Based upon Frank Miller’s acclaimed graphic novel series, 2005’s Sin City was both a commercial and critical success.
Although director Robert Rodriguez was mostly responsible for the technical aspects of the filmmaking (it was one of the first to almost exclusively be filmed in front of a green screen with the backgrounds digitally inserted later, otherwise known as a Digital Backlot), he credited Miller as co-director, because of how much they used the latter’s drawings as storyboards for the finished film.
The two are back as co-directors of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, and like the original, it interweaves multiple stories—two from the graphic novel series and two created by Miller specifically for the movie.
Returning for the sequel are Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King, Powers Boothe, Mickey Rourke and even Bruce Willis (who died in the original).
Newcomers include Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Brolin, Dennis Haysbert, Christopher Lloyd, Ray Liotta, Stacy Keach, Jeremy Piven and Lady Gaga.
The stories are set both before and after the events in the original movie, and if you are a fan of the original and of the moviemaking style of both Rodriguez and his friend Quentin Tarantino, this is a must-see.
There seem to be an endless supply of inspirational sports stories that could be turned into movies and When the Game Stands Tall is yet another incredible story.
Based upon the book of the same name, this one is the story of the 151 game-winning streak of the football team from De La Salle High School in Concord, California from 1992-2003. However, it is not just the story of how the coach, Bob Ladouceur (Jim Caviezel), led the team from obscurity to the incredible success, but how the team and the entire town overcame tragedy. Also starring Michael Chiklis, Laura Dern and Clancy Brown, When the Game Stands Tall is directed by Thomas Carter, whose previous credits include Coach Carter.
If I Stay is based upon the dramatic young adult novel of the same name starring Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick Ass, Carrie) as a young woman who thought her toughest choice in life was between her dream of attending Juilliard or following a different path to be with her rebellious boyfriend. However, her life is shattered when she and her family are in a tragic car accident, killing them and putting her in a coma.
For one revealing day, she is caught in limbo between life and death as she lives out-of-body, flashing back to her past and watching friends and family gather at the hospital while she discovers that there is a much tougher choice—whether to live or die.
