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[Willco]

... BUT FAILS MISERABLY. Where's that Ackbar picture when you need it? No matter, Marv came prepared!

BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Back of the Book" segment tonight: A movie called "Sin City" (search) is a big hit. It's one of those film noir (search) deals. Lots of violence, lots of good reviews.

Now, whenever I hear the term "noir," I know there are going to be heads rolling, eyeballs popping, maybe a little cannibalism to go along with your popcorn. So what's going on here?

With us now, Mickey Rourke, one of the stars of "Sin City." —Remember Clint Eastwood when he was in "Dirty Harry"? You were around then.

MICKEY ROURKE, ACTOR: Yes, sure.

O'REILLY: K? He made these movies that were, you know, kind of violent, but nothing like today, and they killed him. The critics killed him. He was a "fascist." He was this, he's that...


Now you've got every perversion in the world in this "Sin City," and they love it. What's changed?

ROURKE: Changing times.

O'REILLY: In what way?

ROURKE: I think that, well, they upped the ante with the violence; you can do more.

O'REILLY: And you can do more — the critics, though, are the same critics, pretty much. [Roger] Ebert, those guys...

ROURKE: Right.

O'REILLY: ... they love all of this mayhem, but they didn't like it 30 years ago, and I'm not — I don't understand why.

ROURKE: I think with Eastwood's movies and, you know, stuff McQueen did, and all of them, it was — redemption was a big thing. You know? Now there's just violence for the sake of violence.

O'REILLY: Depravity. Depravity seems to be in in Hollywood. Would you say I was wrong?

ROURKE: No.

O'REILLY: Do you know why it's in?

ROURKE: Well, I think the whole culture, you know, the music has changed. The videos are pretty — pretty out there. I know how you feel about the videos, you know.

O'REILLY: Gangsta rap not on our menu...

ROURKE: And the game shows. I don't know about those, that's not my thing, but...

O'REILLY: Right. Right. So you have to stimulate the audience...

ROURKE: It comes from...

O'REILLY: Right — a hundred more times than you did when Clint Eastwood was Dirty Harry.

ROURKE: Right.

O'REILLY: When you get a script and you see all of this mayhem — I mean, I didn't see — I haven't seen this "Sin City." I don't know whether I will or not. I did see "Kill Bill, Part I." I was forced to see it. You know, Tarantino knows how to make movies —but do I want to see limbs flying all over the place? I really don't.

But when you get a script with all of this violence, do you care? Does it bother you?

ROURKE: It depends — it comes with the whole package. For me, you know, if it has a certain amount of integrity, if — Who the director is, what kind of movies he's made, what the story's about, who else is in the movie.

O'REILLY: Because this one is pretty violent, this movie, right?

ROURKE: Pretty violent. And I knew I was going to speak to you today, so I spoke to the writer of the comic book, because this is a comic book.

O'REILLY: Right.

ROURKE: And it's shot in such a stylized, surreal way that you can almost detach yourself from the amount of violence that's in it, the blood and everything else.

O'REILLY: You can if you're an adult.

ROURKE: If you're an adult.

O'REILLY: If you're 17, living in the inner city, surrounded by violence, I don't know if you're detachable.

ROURKE: No. You want me to read what Frank said about violence?

O'REILLY: A little bit.

ROURKE: Frank Miller. You want to read it, because you can probably read quicker than me?

O'REILLY: Well, let's see, this is the guy who wrote the movie?

ROURKE: Yes.

O'REILLY: "Violence is too big a something. A snuff film is violent. So is 'Taxi Driver' or 'Seven Samurai.' Movies have had a long, worthy history of stylized violence."

I'm not going to disagree with that. I'm more interested, though, in the actors. Now, this is a good movie for you. Obviously, it got good reviews. You have a big part in it. Hollywood's a tough place. When you were shooting the movie, did you have any second thoughts about it at all?

ROURKE: No, because I had worked with Robert Rodriguez (search) before.

O'REILLY: He's the director. Right.

ROURKE: And he's sort of — there's a lot of actors that would love to work with Rodriguez.

O'REILLY: There are.

ROURKE: And I'm one of them. I've been on the floor with him before. He's a good man. He's prepared. He...

O'REILLY: Do you have any kids?

ROURKE: No. No.

O'REILLY: If you had a 16-year-old kid, boy, would you let him see this movie, "Sin City"?

ROURKE: Sixteen years old?

O'REILLY: Yes.

ROURKE: Sure.

O'REILLY: You would?

ROURKE: Because, you know, you haven't seen it, right?

O'REILLY: No, haven't seen it.

ROURKE: And it's an entertaining movie, because it's from a comic book.

O'REILLY: Right.

ROURKE: OK. Grant you, it's not "Superman" or "Spider-Man," thank God. It's a much better film than any of those.

O'REILLY: But there's cannibalism, right?

ROURKE: Yes. But it's tongue-in-cheek.

O'REILLY: Tongue-in-cheek. Pardon the pun.

ROURKE: All right.

O'REILLY: Pardon the pun.

ROURKE: Yeah.

O'REILLY: All right. Look, I'm not a censorship kind of guy. I've never been that way. If you're an adult, you see what you want. And you know, we wish you the best.

ROURKE: All right, Bill.

O'REILLY: Thanks for coming in.

ROURKE: You got it.

O'REILLY: Pleasure to see you.

 

[GLoK]

that's still a lot more reasonable and open than I'd have expected of this interview. No Mic killing, no talking over Mickey. Doesn't seem like standard O'Reilly fare.

 

[Willco]

that's still a lot more reasonable and open than I'd have expected of this interview. No Mic killing, no talking over Mickey. Doesn't seem like standard O'Reilly fare.

I think it's because Rourke, surprisingly, was prepared. He had a note from Frank Miller and everything!

 

[BobbyRobby]

ROURKE: OK. Grant you, it's not "Superman" or "Spider-Man," thank God. It's a much better film than any of those.

Easy there, Rourke.

Edit: Don't get me wrong, I loved Sin City.

 

[Ned Flanders]

O'Reilly gets on his pulpit about a lot of things, but to his credit he's pretty fair on a lot of others and is not one of these by-the-book religious right neocon puppet men like Hannity. Sometimes rationality actually works with him. I think he handled the Shiavo thing as even handedly as anyone in the media, he sides with the majority of Americans in opposing illegal immigration in spite of policymakers on both sides of the isle ignoring the public sentiment.

This is one of many recent interviews I've seen him do on an issue that, just a year ago, would have had him steaming and instigating at every juncture. Now he seems a bit more laid back in his approach, despite maintaining his viewpoints. He's by no means agreeable at many points, but it seems that the whole lawsuit ordeal has had a lasting effect in diminishing his fervor.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

I'm pretty sure Ebert liked Dirty Harry.

 

[GG-Duo]

Now, whenever I hear the term "noir," I know there are going to be heads rolling, eyeballs popping, maybe a little cannibalism to go along with your popcorn. So what's going on here?

I honestly bursted out laughing right there.

 

[midnightguy]

ahh man! I gotta see this. I hope O'Reilly / Factor repeats again tonight.

Rourke rules and I'd love see him tear Bill an new one :lol

 

[Ned Flanders]

Easy there, Rourke.

Edit: Don't get me wrong, I loved Sin City.

Spiderman = safe, coffeetable dogshit

Sin City was a far bolder, more captivating film and was easily as close to the source material as Spidey..in fact moreso if you consider the webshooters etc. Sin City had nary a deviance from the novel and was better cinema all around.

 

[galeninjapan]

Spiderman = safe, coffeetable dogshit

Sin City was a far bolder, more captivating film and was easily as close to the source material as Spidey..in fact moreso if you consider the webshooters etc. Sin City had nary a deviance from the novel and was better cinema all around.

Preach it brother.

 

[Dan]

O'Reilly sure doesn't understand what the fascist claims were all about in relation to Dirty Harry. Graphic violence has nothing to do with it. Violence != fascism. What a 'tard. Besides, even assuming the comparison is valid, what's the point? Dirty Harry was very successful with audiences, so his point about changing perceptions of violence isn't very useful, not with that example at least.

Also, yeah, his thoughts on the term "noir" are quite hilarious.

 

[BobbyRobby]

Spiderman = safe, coffeetable dogshit

Sin City was a far bolder, more captivating film and was easily as close to the source material as Spidey..in fact moreso if you consider the webshooters etc. Sin City had nary a deviance from the novel and was better cinema all around.

Sure, Spider-Man is safe, he's freakin' Spider-Man. If he was torturing, and killing his foes, he wouldn't be Spider-Man. Spider-Man is close to, if not at the top of my list of ficitonal characters. He's got a great personality, great powers, great background, and an awesome set of supporting characters. The movies, the sequel in particular, did a great job of capturing all of this, and I'm aware of the deviations from the source material, but it didn't really detract at all.

Sin City is an awesome film for the reasons you listed, I just would go as far to say its much better than Spider-Man. I'd place it about on par with the first Spider-Man film.

 

[Willco]

I'm going to say it, but don't quote it and never let it leave this topic.

I like Sin City more than Spider-Man.

 

[DaMan121]

If you're 17, living in the inner city, surrounded by violence, I don't know if you're detachable.

If your 17, living in the inner city, surrounded by REAL violence, you would be even MORE detached from Sin City because you will see how far from reality it (the violence) really is. Why do you think all the people allegedlly "influenced" by violent movies,games etc are all white suburban kids?

 

[Lil' Dice]

Spiderman will be nothing more than your run of the mill superhero movies 10 years from now. Sin City will be heralded as not only an incredible adaptation of a legendary graphic novel, but an achievement in cinematic style.

 

[GG-Duo]

Ned, your avatar rules.

 

[Ned Flanders]

Ned, your avatar rules.

Credit goes to Rorschach for gussying up my original avy, SC style.

 

[Cerebral Palsy]

Sin City is without a doubt the best comic based movie I've seen. Spiderman can suck my balls.

 

[Flynn]

I love that Rourke was too cool to take O'Reilly's bait.

If everybody were as cool as Rourke O'Reilly wouldn't have a show.

 

[Shinobi]

I'm going to say it, but don't quote it and never let it leave this topic.

I like Sin City more than Spider-Man.

That's okay...you'll like Batman Begins more then the Spidey flicks as well.

 

[shuri]

I like how he actually hasnt seen the movie! Could he just ask for a screener tape or something? :lol

 

[swoon]

I'm pretty sure Ebert liked Dirty Harry.

yup. i'm pretty sure everyone loved dirty harry and point blank when they came out.

 

[Blatz]

No jackass should be allowed to criticize a movie unless they've seen it. I dispise O'Reilly. The books he's written are violent and borderline porno. Where the F%^# does he get off making this case. Granted if Sin City was in full color, it probably would have been way over the top. But the way it was shot, it worked....even if it was lame overall (yes I realize I'm the only one on GAF that doesn't like Sin City) But O'Reilly is just a dick.

 

[The Faceless Master]

i haven't even seen sin city yet, but spider-man 2 reminds me alot of ID4... pretty much damn unwatchable after the second time... hell, when i watched it on my PSP and i just skipped thru quite a bit of the extra draen out crap and just watched the action scenes to try and see how good the quality was on the umd movie...

 

[tedtropy]

O'Reilly can generally manage to be entertaining, regardless of how much I may disagree with him. Here, he just comes off as a grumpy, uneducated aging fart. Look out everyone, he name-dropped 'Ebert'. He knows all about these whacky talky movies the kids are all excited about these days! And since when was Ebert ever offended by violence in an appropriate context, now or in the past? He lauded the original Dawn of the Dead, for Jebus' sake.

 

[Triumph]

I'm pretty sure that Ebert had no troubles with Dirty Harry. He freakin' wrote Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, for chrissakes.

 

[whytemyke]

O'Reilly is generally a chode, but he did seem really reserved in this interview.

Spidey owned Sin City. I'm sorry... maybe if Sam Raimi forgets how to pace movies someday, you can compare them, but not right now. And I fucking hated spiderman at first. Style and violence does not a good movie make.

 

[Manics]

I'd be scared to get into an arguement with Mickey Rourke. Guy seems like he's half way to being a total nutcase and might kill you if you say the wrong thing. Perhaps Bill O'Reilly had this on his mind when interviewing him?

 

[Manics]

Spidey owned Sin City. I'm sorry... maybe if Sam Raimi forgets how to pace movies someday, you can compare them, but not right now. And I fucking hated spiderman at first. Style and violence does not a good movie make.

I disagree. Spiderman 1 & 2 were typical superhero movies, you know what to expect and what you get. Sin City was filmed great, had great performances and it is a much better movie than either of the Spiderman movies. One is art, one is fluff.

 

[StoOgE]

Yeah, whenever I see the word Noir I know there is going to be decapitation and limbs flying.. just like the malteese falcon, the postman allways rings twice, Key Larg..

Jesus, the guy is a hack who just runs his mouth about things he has no clue about, but pretends that he does.

 

[LakeEarth]

It's funny. He keeps talking about violence, and then he says he hasn't seen it. If he had seen it, maybe he would've mentioned how everyone religious in any way (priest, wearing a cross of any kind) was evil in that movie.

 

[Prince of Space]

Now, whenever I hear the term "noir," I know there are going to be heads rolling, eyeballs popping, maybe a little cannibalism to go along with your popcorn. So what's going on here?

Seriously....what?

 

[tedtropy]

Yeah, whenever I see the word Noir I know there is going to be decapitation and limbs flying.. just like the malteese falcon, the postman allways rings twice, Key Larg..

Jesus, the guy is a hack who just runs his mouth about things he has no clue about, but pretends that he does.

Why, he's like almost every Internet poster I've ever met! Yeah, O'Reilly is certainly no film buff, and made it abundantly clear here as he tried to act as though he was versed in the field. Hell, Minority Report is a modern example of film noir, and as far as I recall, no heads were getting lobbed off in that one...

 

[Blatz]

Spidey owned Sin City. I'm sorry... maybe if Sam Raimi forgets how to pace movies someday, you can compare them, but not right now. And I fucking hated spiderman at first. Style and violence does not a good movie make.

I'm w/ you whytemike. I really wanted to like Sin City...but did I really give a shit about those characters? No....At least in Spidey the characters have some depth/substance....even if the acting is questionable. Hell I even thought The Punisher was better than Sin City.

 

[belgurdo]

i haven't even seen sin city yet, but spider-man 2 reminds me alot of ID4... pretty much damn unwatchable after the second time...

The best part of SM2 is the first 15 minutes, up until the Bugle scene ends. Then it's just the first movie with even more hamfisted writing and tacked on drama

 

[ecliptic]

I think the amount of violence in movies is getting out of hand.

 

[whytemyke]

I'm w/ you whytemike. I really wanted to like Sin City...but did I really give a shit about those characters? No....At least in Spidey the characters have some depth/substance....even if the acting is questionable. Hell I even thought The Punisher was better than Sin City.

I wouldn't go so far as to say The Punisher is better than Sin City.

The thing with Sin City is that you have to appreciate it the same way you appreciate Hero... the style, the art, the essence of cinema. I don't think its fair, first off, to compare Sin City to Spiderman period, just like you can't compare Hero to Spiderman. I think everyone that says Sin City is just a comic book movie sells it horribly short of what I believe they intended it to be.

On an artistic level, Sin City DESTROYS tons and tons of movies. But as far as sitting down time and time again, being entertained again and again, I'll take Spiderman.

Simply put, Spiderman is like the loving wife you can come home to at the end of the day, have a nice dinner with, and be completely happy. Sin City is like banging the stripper that you jerk off to constantly. You appreciate both of them immensely, but in completely different ways. One is familiar fare done INCREDIBLY well, and the other is new stuff done just well.

 

[Willco]

Learn to fucking spell Spider-Man before you think it's better than Sin City, and even then, you're wrong. This coming from the Sam Raimi official Internet fanboy himself.

 

[soundwave05]

Mickey should've just goaded Bill into a discussion about what types of vibrators he likes to shove up his ass.