Thursday, March 31, 2005

New Sin City

New Sin City

[jimlee]

So the original plan was to fly to LA for the premiere but given how late I am on Superman, that plan was tossed...luckily there was another one right here in the Big Apple last night and while Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba and Rosario Dawson were not milling about like in LA, the NYC premiere had an all-star guest list that would have filled many a volume of Who's Who in American Comics.

Seen hobnobbing at the Regal theater on Broadway and 13th last night were none other than Jeff Smith (who introduced Frank before the film began stating like many of us, that he would not have been in comics today if it were not for Frank), living legends Neal Adams and his son, Joel, Jerry Robinson (creator of the Joker and Robin), and Joe Kubert (and his two sons, Adam (munching away on some hot popcorn) and Andy). Got to chat up these guys for a while as the premiere was delayed for a bit til everyone got there.

Also got to catch up with Walt Simonson who came by after the class he teaches at the School of Visual Arts (I think) was over and Gareb Shamus, owner of Wizard magazine. Marvel men in charge Joe Quesada, Alex Alonso, Jenny Lee and CB Cebulski were in the house. Representing DC were Paul Levitz, Bob Wayne, Dan Didio, Eddie Berganza, Will Dennis, Michael Wright, Anton Kawasaki and a host of other DC employees. Batman and Robin editor Bob Schreck was seen holding court, having jetted back from the LA premiere as well and the Beat's Heidi MacDonald was her usual social butterfly self.

Also spotted was a certain tequila chugging Superman scribe--Brian Azzarello, artists Jae Lee, Lee Bermejo, JG Jones and Cammo of the Intimates. I meant to ask Garth Ennis what he thought of the Irish accents of some of the actors in the flick but lost him in the swarm of artists, publishers and retailers like Mimi and Alan from Night Flight comics in Salt Lake City.

Eyespyed other talents like Paul Pope, Bill Sienkiewicz, Amanda Conner, Cliff Chiang, Trish Mulvihill, and Jimmy Palmiotti. Even got to chat up the lovely and talented Lynn Varley who along with Frank were the incredible hosts of the evening, both at the theater and later at the after party.

I know I missed a ton of other peeps but that was what I saw. Few creators could amass such a diverse and incredible group of talent, executives, and retailers...thank God for Frank Miller.

Oh and the movie ROCKED. A visual feast filled with bone crunching chiaroscuro action. I think Mickey Rourke pulled off one of the best roles of his career and Jessica Alba is smoldering wicked hot.

What else can I say but if yer a fan of comics, hell, of good movies, check it out when it opens this weekend. Afterwards, go check out the comic he did and be amazed at how Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller brought the art to life!

10 comments:

Lord Chimmy said...

Sounds like a cool experience ...hobnobbing with all those artists.

Good to hear your approval on the movie. I've been anticipating it since I first knew it was coming out, but I was worried about how it was going to be pulled off. I can't wait to see it!

Choisez said...

I bet you wore your black socks this time, right? Ha, ha.

=p

-Eddy

david golbitz said...

Sounds like a veritible who's who of comic book stars came out of the woodwork last night. Sounds like a great time was had by all.

Can't wait to see the movie. Probably gonna see it twice tomorrow. Thank god for Frank Miller, ya know?

antonio said...

Wow!! I envy you big time Jim (In a very nice way)..and I bet you wore no socks :).
Do not give us spoilers!!! ahh I forgot beautiful vodoo drawing you posted last time..thanks for sharing!!..JESUS ANTONIO

Anonymous said...

you know I was so hyped up for the movie that I thought it was showing last friday. I almost went out that time to the theatres but aa good thing I realized my mistake. But now I want to watch tne movie even more

DC said...

Arghhh... I RSVP'ed for that event too (NYC) but they called me up over the weekend and told me they had no more room.

Anyway, I went to Kang Suh yesterday, found that they had ojingoh chigae! Sadly it was the worst one I've had. Not that it was bad, but in terms of ranking I'd have to rank it at the bottom.

Then again, you did recommend the place for it's old school charcoal BBQ, not the dish I had... I checked their setup, definitely all gas now.

Have a good time at the Big Apple Con.

taichi's dad said...

Jim,

thanks for the review and the recommendation;
i'm really looking forward to seeing it now.

steven in daly city, ca usa

rraph said...

ok, NOW i'm envious...do you know how long i'll have to wait before that movie comes out over here in italy? ...i don't even wanna think about it...

Anonymous said...

can't wait to see jessica alba after you said that "smoldering wicked hot" thing.!!!

Gelatomettista said...

JOCK!! Wha--you mean you didn't get it written into your contract?

Stop letting Diggle handle all yer business affairs. = D

And welcome, love your work--especially those amazing Batman covers.

/jim