The Watchmen: Classic, duh!

^^^^^^this otm

I have never actually read the Black Freighter stuff!

I've always liked it in its own terms... it's a great OH MY GOD, NOOOOOO story. I know there is all this "it is a metaphor for what Rorschach/Ozymandias/the psychiatrist/Sally Jupiter/your mam have become" stuff, but feh.

Yeah, I read it just as an entertaining pastiche/diversion/backdrop-enricher when I first tackled Watchmen aged fourteen or so, and it works fine as that. Subtext aside, the dramatic beats and rhthym of Black Freighter enhance the main storyline nicely as well.

That guy reading the Black Freighter is too old! He's only a kid in the comic.

Comics aren't just for kids any more.

I am less worried this will suck the more stills I see. It might be ruined by audio, tho.

Ooh, Black Freighter is animated!

I've always been like "I skipped 300 for two reasons - it looked like it sucked and I hated the comic." So I was really dubious about the same director making the movie of a comic I love. But maybe his thing is such faithful adaptations that if I'll react the same way to them as I do to the source.

For one precedent, I rewatched the "V" movie recently, and I still think it was a really good take on the original (with the targets of satire switched, of course.)

It's weird. 300 is such a different beast than Watchmen. I'm pretty unwillling to predict Snyder's results on Watchmen based on 300. The plot structures are, y'know, kinda exact opposites. 300 is more or less one narrative thread where the visuals are basically the whole point, while Watchmen has, as Dr Manhattan might say, more moving parts. 300's succeeded in no small part because of its brilliant art direction--though that didn't help Sky Captain.

Ooh, Black Freighter is animated!

Yeah, this sounds cool! Even if it was done for budgetary reasons, I think it's the proper way to do it. In general, I think comic-based movies should be done as animations more often, it's definitely the better format for comic adaptations. I think the animated films made of Corto Maltese and Persepolis were both very good.

http://community.livejournal.com/mad_ape_den/9455.html

In words of three letters or less. MAN!

Fab.

Outstanding:

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/2706/mmpictm2.jpg

That looks awesome. Why do people ever call Watchmen realistic then bitch about the ending? Dude, Dr Manhattan! It ISN'T realistic! It's a wonderful little sidetrack to the idea 40s (and etc) or so superheroes existed, at most, in HISTORICAL terms. And a magnificent read.

In fact (I may well be the 150000th person to realise this) Dr M's a literal deus ex machina... it 's just annoying seeing so many hate on a perfect superhero story.

does anyone else out there think that the psychiatrist's character arc in "The Abyss Gazes Also" is a bit contrived?

Nah it just points up how completely fucked Rorschach is

Hey people who own Absolute Watchmen, the huge hardcover reprint: Was it worth it? The larger page size, and the extras? I'm undecided if I should get a copy on eBay - so what's your reviews?

ulp, nevermind, my questions were answered in the "Absolute Watchmen Edition' thread, which I could have searched for beforehand, were I more enterprising and less slovenly. We have all learned a lesson here.

Graphitti edition, IMO.

/ducks the hail of shoes thrown at him

New movie production diary and stills showing the original Nite Owl's study. I especially like this one: On the shelf next to Under the Hood" is a copy of Philip Wylie's Gladiator.

http://io9.com/assets/images/io9/2008/06/WMD-22648_select.jpg

!

If nothing else this movie is going to be a study in meticulous production design.

That's what YOU think! A Chicagoan friend of mine was bitching about "Grain Belt" beer signage appearing in that shot of an NY City street.

It's a parallel history though.

hi dere

Dr Manhattan appears to be wearing speedos.

I will be hugely surprised if he spends any time in the finished movie with his atomic tackle out.

There is fuzzy dangle in the cafeteria shot.

I realized today it's pretty damn hard to explain what exactly this is to people who just saw the trailer tonight with Batman and have no idea what it is.

Is Doc M going to be translucent throughout? Cos he's pretty solid looking in the book.

I'd suspect that's the solution they used for making him look otherworldly. Otherwise he's just a naked blue guy - and that would just look a bit silly.

"Motion comics"? Really, Warners? REALLY?? http://www.ew.com/ew/static/watchmen/watchmen.html

Much better: the interview with Moore at http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20213004,00.html .

That motion comics thing has been done a dozen times. People just don't get that this won't work.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/business/media/14mtv.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=invincible&st=cse&oref=slogin

People just don't get that this won't work.

OH, REALLY NOW?

God bless Nagisa Oshima.

Fine, people just don't get that this won't work IN AMERICA

Is it just me that can't get them links a-workin'?

Hahahaha. Now everyone will hate Watchmen as much as I do!

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3168969&p=4

Watchmen puts both Rorschach and Nite Owl on the streets in a game set exclusively at night, when most of the nation's crime takes place.

If you're wondering who could possibly replace the much-revered Alan Moore in the scripting department...comic fans will be glad to know that respected comic veteran Len Wein is on board to provide the dialogue.

Swamp Thing In Reverse!

You know, this is so dumb I don't feel offended by it at all.

Plus, as far as tasteless vid-game tie-ins go, who could beat this?? (Which I bought, incidentally -- bit too hard during the first level.)

My favorite 'miss the point' movie videogame tie-in is The Godfather.

"Dude, I beat the game with FREDO!"

I feel no shame for wanting to play that game (FREDO).

Bit disappointed the music on the Platoon game isn't an 8-bit rendering of Adaggio For Strings.

I suppose the comics themselves might be okay, but still disappointed in Darwyn for selling out on this:

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/dc-announces-before-watchmen-120201.html

already discussed here:
Superhero Filmmakers: Where's Our Watchmen?

but this thread is better so

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/02/01/arts/comics/comics-popup.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/Comic%20scans/BratPack-i1p19.jpg

http://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/iss/600w/845/458451/9211431_1.jpg

also lol, Tom OTM in 2008

also Abhay OTM a month ago

http://twiststreet.tumblr.com/post/14837611825

Sad there's no Neal Adams Watchmen Odyssey announcement.

isn't most of the material you'd put in a prequel to watchmen already in watchmen

Yes.

Dr. Superman, you just made my day. I demand that Neal Adams create this series!