What??!! Are you serious?! -------------- Original message -------------- From: "B. Smith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The teaser trailer for Watchmen is the best thing I've seen in a long time and all the early screenings have generated nothing but positive buzz. The point about the ending has some merit and I'm interested in seeing how they pull it off.
I agree about American audiences being provincial and film makers dumbing down or altering down challenging material for American audiences. I found it hilarious that movies like Mad Max and The Road Warrior were redubbed during their initial American releases because they thought Americans wouldn't watch a movie where people had accents. --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Tracey de Morsella" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I've read articles about how back in the 50's and the 60's planned for a > comeback that we saw in the 90s and over the past eight years. The were two > important strategies. Creating and exploiting the culture wars and dumbing > America down. I wonder if that is part of why we do not embrace movies > and shows with complex plots and characters. I > > > > think the Americanizing of TV shows has to do with the fact the we as a > nation are egocentric, and think that the world revolves around the United > State. Everywhere else is just "strange" . not interesting as most of us > would view it. I think that America "pride/Patriotic " thing was part of > the plan as well. > > > > > > From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2008 8:00 PM > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Will America Watch Watchmen? > > > > You know, I tire sometimes of what Americans can and can't deal with. So > silly that shows like "Life on Mars" have to be Americanized before we watch > them, that you have to have "name" stars to sell a good project, that > explosions and action are prerequisites for popular films. That movies like > "the Forbidden Kingdom" and "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" insert > American actors incongruously just so Americans will watch. I'm excited by > "Watchmen", excited by the differences between it and other fare we've seen. > I'm not turned off at all by it being a bit slower in the action area. And > while I get that the costumes and other things may not be up to Batman > standards, I look forward to something else being added to the superhero > movie genre. It may be that Americans won't flock to it, favoring whatever > new project Will Smith is in instead. > > It may be a reality, but it just makes me sigh and roll my eyes whenever I > hear this. I guess, though, that's why stuff like "Bad Boys II" make > money.... > > > > -------------- Original message -------------- > From: "Tracey de Morsella" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > 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 an d 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 t o 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 Vietna m 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. > > silk spectre nite owl > > 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 pr oven 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 Bu cket 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 origina l 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 did Time's choice of the > graphic novel for its list of the "100 Greatest American Novels." Still, the > percentage of moviegoers possessing even a vague familiarity with Watchmen > is small by comparison with those who know Peter Parker's alter ego. > > This story continues below the image. > > Watchmen Comedian > > Jeffrey Dean Morgan is the Comedian and Carla Gugino is the original Silk > Spectre in Watchmen. (Clay Enos for Warner Brothers) > > > > 7. Lack of Star Power. The casting of the accomplished actors Wilson, > Akerman, Crudup, Gugino, Morgan and Haley excited comic and film geeks > alike. But not one of these esteemed thespians ha s much box-office drawing > power. For a movie already struggling to appeal to non-fans, that may be one > obstacle too many on a growing list. > > 8. Length. Snyder announced last week that he is aiming for a film that runs > two hours and 43 minutes. If the trailer's dazzling visuals succeed in > sparking the interest of the mainstream to give Watchmen a chance, its > running time may be enough to dampen that curiosity. > > 9. A Lot of Exposition. Unlike most comic movies, Watchmen isn't simply the > setup for a ton of sequels. Moore's original novel comprises 12 densely > packed issues, with enough subtext to rival J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the > Rings trilogy. But Peter Jackson had three movies in which to adapt Lord of > the Rings. Snyder has only a single film to re-create Moore's entire epic. > > With a massive cast of characters nobody's ever heard of, the film could > take as much as a third of its running time setting up origin stories bef > ore vi ewers have even the faintest clue what's going on. > > 10. The Ending. If there is a weak element in Moore's almost flawless epic, > it is the ending. It was a letdown when it came out, and it seems even > cheesier 20-plus years later. Snyder has revealed that he's changing the > ending. Now, when you take into account the fact that Moore is not involved > in the project in any form, do we really believe Snyder and screenwriters > David Hayter and Alex Tse have the chops to deliver the fitting end that > Moore couldn't? > > Watchmen opens March 6, 2009. --Jeff Otto >
