300 came to DVD this week with much fanfare and ubiquitous pop-ups. The is much to recommend this film and the sensation it caused when it opened was no fluke. It is visually spectacular, liberally spiced with sex and nudity and shows innovative use of the same green screen that made Sin City such a phenomenon. Not suprising as Writer/producer Frank Miller was the author(source material) of both, got a director credit on Sin City and producer credit here. With a towering androgynous Persian King and a mishapen hunchbacked castoff as the big villans of the movie, you certainly can't accuse Miller or director Zack Snyder of being politically correct. Decent fun but not too much storywise.

300 follows a time honored method of story telling. Lots of blood and gore and some tantalizing flashes of nudity. Perfect combo to bring in the adult males 18 to 30 and it fuel very solid sales here. As always lots of bonus materials on the DVD including deleted scenes, director's commentary and making of. Reviews of the material and the film have been mostly positive, so if this is your cup of tea, drink deep.

Labels: 300, DVD Release, Frank Miller, Zack Synder

Wonder what Zack Snyder has been doing with the benifit of the doubt that he got after his rendition of 300 turned into the first big hit of the year 2007. He is currently in pre-production on another comic turned movie. This time he will be adapting the 1987 comic masterpiece "Watchmen". It was written by Alan Moore as an attempt to create a comic "Moby Dick" to change the preception of comics in the US and UK as a juvenile medium. Along with Frank Miller's "The Dark Knigt Returns", it was very much responsible for doing just that and much more. While casting has begun no actors are attached to the project as of yet, but it is likely to draw a first rate cast. Click below to hear a clip of Synder discuss the non involvement of Tom Cruise it the project.

Labels: Alan Moore, New Movies, Tom Cruise, Watchmen, Zack Synder