I saw a screening of "Sin City" last night

I didn't read the original graphic novel, so I have no basis of comparison, but I'm assuming that because of Frank Miller's involvement with the project, the film stays pretty close to the source material. Having said that, I found "Sin City" to be a deliciously bloody (literally) good time. A shade below "Pulp Fiction," but probably only because that movie came first. (And, yeah, I know that "Sin City" was published before "Pulp Fiction" came out, so one could argue which truly came first, but I'm going by my point of reference.) Director Robert Rodriguez is a visual genius, though most of us already knew that. He really takes advantage of his digital backgrounds and allows the real-life actors to effectively melt into their surroundings. And most of the acting is top notch, espeicially the career-reviving performance by a nearly unrecognizable Mickey Rourke. He takes his character, a nearly indestructable force of nature named Marv, and embodies both his fury and his heartfelt emotion. Be warned, though, that "Sin City" is a very violent movie, and the violence is treated in both cartoony and graphic ways. Roger Ebert called "The Passion of the Christ" the most violent film he had ever seen around this time last year; that title may have just been transferred to Rodriguez' "home movie." 3 1/2 stars.