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The Sin City DVD blew my mind, or maybe I should say,warped my mind. I haven't been a great fan of GraphicNovels, but this movie encouraged me to purchase a few ofthe Sin City books. Frank Miller's now famous, seriescreations have taken us into the world of a bizarre surrealenvironment of death, destruction and gallows underbellylifestyles.

Is the story telling and artistry supposed to show a worldwe hope would never exist in our white bread world? Or isit an ultimate achievement of good (disguised as part ofthe underbelly) trying to subdue evil? I prefer to thinkthe latter.

The film itself is a work of pure cinematography genius.With the classic film noir overlay and the visual tricksand special effects, it looks as if you would open the SinCity graphic novel and have the pages come to life. This, Ido believe, is the closest I have seen a movie come to theactual artwork and content of the original paper versions.

The very concept and style of Sin City, whether it be themovie or the novels, is not for everyone. The plot andviolence are very graphic and definitely not for youngeraudiences. But as graphic as the movie is, due to thenature of the moving comic book background, it doesn'tbring out the reality and gore that could have beenpictured. Personally, I enjoyed this toning down. I wouldhate to think that I could actually condone this kind ofviolent activity.

Robert Rodriguez in collaboration with series creator,Frank Miller have ingeniously intertwined four of theGraphic Novels into the making of Sin City. "The Customeris Always Right", opens the movie even before the creditsstarts. Then "The Hard Goodbye", "Big Fat Kill" and "ThatYellow Bastard" make up the rest of the movie.

I for one was impressed with the casting and how the actorsseemed to fit the characters to perfection. I am startingto see a pattern though, in that certain actors arestarting to show up in various comic book related movies ofthe new Hollywood features. The Kingpin (Michael ClarkeDuncan) from Daredevil, for example, is also a character inSin City. Do you think you can spot him? He is pretty hardto miss.

It looks like by now, Jessica Alba may be vying for theTitle "Queen of the Comic Book Movies" (ha ha). She alsocame out this year in The Fantastic Four and will be in thesequel when it comes out.

With the new outcry for realistic comic book charactermovies and the new Hollywood technologies that make thempossible, it looks like the original character creatorswant to reap some of the exposure. Stan Lee, of MarvelComics fame, manages to get a cameo appearance every nowand again in his character creation movies. And now, in SinCity, Frank Miller was justified in putting his mug on thewide screen. He appears as the, shall we say, sinisterpriest that Marv (Mickey Rourke) decides he is justified inblowing away. How many more comic book character creatorsdo you think we will see in cameo rolls as more movies areproduced?

If you are an avid fan of Frank Miller and, in particular,Sin City, then you will quite probably feel this one of thebest movies to come out of Hollywood in 2005. If you areunfamiliar with the entire Sin City theme and series,advance with caution and don't watch it with the young orthe young at heart (ha). The movie, in my mind, isdefinitely a visual sensation. And I hear that Sin City IImay be ready for us in the summer of 2006. Enjoy.