Crappy Looking Movie Puts up Illegal Supergraphic

OMG Zach I am going to beat you

Have you ever read the comic???

Lack of meat is clearly going to your brain, eat some protein STAT.

you'll be sorry, Behrens.

I'm not going to rally behind an unknown quantity. If this movie sucks, I reserve the right to blast it. That said, Watchmen looks incredibizzle. As for great comics making great movies, I offer:

Ghost World
American Splendor
Persepolis

So, advantage Ross.

And I can counter with Daredevil, the Hulk (Ang Lee), and Batman and Robin. The fact that the studio thought it would be great to release it in March doesn't bode well (unlike a May or July release). But to be fair, I'll see it. I haven't read it, though there's a copy floating around my house somewhere. But I'll probably see it without reading it and judge it on its merits as a film, rather than as an adaptation.

I'd counter by saying that the director of Watchmen also did 300 - say what you will about that silly film, everything that is silly about it 100% from the comic. Which means a lot of watchmen fans are hyped up precisely because they know this is going to be ultra faithful Whether that means it'll be good? Who knows, but I have to say the trailers have not disappointed (except for shitty smashing pumpkins.)

Also adapting something from an ongoing comic series usually has shit results - the notable exceptions being the current Batman and the 70s Superman. Yes, I happen to think even Tim burton's first batman movie sucks large. The only way you can really do it right is A) if you have either a very strong, contained story the director/screenwriter/etc respects and wants to tell (ala Ghost world, Persepolis and American Splendor and even 300 which was ridiculously silly just so you know where I stand), or B) if the director/screenwriter etc have a specific point to make with an ongoing character and aren't just looking to make a franchise - like the current batman, or the first 1 and 1/2 Superman movies.

Anyway, we all know this may suck large. I'm just saying it looks awesome. And if you'd read the comic you'd know why.

Just to add onto this, also keep in mind the original comic was written in the 80s, and it has its own history in the story, so some of the cheesiness is intentional.

None of us have seen the final product, so I doubt it's going to capture the depth of the original, but really, you should consider reading the comic even if you decide the movie sucks.

refer to my post. apparently some people have. and its screened very positively with viewers.

Hey Zach,

Crappy in this case = bad because Watchmen isn't campy. If it ends up being campy it will not only be a total betrayal of the work but will also likely flop since you cannot invite people to mock something that takes itself so seriously without expecting abject failure.

Anyway, here's some additional context: Wathmen lightly satirizes the campiness of comic books, particularly the outfits commonly featured in them - sex ladies, long flowing capes, etc. There's a reference at one point to the fatal ineffectiveness of capes, for instance. Furthermore, the fetishistic subtext of those outfits is a strong undercurrent and, in two distinct points in the story, is also an important plot point.

However, Watchmen is more strongly an attack on the kind of right wing, anti social values espoused by a lot of comic writers/artists of Moore's generation (and just before) - People like Frank Miller, (who the whole world must surely now know is a hilariously closeted, self loathing brownshirt), and particularly Steve Ditko, who worshiped that dime store fascist Ayn Rand to the point that one of his characters is famous for going off on objectivist rants in the middle of a comic issue.

Alan Moore has said in multiple instances that his character, Rorschach, is kind of what he imagines to be the logical extension of the kind of characters inspired by Randian values.

Meanwhile, it's also an attempt to depict what a modern democratic society would become in the wake of a group of vigilantes (one with real powers) who take the law into their own hands and essentially disregard the concept of the rule of law "for the greater good". Each one of the characters has to come to grips with what that means and how badly they may or may not have fucked the country up.

Point is, it's pretty cool and it's pretty complex. People are excited justly by the possibility of someone managing to get it right. And I'm excited because if they do it faithfully, it will be the biggest budget an attack on right wing social, military and patriotic values has ever recieved. If it's successful, it'll make conservatives cry.

Anyway, you haven't read it, so I URGE you to borrow it ASAP (And ignore the art. Sadly, while the writing was 20 years ahead of it's time, the art was firmly rooted in shitty 80s conventions. Sorry Dave Gibbons, but it's true.)

Word.

Alan Moore says that about any of his comics that get made into movies. He's just a wacky British snob like that, which is why us comic nerds love him.

Now, I'll ignore the fact that he's usually right, though I did kind of like V for Vendetta which was based off his work also.

Zach, you comment slut!

But seriously, is there any evidence that this billboard is a safety hazard or was installed illegally? Just because it's a blight, and a nearby graphic was deemed unsafe and illegal doesn't make it so...