Watchmen

mmm skyscraper · #1 07-20-2008, 12:01 PM

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

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

dubman · #2 07-20-2008, 12:15 PM

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 · #3 07-20-2008, 05:15 PM

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 · #4 07-20-2008, 11:04 PM

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 · #5 07-21-2008, 10:50 PM

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 · #6 07-25-2008, 12:08 PM

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 · #7 08-20-2008, 08:21 PM

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 · #8 08-21-2008, 11:44 PM

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 · #9 08-21-2008, 11:49 PM

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

Lx_Nen · #10 11-14-2008, 02:57 AM

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.