Four Rooms

Four Rooms is an anthology comedy film about a bellboy who works on his first day during New Year’s Eve where he would encounter all sorts of strange things in four different rooms. With segments written and directed by Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino, the film explores a crazy day in the life of a new bellhop named Ted that is played by Tim Roth. Also starring Antonio Banderas, Madonna, Valeria Golino, Jennifer Beals, Ione Skye, Lili Taylor, Alicia Witt, Tamlyn Tomita, Paul Calderon, Sammi Davis, Marisa Tomei, and Bruce Willis. Four Rooms is a whimsical yet chaotic anthology-comedy from Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino.

It’s New Year’s Eve as a bellhop named Ted is working in his first day at the Hotel Mon Signor. For his first assignment in The Missing Ingredient (Allison Anders), a coven of witches take the honeymoon suite to create a potion in hopes of freeing a woman (Amanda deCadenet) who had been a statue for 40 years. When one of the young witches in Eva (Ione Skye) is unable to get one special ingredient, Ted is called upon to help Eva get the ingredient. Later that night, Ted is asked to bring ice to a room where a party’s going on. In The Wrong Man (Alexandre Rockwell), Ted enters a room where a man (David Proval) holds his wife Angela (Jennifer Beals) hostage to confront her about a possible affair where Ted is mistaken to be Angela’s lover.

Following that troubled encounter, Ted is then called to do his next job in The Misbehaviors (Robert Rodriguez) where he’s asked by a man (Antonio Banderas) to watch for his kids (Danny Verduzco and Lana McKissack) for the night as the man and his wife (Tamlyn Tomita) go to a New Year’s party. Ted is getting calls from the kids about strange demands while the kids later complain about a strange smell in the room where they discover the source of the smell. Following that incident, Ted tries to reach his boss Betty (Kathy Griffin) about the things he’s been dealing with as he has to finish one more assignment for the night. In The Man from Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino), Ted brings some things to filmmaker Chester Rush (Quentin Tarantino) for a party that includes Angela, a friend named Norman (Paul Calderon), and Leo (Bruce Willis) about a bet based on a episode from The Alfred Hitchcock Hour that involves Chester’s car and Norman’s pinky where Ted has to play a key role in the bet.

The film is essentially a collection of stories about a crazy first day for a bellhop who encounters four very strange events as they all become more out of control as time goes on. All of it is largely told from the perspective of this young bellhop who has no idea what’s in store for him in the course of a crazy day. Particularly as it’s on New Year’s Eve where everybody is partying and there’s brief inserts that help sets up each story. There, this young man named Ted would be involved crazy events involving a coven of witches, a fighting couple, misbehaving kids, and a filmmaker with a crazy proposition all of which would tempt Ted with money.

In the first segment by Allison Anders, Ted plays to the service of a group of very strange yet eccentric witches who are creating a potion to revive someone yet there’s a lot trouble ensues. Anders’ direction is very playful as she also employs some fun editing schemes by Margaret Goodspeed and Rodrigo Garcia’s bright and colorful cinematography. It’s a segment that doesn’t take itself seriously as it opens the film in a nice start. The weakest segment belongs to Alexandre Rockwell where it has an interesting premise but ends up dragging the film where it involves a lot of strange moments and hijinks that don’t work such as a scene where Ted is stuck between a bathroom window. With editing by Elena Maganini and photography by Phil Parmet, it’s the one segment that doesn’t really get the chance to stand out due to its weak script and lackluster direction.

Robert Rodriguez’s segment is clearly the best one due to the shenanigans of the children where they smoke, drink, and watch all sorts of things where Rodriguez really captures the energy of kids misbehaving. With Rodriguez serving as his own editor and Guillermo Navarro providing some amazing camera work, it’s a segment that really captures the antics of children in all of its insanity that is followed by a very funny insert involving a stoned woman (Marisa Tomei) and a sleepy hotel owner. This would then lead to the final segment from Quentin Tarantino that is the most stylistic segment of the film. Largely due to the few long-takes Tarantino uses for the scene along with some amazing compositions courtesy of cinematographer Andrzej Sekula along with the methodical editing of Sally Menke. Tarantino’s segment ends the film on a high note as the overall work is a very funny and off-the-wall anthology comedy.

Production designer Gary Frutkoff, along with set decorator Sara Andrews and art director Mayne Berke, does superb work with the set pieces to give each room a distinctive look and feel for each segment. Costume designers Susan L. Bertram and Mary Claire Hannan do excellent work in the costumes from the dresses the witches wear to the party clothes the other characters wear along with Ted‘s uniform. Sound designer Lance Brown, along with sound editors Bruce Fortune and Victor Iorillo, does terrific work with the sound to capture the craziness that goes on in each room. The music by Combustible Edison is wonderful for its playful score that adds to the humor of the film as the rest of the soundtrack features a couple of stuff by Esquivel that plays to some of the craziness of the film.

The casting by Russell Gray is brilliant for the ensemble that is created for this anthology film. For The Missing Ingredient, there’s fantastic performances from Madonna, Valeria Golino, Sammi Davis, and Lili Taylor as the four eccentric and experienced witches along with a quirky one from Alicia Witt as the daughter of one of the witches. Amanda deCadenet is terrific in her appearance as the goddess Diana while Ione Skye is superb as the young witch Eva. From The Wrong Man, there’s a funny appearance from producer Lawrence Bender as a drunk yuppie along with Paul Skemp in a small role as a partygoer. David Proval is pretty good as the angry husband Siegfried while Jennifer Beals is excellent as Siegfried’s wife Angela who also appears in The Man from Hollywood.

From The Misbehaviors, there’s an appearance from Salma Hayek as the dancing woman on the TV while Tamlyn Tomita is very good as the wife. Antonio Banderas is amazing as the very intimidating husband while Danny Verduzco and Lana McKissack are wonderful as the two troublesome kids. From the insert between the last two segments, Marisa Tomei is hilarious as the stoned partygoer while Kathy Griffin is pretty good as Ted’s boss Betty. From The Man from Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino is very funny as the talkative Chester Rush while Paul Calderon is solid in a small role as Norman. Bruce Willis is also very funny in an un-credited performance as Chester’s friend Leo. Finally, there’s Tim Roth in a marvelous performance as Ted the bellhop where Roth gets to show a lot of wit and physicality into his role as a bellhop working on his first day on the job where Roth really gets the chance to be funny.

While it is a flawed film, Four Rooms is still a very entertaining anthology comedy from Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Allison Anders, and Alexandre Rockwell. While the film features some great segments from Tarantino and Rodriguez along with a good one from Anders. Only the Rockwell segment is the one that drags the film as a whole though things do pick up after that segment. In the end, Four Rooms is a stellar anthology comedy that features a crazy story in the day of a young bellhop.

© thevoid99 2012

Grindhouse

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 4/9/07 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

From the minds of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, Grindhouse is an ambitious double-feature that celebrates sensational exploitation movies of the 1970s that were shown in drive-ins that blended all sorts of genres from zombie movies, biker films, horror, and all sorts of stuff. Both Tarantino and Rodriguez contribute their own features for this project that also includes fake trailers from Rodriguez, Rob Zombie, Eli Roth, and Edgar Wright. From Robert Rodriguez is Planet Terror about a doctor, a one-legged stripper, a hitman, and several others fighting zombies in their small Texan town. From Quentin Tarantino is Death Proof about an aging stunt car driver stalking and killing women for his own pleasure only to find himself dealing with the wrong group of women.

With an all-star cast that includes Kurt Russell, Bruce Willis, Michael Biehn, Rose McGowan, Marley Shelton, Freddy Rodriguez, Naveen Andrews, Rosario Dawson, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Danny Trejo, Nicky Katt, Tom Savini, Michael Parks, Jeff Fahey, Tracie Thoms, Zoe Bell, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Jordan Ladd, Vanessa Ferlito, and Eli Roth. Grindhouse is one hell of a motherfucking movie that will fuck the shit out of everyone who loves good ol' 70s exploitation.

Planet Terror

Go-go dancer Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan) meets her ex-boyfriend Wray (Freddy Rodriguez) at a barbeque shack as he asks her to give him back his jacket. Meanwhile at an army base, a scientist named Abby (Naveen Andrews) is trying to create a cure for an infection that is carried by Lt. Muldoon (Bruce Willis) and his troops as it starts to spread. At another part of town, Dr. Dakota McGraw Block (Marley Shelton) is hoping to leave her husband Dr. William Block (Josh Brolin) to be with her girlfriend Tammy (Stacey Ferguson) only for something to go wrong when zombies start to emerge where Cherry had her right leg torn off. Wray takes Cherry to the hospital where Sheriff Hague (Michael Biehn) questions Wray and has him arrested while Dr. Block notices an infection on a patient (Nicky Katt) is spreading. Suddenly, the infection starts to spread on people as Hauge and his troopers try to escape where they go to the barbeque shack owned by Hague's brother J.T. (Jeff Fahey) for safety.

After Dr. Block doses Dakota with her drugs to make her joints limp as he knows about the affair, Dakota escapes with her son Tony (Rebel Rodriguez) as she seeks help from her father Earl McGraw (Michael Parks) for help as they evade all of the zombies going to J.T.'s barbeque shack. With the survivors at the shack, they all try to escape only to be captured by Lt. Muldoon and his troops for quarantine. With Abby also there as well as he knows how to make the antidote, Wray learns about the infection as he and Abby make an escape as does Cherry and Dakota where the former gets a machine gun as a new leg as the whole gagn fights the zombies.

Death Proof

New Yorker Arlene (Vanessa Ferlito) arrives to Austin to party with Shanna (Jordan Ladd) and local DJ Jungle Julia (Sydney Tamiia Poitier) as they go to a bar. They party with a few locals as watching them is an old childhood enemy of Julia's in Pam (Rose McGowan) as she finds herself sitting next to a man named Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell). Mike offers a ride as he looks at the rest of the women partying in the bar as he approaches Arlene for a lapdance as he heard from Julia's program that Arlene is giving free lapdances. After the party, the women leave while Pam rides in Mike's black 1971 Chevy Nova SS which he used for his stuntwork as the ride turns out more than what Pam bargained for. After a horrific crash that Mike survived as he's been cleared of all charges by Earl McGraw and his son Edgar (James Parks), Mike moves to Tennessee. Mike decides to stalk another group of women in a makeup artist named Abernathy (Rosario Dawson), young actress Lee Montgomery (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and two stuntwomen in Kim (Tracie Thoms) and Zoe (Zoe Bell) as they're taking a break from making a film.

While they gossip on men and such, Zoe revealed she's found a 1970 white Dodge Challenger, which is the same car from the 1970s cult film Vanishing Point, in Tennessee as Zoe wants to take it out for a test drive and play a stunt game with Kim. Abernathy convinces the car's seller Jasper (Jonathan Loughran) to lend the car in exchange for some time with a sleepy Lee as Abernathy joins Kim and Zoe for the stunt game which was interrupted by Mike in his 1969 Dodge Charger Death Proof car. What Mike doesn't know is that he has fucked with the wrong group of ladies.

Trailers:

Directed by Robert Rodriguez, Machete stars Danny Trejo in the title role as a Mexican hitman who is hired to kill a politician only to be set up by a crime boss (Jeff Fahey). Machete decides to get revenge with help from a priest (Cheech Marin) as the boss realizes he messed with the wrong men. Directed by Rob Zombie, Werewolf Women of the S.S. is a World War II film about a group of Nazi scientists trying to create an army of superwomen when everything goes wrong. Starring Udo Kier, Sheri Moon Zombie, Sybil Danning, Bill Mosley, and Nicolas Cage hamming it up as Fu Manchu. Directed by Edgar Wright, Don't is a British horror film of the 1970s starring Jason Issacs, Matthew McFayden, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Emily Booth, and Stuart Wilson about a haunted house that scares everyone. Finally, there’s Eli Roth's Thanksgiving with Jordan Ladd, Michael Biehn, and Jay Hernandez about a cannibal plot to kill people for a cannibal Thanksgiving. All of these films will be coming soon.

Since this is a tribute to the grindhouse movies of the 1970s, one would think that a movie like Grindhouse would have something profound to say to its audience. Naaaahh... In many ways, Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror is essentially an old-school zombie movie with loads of references to John Carpenter with its cheesy, synthesizer music in some parts to its campy dialogue. Even the character of El Wray is a caricature of the heroes Kurt Russell played in his work with John Carpenter. Overall, Planet Terror never bores its audience with its suspense, action, and sexual innuendo. It just plays it straight with its array of gore, machine guns, explosions, everything. It works overall. Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof is a part tribute to slasher films as well as car chase films of the 1970s, notably Vanishing Point. Now some audiences might be put off in some of the film's heavy, dialogue-driven conversations that comes in between the action sequences. Yet, those who know Tarantino is fully aware that his knack for fun dialogue is always done in great fun and are a joy to listen to.

The cinematic style of both films feature broken, scratchy film work that is done intentionally along with messed up sounds, dubs, and whatnot. Even in both films, there's scenes that are missing yet, I'm sure both directors will put them on the DVD. Both directors really just go for hard knocks in their style. Though Rodriguez did use visual effects for McGowan's leg and for some of the stunt work. Tarantino is more traditional in just using real stunts and real cars. Both Kurt Russell and Tracie Thoms drive the cars they are using in their battle. In truth, both directors plus Eli Roth, Rob Zombie, and Edgar Wright know what to expect from their audience. Nothing really overly intellectual. Something that everyone can enjoy. You want laughs. You got it. You want mindless sex and violence. That's there. You want cool stunts, gore, and everything you need in a fucking good motherfucking movie Then you fucking it Why? BECAUSE THIS IS MOTHERFUCKING GRINDHOUSE BITCH!!!!!

Both Tarantino and Rodriguez do their own cinematography where Tarantino's exterior shots are very wide open to convey the sunny side of Tennessee and Austin while the interior sequences are wonderfully colorful. Rodriguez's photography is more stylized with its darker colors to add to the film's genre style. Tarantino's longtime editor Sally Menke plays up to the film's unique energy in the car sequences while slowing it down for the conversation sequences with its longshots. Rodriguez and co-editor Ethan Maniquis also brings energy and style to the more fast-paced Planet Terror with some great and intentionally messy editing. Set decorator Jeanette Scott does some wonderful work in utilizing the locations while creating fantastic sets for both films. Costume designer Nina Proctor also does excellent work in creating the diverse costumes for the characters.

Visual effects supervisor Ryan Tuphole does some great work in creating some of the digital effects for the Planet Terror segment while makeup artists Rob Hinderton, Meredith Johns, and Darylin Nagy do great work on the gory look of the zombies. Sound designers Paula Fairfield and Carl Murray add to the film's tense, energetic atmosphere with some great sound work. For the score of Planet Terror, the film is dominated by snarling saxophone and guitar work from Robert Rodriguez along with cheesy, John Carpenter-like score music along with Graeme Revell's traditional, orchestral score. The music in Quentin Tarantino's is more of a soundtrack featuring 60s and 70s rock music plus a cut from legendary Italian composer Ennio Morricone.

Finally, there's the cast and what a hell of a cast. Featuring fun cameos from Tarantino (in both segments), Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Sheri Moon Zombie, Sybil Danning, Udo Kier, Jason Issacs, Jay Hernandez, Eli Roth (also in the Death Proof segment), and Nicolas Cage in the trailers are fun to watch. From the Planet Terror segment, the small appearances from legendary horror film icon Tom Savini, El Mariachi's Carlos Gallardo, singer Stacy Ferguson, Julio Oscar Mechoso as Romey, Nicky Katt, and Michael Parks (also in Death Proof with son James) are a lot of fun to watch. Playing the Crazy Babysitter Twins (who also appear in Death Proof) are Electra and Elise Allevan (Rodriguez's nieces) are fun to watch along with Rodriguez's son Rebel as the Block's son. Bruce Willis makes a great appearance as Lt. Muldoon who reveals what he's done for his country. Lost's Naveen Andrews is great as the scientist Abby who carries a mean knife. Noted character actors Jeff Fahey and Michael Biehn give two of some of the best performances as brothers fighting zombies with Fahey as a cook and Biehn as a sheriff. The two have great one liners and even make appearances in different trailers, they deserve more work.

Josh Brolin is wonderful as the villainous Dr. Block who later becomes a zombie wanting to kill his wife for her affairs. Marley Shelton is fun and sexy as the syringe-shooting Dakota Block who is one woman not to be messed with. In a role that is definitely inspired by Kurt Russell, Freddy Rodriguez gives a star-making performance as El Wray. Rodriguez steals nearly every scene he's in whether he's doing back flips, twirling guns, or anything. Rodriguez is the man!!! Finally, there's Rose McGowan returning to the cinema after a few years on TV for Charmed. McGowan is great and sexy as the back-talking, funny Cherry Darling who loses her leg and tries to find her way to fight back. Then when she gets that machine gun as a new leg, she really owns the film. It's a great, comeback performance from Rose McGowan who also does great work as Pam in the Death Proof segment.

In Death Proof, the small appearances from Michael Bacall, Monica Staggs, and Jonathan Loughran from Kill Bill are fun to watch. Jordan Ladd is great as the partying Shanna, Vanessa Ferlito as the New Yorker Arlene, and Sydney Tamiia Poitier is fun as the bitchy Jungle Julia. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is good and cute as the cheerleading-wearing actress Lee who is the naive group of the bunch with Dawson, Bell, and Thoms who doesn't understand about the films of the past. Tracie Thoms is a lot of fun as the car-driving Kim with real-life stuntwoman Zoe Bell is fun as herself. Rosario Dawson is great as the cautious turned angry Abernathy who uses her charm and wit to get the car.

Finally, there's Kurt Russell in what has to be an Oscar-worthy performance as Stuntman Mike. Russell starts off being laid back and cool but once he's in that car, he's a total badaass. Wait, there's two more characters cannot be missed. The cars. Playing Death Proof are the 1971 Chevy Nova SS and the 1969 Dodge Charger where as one, they're both badass looking cars that can destroy anyone. The other car, making his comeback after a 35-year sabbatical is the old-school 1970 white Dodge Challenger from the cult film Vanishing Point. That's a fucking beauty.

Grindhouse is a one absolutely enjoyable and adventurous double-feature from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. With two amazing movies and some great faux trailers from Rodriguez, Rob Zombie, Edgar Wright, and Eli Roth, it's a film that really captures the glory and excitement of the Grindhouse movies. It has something for everyone. Tits, ass, cars, gore, zombies, fights, explosions, guns, good food, and lots of unadulterated violence!!!! In the end, Grindhouse is an experience that will give audiences one hell of a fucking time.

Quentin Tarantino Films: Reservoir Dogs - Pulp Fiction - Four Rooms: The Man from Hollywood - Jackie Brown - Kill Bill - Inglourious Basterds - Django Unchained - The Hateful Eight - Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

Related: The Auteurs #17: Quentin Tarantino - Growing Up with Quentin Tarantino

Robert Rodriguez Films: (El Mariachi) - (Roadracers) - (Desperado) - Four Rooms: The Misbehaviors - From Dusk Till Dawn - (The Faculty) - (Spy Kids) - (Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams) - (Spy Kids 3D: Game Over) - (Once Upon a Time in Mexico) - Sin City - (The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D) - (Shorts) - (Machete) - (Spy Kids: All the Time in the World) - (Machete Kills) - (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For)

© thevoid99 2012

Sin City

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 1/4/06 w/ Additional Edits

Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel series, Sin City is a collection of stories set in a dark seedy world featuring many of its players as they defy the law and do all sorts of dastardly deeds. Written for the screen, produced, and directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller with special guest director Quentin Tarantino, Sin City is a dark, violent, gritty film that pushes the limits of the film noir genre. Using the same, digital style of his Spy Kids films, Rodriguez goes a look that is similar to Miller's graphic novels. Starring Rodriguez/Tarantino regulars like Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Josh Hartnett, Michael Madsen, Elijah Wood, and Carla Gugino plus Jessica Alba, Devon Aoki, Alexis Bledel, Rosario Dawson, Nick Stahl, Brittany Murphy, Jamie King, Marley Shelton, Rutger Hauer, Powers Boothe, Benicio del Toro, Clive Owen, and Michael Clarke Duncan. Sin City is a fast, powerful, in-your-face film that brings Frank Miller's vision to life.

It's a rainy night in Sin City as a mysterious man (Josh Hartnett) looks upon a woman (Marley Shelton) as she looks out on the rain. The mood sets for the night when a big, battered ex-convict named Marv (Mickey Rourke) is accused of killing a hooker he loved named Goldie (Jaime King). He escapes the cops as he flees into the home of his lesbian parole officer Lucille (Carla Gugino) for some pills. After stepping into the bar where dancing is a young stripper named Nancy (Jessica Alba) while a waitress named Shellie (Brittany Murphy) gives him a drink. Marv looks for answers on who killed Goldie as her twin Wendy is going after him. Marv goes to a farm where he finds a young, cannibalistic killer named Kevin (Elijah Wood) who works for the town's cardinal Roark (Rutger Hauer) whose brother (Powers Boothe) is a senator. After another escape from the cops, he turns to Wendy and her gang in the seedy section of Old Town as he gets help to seek vengeance on Goldie.

Meanwhile in that same bar, Shellie is trying to evade a violent madman named Jackie Boy (Benicio del Toro) who is trying to figure who is Shellie's new boyfriend who is a big man named Dwight (Clive Owen). Jackie Boy comes to her apartment where he meets Dwight and after a confrontation, Jackie Boy leaves as Dwight decides to go after him. Jackie Boy enters the world of Old Town which is run by venomous hookers led by the sexy Gail which includes the innocent Becky (Alexis Bledel) and the silent samurai Miho (Devon Aoki). After Jackie Boy and his gang try to sweet-talk Becky into coming with them, Miho kills the gang as Dwight and Gail watch. Then they learn a horrible secret about Jackie Boy that threatens a peace treaty between cops and the ladies of Old Town as Dwight tries to return Jackie Boy's body downtown which starts troubling since Jackie Boy is still alive. After encountering a group of Irish mercenaries, Dwight is delayed as Gail is suddenly being tortured by Manute (Michael Clarke Duncan) who is the leader of corrupt cops. With the help of Miho, Dwight evades the Irish mercenaries led by Brian (Tommy Flanagan) as he joins Gail for their war.

The last story involves a burnt-out cop named Hartigan (Bruce Willis) with a bad heart condition who is one-day away from retirement as he tries to rescue a young girl (Mackenzie Vega) from a troubled young man (Nick Stahl) who turned out to be the son of Senator Roark. Despite saving the young girl and wounding Roark's son, Hartigan is in the hospital but is forced to go to jail by the Senator unless he confesses to molesting the young girl. Though the girl who would become Nancy would write to him, trouble emerges eight years later when a creature in yellow appeared as Hartigan decides to bust out. With help from his former partner Bob (Michael Madsen), Hartigan goes to Sin City where he finds Nancy and the Yellow Bastard as Hartigan's promise to protect Nancy is underway.

Shot with digital cameras in Rodriguez's own studio in Austin with top visual effects equipment, this film is truly one of the most visually-inspiring movies to come out in many years. With its ode to the film-noir genre, the film is shot mostly in black-white with dabbles of color to appear. The directing by Rodriguez and Miller is definitely amazing in its ode to the film-noir genre while the violence and sex is very graphic which is true to Miller's vision. This film isn't for those with a bad ticker, it's a film where anything goes and the violence is very uncompromising. From its fast-paced camera angles to the visual effects that plays to the emotions of the films in its color. Many of those visual effects is credited to Rodriguez who not only serves as the cinematographer but editor as well. Rodriguez brings a unique black-and-white style of lighting that is a wonderful ode to film-noir while his editing is fast-paced and to the point while not being a distraction to the story.

If Rodriguez's ability as director, producer, editor, and cinematographer helps, so does his writing in his collaboration with Frank Miller. While the script starts off with an early segment featuring Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton, the film really starts off with an early part of Hartigan's story with Roark. Then there is the dialogue where its approach is very stylized, it works to the genre. From the narration to the words that are spoken is a true ode to film noir. A lot of that credit goes to Frank Miller who uses the world of 1940s film noir to create an atmosphere that is true to the film while its tone adds excitement to the story. Each segment is filled with excitement where each of them on their own merits have fascinating moments but as a whole, it's brilliant. It's a testament to not just Frank Miller's talents but also Robert Rodriguez. Then there's Quentin Tarantino who does a great job in the Jackie Boy/Dwight car scene which shows a lot of Tarantino's humor as he returns a favor for Rodriguez as he directed that part for $1 which Rodriguez did in his score for Kill Bill Vol. 2 for $1.

Adding flair to the gritty look of Sin City is art director Jeanne Scott and set decorator David Hack along with visual effects supervisors Thierry Delattre and Richard Martin. The film's look shows a town in chaos where it's all authentic from its bar to the motels and everything in between. The visual effects are amazing in its mix of color and black-and-white backgrounds. Then we have the costumes by designer Nina Proctor who does a great job in not just the long trench coat jackets for the men as well as Dwight's Converse shoes but the clothing for the ladies which is filled with the punk-leather of the Old Town girls to the cowboy chaps that Nancy wears. Finally, there's the film score composed by Rodriguez, John Debney, and Graeme Revell that not only adds flair to the genre with its saxophone arrangements but the orchestral arrangements play to the film's wonderful action and dramatic scenes.

Finally, there's the film amazing cast that includes several fine small performances from Mackenzie Vega and Frank Miller as a priest in the Mickey Rourke segment. Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton also do great work to the film' opening segment while veterans like Rutger Hauer and Powers Boothe do great job in their villainous roles. One of the strangest and memorable performances that deserves the term, "against type" is Elijah Wood as the silent, cannibal killer Kevin who delivers a performance that is clearly the anti-Frodo. Devon Aoki is also memorable as the silent but deadly Miho who brings an amazing presence to the film. Jaime King is excellent in her double duty as the slain hooker and her angry twin sister while Alexis Bledel is good as the innocent, charming young hooker Becky. Nick Stahl brings a creepy, venomous performance as Roark with his love for young girls and slithery demeanor. Michael Clarke Duncan is also good as the big man villain Manute. Michael Madsen is funny in his small role as Bruce Willis' partner while Tommy Flanagan is funny as an Irish mercenary.

Clive Owen delivers a great performance as the cool Dwight who shoots his guns and wears some cool Converse while Benicio del Toro is funny as the demented Jackie Boy. Rosario Dawson is hot, hot, hot as Gail with her fishnet, leather clothing and in-your-face attitude that gives the meaning of "girl power" to a new level. Brittany Murphy is also good as Shellie that is an ode to noir female characters while Jessica Alba is great as the stripper Nancy who knows how to move. Carla Gugino is great as the lesbian parole office who helps out Mickey Rourke while appearing in the film nude most of the time. Mickey Rourke delivers the film's best performance as Marv who is filled with confusion and doubts as he is battered and burnt out while delivering some of the coolest lines and moments throughout the entire film. Bruce Willis is also brilliant as the cop with a bad heart, Hartigan in a heroic performance that proves that Willis still have what it takes to be a hero.

The 2005 one-disc DVD that presents the film in its widescreen format ratio and 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS sound is great but for fans of Rodriguez's films, it's disappointing. Only because it has a 10-minute TV feature on the making-of the film which includes interviews with cast members, Rodriguez, Miller, and Tarantino.

***Added on 6/21/06, the 2-Disc Version of Sin City***

While the one-disc DVD for Sin City may be for those who just want to see the movie. In December of 2005, a brand-new two-disc set for the film has something that not just fans of the film wanted but has all the elements that co-director Robert Rodriguez has done with his DVDs. For this special edition, two-disc deluxe edition of the film, Rodriguez presents the film in two different versions. One is the theatrical version in all of its glory and a second disc featuring the film separated in its four different segments all extended with over 20 minutes of additional footage. Both version shown on the widescreen theatrical format of 1:85:1 anamorphic format with a 16x9 ratio along with DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound with Spanish subtitles.

The two-disc DVD also includes several special features and extras plus two different commentaries featuring Rodriguez with Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino and an audio track of the film's premiere in Austin, Texas.

The first disc of the DVD which is the film in its theatrical version features the three different audio commentaries. First is Rodriguez's commentary with co-director and novelist Frank Miller where Rodriguez and Miller comment on the adaptation from book to film where it was very easy since they didn't change a lot of the dialogue. The two discussed the casting in how Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke were perfect for their roles while Clive Owen auditioned to play Dwight. Of the commentaries, the one with Rodriguez and Miller is the most fun and insightful as they talk about a lot of the performances and the faithfulness to Miller's graphic novels.

The second commentary is mostly a technical commentary track from Rodriguez as he talks about the challenges of making the film, convincing Miller to do it and the casting. Popping up during the commentary, notably the Big Fat Kill segment is Quentin Tarantino who discusses the scene he shot with Clive Owen and Benicio del Toro as many people assumed it was a scene involving Miller's favorite character Miho killing guys with swords, Hatori Hanzo swords that they borrowed. Bruce Willis joins the commentary for the That Yellow Bastard segment as he talks about the acting challenges and his enjoyment of making the film. The third and final audio track is recorded from the film's premiere screening in Austin, Texas. For this particular track, Rodriguez wanted to give the viewer a chance to watch the film with an audience to bring the sense that the film is being seen with a big audience. The noise full of cheers, claps, and yells definitely brings the right tone since it makes the film more fun to watch.

In the special features of the first disc, there are several documentaries and featurettes about the making of the film. First is the six-minute How It Went Down: Convincing Frank Miller to Make the Film revealed Miller's reason for making Sin City as an anti-film after his horrible experience in Hollywood, notably the Robocop films. Featuring interviews with Miller, Rodriguez, Tarantino, props master Steve Joyner, and cast members Bruce Willis, Benicio del Toro, Carla Gugino, and Josh Hartnett. The small featurette revealed how Rodriguez wanted to make a completely faithful adaptation of the novels with the blessing of Miller. It started with the test shoot that Rodriguez did with Hartnett and Marley Shelton for The Customer is Always Right where Miller was immediately impressed. Rodriguez is considered the more technical director as Miller was the artistic director as Rodriguez felt that Miller should co-direct since its his baby.

Special Guest Director: Quentin Tarantino is a seven-minute featurette that opened with Tarantino and Rodriguez's longtime friendship/collaboration since they both released their debut features at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival. When Rodriguez was to score Kill Bill Vol. 2, he mentioned Sin City as Tarantino decided to return a favor by directing a scene for Sin City. Rodriguez's wife and producer Elizabeth Avellan thought it would be a great idea although Tarantino had some reluctance on shooting digital. In the end, Tarantino was amazed at the digital work that Rodriguez had done with the test short as he directed the car scene of del Toro and Clive Owen that owed to his French New Wave style. The scene showed some of Tarantino's exuberance and how Rodriguez played cinematographer/editor and Miller as the writer for Quentin's scene. It's really one of the enjoyable featurettes in the DVD.

A Hard Top with a Decent Engine: The Cars of Sin City is a seven-minute-and-a-half featurette which revealed the importance of cars in the movie. Cecil D. Evans who serves as the transportation coordinator reveals on finding the cars for the film which gives the movie a sense of style. The ones he found were in Austin like Wendy's '55 Porsche Spyder Convertible, Dwight's red '59 Cadillac Convertible, Hartigan's '55 Buick Convertible, '55 Chevy Police Car, Jackie Boy's '57 Chevy Imperial, Dallas' '41 Chevrolet, Roark Jr.'s '61 Jaguar XKE, the 57' Ford Thunderbird for the Body Transfer, the Priest's 1990 Mercedes 420 SEL, Marv's '68 Chevrolet Corvair, a '49 Chevrolet Taxi, and Mr. Shlubb's '89 Ferrari. Nancy's '57 Chevy Nomad was the only car found outside of Austin while the Yellow Bastard's 1937 Cadillac was the most expensive since it costs $100,000 to rent for a week. Many of the cars were chosen in ode to film noir and they were the kind of cars Frank Miller loved.

Booze, Broads, & Guns: The Props of Sin City is an eleven-minute segment that focuses on the contributions of props master Steve Joyner. Joyner plus property master Caylah Eddleblute reveal the weaponry they find and how they created them through a 3-D clay-like style. Using the books for storyboard and detail with help from graphic designer Troy Engel, they created the weaponry design and detail through computer before creating it into a 3-D machine. Eddleblute had to find the look of the weapons just to get a full idea on the designs for them since Miller draws them with great detail. Transportation captain Joe Llanes was responsible for teaching Jessica Alba how to lasso while props sculptor Brandon Campbell and head props fabricator Marcus Laporte reveal the making of the weapons through a 3-D clay-like machine. Devon Aoki reveals the martial arts props that were used and the swords she got are indeed, Hatori Hanzo swords from the Kill Bill movies that they got from Tarantino's garage as Miller, is so in love with Miho.

Making the Monsters: Special Effects Make-Up is a nine-minute featurette that focuses on the work of Greg Nicotero who is the special effects makeup supervisor. Nicotero reveals that with Miller's help and the books, the look of Marv, Hartigan, Jackie Boy, and Yellow Bastard come to life. While Hartigan's scar was only minor, the look for Marv took them three weeks to do but it worked. For Jackie Boy, Benicio del Toro wanted the look to be more like the book and they had more fun with the look, even when he's covered in paint for a scene. The toughest was the Yellow Bastard where on set, Nick Stahl is in full-make up and look where he's blue but on post-production, he's yellow. The last featurette for Trench Coats & Fishnets: The Costumes of Sin City focuses on the work of costume designer/supervisor Nina Proctor. Proctor reveals the work into the costumes with help from Miller's book as it became a very fun experience. Rosario Dawson and Brittany Murphy praise Proctor's work as they all had fun wearing the costumes while Murphy was totally into character once she wore some six-inch heels.

The last two special features on the first disc are a trailers sections that reveals both the teaser and theatrical trailer that brought anticipation for the films. The second is an interactive feature called the Sin-Chroni-City Interactive Game where you take a character, put him in a place, and connect him with another character and through Frank Miller's voice. You hear background stories, details, and everything about places and the characters in one of the best interactive features available.

The second disc of the DVD includes more special features and the Recut, Extended version of Sin City which are separated into four different segments. In his introduction, Rodriguez cut over 20-minutes of footage for the theatrical release for length reasons. For the Recut version, he chose to separate the four segments into their own individual stories with the option of viewers to watch a segment at any time. Whether its in chronological order for: That Yellow Bastard, The Customer is Right, The Hard Goodbye, and The Big Fat Kill or in the order that the film had. Still, each segment is given new treatment and new ideas that is faithful to Miller's novels.

The first one for The Customer is Right with Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton isn't done with a lot of work since it's a prologue and the only touch Rodriguez adds is the film's epilogue that also involved Hartnett and a major character from one of the stories. In The Hard Goodbye, a few moments of dialogue, notably Marv's rant in the rain is extended while a scene of him going to his mother's house to retrieve his gun, Gladys has been added. The scene overall is great as it works for the entire segment which shows a more sentimental side of Marv as he goes into his childhood room and later, meeting his blind mother (Lucina Paquet) which shows more of the range that Mickey Rourke has as an actor.

The Big Fat Kill features some extended dialogue and narration from Dwight McCarthy along with an extended scene between Clive Owen's McCarthy and Brittany Murphy's Shellie. The best added scene comes right in the end in the big final battle between the mob and Dwight with the girls of Old Town. Most notably, the battle involves the sweet, little Miho who gets to show everyone what she can do with an ax, a big fucking ax!!!!!! I love Miho, I'll fight Frank Miller to the death for her heart.

That Yellow Bastard is the segment that adds more scenes to the film. First that are added is a bridging sequence that comes between Hartigan's shooting and his meeting with Senator Roark. It's when Michael Madsen's Bob is surrounded by police cars and an ambulance that leads a sequence where everyone including a nurse (Katherine Willis), a DA, Hartigan's superiors, and Hartigan's wife Eileen (Babs George) is asking Hartigan about what happened as he refuses to talk. The second added sequence involves Carla Gugino's Lucille who serves as Hartigan's attorney where she's called for the parole hearing who is disgusted in Hartigan's false intentions to leave the jail. There's also an extended sequence with Nick Offerman's Mr. Shlubb and Rick Gomez's Klump on their way to the motel Hartigan and Nancy were staying. Overall, the extended and added scenes that are filled with more violence reveals the true nature and style of Frank Miller.

Five special features are on the second disc which includes two regular segments of all of Rodriguez DVDs. The first special feature is the actual movie shown in high-speed on green screen. There, you see the entire film in 10 minutes through a fast speed time where you see how all of the performances are done and who's acting with who along with isn't in the frame. It's one of the best featurettes with a wonderful introduction from Rodriguez. The second featurette is The Long Take: 14 Uninterrupted Minutes of Tarantino's Segment which shows an uncensored, uncut outtake of Tarantino directing Clive Owen and Benicio del Toro in their scene with the car. It reveals the exuberant energy of Tarantino as well as the relaxed chemistry between Owen and del Toro.

The two regular Rodriguez DVD special features arrive with the 15-Minute Film School with Robert Rodriguez. The lesson Rodriguez gives is about the advantage of working with digital cameras and shooting a film like this with a cheap budget as opposed to shooting the film with a full studio backing. Since Rodriguez is one of few directors to have his own studio, effects team, and collaborators, he can do a film on green screen and not having to create scenes outside or create production scenes most of the time. Since he uses green screen for lighting purposes and production, Rodriguez was able to save more money and with own effects team, he didn't need to have a visual effects team from other studios where he saved more money.

For performance, actors had to move a little bit faster than usual where after a few days, they get really comfortable acting in a green-screen set. While the production part was easy, the entire film was made on post-production which took a long time but it allowed Rodriguez and his team to think of ideas, using computer dummies, and things to get the ideas of shots and visual photography. Rodriguez closes the featurette saying that if you have some film, visual effects computer software and a digital camera, you can make a film like Sin City while you can take your time in making effects and learning about the technology.

The 10-Minute Cooking School with Robert Rodriguez is easily one of the most enjoyable featurettes. The recipe Rodriguez makes are Sin City Breakfast Tacos. For these tacos, Rodriguez makes his own flour tortillas with flour, baking powder, a bit of salt, some lard, and butter to give the sense of Mexican authenticity. He makes the tacos in two variations both with scrambled eggs. One of them has peeled, diced, chopped potatoes which he fries as he refers to them as Mexican fries and he likes them crisp. The second variation includes diced, fried corn tortilla chips, tomatoes, onions, and jalapeno peppers. Mix them with the eggs and fry the flour tortillas and you got yourselves some damn good tacos. In the words of Marv from an outtake of the film, enjoy those tacos.

The final special feature is Sin City Live Night at Antones-Filmmakers, Cast & Crew Party which features a full performance from Bruce Willis and his own band the Accelerators doing Devil Woman along with clips of performances from Robert Rodriguez's band. Showing up in the clip are not just cast members Nick Stahl and Jessica Alba but director Richard Linklater and his cast including Woody Harrelson from Linklater's film A Scanner Darkly. While Willis may not have been a good recording artist like most Hollywood stars, he does bring in a good live show.

Added to the two-disc edition of Sin City which is a good starting point for people new to the novel is a complete graphic novel of the first Sin City novel for The Hard Goodbye, which reveals in complete detail, Frank Miller's drawing style, some added scenes, and how close the dialogue that Miller wrote is to the actual film. Overall, it's a great book and anyone who is new to the novels will definitely be interested in the entire series of Sin City. In the end, the 2-Disc DVD special edition of Sin City is a must-have for not just fans of the film or of the work of Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. It's also one of the best film collections ever assembled on DVD.

***End of 2-Disc DVD section***

In Conclusion, Sin City is a hands down, visual, noirish, violent, sexual, and stylized film from Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller with a great cast, a great crew, and the contribution of Quentin Tarantino. For anyone interested in the novels will definitely get a new introduction as the vision of Frank Miller definitely comes to life. Anyone interested in film noir will see how closely Rodriguez pays tribute to the genre. So for anyone who wants a great film with lots of violence, sex, and cool dialogue, go see Sin City.

Robert Rodriguez Films: (El Mariachi) - (Roadracers) - (Desperado) - Four Rooms: The Misbehaviors - From Dusk Till Dawn - (The Faculty) - (Spy Kids) - (Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams) - (Spy Kids 3D: Game Over) - (Once Upon a Time in Mexico) - (The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D) - Grindhouse: Planet Terror - (Shorts) - (Machete) - (Spy Kids: All the Time in the World) - (Machete Kills) - (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For)

(C) thevoid99 2012

From Dusk till Dawn

Directed by Robert Rodriguez and screenplay by Quentin Tarantino based on an original story by Robert Kurtzman, From Dusk till Dawn is the story of two bank robbing brothers who take a family hostage as they travel to Mexico where they all enter a bar that is very mysterious as they later have to battle vampires. The film is a horror-comedy that involves Rodriguez’s stylish approach to violence as well as Tarantino’s snappy and witty dialogue. Starring George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Ernest Liu, Salma Hayek, and Cheech Marin with appearances from John Saxon, John Hawkes, Michael Parks, Kelly Preston, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini, and Fred Williamson. From Dusk till Dawn is a fun and in-your-face film from Robert Rodriguez.

After robbing a bank and then dealing with a bloody gun battle with Texas Ranger Earl McGraw (Michael Parks) and a liquor store clerk (John Hawkes), Seth Gecko (George Clooney) and his younger brother Richard (Quentin Tarantino) are on the run as they hope to reach Mexico to meet with a crime boss named Carlos (Cheech Marin) to split the money. The brothers have a hostage (Brenda Hillhouse) whom Richard is interested in as they stop at a motel where things go wrong until a faith-challenged pastor named Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) checks in. Jacob is with his young adult daughter Kate (Juliette Lewis) and her adopted Chinese brother Scott (Ernest Liu) as they’re going to Mexico where they’re confronted by Seth. Seth asks Jacob to drive his RV to Mexico as Richard, Kate, and Scott all go in for the ride.

After a tense moment involving a border guard (Cheech Marin) at the border, the five are able to make it to Mexico where they stop at the rendezvous point at a bar called the Titty Twister. Things seemed fine where Seth, Jacob, Richard, Kate, and Scott all have drinks as they’re later entertained by the exotic stripper Satanico Pandemonium (Salma Hayek). Yet, a scuffle with a guy named Chet Pussy (Cheech Marin) and the bartender Razor Charlie (Danny Trejo) leads to trouble where it is revealed that the bar is filled with vampires. With help from the whip-wielding Sex Machine (Tom Savini) and the quick-witted Frost (Fred Williamson), the Gecko brothers and the Fullers go on an all-out war the vampires.

The film is essentially a story about two bank robbing-brothers who kidnap a family to Mexico where they later fight off vampires in a strange bar. In the writing style of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s soaring approach to action. It’s a film that does a whole lot more than its B-movie premise suggests while still being a silly, stylish, and over-the-top kind of film that both Tarantino and Rodriguez love. The script that Tarantino creates does have a lot of fast-paced and stylish dialogue that is a trademark of his work as the film starts off as a Tarantino film for its opening scene. While the script is among one of the more straightforward works in terms of narrative structure and dialogue. Tarantino does succeed in creating a story that does help build an element of suspense as well as making characters who are more than what they seem to be.

The direction of Robert Rodriguez is truly a joy to watch from the opening scene between Earl McGraw and the liquor store clerk that is very straightforward and charming to the dark intensity that follows where the Gecko brothers are properly introduced. While Rodriguez maintains a keen sense of style in the film’s violent moments filled with a few slow-motion shootouts and some frenetic fights that goes in the bar scenes. Rodriguez knows how to create tension without going overboard by taking his time and wait for the payoff. Also serving as the editor, Rodriguez is able to create a wide array of style to the cutting in order to create a film that plays up to Tarantino’s fast-paced dialogue while also being able to slow things down. Overall, Rodriguez creates a very solid and exciting film that does a whole lot more than its vampire-action genre suggests.

Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro does a brilliant job with the film‘s stylish photography from the very sunny look of the desert exteriors of Texas to the more exotic array of lights and dark settings created at the Titty Twister bar scenes. Production designer Cecilia Montiel, along with set decorator Felipe Fernandez del Paso and art director Mayne Berke, does an excellent job with the design of the Titty Twister bar interiors as well as the hall that everyone is at for the fight and Satanico Pandemonium‘s dance. Costume designer Graciela Mazon does a nice job with the costumes as it‘s mostly casual except for the leather clothing that Sex Machine and Razor Charlie wear.

Visual effects supervisors Diana Dru Botsford and Daniel Fort do fantastic work with some of the film‘s special visual effects such as the human transformation into vampires as well as some of fire that occurs once the vampires are killed. Sound editor Dean Beville does some great work in the sound from the way the vampires growl sound to the layers of gunshots and all sorts of sound effects made during the fights. The film’s score by Graeme Revell is very good for its mix of suspenseful orchestral pieces to a mixture of Texas blues music that is rampant in the film’s soundtrack. Notably as it features contributions from ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmie Vaughn, the Blasters, and Tito & Tarantula that appears as the Titty Twister’s house band.

The casting by Elaine J. Huzzar and Johanna Ray is superb for the ensemble that is created ranging from famous character actors to actors famous for being in certain genre films. Making small appearances include John Saxon as a FBI agent, Kelly Preston as a TV news reporter, John Hawkes as the liquor store clerk, Michael Parks as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw, Brenda Hillhouse as the Gecko brothers’ hostage, Danny Trejo as the badass bartender Razor Charlie, horror film guru Tom Savini as the whip-wielding Sex Machine, and blaxploitation icon Fred Williamson as the war veteran Frost. Notable supporting roles include Cheech Marin playing three roles such as a border patrol guard, the gangster Carlos, and in a hilarious performance as the pussy-talking Chet Pussy.

Salma Hayek is excellent as the sexy and devilishly charming Satanico Pandemonium while Ernest Liu is alright as the more naïve and reluctant Scott Fuller. Juliette Lewis is terrific as Kate who starts off as a reluctant friend of the Gecko brothers to becoming a full-fledge badass. Quentin Tarantino is very good as Richard Gecko who often has these strange fantasies about what women says to him while dealing with a wounded hand. Harvey Keitel is great as the conflicted Jacob Fuller who tries to deal with his own issues while helping out the Gecko brothers fight off the vampires. Finally, there’s George Clooney in a brilliant performance as the cool Seth Gecko who leads the way against the vampires while trying not to be a total criminal as he actually shows some compassion.

From Dusk till Dawn is an incredible and ass-kicking film from Robert Rodriguez and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino. Featuring a wonderful cast, great music, and lots of gory yet top-notch violence. It’s a film that doesn’t hold back in what it wants to be while making it a whole lot of fun to watch. Notably as it’s all about killing vampires with all sorts of things with catchy dialogue and amazing scenery. In the end, From Dusk till Dawn is an entertaining and thrilling film from Robert Rodriguez.

Robert Rodriguez Films: (El Mariachi) - (Roadracers) - (Desperado) - Four Rooms-The Misbehavers - (The Faculty) - (Spy Kids) - (Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams) - (Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over) - (Once Upon a Time in Mexico) - Sin City - (The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D) - Grindhouse-Planet Terror - (Shorts) - (Machete) - (Spy Kids: All the Time in the World)

© thevoid99 2012