Hoo boy, you would have thunk I forgot about this? Between Facebook, Twitter and, oh yeah, my job I seem to have left this behind. Well, my job is allowing me to have a greater presence on the Internet by bringing me into the wonderful world of podcasting.
Hollywood is a-buzz over the possibility of a new Three Stooges film starring Benicio Del Toro as Moe (obviously), Jim Carrey as Curly (of course) and, most importantly, Sean Penn as Larry. An idea like that can't fail at all. But just in case he needs a little help, Mr. Penn can study this great moment in Larry Fine's history, his trip to Woodstock.
Be warned: the following clip, starring Billy West when he was on The Howard Stern Show in the 80's, contains sentiments that can certainly be deemed sexist, racist and all around misanthropic. Also, it's hilarious.
You should be able to find Zombie Tales #12 and Zombie Tales Vol. 3: Good Eatin', which collects my first two stories along with many others, in good comic book stores tomorrow.
If you can't find them in stores you can purchase them online here and here respectively.
The BOOM! crew took an excursion to see Watchmen. Some of us were dreading it, some excited. Really, none of us knew what to expect. I had seen thirty minutes of the film at a special screening I was able to get into and I still had no idea what to expect. What could a film of the unfilmable graphic novel possibly be?
It was okay. Had its high points and low points.
Glibness aside, I found myself enjoying a great deal of it. But the more I think about it, pretty much everything I enjoyed was in the book. Dr. Manhattan's origin. The two Nite Owl's reminiscing about the old days. The life of The Comedian, a cruel man who may say more about us than we like to admit. Dr. Manhattan and Silk Spectre debating human life on Mars. I give director Zach Snyder and screenwriters David Hayter and Alex Tse credit for conveying those sequences effectively. But I went into this not wanting to be comparing the book to the movie. I wanted to let the film be its own thing. Instead the first thing I thought leaving the theater was "spending $20 on the Watchmen trade ten years ago was a pretty good idea."
More than what Snyder, Hayter and Tse contributed I believe the performances really made me appreciate what I was seeing. Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach is the stand out. Even as Snyder tries to make these characters look bigger and more heroic than Dave Gibbons originally drew them, Haley's body language and overall commitment to his role made it clear that this was a deranged man from the streets and there's nothing glorious or cool about him. Billy Crudup faced a huge challenge playing someone who is beyond most emotional responses. He does it by hitting this perfect tone of voice that is monotone but not lifeless. He's able to keep it up without it ever being grating or dull. Jeffery Dean Morgan actually makes The Comedian a much larger presence in the film than he is in the book, thanks to this twisted charisma he brings to the character. It reminded me a bit of what Robert Downey Jr. brought to Tony Stark, only in a much darker storyline.
Like I said, I didn't want to just compare the film to the book. I wanted to be in the moment, taking what was on the screen as is. I didn't want to perform an academic exercise. But the film is so faithful to the book that when things are left out due to running time it made for a wonky experience. It's never said why Dr. Manhattan walks around with his schvantz out for all to see. Rorschach's mask is left unexplained. Same for Adrian Veidt's mutant cat. I was lucky enough to see this film with a "civilian" and I asked her what she thought of Bubastis. She just shrugged her shoulders, saying she didn't understand it but it didn't take her out of the movie.
In addition to that there are moments that make the world of the film far more outsized and, dare I say it, superhuman than the world of the book. Ozymandias can throw people across rooms. The Comedian can break walls with a punch when he's in his 60's. Anytime someone is shown moving in the slow-motion style Snyder is fond of they look like they have superpowers. I would not be surprised if people saw that movie thinking that more characters than just Dr. Manhattan had powers. The gore and sex are played up far more than they are in the book. Inside a meditative story those moments just seemed out of place.
More out of place were the music cues. This after Snyder had some of the best music cues in recent memory in Dawn of the Dead. Think of how brilliant using Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around" is to illustrate a zombie apocalypse, invert that brilliance and you have "The Times They Are A-Changing" to illustrate that, well, times are changing. I can stomach that in watching a rerun of The Wonder Years but for a film that sets off to be incredibly inventive should not be so on the nose, especially from the very start. From there you get a taste of "99 Luftballoons" that's too cute and unnecessary. Snyder elbowing you in the ribs by using a muzak version of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" in a scene starring Ozymandias was far too much as well.
Changing the ending has been controversial in some circles. If people want to argue let them, but I think it's a moot point. It takes the story to pretty much the same place it got to in the book. I actually prefer the film's ending in some ways because it far more involves the characters we've been spending all this time with.
Watchmen's faithfulness to its source material is its greatest strength and weakness. It makes for a big weird movie, although one that is enjoyable at times. If it gets more people reading the book, and it already has, God bless it. Permanent Link: 8:48 PM |
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