Sin City

[Ghostboy]

Go get the comics if you haven't read them before.  Then you'll seriously go into a geek meltdown.  They're just amazing.  

They really are. I'm really excited that they're telling multiple stories, because there are just too many great Sin City tales. And I don't know why I didn't immediately pick up on Mickey Rourke as Marv when I read that cast list -- he's perfect. Ugly, big, mean and sensitive.

[metroshane]

I wouldn't even know where to buy a comic book.  I'd feel less rediculous walking into a porn shop.

[Ghostboy]

That's a sadly common POV.

[Weak2ndAct]

All of the Sin City stories can be found in graphic novel form at most bookstores and online retail outlets (so you can remain anonymous).  If you like noir, you'll be in heaven.

[MacGuffin]

Helmer strays from DGA
Source: Variety

Robert Rodriguez is one filmmaker who doesn't see himself as an auteur. In fact, he likes company when directing a movie, even if it means having to resign from the Directors Guild.

Days before beginning production on the Dimension drama "Sin City," Rodriguez resigned his DGA membership so that he could co-direct with Frank Miller, a film neophyte who created, wrote and illustrated the three-book graphic novel series on which the movie is based.

DGA rules dictate that there be only one director assigned to direct a motion picture at any given time, although the guild occasionally grants a waiver to that policy. On Thursday, a DGA spokesman said, "The guild regrets Mr. Rodriguez's resignation, however, we stand firmly behind the principle of one director-one film."

Rodriguez portrayed his ankling as hardly acrimonious; he asserted that since his movie is so unorthodox, he decided it would be easier both for him and the DGA if they're not shackled together when production begins Monday on his soundstages in Austin, Texas, beginning Monday.

For one thing, Rodriguez plans to have Quentin Tarantino direct part of the film, along with Miller and him. Tarantino may be billed as a "special guest director" or whatever title Rodriguez wants to bestow, now that he's no longer under strict DGA guidelines about who gets behind-the-camera credit.

It's not the first time that Rodriguez has quit the DGA. He did so a decade ago so he could take part in the Tarantino-orchestrated film "Four Rooms," released in 1995.

Rodriguez said it would be easier to turn his card in again than test the rigorous DGA rulebook.

"I didn't want Frank to be treated as just a writer, because he is the only one who has actually been to 'Sin City,' " Rodriguez said. "I am making such a literal interpretation of his book that I'd have felt weird taking directing credit without him. It was easier for me to quietly resign before shooting because otherwise I'd have been forced to make compromises I was unwilling to make. Or set a precedent that might hurt the guild later on."

Rodriguez often agrees with the spirit of DGA policies, but they "make it very hard to do something that is exciting and different, which is exactly how I sold this project from the beginning," he added.

Rodriguez, who partly financed "El Mariachi" by volunteering himself for medical experiments, has always been comfortable making films by the seat of his pants, even though he has built studios in Austin grand enough to accommodate both "Sin City" and the pic he'll direct right after, the $100 million Paramount sci-fi blockbuster "A Princess Of Mars."

He hardly seemed rattled, for instance, that aside from his DGA defection and welcoming a new baby, he was in the thick of assembling cast for a film that begins shooting in four days. Rodriguez has been talking with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, Bruce Willis, Steve Buscemi, Brittany Murphy, Christopher Walken and Michael Douglas.

All that's certain is that Mickey Rourke will anchor the story segment that will begin shooting Monday. The remaining cast will draw from those who are available for a reasonable price to work a short shift in a cool film.

None of this would have been possible if Rodriguez hadn't pledged to make Miller a major part of the creative process.

Though Miller has done acclaimed graphic novels on Batman and Daredevil and created the Elektra character that will be reprised by Jennifer Garner in the Rob Bowman-directed "Daredevil" spinoff film, the author refused to sell "Sin City" to any filmmaker. Rodriguez wanted it badly enough to write a feature script on spec and shoot the first scene on his own dime with Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton. That and a promise to make Miller his co-director won Rodriguez the property.

Rodriguez also said that quitting for the second time was hardly traumatic. He was persuaded to rejoin the DGA before directing "The Faculty" because DGA brass told him he was about the only significant working director who wasn't a member.

The helmer also asserted that the DGA needs to do a better job of judging individual cases rather than working from a rulebook.

"I'm fine with leaving and they're fine with my leaving," he said. "Someone in my position doesn't need the protection of the guild as much as a newcomer who might get strong-armed by a film company. In my case, the obstacles I face come from the guild. Studios are only too happy when I suggest shooting something in digital, or when I try to do 20 jobs at the same time on my movies. I don't consider this a negative thing, and perhaps it's better that I resign and come back later than have someone use my precedent as an example to strong-arm a directing credit they don't deserve on some future film."

Other directors who are not members of the DGA include George Lucas and Tarantino.

[modage]

he was in the thick of assembling cast for a film that begins shooting in four days.

FOUR DAYS!  this is clearly the most insane thing i've ever heard of!?!? NO WORD OF THIS PROJECT, even in RUMOR FORM until a week ago and now they're shooting in 4 days!??!  thats insane?!? what happened to pre-production, sets, costumes, getting into character, rehearsals, assembling a cast, etc.!?  wow.

[metroshane]

Hurray for RR.  He opitimizes the "Texas way".

...and I'm a fan of Noir, so maybe I'll put on some dark glasses and buy some Sin city.

[Weak2ndAct]

what happened to pre-production, sets, costumes, getting into character, rehearsals, assembling a cast, etc.!?  wow.

Well, I think a lot of the sets and production design will be taken care of digitally.  The comic is is drawn very sparse (only the BG's and the parts of the locations that are lit are drawn, everything else is black as midnight), and I suspect the film will look the same too.  Or at least I hope so.

[Ghostboy]

To clarify Weak2ndAct's explanation, here are some (large) pics:

[Link]

Contra!  I wanna see the filming SO BADLY.  If anyone has any news as to specific days or locations (preferably the weekend) when or where they'll be shooting, please let me know, I wanna drive down and check it out.  Man, Rodriguez, Rourke, Depp, Willis...I'm gonna cry if I don't get to check out some location shooting or SOMETHING!

[Weak2ndAct]

I have a feeling you'll only be able to catch some filming if you break into RR's Austin soundstages.

[Link]

No Trouble (get it?  Cuz it's called "TROUBLEmaker Studios!")

[MacGuffin]

Carla Gugino Moves to Rodriguez's Sin City
Source: Variety

Former Karen Sisco star Carla Gugino has been tapped by her "Spy Kids" series helmer Robert Rodriguez to play a role in his Dimension Films drama Sin City, reports Variety.

Gugino will play a lesbian parole officer in the film. She begins work in Austin, Texas, next week, acting in a story arc that is expected to include Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke.

The film is an adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel series, and an all-star cast will be populating the roles.

The trade adds that Gugino will be unable to take part in the Adam Shankman-directed Vin Diesel starrer The Pacifier, which had been expected.

[Cecil]

this film should be animated, by frank miller himself

[Ghostboy]

Just a small update: one of the actors in my last film has a part in this, and he said that it's being shot largely against green screen, and that (true to Chandler-esque narration in the comic) there's going to be a massive amount of VO, to the point that he had to improv most of his dialogue, since it's going to end up being covered by Mickey Rourke's narration.