Three Promising Films

[Mike Renzulli]

I have come across 3 films that look very promising that will be coming out soon! They are:

1) The Spirit - This movie was written and directed by Frank Miller (300 & Sin City) and is based on the comic book series by Will Eisner. It is about a police officer who is murdered and some how is resurrected where he becomes a clandestine crime fighter.

As many of you know Miller dedicated his Martha Washington series to Ayn Rand and is a self-professed libertarian.

Website: http://www.mycityscreams.com/

2) The Watchmen - This movie is based on the comic book series of Alan Moore (V for Vendetta). It takes place during the 1980's and the war is about to break out between the US and USSR. While this is going on, former superheroes of the Crimebusters are the targets of a campaign to kill or discredit them.

Website: http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/

3) Marina of the Zabbaleen - A documentary about Christian entrepreneurs in Egypt. Looks very promising!

Website: http://www.marinathemovie.com/

[emb021]

Sorry, but the comic book fan in me must respond.

I have come across 3 films that look very promising that will be coming out soon! They are:

1) The Spirit - This movie was written and directed by Frank Miller (300 & Sin City) and is based on the comic book series by Will Eisner. It is about a police officer who is murdered and some how is resurrected where he becomes a clandestine crime fighter.

As many of you know Miller dedicated his Martha Washington series to Ayn Rand and is a self-professed libertarian.

Ah, the Spirit. Will Eisner's classic series. Interestingly, in a time in which comic companies and newspaper syndicates owned the characters, Eisner was able to retain ownership of this work. He also wasn't a big superhero fan, and he only put a mask on the character as a consession. The original stories are great, especially the post-war Spirits. Sometimes the Spirit almost became a secondary character in his own series.

The Spirit was really criminologist/private eye Denny Colt. During the investigation of a crime, it appeared he was killed, but instead was put into a death-like trance. He awoke, and desided to create the identity of The Spirit to fight criminals as a kind of vigilante (tho he never killed).

It will be interesting as to how Miller deals with this.

I haven't seen too much libertarian views in Miller's work. There are some sections of the Martha Washington series that hints at it (and in one series, a sort of randian/libertarian galts gulch group liberates the world). His final Martha Washington story, which seems to show a world back in chaos due to an unknown source (radical muslim terrorists seems to be hinted at), was a bit strange and a let down. There is a complete collection planned of this series, which will be nice.

2) The Watchmen - This movie is based on the comic book series of Alan Moore (V for Vendetta). It takes place during the 1980's and the war is about to break out between the US and USSR. While this is going on, former superheroes of the Crimebusters are the targets of a campaign to kill or discredit them.

Website: http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/

The Watchmen. Alan Moore's revamp of the old Charlton Comics heroes, which include the Steve Ditko created Blue Beetle (as the Nite Owl) and the Question (a more commercial take on his clearly Objectivist hero, Mr. A., now reimaged as the insane Rorshack). Moore is not a fan of libertarian values, as he's a leftist. So it remains to be seen how things go.

In the world of the Watchmen, thanks to the fact that the US has Dr. Manhattan, a nearly god-like superhero, the tensions between the US and USSR is much worse. The US wins the Vietnam War, and I think annexs Vietnam. And someone is killing off the superheroes. We'll see how this goes. Hollywood screwed up the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, also based on a Moore series. There have been rumors of a Watchmen film (or that doing on is impossible). We'll see how this come out.

You can get the complete collection still from DC Comics.