Thugs & Dames

I love all things noir. Whether on film or in books, I love stories about shady people doing shady things in cities where the streets are always wet and the sun never shines. I love all the well-worn accouterments of noir; the tough-as-nails, hard-talking men, the dangerously seductive women, the rapidfire dialogue full of overwrought similes. I saw Sin City over the weekend and it’s apparent that the director shares the same love for noir. It’s noir on crystal meth; the movie has an almost insatiable appetite for violence, with a little sex thrown in for good measure. Visually, it closely adheres to the style of the comic books; stark black and white with splashes of color punctuating the scenery. In one early scene, a man is lighting a cigarette for a beautiful woman in a red dress. We see the red in her dress and in her lips, but when the flame of the lighter nears her face, her eyes briefly flare an intense green. It’s little touches like this that make the film a treat to watch.
One other thing. If I wrote a letter to Jessica Alba that included my picture and the claim that I have only six months left to live, do you think she would have dinner with me?