Howard The Duck
One of few Lucasfilm productions universally panned by fans and critics (the star wars Christmas special being another), this is the tale of a Duck from another planet essentially coming to earth and behaving like a jackass. I have to say I quite like it actually, though I don't thinks its too close to its source material, a 1070s comic strip of the same name
Whiteout
This Kate Beckinsale also features Gabriel Macht before he struck wider fame in the TV show Suits. Its essentially a murder mystery which takes place in the Antarctic, and is based on a graphic novel of the same name by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber
Road to Perdition
This Tom Hanks hit is all about redemption and revenge, set in prohibition era America. Its based on a monochrome graphic novel of the same name by Max Collins, who went on to produce an "in-betweenquel" as he calls it, called Road to Perdition 2. The graphic novel is sumptuously drawn and the film matches the tone expertly.
Art School Confidential
This comedy features a good old-school cast in the form of John Malkovich, Angelica Huston and Jim Broadbent. It is based on a Daniel Clowes graphic novel of the same name, though only very loosely. In fact, the film had the same Director and distributor as the film which came before it, which is found below.
Ghost World
This one is also based on the Daniel Clowes graphic novel of the same name, and is probably Clowes' most famous work. Essentially it is about the boredom of two socially awkward, isolated teenagers. I wasn't a massive fan of the graphic novel (of all his works, Ice Haven and Wilson are my two favourites, neither of which has been adapted yet), but the film holds very true to its source material
Surrogates
Bruce Willis in a sci-fi film satarire, it started out good btu then descended into cliche. The COmputer facelift done on Willis is pretty good though. Based loosely on a comic book series by Robert Venditti, its roots go even furtehr back to scifi novels from the good old days
300
.jpg)
When they made Sin City from Frank Miller's graphic novels, the visuals were a revelation. So much so in fact, that the computer generated sets and hyper stylised violence was repeated with 300. What a lot of people don't realise, is that 300 was also a graphic novel by Miller , albeit a departure from his usual work
The Crow
This tale of revenge has a wonderfully violent, Gothic style which inspired a generation of films. The production is now marred by the tragic death of Brandon Lee. For more of the same, look to The Crow comic book series by James O'Barr
Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Michael Cera stars as the titular hero of this reality bending story of a guy battling a girl's seven evil ex boyfriend in order to secure her love. Some people were instant fans of the film, but I never warmed to it. The main reason reason is it could never do justice to what is probably one of the greatest Graphic Novel collections ever written. Bryan O'Malley both wrote and drew all 6 volumes and incredible attention has been paid to every page. If you liked the film, in fact even if you didn't, GO OUT AND BUY THEM NOW. Seriously. The originals are black and white, but if that's putting you off, the success of the film has prompted their re-release in colour, volume by volume
Blade
The Blade trilogy tells the Tale of vampires fighting against humans, and the hybrid/good guy vampire Blade who fights for humanity. After a few duds, Wesley Snipes cleaned up in this role, but its actually based on a Marvel Comics character of the same name
Oldboy
Another revenge tale, this one is about a man held captive for years who, now free, finds his captors to determine why he was imprisoned. Oh yeah, and to exact violent vengeance. It is loosely based on the manga Oldboy, by Garon Tsuchiya and illustrated by Nobuaki Minegishi
The Mask
The film that showed us Cameron Diaz in *that* dress, seemed a perfect vehicle for Jim Carrey's cartoonish shenanigans. The crazed man with the green face and yellow face is actually based on a slightly darker Dark Horse comic book series by writer John Arcudi and artist Doug Mahnke
V for Vendetta
A dark story of a mystery figure in a white mask organising a rebellion against a neo-con state, this was the Wachowskis follow up to The Matrix films. Hugo Weaving is brilliant as always, and Natalie Portman showed impressive commitment by shaving her head. It is based on V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, but several liberties have ben taken. In the original there was an anarchist/fascist conflict set in the 80s, which the film transposes to the future with liberal/neo-conservative at its core. As with all adaptations of his films, Moore has disowned the work
A History of Violence
The story a seemingly ordinary guy who ends up an unlikely hero, prompting the return of elements from his dark gangster past, was stylistically shot by Croenenberg. Its something a dark, unsettling story, but is actually less brutal than the 1997 graphic novel John Wagner and Vince Locke upon which it was based.
American Splendor
There is a comic book element of style to this film, and its unsurprising, it is based on a long running series of autobiographical comics by Harvey Pekar. Paul Giamatti plays the lead character fantastically, and in the film, as in the comics, we see the story of a life which is remarkable in its mundanity
From Hell
Starring Johnny Depp, and Heather Graham as the world's most beautiful hooker, this is a fictional story based on Jack the Ripper. Again, its based on a graphic novel by Alan Moore, and again he disavowed it. With some of the dodgey accents on show, I can see why
