I definitely think it has been overhyped. I've been avoiding most stories and thread because of it. This attracted me, because some of my favorite films are ones that were hits overseas, but did not do so well here
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Martin Baxter Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2008 5:06 AM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Will America Watch Watchmen? In perfect honesty, the more I hear about it through ads and discussions in all of the SF groups I'm in, the *less* I want to see it. When it's released, I'll probably break out my trade and read it through. <-----Original Message-----> >From: Tracey de Morsella >Sent: 10/12/2008 4:55:35 AM >To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com >Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Will America Watch Watchmen? > >Will America Watch Watchmen? >http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=61133 > >Director Zack Snyder unveiled nearly half an hour of footage from his upcoming >epic film Watchmen earlier this month. While fans and journalists--including SCI >FI Wire--raved about the preview, our writer Jeff Otto wonders: Will mainstream >audiences watch the Watchmen? > >Rumors began circulating two decades ago about a film adaptation of Watchmen, >Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' comics magnum opus, which was first published by DC >Comics in 1986. Moore, whose contributions to the graphic-novel medium include >The Killing Joke, V for Vendetta and From Hell, had delivered the genre's first >masterpiece. The deeply layered epic was filled with visuals that seemed >perfectly suited to cinema. But filmmakers puzzled over how to adapt it: Such a >project would be costly, and the book itself lacked major action sequences, was >unevenly paced and told a story at odds with film's traditional plot structure. > >Filmmakers as varied as Terry Gilliam, Paul Greengrass and Darren Aronofsky were >attached at different points during Watchmen's extensive "development hell" >process, but all eventually opted out to pursue other projects. > >For his part, the famously prickly and anti-Hollywood Moore never saw Watchmen >as a fit subject for cinematic adaptation, no matter the director. > >"There are things that we did with Watchmen that could only work in a comic," >the notoriously private Moore recently told Entertainment Weekly in a rare >interview. He added that the book was "designed to show off things that other >media can't." > >But one director persisted. Zack Snyder previously delivered fan faves Dawn of >the Dead and 300. He ultimately won the right to make a Watchmen movie. The >question now: Has he succeeded in adapting Watchmen as a movie audiences will >want to see? > >Considering the first footage screened at Comic-Con International and in >previews in Los Angeles and New York this month, Snyder's Watchmen movie is >clearly taking its look and feel from the frames of Moore's novel. > >But that in itself may pose a problem. Can an adaptation be too faithful to its >source material? It's clear that fans of the graphic novel will likely love >Snyder's adaption, but will a mainstream audience unfamiliar with the book get it? > >Here are 10 reasons I think mainstream audiences will ignore Watchmen. > >1. It's an alternate-history Cold War period piece. Considering that a large >portion of the core moviegoing audience was in diapers in 1986 and is still too >young to understand the political climate of the time, will the setting really >resonate? Like it or not, younger audiences rely largely on television and >movies for their historical perspective, meaning that they may be familiar with >Vietnam and World War II, but not with the Cold War, which might sound like >something Ian Fleming dreamed up for James Bond's adventures. > >On top of that, this isn't the Cold War of the history books, but rather an >alternate history in which superheroes such as Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) help >the United States win the Vietnam War and that makes Richard Nixon, perhaps >history's most maligned president, a hero. In the book, Nixon is serving an >unprecedented fifth term in office after successfully pushing for repeal of the >23rd amendment. > >This story continues below the image. > > > >Malin Akerman (left) is Silk Spectre II and Patrick Wilson is Nite Owl II in >Watchmen, Zack Snyder's upcoming adaptation of the seminal graphic novel. > > > >2. Ridiculous-looking costumes. If there's one thing director Christopher Nolan >has proven with his two Batman movies, it's that audiences respond to superhero >movies in as realistic a setting as possible. Aside from the ears and bat >symbol, Nolan's superhero is a vigilante in a dark costume. Watchmen's >Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), on the other hand, looks like a flamboyant tennis >star in his cape and gold headband. Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson) is, well, an >owl that looks vaguely like a gold Batman. Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) is >pretty cool, but Laurie Juspeczyk's (Malin Akerman) Silk Spectre II costume >looks like a reject from X-Men. And Dr. Manhattan looks kind of like a blue Mr. >Clean. Did I mention he's also naked, bits and pieces flopping in the wind? > >3. Old Folks. To be fair, Watchmen's first generation of crimefighters are only >a part of the storyline. Still, nothing sends that desirable target demographic >running for the exits quicker than old people. Senior citizens drove Cocoon, >Driving Miss Daisy and The Bucket List to box-office success but are unlikely to >buoy a comic-book movie. > >4. Zack Snyder. Call me a cynic, but a remake of Dawn of the Dead and an >adaptation of Frank Miller's 300 don't exactly qualify you as the man to adapt >what is arguably the greatest work in the history of the graphic novel. >Directors with stronger pedigrees passed, and I'm still a bit underwhelmed with >the choice of Snyder. Don't get me wrong: His movies are good popcorn flicks. >But I think Snyder has a way to go as a filmmaker before he's making movies on >the level of Christopher Nolan, Peter Jackson or Sam Raimi. > >5. Flashbacks and Allegories. Moore's story skips around almost constantly, >which could prove quite confusing for audiences. The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean >Morgan) goes from rapist to Vietnam hero to modern-day murder victim. Sally >Jupiter (Carla Gugino) goes from nubile pinup to nursing-home resident. Hollis >Mason (Stephen McHattie), the original Nite Owl, goes from crimefighter to >rambling old coot. Moore's puzzle of an altered history comes together >beautifully as the story weaves itself into coherence, but it remains to be seen >whether Snyder can weave the complicated tapestry as adeptly for the screen as >Moore did for the printed page. > >And if the constant time shifts aren't enough, Moore also interwove into >Watchmen's narrative a completely separate story, the comic-within-a-comic Tales >of the Black Freighter. The allegorical Freighter tells the story of a pirate >who journeys home on a raft of human corpses to warn his town of an impending >pirate attack. Freighter's significance is confusing enough on the page and >should probably be cut from the film, but Snyder has promised that he is >committed to including Tales of the Black Freighter in his Watchmen movie at >some point. > >6. Lack of Familiarity. While Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and the X-Men have >been absorbed into the pop culture for decades, Watchmen's characters are known >mainly to its core fan base. News of the impending film intrigued some non-comic >aficionados to pick up a copy, as d > >=== message truncated === <http://www.relevantads.biz/fc/Ioyw36bkMORXPlWUcjO7C4wnocfpQhgdR2DrbViuqtMbx yZGlbk9Ny/> Click to receive credit card help and get out of debt fast. _______________________________________________________________ ICQ - You get the message, anywhere! Get it @ http://www.icq.com
