Watching (Snippets of) the Watchmen

Preceding the Dark Knight is the first trailer for the upcoming Watchmen film, based on what is essentially considered the greatest graphic novel ever written. This film has been in development forever, shuffling about directors and actors and continuing to piss off Alan Moore, the man behind the book. Alan Moore is right to be concerned. So far, his brilliant graphic novels have been turned into appalling films which strip them utterly of their effulgent genius. Remember The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? I try not to myself. (Fun tidbit. League was the film which Sean Connery accepted in lieu of the role of GANDALF in a little indie trilogy called The Lord of the Rings.)

You know what though? The Watchmen trailer didn’t look…that…bad. I know. I couldn’t believe it either. Granted that Billy Corgan soundtrack was pretty atrocious and I couldn’t help but snicker when they billed it as being “from the visionary director of 300“. Visionary? Really? The man knows how to use a green screen and that freeze motion camera effect, I’ll give him that. But so do lots of people in Hollywood. Was Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow a visionary film? (Don’t answer that. It’s rhetorical. And also, no.) 300 was at best a decent action film (and at worst, an offensive right wing polemic.) Before that, Zach Snyder poorly (and needlessly) remade one of my favorite films of all time, Dawn of the Dead. The man is on pretty thin ice with me.

But Dr. Manhattan looked pretty amazing. Hell, everyone kinda did. We saw a glimpse of Dr. Manhattan’s Mars. We heard Rorschach’s growl. We saw the Comedian’s cocky grin. We know that the movie is taking place in it’s original time period (the 80’s) which lessens the preachy parallel-to-our-current-administration potential. Everything, thus far, appears to be in order. Time will tell, of course. I am worried about what they will cut out. At 400 pages of Moore’s signature dialog-heavy storytelling, they have to cut something. (And I sure hope it isn’t ANY of Dr. Manhattan’s explanation of time travel and why he is unable to stay connected to the human world.) But for now, I rest a bit easier. I hope Alan Moore does too. But let’s be honest. Ain’t nothing pleasing that old curmudgeon.

And just remember. No matter how bad it gets, it could have been much, much worse:

{{{Shudder}}}

Tags: 300, alan moore, comics, movie, trailers, watchmen, zach snyder

S. Darko??

This time on ReelTime’s Weblog of movies and more…. S. Darko, what it do?

Set 8 years after the death of Donnie, S. Darko is the recently announced sequel to the cult classic Donnie Darko. According to the producers, the story involves Donnie’s little sister on a road trip to Los Angeles.

This is a hard sell. Some people take Donnie Darko very, very seriously. To the Superfans, this might be like tampering with Citizen Kane.

But even making a sequel to Grease can be trouble. And just like the spectacular flop Grease 2, S. Darko has none of the principals from the original involved.

I sense a disaster on the horizon. That giant rabbit guy is warning me – this movie is a bad idea.

Sydney Pollack

Someone died. That’s sad. But life goes on. It always does. Until it
doesn’t. Okay?

Sidney Pollack didn’t write or direct that; he just acted it in one of his greatest roles, Ziegler in Eyes Wide Shut. But he wasn’t just an actor. He was a director who made some great movies like Tootsie, They Shoot Horses Don’t They? and Out of Africa. We’re gonna miss him over here.

Dewey Cox

Today on ReelTime reviews and more, a movie review!

It took the movie Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story for me to realize the talents of Dewey Cox. His career spanned four decades and he truly revolutionized modern pop music. Played perfectly by his almost exact look-a-like John C Reily (Days of Thunder) and directed by the son of my favorite director Lawrence Kasdan, Jake, Walk Hard truly opened my eyes to a world of music I had no idea existed.

Growing up I mostly listened to whatever was on the radio, top of the pops. Some of my favorites and still are: Rick Astley, El DeBarge, Huey Lewis and the News, Green Day, and Semisonic. But as I got older and began to research the origins of music, I found that Dewey Cox was really behind a great deal of musical movements in the late 20th century!

He even hung out with the Beatles and took drugs with them! I didn’t know that, and found out from the movie! LOL! But seriously JUST SAY NO! It didn’t help Dewey Cox at all, and in fact, at the end of his life, he realized the things that matter most in life, are family, friends, and the joys of music.