Saturday, January 1, 2011

I'm Such A Dick . . . Tracy Fan

Being a big movie fan, there are various films that I watch on a seasonal bases.  For that short time between Christmas and the New Year, Katie (my wife) and I have 3 films that we feel fit that period just right: Sunset Blvd., Hudsucker Proxy, and Dick Tracy (1990).  All revolve around and/or climax at New Years Eve.
The addition of Dick Tracy to the movie list is mainly my idea.  OK . . . here goes (deep breath) I'm a really big fan of this movie, but I'm not ignorant or naive about it.  I'm well aware of the criticisms against it and the issues in property rights.  Regardless, I personally love this film and I'm fine being the only one who does.
One reason being, that I grew up a big fan of the Chester Gould comic series it's based on.  One of my treasured birthday presents I got when I was in grade school, was a large book titled the Celebrated Cases Of Dick Tracy.  I still read through that collection every now and again.  The character cameos and make-up effects in the movie are perfect in bringing these classic villains to life.  It's obvious that the make-up and costume design team put great craftmanship into paying tribute to the art of Chester Gould.  What I also love about this film is it's Production Design.  The world is wonderfully stylized to fit the feel of the classic comic design and color palette.  Every red is the same red, every blue the same blue.  The production team adjusted the world to fit the look of the comic instead of vice versa.  In a way, Dick Tracy was way ahead of it's time in doing this.  Now we see it all the time in comic book movies, such as Sin City, 300, Watchmen, etc.  I love that even the elements in the backgrounds (buildings, skylines, etc.) become more stylized and simplified in detail as they are "further away".  Aside from the look I enjoy the casting, music, and editing.  Very fun and aways a joy to watch every New Year.
To follow up my New Year's Resolution, I've decided to christen my blog with a couple new sketches of this New Year's Film.  I chose my favorite Dick Tracy villain, Littleface Finney (who has a very short cameo in the film).

3 comments:

  1. And don't forget another great thing the movie Dick Tracy has going for it: music by Stephen Sondheim!

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  2. Absolutely! Now if only there was a soundtrack with all his songs on it. I had to get all 3 soundtracks (that includes the Madonna's I'm Breathless) to get those songs, and even then a couple are unavailable. Great songs!

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  3. I loved the stylized look of this movie. It just made it so much fun. It let you accept the crazy critters in the rogues' gallery as belonging there, and really just pulled the whole world together.

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