Best ultra-violent, funny, emotionally involving, tragic, cynical, intelligent...

[direstraits]

I'm with you on the "not meaningful" - the ultra-violence is imaginative, but entirely gratuitous. It's certainly not funny, if anything, it seems to take itself way too seriously.
Dark & disturbing, yes. Frank Miller has awesome talent. I would not go so far as to call it "beautiful". I found it rather off-putting, all this talent being brought to bear on something so completeley empty.

Ah, but I see it completely differently. I find Miller darkly humorous, and Sin City is filled with stuff that isn't laugh out loud, but certainly evoked a wry smile or two. His fixation on pretty chicks for instance, and how almost all of them are out of reach. And I thought his over-the-top violence is almost reminiscent of Kill Bill proportions (I won't be surprised if Tarantino was a tad influenced by Miller there).

And when I say beautiful, I meant the art, not the work itself. The work - enjoyable, but the art - very nice. Took me about 10 years to appreciate it fully (I bought and read Sin City when I was too young, and it scarred my mind forever).

ds

 

[chuephödli]

Ah, but I see it completely differently. I find Miller darkly humorous. And I thought his over-the-top violence is almost reminiscent of Kill Bill proportions (I won't be surprised if Tarantino was a tad influenced by Miller there).

ds

I read Miller's The Dark Knight - I could see the dark humor in there. Missed it in Sin City, I suppose... Maybe I am too easily put off by this kind of over-the-top violence these days. Not that The Dark Knight was really that much less violent, but it seemed much less sadistic.

With Sin City, I was indeed very much reminded of Kill Bill, I agree with you there - but then, much as I really liked both Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill struck me as entirely pointless, worse, actually: I found it boring. Could be me, though: most of my movie-going friends are raving about both Kill Bill and Sin City. Not that any of them has read Miller's graphic novels.

Tarantino and Miller, now there's a match made in, well, maybe not heaven.

 

[direstraits]

Oh no! You didn't say Kill Bill was BORING!! I see that I have to send Uma after you now.

I loved Kill Bill precisely because it was so tongue-in-cheek - it was primarily a comedy of sorts for me, and it just couldn't stop poking fun at itself! The funniest part in the whole duology by a longshot for me was the part where Uma

Spoiler

poked out Daryl Hannah's eye

. It was a throwback to the old kungfu movies I had seen growing up as a kid.

I preferred Dark Knight Returns much more than Sin City, actually. The story was much stronger, and more enjoyable. I liked Sin City, but I'll say it definitely isn't Miller's best.

I've not watched Reservoir Dogs, but I didn't really enjoy Pulp Fiction.

Tarantino and Miller. huh? You may have something there. Ultraviolent satire for the masses. Anything but another Robocop, eh?

ds

 

[angerball]

How about The Demon, by Hubert Selby Jnr? I wouldn't say it had much humour in it though.

 

[chuephödli]

Oh no! You didn't say Kill Bill was BORING!! I see that I have to send Uma after you now.

I've not watched Reservoir Dogs, but I didn't really enjoy Pulp Fiction.

Tarantino and Miller. huh? You may have something there. Ultraviolent satire for the masses. Anything but another Robocop, eh?

ds

I spent Xmas Eve under the Xmas tree in fear of Uma.

Tarantino has always been 2 things for me: violence and whacky dialogues. Reservoir dogs has plenty of both (the analysis of Madonna's Like a Virgin comes to mind), Pulp Fiction has a bit less of the first and a bit more of the second, and Kill Bill seems to have dispensed with the quirky dialogues altogether.

I guess I prefer Reservoir Dogs, because it came across as much more immediate: when watching it I didn't always catch myself trying to guess what he was quoting now - even though there are certainly enough movie quotes in there.

 

[The waveguide]

Maybe Jose Saramago's Blindness?

I'd suggest Jose Saramago's "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ".

The Bible can do as well (at least some part of it).

 

[direstraits]

I spent Xmas Eve under the Xmas tree in fear of Uma.

Damn, so that's where you were! She came back without unsheathing her sword, and let me tell you: she was *not* happy.

ds