As you know, Frank Miller is writing and directing the movie adaptation of The Spirit and if All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder is the zenith of Miller’s current writing talent… I really look forward to this movie. IESB.net has an article where they managed to snag a sneak peek at the audition sides. What is a side?
Sides, for those of you that don’t know, are the scenes from the script that actors read for their auditions. Often times the dialogue is wildly different from what ends up on the screen. Consider this mouthful that Mark Hamill had to get through back in 1976 as he auditioned for the title character in The Adventures of Luke Starkiller: “… Fear is their greatest defense… I doubt if the actual security there is much greater than on Aquilae or Sullust, and what there is most likely directed toward a large-scale assault.”
Good enough? Onward to what the movie might be like!
My first thought was I surprised by YOUNG SAND’s skateboard. Based on my memories of quotes made by director Frank Miller, I was expecting THE SPIRIT to be a period piece. My suspicions were proven wrong again a few pages later when a REPORTER sticks a cordless MICROPHONE and CAMERA into the emotionally shaken YOUNG SPIRIT and YOUNG SAND. (Well, they do say that the memory is the first to go.) (Well, they do say that the memory is the first to go.)
Aw crap. What about the dialogue? Isn’t Miller known for his dialogue? I mean, Daredevil had awesome dialogue when he was at Marvel.
Anyway, the dialogue is a little “The Wonder Years” meets SIN CITY, but it effectively sets up an emotional core to the connection the older SPIRIT has to the older SAND SERIF. Based on the original comic’s influence on Film Noir flicks and Miller’s love of tough guys in trenchcoats and tragic dames, I can guess this isn’t going to end pretty-no matter what a looker Eva Mendes might be.
You can read the rest by clicking here. I hope and pray that Miller manages to squeeze in the following into the movie: “What are you, dense? Are you retarded or something? Who the hell do you think I am? I’m the goddamn Spirit!” (Please support All Star Batman, I giggle like a school girl every time a new issue comes out.)
September 18th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
This is going to suck. I’m calling it. They should’ve let someone like Bruce Timm have their directorial debut instead Frank “Nuke San-Francisco!” Miller
September 18th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
As if there were any doubt before, hearing Miller’s dialogue spoken aloud in SINCITY and 300 made it even more clear that there’s a disconnect between what looks good on the page and what sounds good coming out of an actor’s mouth.