[kitkat20]

So, did you think Alexis did a good job? Which of the 3 or 4 stories was your favourite?

She was supposed to be the young naive prostitute and I definitely think she captured that really well. I would have liked to of seen her make the part really different from alot of roles she's played in the past, but I think the part called for her to be that naive character she tends to play alot. It did kick-ass to see her toting a gun and ultimately end up being the girl that turned on all her ladies.

I liked the story w/ Alexis in it the most. Besides being a fun story with alot going on(and having Alexis in it) it also had a bunch of great actors; Clive Owen, Benicio Del Toro, Rosario, Brittany Murphy.

[-Kelly-]

Originally Posted by kitkat20 Alexis is in a lot more scenes then I thought she would be.

Oh cool. I might see it then thanks

[madelen]

Found this article at visionsofalexis.com. Enjoy!

"7 Deadly Sins" by Russell Scott Smith, copyright © New York Post (Page Six), Sunday, March 27, 2005. Jessica Alba really wanted to be in the new movie "Sin City," but she hesitated when she first looked at the cult-classic Frank Miller comic books it's based on. Her character, Nancy, is a stripper - and not just a topless one. "She's bottomless, too," Alba tells The Post. "I really couldn't be bottomless for my dad. He would disown me." In the end, Alba kept on both parts. Co-directors Miller and Robert Rodriguez ("Spy Kids") let her film the strip-dance scene in a cowgirl outfit that covered the naughty bits. But Alba still looks stunning in "Sin City," and the movie doesn't skimp on beautiful women (or nudity). Along with an all-star cast of guys, including Bruce Willis, Benecio Del Toro, Clive Owen and Mickey Rourke, the movie (opening Friday) features a drool-worthy harem of some of Hollywood's most gorgeous young actresses. That's only right for this visual feast, which uses cutting-edge special effects to create a super-stylized film-noir world that looks almost exactly like the dramatic drawings in Miller's cartoons. Miller and Rodriguez planned each shot using panels from the books as a storyboard, and they didn't compromise on Miller's hyper-violent and sexy vision. Their movie tells three interconnected tales about gritty characters in a dark, rainy and grim place called Basin City, where the dirtiest neighborhood, Old Town, is run by prostitutes - the Old Town Girls - who will machine-gun any john who gets out of line. "They're fantasies," Miller tells The Post. "Sometimes they're dark fantasies. Sometimes they're alluring fantasies. Sometimes they're both." Real-life women may never live up to the fierce and erotic women that Miller draws in his books, but the "Sin City" actresses came awfully close. "I swooned over them all," Miller recalls. "Doing this movie was like falling in love again and again." - with reporting by Fred Topel Jessica Alba is Naughty and Nice as Nancy ... "I'm not someone who goes out clubbing and to raves," Jessica Alba tells The Post. "I'm not really a dancer." But Robert Rodriguez wanted Alba to come up with her own exotic dance for "Sin City," just like Salma Hayek did in his 1996 movie "From Dusk Till Dawn." "And that's the sexiest woman's dance ever put onscreen!" says Alba, 23, who plays the lovely but unattainable strip-club angel Nancy. "Those are big shoes to fill." So Alba plunged into research, including several nights spent watching pros perform at strip clubs in L.A. and New York. On the "Sin City" set in Austin, she learned how to twirl a lasso from real-life cowboys, and there were plenty of mishaps along the way. "I was practicing on everybody," she recalls. "Bruce Willis would walk by, and I'd say, 'Wait, Bruce, can I lasso you? Just close your eyes and put your hands over your face.' "I hit a lot of people in the head. I felt bad about it." In the end, Alba improvised the strip dance in front of a green screen, listening to CD of music she had brought in, "with everything from Emmylou Harris to Kylie Minogue (news)." (Rodriguez added different music for the final cut.) Alba says she didn't actually learn that much from the pro strippers she watched. "All they're doing," she says, "is trying to get tips." And she isn't in a hurry to get back to one of their clubs. "The only person it would be appropriate to go with is my boyfriend," Alba says, referring to Cash Warren, the 25-year-old Yale grad she met last year on the set of this summer's "Fantastic Four," where he was an assistant to the director and she was playing the Invisible Woman. "But I don't want Cash looking at other people," she says. "I want him to think about me naked - not some woman he can throw money at." Alexis Bledel is Deceptive as Becky ... The final cut of "Sin City" is mostly black-and-white, with flashes of unnatural color added by computer: a pair of candy-apple-red shoes, a splash of bright-yellow blood. But Rodriguez and Miller actually shot in color, and they used it for a small handful of details in the final cut - most memorably, Bledel's wide blue eyes. But while the "Gilmore Girls" star (who's dating her former on-screen boyfriend Milo Ventimiglia) looks innocent, her "Sin City" character Becky isn't what she seems. In one gnarly scene, she enrages Dawson's character so much that she seems to take a bite out of Bledel's neck and spit the flesh on the floor. "It didn't hurt at all," says Bledel, who was wearing a prosthetic skin piece, "but it looked disgusting." Brittany Murphy is Sassy as Shelle ... "Brittany isn't afraid to go lower class," Miller says of Murphy, who has the trailer-trash thing down, after eight years as the voice of beauty-school dropout Luanne Platter on "King of the Hill" and co-starring with Eminem (news - web sites) in "8 Mile." That made her perfect for the sassy "Sin City" waitress Shellie, a brash broad who Murphy calls "a throwback to the '30s or '40s." In real life, Miller says, Murphy is a perfectionist who's sometimes too nice for her own good. "One time on the set, she was walking with her coffee and accidentally spilled it all over these cables," Miller recalls. "She goes, 'Get me a paper towel!' "We had her ushered out, because the last thing we needed was an important actress playing with wet electrical cables." Rosario Dawson is Rough as Gail "I wanted a real New Yorker with a genuine edge," Miller says of the character Gail, the leader of the kick-ass Old Town Girl prostitutes. He found it with Dawson, who's best known as Colin Farrell's wife in "Alexander" but was discovered 10 years ago sitting on her Lower East Side stoop and cast in the notorious skate-punk movie 1995 "Kids." Dawson got the "Sin City" idea right away. "It's a tough town where a man punches a girl across the face, and she chops his [penis] off," says Dawson, 25, who recently snagged the role of Mimi Marquez in the movie version of "Rent." "Rosario's just cool no matter what she does," Alba says. That's lucky, because in "Sin City," she had to wear a barely-there outfit that even Miller calls "ridiculous" and a Mohawk that Rodriguez admits is "a very weird hairstyle." "The outfit was unbelievable," Dawson says. "The costume designer gave me a bunch of flowers when I decided I was going to actually wear it." Jamie King is sSweet as Goldie "I always wanted to be in a movie with Rosario," says King, who has known Dawson for 10 years, since the days when King was a 16-year-old beauty from Omaha making big waves in New York fashion world with modeling gigs for Vogue, Mademoiselle and Allure. The two hung out in the same cool-teens crowd - "mostly the guys who were in 'Kids,'" King recalls - and reconnected on "Sin City," in which King plays Goldie, a hooker with a heart of gold. Devon Aoki is Cutting as Miho She's an heir to the Benihana steak-house fortune, so you'd think this New Yorker would know how handle knives. But when Aoki showed up on the "Sin City" set last year to play Miho, a hooker who slices up men with a samurai sword, it quickly became clear that she was clueless when it came to martial arts. "I made her my special project," Miller recalls of the model, actress, Page Six fixture, and budding hip-hop star (who recently signed to record for a new company). "I got a couple of trainers to work with her and had her come in early and stay late every day. "Robert was laughing at me," Miller says. "He called me Devon's soccer dad, because I was so hard on her. But I was so proud when it worked." Carla Gugino is No-Holds-Barred Sexy as Lucille ... None of the "Sin City" actresses is more in-your-face sexy than the 33-year-old Gugino, who plays Lucille, "a fast-talking, deadpan dame," as Gugino calls it, and does her first scene clad in nothing but "a G-string and strategically placed shadows." The nudity might come as a surprise to those who remember Gugino as the spunky mom from the "Spy Kids" movies. But she doesn't mind taking her clothes off. "I'm more European in that way," says Gugino, who tried the scene with a bra before the directors decided it actually looked less sleazy when she was naked.

[LiL_Starzz]

Harry Knowles from Aintitcoolnews.com posted his review of Sin City. He said his favorite femme fetale was Alexis...

"Then Alexis Bledel – I seem to remember that she was a part of some TV show that Herc rubbed his stub to, and wow she’s amazing on screen. She’s probably the least uncovered gal in the film, but wow she’s great. Not the big juicy role, but there’s such a sweetness – and in many ways – she’s the classic femme fatale of the film… Not the more aggressive types. She’s the one with angles, the one that plays innocent. She’s the gal that most manipulates in this film. And for that – she’s my femme fatale fave of the flick."

[Yargnit]

Ooh Madelen... yay! Thats amazing how many people are commenting on her eyes!

[Scara-Anne]

Wow, thanx for the interview and that article! I love all this feedback about her eyes ... it was mentoned in every article I reas so far ... wow
(and they are so right)

[darcybennett]

I'm putting this here since it contains spoilers...

New York Daily News article on Alexis in Sin city
Originally published March 30, 2005

'Nice girl' Bledel lands in 'Sin City' By HENRY CABOT BECK DAILY NEWS WRITER LOS ANGELES - What happens when a Gilmore Girl takes a walk on the wild side? In the case of 23-year-old Alexis Bledel, who has played Rory Gilmore for five seasons on the WB series "Gilmore Girls," she dresses in goth black and prowls the streets of "Sin City," opening Friday. Bledel's Becky is the junior member of a gang of tough-as-nails prostitutes in the dark and deadly town. It's unlikely that anyone would ever confuse Becky with Rory the Yalie. "I sure hope not," says Bledel. "But because TV is such a pervasive medium, and because people will always correlate me with the character Rory, I'm sure some people will try to draw comparisons." "Sin City" is the comic book creation of author-artist Frank Miller. He co-directed the movie with Robert Rodriguez, best known for "Desperado" and the "Spy Kids" films. Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke and Clive Owen play the hard-boiled heroes, while Bledel's elaborately costumed fellow hookers are played by Jaime King, Devon Aoki and Rosario Dawson as their leader, Gail. Jessica Alba of "Dark Angel" plays a stripper. "Becky is the only character who really has a backstory," says Miller. "She's ashamed of what she does and wants to keep it a secret from her mother." One thing audiences will certainly notice in "Sin City" - shot mostly in stark, high-contrast black and white - is Becky's eye color. "When I saw Alexis' eyes, there was no way I could not make them a part of the character and the movie," says Rodriguez. "I had to have that piercing blue in the film." The hookers manage their own business, keeping both the authorities and the exploiters outside their borders. Until Becky. "She's an interesting character because she's in the world of Sin City but she's not fully embracing the fact that she lives there," says Bledel. "She's part of the whole operation, but she gets grossed out by the blood and the stuff that she sees." So Becky turns traitor. "She's looking for a way out, and she's much more out for herself and so she betrays everyone," she says. Hardly a Rory Gilmore move, though she, too, is growing up. "In some ways the character of Rory on the show is so perfect that it was almost annoying, she was seemingly without flaws," she says. "But this year they've changed the story line quite a bit, and you got to see her a little differently. For one thing, she got together with her first boyfriend who was at that time married to someone else. So she had this affair with a married man essentially, and you finally started seeing this other side to her." Bledel grew up in Houston. Her Argentinean father was a builder and writer, and her mother grew up in Mexico, which is why Bledel learned Spanish as her first language. At 14, she began to spend summers in Manhattan working as a model, living in a Greenwich Village apartment with a number of male and female models. "It was like [MTV's] 'The Real World' in some ways, but with less drama," says Bledel. "Because I was so young, my mom was there with me and was taking care of everybody." Eventually she enrolled at NYU to study film. "I guess I wanted to be a writer-director like everybody else, with an emphasis on the writing. ... I got through a year of school before I was cast in 'Gilmore Girls,' which meant moving to Los Angeles. That was the real culture shock for me. But I've been here ever since."

[madelen]

Thanks for that article darcy!

[madelen]

Here's a good review of the movie (mentioning, briefly, Alexis). Posted it here, 'cause of some spoilers. Enjoy.

Darkest side of a ‘City' By JASON O. BOYD, Movie Reviewer Thursday, March 31, 2005 A good movie can really inspire me. I've dabbled with scripts, screenplays and book ideas for the last couple of years. What had been a love to write has turned into an inspiration to pen what I hope will be the next great film. For now, at least, viewers who check out "Sin City" can come pretty close to saying just that. It's got to be one of the most awe-inspiring movies I've seen recently. At the same time, it can easily be considered one of the most gory, graphic and downright dirty films to ever get an R rating. Still, I couldn't help but love the entire premise, which is highlighted by terrific actors and actresses giving some of their best performances in a backdrop that is visually stunning and unbelievable to see. "Sin City" is basically three short films rolled into one dazzling experience. The movie is based on graphic novels written by Frank Miller, one of which bears the same name as the movie. Miller is also one of the directors and has a bit role early in the film. Bruce Willis is Hartigan, a cop near the end of his career who is forced into early retirement. He's got one last tip to tie up involving a criminal who's kidnapped an 11-year-old girl. Hartigan eventually saves the girl, but not without paying a great price. Flash forward seven years, and the girl is the all-grown-up Nancy (played by Jessica Alba). In between, we get to experience a rough and tough Marv (Mickey Rourke) — who truly takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin' — along with Dwight (Clive Owen), a do-gooder who's on a mission to stop a troubled Jackie (Benicio Del Toro, who always seems to be playing troubled characters) from making a terrible mistake involving the Old Towne girls. Also in this film, giving creepy performances in roles you'd never expect, are Elijah Wood (“Lord of the Rings”), Nick Stahl (ESPN's "Tilt”), Alexis Bledel (“Gilmore Girls”), Rosario Dawson (“The Rundown”) and Michael Clarke Duncan (“The Green Mile”), just to name a few. Their roles, though brief compared to those of Willis, Rourke, Alba and Owen, give this film the kind of star-studded feel you'd expect to see in those campy films from the '60s involving dozens of celebrities all on one screen. But this isn't your warm and fuzzy film. Instead, "Sin City" is a dark, gripping and heart-pounding piece of cinema brilliance. The film is presented in what I think of as a new-age black and white. The use of green-screens during the production gave Miller and fellow director Robert Rodriguez the freedom to paint as sparkling a picture as you can paint using just a splash of color here and there. It's also hard not to notice the effects Quentin Tarantino, who is called a special guest director, had on this film, from the bloody scenes to the very funny one-liners. "Sin City" definitely isn't a film to carry the kids — or even your mom — to watch. It's edgy and, at times, can be downright gross. But as many faults as you may find, you'll see that this is a true cinema experience. From the acting to the story lines and the visual backdrops, "Sin City" has all the look and feel of a big-budget masterpiece, which really isn't hard to figure out because of all the publicity it's generated. It should definitely serve as an early blockbuster until the behemoths such as "Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith," "Fantastic Four" and "Batman Begins" are rolled out. It certainly has gotten my creative juices flowing.

[Raja]

Drove into Manhattan to see the midnight showing last night. My overall verdict. It's an interesting movie. It's a cool movie. It's a movie worth seeing. But not particularly a good movie. It's a b movie and you'll enjoy it better if you view it with those expectations. Ie prepare to laugh along with the audience at parts and at lines the director never expected you to laugh at. And enjoy the over the top dialog, lines, and of course all the neat explosions and creative barbarity.

The green screen film stage mostly worked. But it takes awhile to get used to before you accept it as part of the natural background. And at times can look very awkward such as when they are driving a car and you can tell right out that they are just holding a steering wheel. But for the most part it works and works surprisingly well.

The acting and the characters come mostly in two categories. Bad and over the top with the exception of Bruce Willis and perhaps Alexis. But that's not to say over-the-top doesnt work deliciously well for Benicio Del Toro and Mickey Rourke.

As far as Alexis. The banter dialogue wasn't as crisp as it seemed in the edited trailers. There really was no electricity between her and Benicio and no crackle to the words. She spoke in a very childlike manner (even more so than Rory who she uses a voice younger than herself to play) and really didnt come off as either that seductive or witty. Her body language however was quite good. And of course one could look at those eyes forever.

Her character unlike other characters (except Bruce Willis' Hartigan) has some complexity. She clearly isn't comfortable in the gang she's running with and shows alarm and nervousness at the sight of guns and violence. She has a gun but you don't exactly get the impression she has the heart to actually pull the trigger. Whenever there is any violence or the prospect of violence she either pleads for moderation or shudders. And of course she has the motivation that the bad guys are threatening to kill her mother. (And someone I talked to at the theatre who read the comic books said her mother was actually kidnapped). Though she is equally dreadful of the prospects of her mom finding out what her day ... errrr.. night job is.

In many ways it is exactly how I'd describe the "Rory Goes to Hell" scenario. Except I'd like to believe Rory would be smart enough to keep some of her qualms against the violence to herself and wouldn't be so stupid as to get herself blatantly caught by showing up for a torture session she really didnt want to be anywhere near in the first place. Rather than less naive than Rory as hard as it may be to believe Becky may well be MORE naive. Course street smarts aren't exactly Rory's strong suit either. Both are out of their element and in over their heads placed in the world of Sin City. And what makes Rory different in the end is probably that unlike Becky she'd know it.

Final verdict on Alexis' acting. Alexis did well enough. She shows some emotion and heart though mostly because she is one of the few permitted to do so. She gets to actually plead for her life rather than acting inhumanly stoic. I wouldnt describe it as a masterpiece either. Not quite sure how much better anyone else could've done. You could have someone whose words could grab you more. But who can resist those eyes? The movie is made up of caricatures and probably there is too much more she could've done short of the director getting rid of some of the voice-over exposition and expanding more of the story.

And the ending for her character was great. But I'll keep mum since it's almost too spoilerish for even the spoiler thread.


The stories were very predictable and surprisingly straightforward given situations that were nothing but straightforward. Think my favorite might be Marv's just because the nearly constant exposition thought bubbles work a lot better when the character is a psychopath who really would be blabbering to himself all the time. And unlike say Clive Owen's character he was actually fun. But of course that story had the benefit of having Alexis. A factor none of us can easily discount. Bruce Willis made his two segments work and he was the one that seemed the most human in the movie. Jessica Alba as is her usual habit makes a very strong argument that she never should've been allowed to leave the set of Flipper. She gyrates well. Which I guess is what gets her top billing.

I'd almost (well assuming you put aside the benefits of the enhanced wardrobe and seeing Alexis crack a whip) say switch Alexis with Jessica. Give Becky a bit more backbone and force. And let Nancy not quite be so wooden. But Jessica still would've downgraded Becky and an upgraded Nancy wouldn't have made up for it.

The movie is fun to watch. I liked see mayhem and destruction as much as the next guy. I did however expect a lot more. And in the end I think it was hurt more than helped by trying to stay so true to the feel of the comic. Particularly the over use of voice over exposition which I felt would've been more effective if used a lot less liberally.

[Raja]

On Alexis should add to the previous while her banter in the pickup scene was at times more stilted than I would've liked her dialogue in the warehouse was good. And of course the last scene was great. Her body language was good throughout but particularly in that one.

[Raja]

Maybe I should post this over in the other thread since no one comes her. But I made a few clips off a rather good copy of the film I acquired. And describing them could be construed as spoilerish. Also might add watching the movie again did make me revise and extend my opinion on things in the film but that is for another day. Particularly since I dont want to make it seem like I'm talking and arguing with myself. I'm not Marv. Probably should delete what I wrote since no one read it anyway and write something new.

All vids encoded in divx 5.1.1. Resolution is 640x320. All uploaded to rapidshare which is a peculiar site (as all sites with free bandwidth are). Can only download (I think) 30megs per day per ip without a "premium account" which means it is physically impossible to get everything at once. Have to spread out the download. You have to wait for a "ticket" before you can download and you have to scroll down and click on the "free" button after you click on the link.

First vid. Becky's (Alexis') banter with Jackie who is trying to pick her up. Time: 2:02. Size: 19.7megs

http://rapidshare.de/files/1297826/A...ickup.avi.html

Second vid is Becky telling Gail that she betrayed her and why. Obviously forgetting that snitch's should keep a low profile. Time: 1:32. Size: 15megs

http://rapidshare.de/files/1298014/A...xcuse.avi.html

Third vid is Becky talking with her mom and running into Josh Hartnett's character in the elevator. Poor Becky. Time: 1:00. Size: 9.63megs

http://rapidshare.de/files/1298093/A...heEnd.avi.html

[soulstarshine]

I had no idea there was a spoiler thread for Sin City! Except it seems like it's dying, lol. Thanks for the clips Raja, even though I won't be downloading them.

[banjojd]

Thanks for the links, Raja. I'm going to download them in a little while.

[madelen]

Good analysis/review, Raja. I had a feeling that the movie would be a little over-the-top, and the acting as well. So, you don't think Alexis acted over-the-top?

And thanks for the clips, I'll be downloading them soon.