Blood, Boobs & Carnage

It's time for the Blood, Boobs & Carnage blogfest, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh and Heather Gardner. As a participant, I am required to post about a movie, book or TV show renowned for its depiction of, well, blood, boobs and carnage, or any combination of the same. And so I have chosen to highlight a movie that exemplifies all three facets of the blogfest, the 2005 graphic novel adaptation, Sin City.

The movie was directed by Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino. It starred an ensemble cast which included Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, Devon Aoki, Benicio Del Toro, Alexis Bledel, Josh Harnett, Michael Clarke Duncan and Elijah Wood. It was not only renowned for its depiction of sex and violence, but for its stylish black-and-white visuals which was often punctuated by dashes of color to mesmerizing effect.

This came as a direct result of the movie's source material, which was itself a sort of homage to film noir. The movie was shot entirely against digital backgrounds, much like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow before it. From the very beginning, director Robert Rodriguez had sought to recreate the look and feel of the comic books, and the result is an almost frame-for-frame replication.

Praise for the movie extends beyond its technical achievements. In terms of acting performances, the actors all did a great job in bringing their various characters to life, especially the point-of-view characters, most of whom tended to launch into monologues which were more often than not laden with strong metaphors. But I feel the show was stolen by Elijah Wood, who plays a cannibalistic serial killer named Kevin, a character that failed to utter a single word during the entire movie.

Ultimately, it is the directors that should be given most of the credit for Sin City's nearly flawless transition from comic book to silver screen. They successfully translated the comics' singular vision, without losing any of its essence along the way. I have always had a soft spot for movies like this, with enough blood, boobs and carnage to satisfy my unending appetite for the same.