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*** Official THE SPIRIT Discussion Thread

post #1 of 10
1/1/09 at 8:38pm
Thread Starter 
From Studio Briefing:

Quote:
Lionsgate Dispirited By Spirit Results

Shares in Lionsgate Entertainment took a pounding Tuesday as analysts at investment bank Caris & Co. downgraded the shares to "above average" from "buy" on word of the poor theatrical opening of The Spirit, based on the Will Eisner comic superhero. "Explanation for the weakness came primarily from a smattering of negative reviews, coupled with heavy competition from Marley & Me, which opened with a stellar $37.0 million in gross receipts," Caris analyst David Miller said in a message to clients. He implied that the future health of the studio might well be tied to its January 16, 2009 release of My Bloody Valentine. Spirit was the second flop of the month for Lionsgate, which yanked Punisher: War Zone after the movie earned just $7 million during its first two weeks of release.

I think it's funny that the analyst thinks that the audiences of Marley & Me and The Spirit somehow overlap and that's the reason why the movie failed.
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post #2 of 10
1/2/09 at 3:54am

Re: *** Official THE SPIRIT Discussion Thread

This thread is now designated the Official Discussion Thread for "The Spirit". Please, post all comments, links to outside reviews, film and box office discussion items to this thread.

All HTF member film reviews of "The Spirit" should be posted to the Official Review Thread.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.


Crawdaddy
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post #3 of 10
1/4/09 at 12:09pm

Re: *** Official THE SPIRIT Review Thread

Just returned from watching The Spirit.

Def OTT yet I had fun watching all the coic references to Batman & Daredevil.

I am wondering about Ditko's Deliveries.

Is this a direct reference to Steve Ditko, Spiderman Co Creator ?

Is Steve Ditko Miller's main source of inspiration ?

Not sure about that
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post #4 of 10
1/4/09 at 1:49pm

Re: *** Official THE SPIRIT Review Thread

The forgotten Sprit movie..

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post #5 of 10
1/4/09 at 11:01pm

Re: *** Official THE SPIRIT Discussion Thread

These SPIRIT films just demonstrate to me how much comics are their own medium. It is too bad that comics as a medium are treated with so little respect in North America. Eisner's SPIRIT stories are 60 years old and are still better than anything they've been able to put on film.

At least the makers of the TV movie have an excuse for what they have created since they most likely have little knowledge of graphical storytelling and it's history; however, what is Frank Miller's excuse? Miller works in comics and he still manages to crap all over Eisner's creation.
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post #6 of 10
1/4/09 at 11:06pm

Re: *** Official THE SPIRIT Discussion Thread

Miller writes cracked comics now as well. His All-Star Batman and Robin is so over the top it's amazing. Batman is "the Goddamn Batman." Batgirl is "the Fucking Batgirl." Etc. In one scene, Batman and Robin were visited by Hal Jordan and--because the Green Lantern is stymied by the color yellow--they had covered every square inch of the room in yellow. Even painted their faces. And, they offered Hal lemonade. Just a really strange thing he's doing.
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post #7 of 10
1/4/09 at 11:29pm

Re: *** Official THE SPIRIT Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg_S_H
Miller writes cracked comics now as well. His All-Star Batman and Robin is so over the top it's amazing. Batman is "the Goddamn Batman." Batgirl is "the Fucking Batgirl." Etc. In one scene, Batman and Robin were visited by Hal Jordan and--because the Green Lantern is stymied by the color yellow--they had covered every square inch of the room in yellow. Even painted their faces. And, they offered Hal lemonade. Just a really strange thing he's doing.

Wow, that is brutal. Miller sounds like he has lost it. That kind of stuff seems to show that he has lost complete respect for the characters and their history. I have to admit I don't follow the Superhero books. In fact, right now, I'm only following three series: Uncle Scrooge, Usagi Yojimbo, and DMZ; however, if I was a big Batman fan I would definitely be having a WTF moment if I was reading Miller's present take on the characters.

It is hard to believe that he is just taking a dump on all of these classic characters.
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post #8 of 10
1/5/09 at 6:35am

Re: *** Official THE SPIRIT Discussion Thread

I saw this yesterday. It's a truly awful film, although it's also a frustrating kind of bad because there's good stuff in it that gets overwhelmed by the crap. It looks very nice, has an excellent cast - I thought Gabriel Macht's performance was a lot of fun - and *some* of the jokes work okay (I'll admit I thought the Octopus's army of moronic clones were fun). But the film has no sense of pacing or urgency as characters talk and talk and talk and talk but rarely actually say anything significant or interesting. Even worse, Miller is trying to make a deliberately campy film, basically a live action Looney Tunes cartoon, but that's extremely hard to do right and he fails at it just as miserably as Joe Dante did with that Looney Tunes: Back in Action movie a few years back. He simply has no comedic timing as a director.

And Miller's take on the Spirit as a concept is deeply screwy as he fixates on the idea that the amount of punishment he takes in the line of duty demands a pseudo-scientific explanation, as opposed to simply realizing that it's cartoonish exagerration if Eisner had the Spirit survive getting whacked upside with the head with a cinderblock a few times. It's like trying to come up with a scientific explanation for those "dust cloud fights" you see in old Popeye comics. WHO CARES?
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post #9 of 10
1/5/09 at 12:24pm

Re: *** Official THE SPIRIT Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg_S_H
Miller writes cracked comics now as well. His All-Star Batman and Robin is so over the top it's amazing. Batman is "the Goddamn Batman." Batgirl is "the Fucking Batgirl." Etc. In one scene, Batman and Robin were visited by Hal Jordan and--because the Green Lantern is stymied by the color yellow--they had covered every square inch of the room in yellow. Even painted their faces. And, they offered Hal lemonade. Just a really strange thing he's doing.
Yeah, that book is kinda nutty to say the least. I haven't read a Batman comic in probably 15 years before All Star Batman began its run but Miller somehow keeps me coming back every issue. If only because I don't mind seeing a weird take on Batman in comic form (since there's multiple options every month to see Batman) unlike with a movie where you want the 'real' take on the character.

And saying "The Goddamn Batman" has become firmly entrenched in my lexicon.
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post #10 of 10
1/5/09 at 1:41pm

Re: *** Official THE SPIRIT Discussion Thread

ASBAR readership is pretty split, though obviously most people feel like you do since it's a consistent big seller. I don't care much about Batman anyway, so I don't read any of it. I just check in with ASBAR every once in a while for amusement.
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