Comeback Kids

Kanye has always been a dichotomous figure: great production but lazy MC skills and irrelevant lyrically, even the production values have began to slip in recent years as he expanded his empire and began collaborating and working for so many other fledgling stars, especially his friends signed to the G.O.O.D label. Here however, we’ve something reminiscent of his “College Dropout”. Warm and soulful, it’s hard not to bop along. Granted the track straddles the line between familiarity and simply emulating the music he made his name with but it certainly is nice to see.

Having never warmed to the previous track “Bang Bang Bang” by Ronson and his Business INTL, this collaboration with Ghostface Killah just flows in a way it never could. Whereas the first was trying too hard (Sorry Q-Tip, we all make mistakes), this works on a far simpler level, especially given that Ronson sings the midsections himself. Now I’m looking forward to the September 27th release date just a little bit more because I can see beyond the calculated cool of “Version” to “Here Comes The Fuzz”.

Sin City

With a career encapsulating both DC and Marvel comic book revamps, Frank Miller’s work has been a constant source of inspiration for the very same whenever they were in need of a tweak here or there. Yet despite his large body of independent work, it took a considerable time before Hollywood began mining this back catalogue to rejuvenate an industry racked with sequels and remakes.

Now with so many adaptations to choose from, we can see exactly why.

Using a series of intertwined vignettes including ninja prostitutes, crooked cops and yes, even a Yellow Bastard, Miller seeks to illustrate universal themes, a fact that never comes to fruition. A cast including Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke and Clive Owen’s atrocious American accent, this Robert Rodriguez helmed piece comes across as one large inside joke, one the audience is not privy to. It lacks any sense of irony or even basic humanity.

Stereotypes and hyperbole are often employed to deftly force us to confront the fundamental ills within society but done so with the greatest care, not with abject and remorseless violence. The Noir style of filming, although beautiful is an entirely empty, vapid experience, so heavily digitized that the genuine sentiment necessary is even further removed.
In such a setting, any examination of justice or even the most basic concepts of good and evil are lost amongst the superfluous content, allowing misogyny, homophobia and a worrying preoccupation for male anatomy to reign supreme.

Story is perhaps the greatest casualty of the film’s shortcomings however, with each vignette so rushed and heavily edited in real content, no character development is possible let alone a cohesive narrative.

One can argue that it is a true and concise adaptation of Miller’s work but even if such is the case, it makes an inevitable case against any more of its kind in the future.

Rating:  

Starring: Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Benicio del Toro, Brittany Murphy

Written: Frank Miller

Directed: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez & Quentin Tarantino

Sin City on IMDb