The Sin City DVD blew my mind, or maybe I should say, warped my mind. I haven't been a great fan of Graphic Novels, but this movie encouraged me to purchase a few of the Sin City books. Frank Miller's now famous, series creations have taken us into the world of a bizarre surreal environment of death, destruction and gallows underbelly lifestyles.
Is the story telling and artistry supposed to show a world we hope would never exist in our white bread world? Or is it an ultimate achievement of good (disguised as part of the underbelly) trying to subdue evil? I prefer to think the latter.
The film itself is a work of pure cinematography genius. With the classic film noir overlay and the visual tricks and special effects, it looks as if you would open the Sin City graphic novel and have the pages come to life. This, I do believe, is the closest I have seen a movie come to the actual artwork and content of the original paper versions.
The very concept and style of Sin City, whether it be the movie or the novels, is not for everyone. The plot and violence are very graphic and definitely not for younger audiences. But as graphic as the movie is, due to the nature of the moving comic book background, it doesn't bring out the reality and gore that could have been pictured. Personally, I enjoyed this toning down. I would hate to think that I could actually condone this kind of violent activity.
Robert Rodriguez in collaboration with series creator, Frank Miller have ingeniously intertwined four of the Graphic Novels into the making of Sin City. "The Customer is Always Right", opens the movie even before the credits starts. Then "The Hard Goodbye", "Big Fat Kill" and "That Yellow Bastard" make up the rest of the movie.
I for one was impressed with the casting and how the actors seemed to fit the characters to perfection. I am starting to see a pattern though, in that certain actors are starting to show up in various comic book related movies of the new Hollywood features. The Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan) from Daredevil, for example, is also a character in Sin City. Do you think you can spot him? He is pretty hard to miss.
It looks like by now, Jessica Alba may be vying for the Title "Queen of the Comic Book Movies" (ha ha). She also came out this year in The Fantastic Four and will be in the sequel when it comes out.
With the new outcry for realistic comic book character movies and the new Hollywood technologies that make them possible, it looks like the original character creators want to reap some of the exposure. Stan Lee, of Marvel Comics fame, manages to get a cameo appearance every now and again in his character creation movies. And now, in Sin City, Frank Miller was justified in putting his mug on the wide screen. He appears as the, shall we say, sinister priest that Marv (Mickey Rourke) decides he is justified in blowing away. How many more comic book character creators do you think we will see in cameo rolls as more movies are produced?
If you are an avid fan of Frank Miller and, in particular, Sin City, then you will quite probably feel this one of the best movies to come out of Hollywood in 2005. If you are unfamiliar with the entire Sin City theme and series, advance with caution and don't watch it with the young or the young at heart (ha). The movie, in my mind, is definitely a visual sensation. And I hear that Sin City II may be ready for us in the summer of 2006. Enjoy.
City Of Heroes Good Vs Evil
Why Become Wealthy? Believe it or not, I've actually been asked this question by a student of mine! She totally did not get why anyone would want to be wealthy. After asking her to define what it was to be wealthy for the class I quickly became aware that she had a mental block to becoming wealthy. To her, ?Rich? people acquired their secure financial state by abusing and crushing those around them to gain more and more money.
With that sort of paradigm floating around in her head, is it any wonder that this woman had problems saving money? She was in continual battle with herself! She knew she needed money, but anytime she had too high a savings account she would ?splurge? on some item and blow out her stash of cash so that she was back to living paycheck to paycheck. Ouch! How painful is that?
To my sadness, this student is not alone in her assessment of ?rich? people. Throughout my travels, classes and seminars I find that roughly 45% of the people who are having problems with money have to deal with this issue first before anything else can happen! No, it is not your credit card debt that is the problem, at least that isn't the core issue with your financial scarcity.
The issue is much more basic then credit card debt. You have not given yourself permission to become wealthy because you haven't answered these questions for yourself:
1. Do you see money as good or evil?
2. Do you want to have more cash because you can use it to buy things that you or people in your life need or want?
3. Are you afraid of having too much money because the only people who seem to have lots of it are the folks who have done something bad to get it?
These are some of the first questions you need to ask yourself. If you see money as a necessary ?evil,? your ability to find and save money, let alone use it wisely, will be colored by your negative view of what it can do. Money is not evil. Money is only a tool, like a hammer. You can use that hammer the right way, to build a house for someone who needs one. Or you can use it the wrong way, to smack someone on the head. Either way, the hammer has no choice in how it is used. Good or bad, right or wrong, the choice along with credit or blame, belongs solely to the person who wields it.
The same is true for money. Money is a useful tool, a medium of exchange that allows you to buy stuff you want. Money spends, regardless of how you get it. The bucks from your paycheck buy just as much as the cash you get from part-time employment, or the coins you picked up in the parking lot. The sales clerk and the shop owner don't care where you got the money; it spends. The only ?good? or ?bad? in money is what you bring to it.
If you think that money is ?evil,? take a minute to ask yourself some questions.
1. ?Why do I believe that money is evil??
2. ?Is my view colored by how my parents handled cash??
3. ?Do my friends have money, and do they use it well??
Write your answers down on a piece of paper, and then read them aloud to yourself. Why? Because as long as you believe that money is ?bad? you will not be able to make or keep much of it. It is very important that you understand the battle in your brain as you go about changing your thoughts on money. If you want to keep money flowing in your life and working for you, then define for yourself what type of wealthy person you want to be.
Once you have a clear picture of the type of person you envision yourself to be and how you will handle money, then you can move toward creating it in your personal life. All it takes is a bit of introspection and reworking your internal definitions on what it means to be wealthy.
Both Dave Gieber & Janine Bolon are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Janine Bolon has sinced written about articles on various topics from Entertainment Guide, How To Grow Wealth and Lose Weight. Janine Bolon, author of Money...It's Not Just for Rich People!, invites you to subscribe to her free newsletter. Each issue is filled with simple strategies for ditching your debt and becoming financially stable. Get a free copy today at http://www.smartc. Janine Bolon's top article generates over 720 views. to your Favourites.
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