Watchmen

[mmm skyscraper]

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/watchmen/

decent trailer except that Smashing Pumpkins song gets on my nerves.

[dubman]

this is going to sound hideous and i apologize for the advance headslap coming.
when i was still reading graphic novels this one was too cold and the art too dated for me. i knew comics from the 80s because my dad bought those. i thought the art was terrible. i started reading it anyway, because it was supposed to be awesome right? 3 issues later i was skimming, waiting, bored. transmet was more my style, so i left it.
i stopped reading graphic novels when i was 16 or 17. now i see this preview and think "this really cant be that boring" so i go to borders for about an hour to kill time until the next batman showing and sit down with it. somehow it's better, i got sucked in, and bought to read in the huge line.

yes folks, i bought the book because of a preview. i mean i wouldnt have if i didnt appreciate it more after all this time, but i got kicked into checking it out again.

ps. i dont know how theyre going to do this movie. theres some filmic moments but it is a talky motherfucker.

[chuck]

I love this comic book - was the second trade paperback I ever bought. It is huge in scope and demanding as a read. It deserves every award it ever got. It was the first Alan Moore piece I ever read.

I think the film will be glossy and shiny and make people think superheroes are just wackos. I wonder if it will ever get to the guts of what made the book such a meaningful read.

I'm also sad, very sad that there is no mention at all of Alan Moore in the trailer, the website or anywhere in the movie. I think that is at his request. He might be a curmudgeonly old bastard - but he deserves better.

His work deserves better.

[gambit]

After watching LXG and V for Vendetta, I'm not holding my breath for Watchmen. It does look too glossy, but hell, I'll see it in the theaters anyway. Maybe it'll be sorta good.

[chuck]

That's the bugger of it gambit.

To me - it is far too glossy and slick - but it'll have to be seen on the big screen. I won't hold my breath that it will have any of the depth or intimacy of the book - but it might have good sparkly digital effects.

I wonder if anyone will have a crack at Preacher?

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Can you guys start a "Reading Watchmen" thread for discussion?

THAT I'M ALLOWED TO COMMENT ABOUT TOO .!

I'll be honest, I've put off reading it from fear of appearing stupid(the words existed before Whoopie, ...hey?). Anyways, I'm a bit slow with getting the full spectrum of epic works of art and I don't think there's a college course for this book yet.

And I'm sincerely serious.

[oceanic]

John, I'm reading Watchmen for a college course on Graphic Novels. Watchmen is the first "comic book" I've read in over 10 years, and it's blowing me away. So far it seems to completely warrant all the analysis, criticism and praise it's gotten. Such an interesting medium to explore politics, psychology and culture. Because I've only just gotten into it, though, I don't have the same history and attachment to it that might make long-time fans cringe at the upcoming movie. I understand what people are saying about the movie looking too glossy, though. Watchmen's such a dark read - in terms of content as well as form.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

I'm on page 30 at this moment.

The short breaks from comic form to actual novel writing are throwing me off a bit. I'm sure it all comes together here and there eventually. ???

[dubman]

i think i've read through this about three times by now
it's got... so many problems
i'm sure it was stupendous when it came out but if thats supposed to be the best that graphic novels have to throw at me then it's pretty sorry. it's really fun to read and all but it's also pretty goofy with its characters.
and the movie looks even more impossible to make

[gambit]

According to Kevin Smith (http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/22/watchmen-may-be-fing-astounding-but-will-legalistic-crap-keep-us-from-seeing-it/):

I saw Watchmen. It’s f***ing astounding. The Non-Disclosure Agreement I signed prevents me from saying much, but I can spout the following with complete joygasmic enthusiasm: Snyder and Co. have pulled it off.

Remember that feeling of watching Sin City on the big screen and being blown away by what a faithful translation of the source material it was, in terms of both content and visuals? Triple that, and you’ll come close to watching Watchmen. Even Alan Moore might be surprised at how close the movie is to the book. March can’t come soon enough.

Also, Fox is trying to stop Warner Bros. from releasing the film, as the link will explain more.

[gambit]

i think i've read through this about three times by now
it's got... so many problems
i'm sure it was stupendous when it came out but if thats supposed to be the best that graphic novels have to throw at me then it's pretty sorry. it's really fun to read and all but it's also pretty goofy with its characters.
and the movie looks even more impossible to makeI'd love to get into a more detailed conversation with you on this because I don't see it having so many "problems" or the characters being "goofy." I'm not saying it's perfect by any means, but it's one of the most complex and intelligent superhero comics to ever be made. It's usually called the "greatest comic story ever told" in the terms that most comic book geeks know--superheroes. That's what most fans read in 1986, and they've probably never read anything as deep and layered as this. And it blew so many of them away, hence the reverence.

It's all pretty subjective, of course, as with calling anything in any medium the "greatest," and it was released in a time when non-superhero comics hadn't really taken off as they have in the past decade or so. I think Art Spiegelman's Maus is the best comic book/graphic novel to have been told (or at least one of the best), and it has nothing to do with superheroes.

I'm on page 30 at this moment.

The short breaks from comic form to actual novel writing are throwing me off a bit. I'm sure it all comes together here and there eventually. ???Without giving away too much of the story, the novel writing is part of the layering of the overall story. It will have more significance later on.

[joethelion]

you know...

I think I first got it on a 'whim' b/c I heard that it was so good. Yea, the artwork is kinda shitty - especially when you compare it to what I normally was reading at the time (Todd McFarland's version of Spiderman, Jim Lee's X-Men, etc)

but the story just really got me hooked... and yea - you do have to kinda let it suck you in

when I first heard that it was being made into a movie - however, I was like... there's no way it can possibly be good.

then i saw the trailer... and it might actually be good!

I mean - sure they're gonna have to cut out a ton of parts of the novel (like that one chick's mom being raped, the story about the pirate on the raft made of dead bodies, etc) but I def have high hopes

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

The Dirt is a page turner of disgusting boy stuff.

Yet, I cannot put down. I should finish this tonight and cont. with Watchmen.

Sorry Vince, but I love Beth just for taking your ice trays.

[Lx_Nen]

Having recently watched the new trailers and the monthly video diaries, I have high hopes for Watchmen. There is such a strong thread of 'we are following the book, we really do NOT want to fuck this one up' running through all the cast and crew comments that I think there's a reasonable chance that they might actually be following the book and not fucking it up. Where footage has been shown, it's noticeable that it's rarely described in terms like 'we are shooting this bit of the plot now', mostly it's 'we are shooting this frame of the comic now'.

As for cutting bits out, it's not going to be a short film (2h 45m has been mentioned).

The 'story about the pirate...' aka the Legend of The Black Trawler *is* going to be filmed, and it will be released before the film 'proper' as a standalone promotional tool, and then it will be put back into the movie for a directors cut full length DVD version.

From the interviews with the actresses playing 'that chick' and her mom, while they don't spoil the plot, they do make it pretty clear that it is likely to be faithful to the book.

I have high hopes too.

[oceanic]

I hope the "present tense" scenes in the movie are depicted as they are in the book - ie. firmly situated in the 80's, without drawing too much attention to the stereotypes from that era. I'm worried that the film will deviate from the book in this regard.

[mmm skyscraper]

I hope the "present tense" scenes in the movie are depicted as they are in the book - ie. firmly situated in the 80's, without drawing too much attention to the stereotypes from that era. I'm worried that the film will deviate from the book in this regard.

And Nixon will still be President!

[oceanic]

Fuck... I actually forgot that it was Nixon in office in the alternate future of Watchmen. This film has such awesome potential. Let's see what happens.

[Lx_Nen]

A quote from the director "We've shown ... Alex and my official draft to the studio, and I feel like they're really excited now. They feel like it's a movie, and they get it now, and they're into 1985, and they're into the Cold War and Nixon and all the cool bits. So we're really excited..."

He's also said that he tried to get Henry Kissinger to play himself, but Kissinger's wife wouldn't let him them talk.

[King of Snake]

I got the book for my birthday a month ago. I started reading it but didn't really get into it. The art style is pretty off-putting I guess, as well as the goofy superhero characters. But then I did not grow up on superhero comics so that might have something to do with it :)
I doubt I'll ever read the whole thing although I might give it another chance when i've got some reading time on my hands.
Movie looks good though.

[IsiliRunite]

I ordered a copy and fortunately I've not heard any spoilers or anything relating to the book, so it should be a nice read.

[Sean]

I've seen a bunch of individual scenes from the movie, and for whatever it's worth, I can say with confidence that there will be lots of blue penis shots in the film.

[gambit]

Who can't have enough blue penis shots?

(But wow, I didn't think there'd be any blue penis shots. That's staying true to the source.)

[grady]

I've seen a bunch of individual scenes from the movie, and for whatever it's worth, I can say with confidence that there will be lots of blue penis shots in the film.

Hehe. I've been reading the book again in prep for the film and I was wondering if they would dabble into full frontal blue male nudity.

Did you do any work on it Sean?

[Sean]

Hehe. I've been reading the book again in prep for the film and I was wondering if they would dabble into full frontal blue male nudity.

Did you do any work on it Sean?No, I work on the character animation projects rather than the effects driven ones. So I've managed to avoid all the wiener-mation that's happened here from Hollow Man to Watchmen. As of a few months ago through to at least the end of 2010, I'll be working on a film we're making called "Hotel Transylvania". No wieners in that one either....

[grady]

No, I work on the character animation projects rather than the effects driven ones. So I've managed to avoid all the wiener-mation that's happened here from Hollow Man to Watchmen. As of a few months ago through to at least the end of 2010, I'll be working on a film we're making called "Hotel Transylvania". No wieners in that one either....
I recall reading about Hotel Transylvania in one of the trades sometime back. Is it being geared as a very kid friendly film? I'd imagine it is, though the synopsis seems somewhat amusing and could have some fun humor in it. The idea reminded me of a this cartoon I saw of a bunch of cereal mascots all sitting around in a circle as part of a support group, but replace the mascots with horror icons.

How far along is the production?

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

I've seen a bunch of individual scenes from the movie, and for whatever it's worth, I can say with confidence that there will be lots of blue penis shots in the film.

Don't tell us if it's circum. or not, I want it to be a surprise.

[Sean]

I recall reading about Hotel Transylvania in one of the trades sometime back. Is it being geared as a very kid friendly film? I'd imagine it is, though the synopsis seems somewhat amusing and could have some fun humor in it. The idea reminded me of a this cartoon I saw of a bunch of cereal mascots all sitting around in a circle as part of a support group, but replace the mascots with horror icons.

How far along is the production?It'll be geared towards the whole family. It's all about the "four quadrants" these days (a phrase that makes my skin crawl), so it really will be something that appeals to a broad spectrum of ages.

We've been in the development/pre-production stage on this version of the film for around a year now. The synopsis that you can find online really doesn't apply much at all any more. We just sent off the writers to tie down their second draft of the script, and we'll see where things go from there. I'm more excited about this movie than any other I've worked on for years though, so it's going great right now.

[King of Snake]

Just seen this movie yesterday!
I managed to finish reading the comic just a couple hours before (had a bit of a hard time getting into it at first but it really hooked me in later on).

I think the movie turned out to be as good as could realistically be expected. It's not Batman/Dark Knight-good (which is pretty much gonna be the benchmark for "realistic superhero movies" for the foreseeable future), but it stays very close to the source material. Biggest change was the ending, and you miss some of the subtleties in the background stories but at 2.5 hours the movie is already quite long so it would have been impossible to get everything in.

Of course Batman had a solid lineup of some of the biggest and best actors around to carry the movie, and I felt that Watchmen could have used a bit more of that too. All the characters definitely looked the part, but none of them really managed to get to the level of acting of the main cast of Batman.

[Lx_Nen]

Just back from seeing it here too. My verdict is pretty much the same as yours, they've successfully proved that Watchmen wasn't unfilmable, they haven't taken great liberties with it, they had to cut some things to fit it in a 2 3/4 hour film, but they made wise choices, and perhaps most remarkably, it definitely stands alone as a good film if you haven't read the comic, as my other half will testify. It doesn't stand head and shoulders above it's contemporaries in the way that the comic did, but then again it would have been unrealistic to expect that.

A solid 9/10 from me.

[King of Snake]

agreed, though I'd give it an 8 out of 10.
not bad at all :)

[potatobroth]

8 / 10 for me. The opening scene, credits, and cemetery flashbacks had an energy that dimmed a little when it was just Owl and Silk. The sex scene was flat out terrible.