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Ishtar
(May, 1987)
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (OOP)
(Ross, 1976)
The Devils
(Russell, 1974)
The Pirates of Penzance
(Papp/Leach, 1983)
The Fortune
(Nichols, 1975)
-30-
(Webb, 1959)
Betrayal
(Jones, 1983)
Play It As It Lays
(Perry, 1972)
The Outfit
(Flynn, 1973)
Alex in Wonderland
(Mazursky, 1969)
The Legend of Lylah Clare
(Aldrich, 1968)
In The Cool of the Day
(Stevens, 1963)
That Cold Day in the Park
(Altman, 1969)
Thumb Trippin'
(Masters, 1972)
Midas Run
(Kjellin, 1969)
At Long Last Love
(Bogdanovich, 1973)
Brewster McCloud
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Outcast of the Islands
(Reed, 1951)

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The Moon's Our Home
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Sh! The Octopus
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Bad for Each Other
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The Phenix City Story
(Karlson, 1955)
Run of the Arrow
(Fuller, 1956)
House of Secrets
(Green, 1956)
Saint Joan
(Preminger, 1957)
Macabre
(Castle, 1958)
The Fiend Who Walked the West
(G. Douglas, 1958
Five Gates to Hell
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1960's
Key Witness
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Summer and Smoke
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The Chapman Report
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Bachelor Flat
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The L Shaped Room
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The Chalk Garden
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A Thousand Clowns
(Coe, 1965)
You're a Big Boy Now
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The Whisperers
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Dark of the Sun
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Skidoo
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Last Summer
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The Comic
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1970-1974
The Revolutionary
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The Landlord
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Diary of a Mad Housewife
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Tropic of Cancer
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I Never Sang for My Father
(Cates, 1970)
Sometimes a Great Notion
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Marriage of a Young Stockbroker
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The Music Lovers
(Russell, 1971)
Drive, He Said
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The Steagle
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The Last Movie
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Made For Each Other
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The Day the Clown Cried
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Hickey & Boggs (OOP)
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The Carey Treatment
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Pete 'n' Tillie
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Slither
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Man on a Swing
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Open Season
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The Tamarind Seed
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Law and Disorder
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Homebodies
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Stardust
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Celine and Julie Go Boating
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1975-1979
Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins
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At Long Last Love
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Hearts of the West
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Welcome to L.A.
(Rudolph, 1976)
W.C. Fields and Me
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Citizens Band
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Twilight's Last Gleaming
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Looking for Mr. Goodbar
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Girlfriends
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Movie Movie
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The Medusa Touch
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American Hot Wax
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Hot Stuff
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Scavenger Hunt
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Players
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Rich Kids
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Nightwing
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Screams of a Winter's Night
(Wilson, 1979
When You Comin' Back Red Ryder?
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1980's
Resurrection
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The Awakening
(Newell, 1980)
Simon
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God's Angry Man
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Fast-Walking
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Twice Upon a Time
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Trouble in Mind
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When the Wind Blows
(Murikami, 1986)
Housekeeping
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The Glass Menagerie
(Newman, 1987)
Patty Hearst
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Drowning by Numbers
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Haunted Summer
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The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
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1990's
Old Times
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Prospero's Books
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City of Hope
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The Baby of Macon
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King of the Hill
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Dadetown
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SubUrbia
(Linklater, 1997)

Upcoming

January 8

Bitch Slap

Waiting for Armageddon

Wonderful World

Youth in Revolt

January 15

January 22

Drool

Extraordinary Measures

The Girl on the Train

Miller Sent to Showers

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"A slain cop is resurrected as a masked crime-fighter in The Spirit, but Frank Miller's solo writing-directing debut plunges into a watery grave early on and spends roughly the next 100 minutes gasping for air," writes Variety's Justin Chang.

"Pushing well past the point of self-parody, Miller has done Will Eisner's pioneering comic strip no favors by drenching it in the same self-consciously neo-noir monochrome put to much more compelling use in Sin City. Graphic-novel geeks will be enticed by the promise of sleek babes and equally eye-popping f/x, but general audiences will probably pass on this visually arresting but wholly disposable Miller-lite exercise.

"If this summer's The Dark Knight raised the bar for seriousness, ambition and dramatic realism in the comicbook-based superhero genre, The Spirit reps its antithesis: Relentlessly cartoonish and campy, it's a work of pure digital artifice , feverishly committed to its own beautiful, hollow universe to the exclusion of any real narrative interest or engagement with its characters.

"There's no denying the fastidiousness and occasional virtuosity of the overall design, or the lustrous texture of the widescreen images. But all this incessant monochrome has its perils, too: When a man falls to the ground, his body covered with white bloodstains, it's unclear whether he's been felled by bullets or by incontinent birds."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 18, 2008 at 1:23 PM

comment #1

BurmaShave says ...

Damnnnnn

Posted by BurmaShave at December 18, 2008 1:49 PM

comment #2

p.Vice says ...

From Lionsgate's perspective this probably counts as a rave.

Posted by p.Vice at December 18, 2008 1:55 PM

comment #3

The Winchester says ...

It's strange, I'm sort of a fanboy, so the idea of Frank Miller directing a Spirit movie seemed like a really good idea. Then I saw the first previews and thought, "I can pass on this one and not feel too bad". But now, the more terrible reviews it receives only fuel my desire to see it more. And I thought a movie couldn't get any worse than Punisher WarZone. (A SPECTACULARLY crappy movie).

Posted by The Winchester at December 18, 2008 1:55 PM

comment #4

actionman says ...

If this was rated-R I'd probably see it. Since it's not, I won't.

Posted by actionman at December 18, 2008 1:58 PM

comment #5

Rich S. says ...

I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't the Spirit. I'm by no means a fanatic, but the Spirit does have a neat rhythm and vibe that's different from most other comics. It was probably folly to try to turn it into a movie in the first place, but Miller claims to be a huge Spirit fan, so this is particularly galling.

When Sam J. Jones does a better job on something than you do, you should probably figure you're on the wrong track.

Posted by Rich S. at December 18, 2008 2:06 PM

comment #6

actionman says ...

Winchester -- is War Zone worth getting from Netflix? It looks sooooo bad but I am almost morbidly curious about all of the blood and guts. Sort of like how I felt about the new Rambo movie. I just had to see how over the top it was.

Posted by actionman at December 18, 2008 3:01 PM

comment #7

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Posted by anonymous2 at December 18, 2008 3:22 PM

comment #8

anonymous2 says ...

So, I signed up today on typekey so I could start commenting on this site, after my one comment I've come back to see that my "handle" anonymous2 has spammed every post since then.

Posted by anonymous2 at December 18, 2008 3:52 PM

comment #9

anonymous2 says ...

maybe its because my one comment was about Slumdog Millionaire

Posted by anonymous2 at December 18, 2008 4:09 PM

comment #10

T. S. Idiot says ...

I can no longer use typekey when I'm at work, regardless of what I try.

Posted by T. S. Idiot at December 18, 2008 4:56 PM

comment #11

The Winchester says ...

Actionman, it's worth getting from Netflix. It's almost worth seeing it in theaters, if you are an aficionado of terrible cinema. But the violence is outrageously over the top (He punches through a dude's FACE) almost on a Rambo level. Be warned, though, every single actor in the film is terrible. Dominic West and Doug Hutchinson most of all. But there are scenes in the movie that melted my face off. The guy on AICN nailed it with his Startship Troopers comparison. But you of all people owe it to yourself to check the film out.

Posted by The Winchester at December 18, 2008 5:26 PM

comment #12

Rothchild says ...

PUNISHER WAR ZONE is an amazing movie. Dominic West knew exactly what he was doing. That strut was hysterical.

Posted by Rothchild at December 18, 2008 5:35 PM

comment #13

The Winchester says ...

Oh, I fully agree that West knew exactly what he was doing. Same with Hutchinson. the scene with the mirrors, and with the baby doll heads are cinematic gems. Or the recruitment scene with the two of them.

And their Noo Yawk accents are priceless.

Posted by The Winchester at December 18, 2008 6:00 PM

comment #14

jbf81 says ...

the only good thing I can say about this film is that it was showed for critics, MARLEY AND ME, isnt. At least thats what I heard.

Posted by jbf81 at December 18, 2008 6:28 PM

comment #15

Daniel Tayag says ...

Punisher: War Zone is this decade's Story of Ricky.

Posted by Daniel Tayag at December 18, 2008 7:32 PM

comment #16

actionman says ...

"But there are scenes in the movie that melted my face off."

For this quote alone I will see the film. On Netflix.

Posted by actionman at December 18, 2008 7:53 PM

comment #17

D.Z. says ...

Winchester: I knew it was gonna be a lame idea from the start, since "The Spirit" requires a type of class and restraint you don't really get in Miller's work. http://xrayspex.blogspot.com/2008/03/alan-moore-spoofs-frank-miller.html

actionman: Ebert liked it as much as the other Punisher movies, if that's worth anything.

Posted by D.Z. at December 18, 2008 8:48 PM

comment #18

Chase Kahn says ...

"I need a tie, and it sure as hell better be RED!"

Posted by Chase Kahn at December 19, 2008 8:08 AM

comment #19

Rich S. says ...

"I need a tie, and it sure as hell better be RED!"

Funny how Miller somehow managed to miss the fact that in the comic, the Spirit's suit was always blue and his shirt was always white.

Posted by Rich S. at December 19, 2008 8:16 AM

comment #20

DeafBrownTrashPunk says ...

that photo looks so dumb, like it was designed and planned by a bunch of pretentious hipsters who think they're ohhh soo artsy.

Posted by DeafBrownTrashPunk at December 19, 2008 9:23 AM

comment #21

storymark says ...

And Miller is already set to screw up another property: Buck Rodgers.

Posted by storymark at December 19, 2008 9:51 AM

comment #22

Rich S. says ...

"And Miller is already set to screw up another property: Buck Rodgers."

No no no no no no no no no.........

Posted by Rich S. at December 19, 2008 10:48 AM

comment #23

DarthCorleone says ...

What the hell is going on in that still?

It looks like some hot gal in a bikini just shot down The Spirit in some way, and now he's on the ground looking for his contact lens. She strolls away with a mischievous grin and no cares in the world. She might be about to break into song.

Posted by DarthCorleone at December 19, 2008 11:22 AM