Read This, Part 2

Comic-Con: Miller Shows Some Spirit (Variety Blog)

By Anne Thompson
Variety
July 27, 2008

Frank Miller's The Spirit may be too smart for the room.

The footage for Miller’s homage to his comics mentor, the late Will Eisner, looked fun but strictly narrow niche, much the way Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse played best for folks who felt the same way about their B-movie inspirations.

Miller is a gifted, crafty storyteller/entertainer who clearly is having fun playing with his new medium while staying true to Eisner. “I grew up on Superboy, my love of telling stories derives from that,” said Miller at a director’s panel. “Any way I can explore the hero and bring him to life is another way to do my life’s passion. It’s my job to give you what you don’t ask for and don’t know you want.”

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

SIN CITY 2... Will Have to Wait; Miller's Got The Spirit

ROTTEN TOMATOES-UK Exclusive: Frank Miller On "The Spirit"...In 3D? (And Delays on "Sin City 2"!)

Joe Utichi writes: "Frank Miller is unmistakable in his famous black hat, particularly if you're expecting him. While at the Cannes Film Festival last week our friends at MySpace invited us down to meet Miller and chat about his upcoming projects and it's about time we let you know what he had to say, because we've been talking of little else around the office ever since.

"I'm out here mainly to introduce my new film, "The Spirit," to buyers and press and all kinds of people," he told Rotten Tomatoes UK, and we were keen to find out more about the project.

"It's based on an old 1940's comic by my mentor, Will Eisner, and it features a masked adventure up against all kinds of nasty people and all kinds of beautiful women," he said, "Lionsgate are negotiating with Samuel L. Jackson to play the main villain; The Octopus. As far as I know the negotiations are going fine, but I'm not a negotiator!"

Of course, by stroke of coincidence we learned just before we sat down with Miller that Robert Rodriguez had been signed onto a remake of the classic sixties sex flick "Barbarella." So what of "Sin City 2"? Rumours swirl that the project has been stalled by the breakdown of Rodriguez' marriage. "Sin City 2 is still likely to happen," says Miller, "just not right away. The script is written and Robert and I are raring to go, but it looks like I'm going to be doing The Spirit first and Robert's going to be doing Barbarella first."

CLICK HERE TO KEEP READING!!