Special Edition Podcast: 'The Spirit'

[hank41]

I am hijacking Hank's post to inform you that:

Total Running Time: 00:24:08

01.04.2009 - With Ron still out of commissison, Josh, Conor and Paul Montgomery gather to discuss Frank Miller's The Spirit.

http://www.ifanboy.com/images/ifanboy/Spirit_Final.jpg

Click here for download info! (http://www.ifanboy.com/content/audio/_Frank_Miller_s_The_Spirit_)

(If you use iTunes, this show can be found on the feed directly beneath this week's Pick of the Week Podcast)


**** End Hijack ****

saw The Spirit last night.

that is the craziest fucking thing i have ever seen

[sarahg42]

*laughs* Crazy? Is that all you have to say? Was it any good in your opinion? It got horrible reviews. Just curious what others thought.

[cenquist]

Going to check the movie out tonight so I hope it is crazy good!

[optimus187prime]

Just saw the Spirit and I thought is was okay. Its visual style was way too much like Sin City, but I wasnt that bothered by it. The biggest issue I had was that I didnt care for the main character. The Spirit himself just didnt stand out when put next to such an eccentric supporting cast. His man whoring ways was the only thing that made me interested. I did have so much fun watching Sam J and Scarlett together, it was overboard but so funny. I had so much fun with those characters that when the Spirit was solo I was kinda bored and wanted a smokin hot dame, or a wacky henchmen to show up.

[cammyknoxville]

I bought my ticket today, went and saw it.

As I knew it would be; utter crap. I'm thinking this ties with Punisher: War Zone as the worst comic book film of 2008.

This isn't Denny Colt. The Spirit is not this dark at all, let alone the types of stories Eisner / Cooke told. His suit wasn't even purple for crying out loud! And the villains? Ugh! Too over the top and painfully cheesy. I know Samuel L. Jackson loves comic books and comic book movies, but that doesn't mean he has to join the cast of any one that will take him.

So bottom line, I was very disappointed in this film, and I'm sure Eisner is rolling over in his grave.

Keep in mind this is just my opinion.

[hank41]

*laughs* Crazy? Is that all you have to say? Was it any good in your opinion? It got horrible reviews. Just curious what others thought.

it was a negative experience overall, but different than any other film experience i have had. i guess thats because it wasn't really "structured" like any other movie i have seen. i use ironic "" because it had no fucking structure. it was a whole lot of -

Hank - "ok, now we're here. but why?"

Frank Miller - "...um...look how crazy Sam Jackson is!!!"

H - "yeah, he's a pretty big kook, but where is the flow?"

FM - "flow? i'll give you flow. look at the flow of that dame's hair. cool huh?"

H - "can i go home now?"

[humphrey-lee]

I liked it for some reason. It was the All Star Batman of Spirit movies. Cut out the stupid stuff with Lorelei and a little bit of the random craziness, and it could have been a legitimately "good" movie. As is, I put it in "fun for what it was".

[zombox]

I thought it was one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen... that totally sucked in every other meaningful way.

[cenquist]

My review (http://storiesinmedium.blogspot.com/2008/12/emotionless-spirit.html) of the Spirit.

[winthewonderboy]

His suit wasn't even purple for crying out loud! .

Its a good thing his suit wasn't purple...... cuz it totally should be blue :)

[paulsharkey]

Well I was gonna go see tonight but judging by what you guy's thought I think I'll go see Che instead

[optimus187prime]

Well I was gonna go see tonight but judging by what you guy's thought I think I'll go see Che instead

Im really looking forward to Che, let us know how it is.

[conorkilpatrick]

The Special Edition Podcast is finally up.

[gabeja]

Um, I think I felt pretty much the same way as conor did about this movie. However, I really wish that this movie had done well, because I do believe that if he had a few more cracks at it, Frank Miller could put together a fine fine movie. Also, this will also probably set back the release date of sin city two a few more years:(

Also, on a different note, i realized that this is the first year I can remember where my favorite movie (TDK) and my least favorite movie (Punisher) were both comic book flicks. Funny how that worked out.

[cammyknoxville]

Redheads not Warheads
Blondes not Bombs
We're talking about Brunettes not Fighter Jets
It's got to be Sweet Sixteen not M-16's

[vichussmith]

I think the combined criticism of Conor, Paul and Josh equal what I thought of The Spirit. When Frank Miller wasn't going fucknuts crazy with his nazi outfits, cloning, sexy magical women of death, and blood of the gods, he actually was making the movie I would have liked to see.

Unfortunately, that was about 10% of the total screen time.


By the way, I have not seen Punisher: War Zone, but how could it be worse than watching M. Night Shamalayan's "The Happening." Maybe it's the worst comic book effort of 2008.

[sn4tch]

I loved Wanted, hated Punisher. I never know what to think about those zany iFanboys.

[jaflanagan]

That we disagree on Wanted?

[vichussmith]

Here's Kyle Baker's take (http://thebakersanimationcartoons.blogspot.com/2009/01/movie-review-spirit.html#links) on other people's takes on The Spirit- complete with pictures!

If anything, this post proves that I should read more of the old Spirit comics! That stuff looks great.

[acomicbookgirl]

I want my money back...

[johnferrigno]

When the Spirit was released last Christmas, it was a movie i had wanted to see. I like Frank Miler. I like Will Eisner. The trailers for the movie looked promising. I wanted to see it in the theater.

Now, I don't go to the theaters all that often. I don't like the noisy teenagers or the ridiculous concession stand prices. And with today's widescreen HD TVs, the picture at my house looks almost as good as one in a theater. It has to be something i REALLY want to see to go to the theater. So when The Spirit was trashed by pretty much every critic, it was still something I wanted to see, but it kind of went to the "when i get to it" pile. Now, normally a few bad reviews won't change my mind. but when a movie is panned by basically EVERYONE, i tend to take notice.

But then I listened to the iFanboy podcast on the Spirit and I thought it was very interesting. It was a few months ago, so i don't remember exactly what was said, but I do know that the movie was given a valid critique, with Conor going so far as to say he would consider purchasing the DVD. That stuck in my head, so when the movie was released recently, it went to the top of my Netflix queueueueuue.

I just watched the movie after a very long, not very good day. i was in a pretty bad mood already, so i wasn't really at my most receptive to a good time. but that old iFanboy podcast was lingering in the back of my head, so i had a glimmer of hope that this movie wasn't going to be as horrible as everyone (critics and my friends) had led me to believe. So with a kind of foul mood and a generally open mind I popped the blu-ray in and got ready for basically anything.

I have to admit, i REALLY enjoyed this movie. I don't think a lot of people got it. They complained about the hammy acting and the cheesy lines and action, not realizing that it was entirely intentional. Go back and read an old comic book from the 1940s, and it is pretty much exactly like this. Add that old school flavor to the visual artistry of Frank Miller and you have a movie that is really enjoyable for me. Having Scarlett Johanssen (I know I spelled that wrong but it's been a long day) as eye candy, and the scene stealing performance of Stana Katic and it was a great way to end my otherwise not so great day.

So basically, iFanboy made my night. It was a really long, bad day at work, but because of the good job on the podcast, I had a really good movie to turn things around at the end. Thanks for that. I'll definitely be putting this movie on my "to buy" list.

[labor_days]

Lotta hilarity in the above post.

[conorkilpatrick]

I don't think a lot of people got it. They complained about the hammy acting and the cheesy lines and action, not realizing that it was entirely intentional. Go back and read an old comic book from the 1940s, and it is pretty much exactly like this. Add that old school flavor to the visual artistry of Frank Miller and you have a movie that is really enjoyable for me.

Right there with you, man.

[thenextchampion]

Oh I tried watching the film again too; because I was also in a foul mood. I thought watching a very bad film will make me laugh....as Catwoman proved so many years ago.




So far the police dont know the body count cause I murdered so many people in a rage of watching it.

[niceguyeddie]

When the Spirit was released last Christmas, it was a movie i had wanted to see. I like Frank Miler. I like Will Eisner. The trailers for the movie looked promising. I wanted to see it in the theater.

Now, I don't go to the theaters all that often. I don't like the noisy teenagers or the ridiculous concession stand prices. And with today's widescreen HD TVs, the picture at my house looks almost as good as one in a theater. It has to be something i REALLY want to see to go to the theater. So when The Spirit was trashed by pretty much every critic, it was still something I wanted to see, but it kind of went to the "when i get to it" pile. Now, normally a few bad reviews won't change my mind. but when a movie is panned by basically EVERYONE, i tend to take notice.

But then I listened to the iFanboy podcast on the Spirit and I thought it was very interesting. It was a few months ago, so i don't remember exactly what was said, but I do know that the movie was given a valid critique, with Conor going so far as to say he would consider purchasing the DVD. That stuck in my head, so when the movie was released recently, it went to the top of my Netflix queueueueuue.

I just watched the movie after a very long, not very good day. i was in a pretty bad mood already, so i wasn't really at my most receptive to a good time. but that old iFanboy podcast was lingering in the back of my head, so i had a glimmer of hope that this movie wasn't going to be as horrible as everyone (critics and my friends) had led me to believe. So with a kind of foul mood and a generally open mind I popped the blu-ray in and got ready for basically anything.

I have to admit, i REALLY enjoyed this movie. I don't think a lot of people got it. They complained about the hammy acting and the cheesy lines and action, not realizing that it was entirely intentional. Go back and read an old comic book from the 1940s, and it is pretty much exactly like this. Add that old school flavor to the visual artistry of Frank Miller and you have a movie that is really enjoyable for me. Having Scarlett Johanssen (I know I spelled that wrong but it's been a long day) as eye candy, and the scene stealing performance of Stana Katic and it was a great way to end my otherwise not so great day.

So basically, iFanboy made my night. It was a really long, bad day at work, but because of the good job on the podcast, I had a really good movie to turn things around at the end. Thanks for that. I'll definitely be putting this movie on my "to buy" list.

i bought it on blu ray... would you care to take it off my hands?

[neb]

I thought the movie was fine except for two things: the tiny foot-head-clone thing...and the Nazi stuff. I get that Nazi's were in everything from the 40's but it just didn't fit with the tone of the movie at all, and Samuel L. Jackson was just ridiculous in that scene.

[johnferrigno]

I thought the movie was fine except for two things: the tiny foot-head-clone thing...and the Nazi stuff. I get that Nazi's were in everything from the 40's but it just didn't fit with the tone of the movie at all, and Samuel L. Jackson was just ridiculous in that scene.

Yeah, that scene was pretty weird. And for some reason Frank miller seems to throw Nazi's in EVERYTHING he does. He has some kind of swastika fetish.

[miyamotofreak]

Yeah, that scene was pretty weird. And for some reason Frank miller seems to throw Nazi's in EVERYTHING he does. He has some kind of swastika fetish.
So true. Even DKR.