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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (March 7, 2007)
Lrts<Entertainment Clackamas Print Wednesday, March 7, 2007 7 300’ paves way for next-gen film Internet Photo Internet Photo T: A panel from Frank Miller’s graphic novel, 300, in which King Leonidas watches a Persian fleet get destroyed, that was perfectly recreated in the film adaptation. HT: King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) stands in front of his battle-worn army in a torrential downpour, watching the Persian fleet face Poseidon’s wrath in the film version of 300. avid Stark t Clackamas Print Fhree hundred Spartans died for f. honor, glory and an amazingly istic movie. ¡Vith the threat of the advanc- Persian Empire, King Leonidas rard Butler, Phantom of the Beowulf and Grendel) goes le oracle in order to gain permis- i to fight them. When refused, teaks the law and takes 300 of men to stand against the mil soldiers of King Xerxes in the ous Battle of Thermopylae. Ihe movie is excellently nar- i by Dilios (David Wenham, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Van Helsing) and features a sub plot new to the film about Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey, The Brothers Grimm) trying to convince the Spartan leadership, and councilor Theron (Dominic West, Mona Lisa Smile, 28 Days) in particular, to send reinforcements to her hus band. 300 is based off of the graphic novel of the same name written and illustrated by legendary comic book author Frank Miller. And as adapta tions go, it is the best out there. Butler’s performance as King Leonidas is perhaps the greatest of his career. When he bellowed the orders to the Spartan army, there was a palpable feeling of command in his voice. As should be expected in any movie about a great battle, there was a great deal of time concentrated on the fighting, and it was spectacular. One scene particularly deserving of merit is when King Leonidas first enters the fray, and the audience is treated to one of the most amazing linear fight scenes, where the king dispatches one enemy after another before taking a step and defeating his next foe. The visuals were truly magnifi cent, from the sky throughout the film to the charging rhinoceros that was felled by a Spartan spear. It needs to be kept in mind that the film was shot almost entirely ton blue screen and that virtually all of the landscape is digital. When compared to other “his torical epics” that have come out in recent years, 300 soundly bests them all. With talented acting and dialogue straight out of Frank Miller’s work, 300 dominates Troy, Alexander and even King Arthur. If you like great movies and don’t mind some stylized bloodshed, then 300 is the movie for you. Go go Gonzo comics! VISUAL LITERATURE by Adam J. Manley He’s sexier than Buddha and ... at least that’s mv he describes himself. His name is Spider Jerusalem, Star of the comic series ^¡metropolitan, Jerusalem is renegade journalist living in a slant future filled with designer INA and drug-addicted house- id appliances. Afterablissful five-year retire- fflt in the mountains, a regret- d two-book contract forces him •return to a place known only as be City. Jerusalem immediately is out to yank the carpet from nder The City’s comfortable asiimerist culture, armed only nth a chip on his shoulder and lillegaL diarrhea-inducing gun. When writer Warren Ellis sin the series in 1997, it was t black sheep of the monthly «me world. With not a single endex shrine to an impossible lysique, Transmetropolitan ived into our world’s absurdi- s deeper and more blatantly an any ongoing comic of the Be dared to. Dubbed a “fuckhead” by strip- rs and filthy assistants alike, t character of Spider Jerusalem portrayed as a master of gonzo ttnalism- a gritty style of jour- ism, popularized by Hunter S. Thompson, which plays off the notion that the truth needn’t be objective. In the comic, Jerusalem writes a popular column entitled I Hate It Here, named for the feet that he was forced to return to The City after five beautiful years in the mountains. He uses the column to point a finger at the ignorance of his adoring masses -the middle one. “Spider Jerusalem needs to be in The City to write,” his editor remarks in one issue, “but he also needs to be hated.” It’s a frame of mind the world doesn’t see enough of today: the person so intent on telling the truth that they get gratification, possibly even of a sexual nature, from pissing people off. After all, strange as it may seem, the truth always pisses people off. That’s why Ellis created the drug-addled son of a bitch to star in this comic: to point out every thing in our “buy-now” culture and politics that makes him sick. I find it inspiring. As a jour nalist, as a filmmaker, and espe cially as a person, I find myself wanting to be more like “the fuckhead.” Through Jerusalem, Ellis has achieved the very thing his char acter did. He has pointed out our ignorance, our hypocrisy and our sheep-like habits - and we love him for it We love his series. We love his crude, insulting, degen erate character. We love the character because, in spite of his bracing personality, he stands for the truth, no matter the cost. He may hate The City, but he’ll be damned before he’ll let anybody screw with it Transmetropolitan, sadly, reached its conclusion in 2002 - but not before leaving a very important message: Trust the fuckhead. Internet Photo Oracle of the Ephors (Kelly Craig) takes in some hallucinogenic mist in order to prophesize the results of King Leonidas’ marching against the million soldiers of the Persian army. 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