SIn City was born of Miller’s love of vintage film noir and hard-boiled Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane novels (to name just a few). His compositions are masterpieces, manipulating positive and negative space. And whether it’s a bar full of lowlifes and cigarette smoke, an inspirational dancer or someone spilling blood to bare knuckles, the scent and sight of sex and danger are always nearby. Nearly ever angle and stark description is faithfully translated by co-director, Robert Rodriguez in the film. He looked to three of Miller’s intertwinerd graphic novels for the screenplay and storyboards. Finally someone had understood comics. Someone stopped the pattern of trying to improve perfection.

“The Hard Goodbye” features Marv (Mickey Rourke) the loveable, nearly indestructible vigilane with a hamburger face, framed for the murder of a woman he loved. In “The Big Fat Kill,” Dwight (Clive Owen) is a sucker for protecting the dames, but when the wrong person is killed in Old Town (which is run by the local pros) a truce is broken that could bring the pimps back in power. In “That Yellow Bastard,” Hartigan (Bruce Willis), a cop betrayed while saving a kidnapped 11-year old Nancy Callahan, lands in eight years of imprisonment. He must sacrifice his good name to save Nancy (Jessica Alba), no 19, from the same lech who has become a more hideous monster.

The entire cast excels, delivering pulp dialogue like it was back in style. Benicio Del Toro turns a riveting physical performance as the slimy Jackie Boy, especially in a car ride scene Quentin Tarantino guest directs. Rourke as Marv and Rosario Dawson as Gail also entertain, being tough as galvanized nails and having absolute confidence in their heavy-metal appearances. Featured in his first role in some time, Rourke is downright bad ass.

Naysayers wondered why have a film follow so closely to the base material in fear of redundancy but how often have comic readers complained of the great comic stories out there are waiting to be made, how many of our favorite stories lay by the wayside as someone from film with no connection to only ruin what seemed like basic math. I applaud Rodriguez and company to have known to follow Miller’s Sin City panel by panel because it’s proof of just how cinematic comics are and that they can be on the same level as film. It’s a crowning achievement for comic book fans, especially those who followed Miller’s career in the 90′s and the same can be said of Rodriguez who had the imagination to know how to use digital filmmaking to full realize an imaginary world. To those unaware of Miller and Sin City, this film is not for the tender-hearted. The film exposed newcomers to his expertise in storytelling, and ideally this is how people will keep Miller in their minds instead of his recent take on Will Eisner’s Spirit. It’s easy to surrender to a world of crime, especially when it’s as vivd and exceptional as Sin City.

Video: A+
1080p AVC-encoded transfer at 1.85:1 ratio. Let me tell you, this is one clean-looking film because it was shot in high definition. Free of artifacts and any noticeable grain. The color, which was selectively used is exceptional. The Yellow Bastard, the red blood on both Hartigan’s and Marv’s faces, just explode on the screen. Hair and skin complexion are crystal clear. Even little details like the shiny foil pack of matches from Kadie’s Club Pecos, beard stubble, the glimmer in people’s eyes, comes through in high def glory. The hyper de-saturated picture to reflect the black and white comic will take you back to the old days of memorable film noir. The hundred shades of grey gave depth to each scene, blacks darker as India ink, and they exaggerated lighting make for striking images frame after frame. This alone is worth ditching your DVD copy.

Audio: A+
Sin City sports an English 5.1 DTS-HD soundtrack which is full activity. Gunshots, car crashes and bullets make for a lively mix. The rear speakers are rarely in rest, with music and police sirens panning front to back, helicopters patrolling the city and the zapping and cracking of the electric chair crawl down your neck from behind. Miller’s poetic dialogue and exposition is distinctly heard through the center channel without any trouble. Dynamic range is excellent and there’s no need to monitor the volume level as everything sounds just right. Also included are 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks in Spanish and Portuguese as well as subtitles for the Hearing Impaired, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese

Extras: A
Disc One:
Commentary with Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller – Two creative renegades talking about the film they made together. One a comic legend who reflects on being a first-time director, the other a cult-favorite filmmaker; together a non-stop gab session with lots of additional insight into the Sin City film. With half an hour left in the commentary, Rodriguez begins to ask Miller about his creative process during the time period he created the Sin City graphic novels.

Commentary with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino – Two amigos laughing and having a good time watching the film, and talking about directing. If you’re not a Tarantino fan, or at least of him as a film geek, then avoid the track. Personally, I got a kick out it and always do and someone shows up unexpectedly, Mr. Bruce “Hartigan” Willis.

5.1 Dolby Digital Audio Track of the Austin Premiere Audience Reaction – They love their films in Austin, Texas and is a good place for Rodriguez to have set up his headquarters. There’s a film-hungry worship there and if you want to recreate watching the film with a crowd, without the jerks, now you can.

Cine-Explore HD – A blu-ray exclusive, this special is one of the pure joys of the HD format by packing a variety of extras in one multimedia experience. Along with the first commentary, this is a great combination of being able to see Millers panel art and covers through multiple picture-in-picture windows alongside the the film. Other side-by-side comparisons include the behind-the screen green screen shots. I’ve listened to this commentary on its own before, and it’s well-worth revisiting again and again, but watching art with this particular commentary is a great study. I was hoping for this extensive of a comic exploration in the recent big comic book movie releases but this is the first time I’ve been completely satisfied with the results.

D-Box Motion Code Enabled – If you’re equipped with a D-box integrated motion system enjoy! Otherwise, move along. Learn more about that here: http://www.d-box.com/en/about-d-box/

Disc Two:
Extended, Unrated, Recut Version (142 minutes) – The main reason for this release is the extended cut with all of the deleted scenes added in, and separated into the separate graphic novels, in chronological order: That Yellow Bastard, The Customer is Always Right, The Hard Goodbye, and the Big Fat Kill with closing credits to each story. Yellow Bastard in particular is significantly longer with the return of Lucille (Carla Cugino) and another funny scene with Klump and Schlub.

Rodriguez Special Features SD (58:17) – Combining four old features that Rodriguez produced can still be viewed separately or in one sitting. 15-minute Flic School – Rodriguez shows the tools and methods he used in making the original short film which he used to court the actors he wanted. Artificial lighting, recreating Miller’s edge, and much more. All Green Screen Version - See the film in fast-forward and the magic of green screen. The Long Take - is a behind the scenes look at Tarantino’s contribution and his directing style. Sin City, Live in Concert – takes a Austin city limits break into one of the jazzy bars in town to see Bruce Willis perform with his band for the cast and crew. 10-Minute Cooking School – Enjoy another episode of RR cooking school as he teaches you how to make Sin City Tacos from scratch.

Kill ‘em Good: Interactive Comic Book HD (8:27) – Miller’s “The Hard Goodbye” animated comic book and interactive experience. This is a blu-ray exclusive where you speed through the first Sin City story and actually be an active participant in three parts. Manipulating your blu-ray remote proves to be fun while enjoying the animated art of Miller.

How it Went Down: Convincing Frank Miller SD (5:41) – Robert talks about getting the blessing from Frank to do the film and the courtship to get Sin City in motion and having Miller be so involved in the filmmaking process.

Special Guest Director: Quentin Tarantino SD (7:13) – Quentin talks and talks and talk about repaying his “debt” to Rodriguez by directing the conversation between Jackie Boy and Dwight from the “Big Fat Kill,” using digital cameras and his point of view of the project evolving from a 10-minute short to a complete film.

A Hard Top with a Decent Engine: The Cards of Sin City SD (7:34) – A short featurette on identifying and tracking useable cars for the shoot which was a challenge because there was so many models that were rare and vintage. Remarkably, only one car had to be brought in from outside of Austin, Texas.

Booze, Broads, and Guns SD (10:57) – Steve Joyner, Rodriguez’s production designer gets to flex his pecs in recreating Sin City by creating props from scratch since so much of the props used are pieces of the exaggerated world of Frank Miller.

Making The Monsters: Special Effects Make-Up SD (9:04) – Having Frank Miller on set, helped transform with practical effects, Mickey Rourke, Benicio Del Toro, Nick Stahl into Marv, Jackie Boy, and that Yellow Bastard.

Trenchcoats and Fishnets SD (7:38) – Nina Proctor, Rodriguez’s costume designer, talks about tracking down material from self-made storyboards and finishing off that last detail of recreating Sin City.

Trailers SD (4:01) – Sin City Teaser and Theatrical Trailers sadly in standard definition and in stereo.

Sneak Peeks – Trailers for Miramax Films, Lost, On Blu-Ray Disc, The Proposal, and Confessions of a Shopaholic

I also want to note my love for all of the menus and loading screens which are nifty clips and animated clips of Miller’s Sin City art. Very nice touches. If I have a big gripe it’s that most of the featurettes and specials were left in standard definition. It’s a safe assumption the people who are going to flock to the blu-ray probably have the Extended and Recut DVD as well. So give us every reason to upgrade from the deluxe DVD release. Outside of that, everything you could ask for in supplements is here to enjoy.

Overall Shock Value: A+
Forgive me, Father for I have sinned, I enjoyed double-dipping. Please forgive me when play this disc and sin over and over again. A handful of years later and Sin City holds up extremely well and in high definition, it hasn’t looked better since, well, its opening weekend. This blu-ray release has everything the 2-disc DVD of the same name that came out some years ago, unfortunately without the copy of the Hard Goodbye pocket-sized graphic novel. But with a show-stopping HD transfer and the Cine-Explore experience, there’s no blaming anyone who would want to upgrade to this blu-ray. Extremely recommended!

Ernie Estrella

So far, the new film looks to have sufficiently more action, and the inclusion of the Silver Surfer should be fun. There’s an interesting subplot with Johnny switching powers with the other members of the Fantastic Four throughout the film due to his interaction with the Surfer. From the trailers, it looks like it’ll make for some of the film’s funnier moments. Of course some fans are complaining that this will lessen chances of seeing the Super Skrull in subsequent films. I don’t see why they’re thinking so far ahead in the first place. This is what happens when everyone starts thinking “franchise” even before the first film is out. Everyone’s already thinking three or four films down the line, and I just think that’s a bad way of looking at it. Besides, it’s become abundantly clear that comic movie franchises are always gonna wear thin around film number three, and even when the filmmakers are immensely talented and creative, things don’t always work out *cough*Spider-Man 3*cough*. Fantastic Four is damn lucky to even get a second film. As much as I’m looking forward to Rise of the Silver Surfer, critics will probably hate it. They’ll either have justifiable reason to hate it, or think back on hating the first film and let that factor heavily into their decision regarding the sequel.

Other issues to consider are things like the rating and the runtime; a major point of contention for fans recently has been the fact that the film is said to clock in at around 95 minutes. They were mad enough when they found out the first film was only a 105 minutes, so naturally, they feel that this is going to be a very sparse film in terms of story and character development. They’ve got a point. We’ve grown accustomed to two-hour-plus film, and anything less than that can be too short depending on the genre. A film can feel rushed if there’s not enough transition time between scenes. Pacing can suffer, and you run the risk of continuity errors. More than likely, footage has been cut that should have probably stayed in the film. It definitely wouldn’t be the first time for a 20th Century Fox comic book film. This is evident in the recent release of an “extended cut” of the first Fantastic Four, boasting almost twenty minutes of footage most would agree would have only made the film better. Even the first X-Men had its share of deleted scenes, and to this day, I’m baffled as to why none of them were included. They were all fairly brief, but more importantly, they offered moments of character development that fans would have loved to see, especially moments between Jean and Professor Xavier. But arguably the worst offense has to be the butchering of Daredevil. Watching the director’s cut is almost like watching a different movie, as more focus is put on Matt Murdock as a lawyer, and a sublot of an innocent man framed for murder is added back into the film, and everything that transpired in the theatrical version actually makes more sense. From a business standpoint, Fox most assuredly believes this strategy will pay off in offering more showings at theaters, resulting in higher revenue. Arguably, history is on their side; with the exception of Elektra, every Marvel-based film 20th Century Fox has released has set or broken some kind of opening weekend box office record on its way to grossing over a hundred million dollars domestically.

Then there’s the rating; while the first film was rated PG-13, rumor has it that Rise of the Silver Surfer will be rated PG. Personally I don’t have a real problem with it. Again, this goes to my enjoyment of the film because of its lighter tone compared to other comic book films. It’s very much something the whole family can and should enjoy. But as far as some fans are concerned, the rating means that the film won’t be as “serious” as they’d like it to be. How serious can it be, when there’s a character named “Mr. Fantastic” that stretches his body like a rubber band?!?! Joking aside, a PG-13 rating isn’t going to make the film any more serious than it already is. Aside from Doom blowing a hole in some guy’s chest in the first film, there was no reason for it being PG-13. There wasn’t even any cursing! Oh, whatever did films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Star Wars Trilogy do before the PG-13 rating was even created?! Then again, Fox seems to be getting into the habit of rating sequels with the intent of appealing to wider (more kids) audiences, even if the original films were rated R. Many believe Alien vs. Predator suffered from being PG-13, and not being nearly as graphic in terms of violence, when compared to its R-Rated predecessors. And some fear that Fox has done the same with the upcoming Live Free or Die Hard. Looking back on those films, you can see how they did benefit from the latitude of an R rating.

Beyond all that, fans fear that filmmakers have dropped the ball with another major villain, Galactus. A while back, Ain’t It Cool News reported a rumor that if and when Galactus does appear in the new film, it will be as. . . .a storm cloud. Even I’ll admit, that’s pretty f***in’ stupid. The execution of that idea would have to be something completely unprecedented to make it work. It’d be a shame if it’s true, ’cause they’ve done, what I think, is a great job with the Silver Surfer.

Not that any of this really matters to the casual moviegoer. Comic book movies are still a popular trend, especially after the surprising success of 300. With the right ingredients, any comic book film can be a commercial success in spite of itself. . . .look at Ghost Rider, for cryin’ out loud!

Premieres Wednesday, June 13th at 10 PM, ET/PT

All-Star Nominees Include Jessica Alba, Beyonce, Jessica Biel, Borat, Kobe Bryant, George Clooney, Will Ferrell, James Gandolfini, Chuck Liddell, Masi Oka, Kiefer Sutherland, LaDainian Tomlinson And Rainn Wilson

Log-on to www.guyschoice.spiketv.com to vote

New York, NY, May 7, 2007 – The preeminent night of the year for men will take place when comedian/actor Tracy Morgan hosts Spike TV’s first annual “GUYS CHOICE.” Spike TV is giving the biggest shout-outs in television history to the things guys love most and is relying on its millions of viewers to decide who to bow down to from the worlds of sports, music, film, television and the internet. The show is scheduled to tape on June 9 at CBS Radford in Los Angeles. Spike TV’s “GUYS CHOICE” premieres Wednesday, June 13 at 10:00 PM, ET/PT.

It’s guys night out this June with this non-traditional awards show that promises to be a one-of-a-kind raucous and manly two-hour television spectacular. This star-studded event will feature everything guys want including comedy, the hottest women in the world, the best in music, sports and so much more. Also, for the first time in awards show history, Spike TV will narrow the field for all awards to only two nominees, so it can be settled like men: ‘mano a mano.’

In addition to honoring the coolest guys and the most awe-inspiring women from the past year, GUYS CHOICE will also feature unforgettable tributes to legendary entertainers, rockers and most viral videos, as well as edgy stand-up comedy and house-shaking musical performances.

Tracy Morgan has received critical acclaim for playing the wild and unpredictable movie star Tracy Jordan on NBC’s “30 Rock.” As a standup comic who headlined across the country, TV audiences first met Morgan in his role as “Hustleman” on the hit comedy series “Martin.” Morgan next joined “Saturday Night Live” in 1996 where he appeared for seven seasons and created such memorable characters as “Astronaut Jones” and “Brian Fellows.” Morgan’s feature-film credits include “The Longest Yard,” “Little Man,” “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and “Head of State.”

Voting for this year’s nominees are held online at www.guyschoice.spiketv.com and wirelessly by texting “GUYS” to 22422. Wireless voting is sponsored exclusively by Cingular, now the new AT&T and runs through Friday, June 1. Also online, fans can log on to view exclusive red carpet and backstage coverage of the event.

Following are the categories and nominees for Spike TV’s “GUYS CHOICE” (additional nominations will be announced shortly on SpikeTV.com):

BIGGEST ASS KICKER
Gerard Butler (“300”) vs. Kiefer Sutherland (Fox’s “24”)

BALLSIEST BAND
Disturbed vs. Lamb of God

HOTTEST GIRL ON THE PLANET
Beyonce vs. Adriana Lima

LUCKIEST BASTARD
Dominic Monaghan (Evangeline Lilly’s boyfriend) vs. Cash Warren (Jessica Alba’s boyfriend)

FUNNIEST M.F.
Will Ferrell vs. Sacha Baron Cohen

GIFT FROM THE GODS
Minka Kelly (NBC’s “Friday Night Lights”) vs. Rashida Jones (NBC’s “The Office”)

MOST UNSTOPPABLE JOCK
Kobe Bryant vs. LaDainian Tomlinson

HOTTEST JESSICA
Jessica Alba vs. Jessica Biel

BEST GANGSTERTAINMENT
“The Departed” vs. “The Sopranos”

MOST DANGEROUS MAN
Chuck Liddell (UFC) vs. Dog (The Bounty Hunter)

FEMME FATAL
Tricia Helfer (Sci-Fi’s “Battlestar Galactica”) vs. Rose McGowan (“Grindhouse”)

COCKIEST CREW
HBO’s “Entourage” crew vs. “Jackass 2” crew

SICKEST RHYMES
Nas vs. Jay-Z

COOLEST GEEK
Rainn Wilson (NBC’s “The Office”) vs. Masi Oka (NBC’s “Heroes”)

GUTSIEST MOVE
Steven Colbert (his speech from White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner) vs. Chris Peterson (head football coach at Boise State)

KINGPIN (GUY OF THE YEAR)
James Gandolfini vs. George Clooney
Emmy Award-winning producer Joel Gallen of Tenth Planet Productions and Casey Patterson, Senior Vice President, Event Production & Talent Development for Spike TV will serve as executive producers. Alicia Portugal is the executive in charge of production for Spike TV.

Spike TV is available in 91.6 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of VIACOM (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.