...and all I got was the flimsiest pretense to post a YouTube clip. No, not that one. This one:
In all seriousness, J.J. Abrams' Star Trek was a lot of fun. (Watchable, even.) It's miles better than any of the Star Wars prequels in terms of... well, pretty much everything.
Speaking of Mr. Abrams, I have some theories on last night's season finale of Lost. Most of them involve nanotechnology and a snowglobe.
Less (nerd) talk, more rock... coming soon.
Showing posts with label nerd concerns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nerd concerns. Show all posts
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Who Watches...
...movies they know will disappoint them?
I do!
(Say hello to this year's most annoyingly ubiquitous Halloween costume.)
Actually, with my expectations being sufficiently low, I enjoyed the Watchmen movie for what it was: a moderately dumbed-down, cliff notes version of the comic. I've read the comic I-don't-know-how-many-times and there was delight to be had in seeing key scenes spring to life on screen. It's certainly the most faithful Alan Moore adaptation ever committed to celluloid. Of course, I had the ability to fill in backstory as necessary, which would be impossible for someone who hasn't read the book.
Still, I had some problems with the film. (You really didn't think I wasn't going to complain, did you?) As a film, Watchmen kind of falls apart in its second half. Unsurprisingly, this is when the graphic novel most deviates from straight narrative storytelling, i.e. lots of Tales of the Black Freighter, information given in the supplemental sections, etc. This is one of the reasons the book had been categorized as "unfilmable" for so long. In my opinion, there were three key elements that could have improved the second half and the film as a whole. (Lots of SPOILERS here. Consider yourself warned.)
1. The characterization of Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt felt completely wrong. Matthew Goode's choice to play him as fey and smug didn't jibe with the Veidt from the book, who I saw as charming and likable. Also, his backstory was underdeveloped and thus the viewer never really got that the intention of his actions was, in his mind, completely noble. He just seems like a weaselly super-villian and I can't imagine that someone coming to the film with fresh eyes would be surprised that he's the story's antagonist. One of the key elements of Watchmen is the contrast between the passive Dr. Manhattan and the activist Ozymandias, an element the film misses completely, even ignoring their final conversation.
2. The revelation of Laurie's true parentage was ham-fisted and came off as unimportant. I didn't really have an issue with giving Dr. Manhattan a "magic touch" as it's sort of implied in the book that he may have been aiding Laurie's mind but it still felt rather rushed and sort of inconsequential. The conversation on Mars is given a full chapter in the book and the slow build up made the end result all the more affecting. In the film, one really never gets the sense of Laurie's hatred for the Comedian and why the realization that she's been hiding facts from herself would be so devastating. Subsequently, that this revelation would move Dr. Manhattan to save mankind felt forced.
3. None of the comic's many non-superhero characters are given any substantial amount of screen time. We see little to none of the two Bernies, the detectives, the lesbian couple, or Dr. and Mrs. Long. When Veidt's "masterstroke" kills all these people, we've been following their lives for most of the book. Their deaths give a resonance to the story's denouement that the film is sorely lacking. I understand that time constraints meant ignoring these characters but by excising them the filmmakers have also excised much of the book's humanity. Perhaps at least including Bernard the news vendor, who more or less functions as the comic's Greek chorus, would have been a smart move.
When Watchmen is released on DVD it will contain an extra hour of footage so perhaps these issues will be rectified. Some of the other issues the film's critics raised didn't bother me that much. Yes, Malin Akerman's performance was a little flat but wasn't Hayden Christensen-level distracting/embarrassing. Yes, they changed the ending a bit but devoting extra time to explaining where a giant squid with psychic powers came from might have been a bit much for any film to bear. One thing that did bug me was the Forrest Gump-style soundtrack. "The Times They Are A Changin" during the opening credit montage was effective but can we get a referendum on never using Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower" in a film again? I'm aware that Chapter 10 of the book is titled after a quote from the song but they didn't use Iggy Pop's "Neighborhood Threat," did they?
However, for all my (and others) niggling, most of the film works. Jackie Earl Haley's Rorschach is particularly potent. While Zack Synder and company deserve full credit for sticking close to the original vision, it may have turned out that Watchmen was unfilmable after all. The comic's greatness comes not just from its story but also that it was formally brilliant and that aspect, by nature, cannot be translated into another medium. Watchmen, the movie, is an entertaining if flawed film. Watchmen, the comic, is one of the greatest achievements in the history of its medium. The adaptation surely won't have the lasting import of its source material but it more or less succeeds on its own terms. At very least, we should be thankful it wasn't another League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
I do!
(Say hello to this year's most annoyingly ubiquitous Halloween costume.)Actually, with my expectations being sufficiently low, I enjoyed the Watchmen movie for what it was: a moderately dumbed-down, cliff notes version of the comic. I've read the comic I-don't-know-how-many-times and there was delight to be had in seeing key scenes spring to life on screen. It's certainly the most faithful Alan Moore adaptation ever committed to celluloid. Of course, I had the ability to fill in backstory as necessary, which would be impossible for someone who hasn't read the book.
Still, I had some problems with the film. (You really didn't think I wasn't going to complain, did you?) As a film, Watchmen kind of falls apart in its second half. Unsurprisingly, this is when the graphic novel most deviates from straight narrative storytelling, i.e. lots of Tales of the Black Freighter, information given in the supplemental sections, etc. This is one of the reasons the book had been categorized as "unfilmable" for so long. In my opinion, there were three key elements that could have improved the second half and the film as a whole. (Lots of SPOILERS here. Consider yourself warned.)
1. The characterization of Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt felt completely wrong. Matthew Goode's choice to play him as fey and smug didn't jibe with the Veidt from the book, who I saw as charming and likable. Also, his backstory was underdeveloped and thus the viewer never really got that the intention of his actions was, in his mind, completely noble. He just seems like a weaselly super-villian and I can't imagine that someone coming to the film with fresh eyes would be surprised that he's the story's antagonist. One of the key elements of Watchmen is the contrast between the passive Dr. Manhattan and the activist Ozymandias, an element the film misses completely, even ignoring their final conversation.
2. The revelation of Laurie's true parentage was ham-fisted and came off as unimportant. I didn't really have an issue with giving Dr. Manhattan a "magic touch" as it's sort of implied in the book that he may have been aiding Laurie's mind but it still felt rather rushed and sort of inconsequential. The conversation on Mars is given a full chapter in the book and the slow build up made the end result all the more affecting. In the film, one really never gets the sense of Laurie's hatred for the Comedian and why the realization that she's been hiding facts from herself would be so devastating. Subsequently, that this revelation would move Dr. Manhattan to save mankind felt forced.
3. None of the comic's many non-superhero characters are given any substantial amount of screen time. We see little to none of the two Bernies, the detectives, the lesbian couple, or Dr. and Mrs. Long. When Veidt's "masterstroke" kills all these people, we've been following their lives for most of the book. Their deaths give a resonance to the story's denouement that the film is sorely lacking. I understand that time constraints meant ignoring these characters but by excising them the filmmakers have also excised much of the book's humanity. Perhaps at least including Bernard the news vendor, who more or less functions as the comic's Greek chorus, would have been a smart move.
When Watchmen is released on DVD it will contain an extra hour of footage so perhaps these issues will be rectified. Some of the other issues the film's critics raised didn't bother me that much. Yes, Malin Akerman's performance was a little flat but wasn't Hayden Christensen-level distracting/embarrassing. Yes, they changed the ending a bit but devoting extra time to explaining where a giant squid with psychic powers came from might have been a bit much for any film to bear. One thing that did bug me was the Forrest Gump-style soundtrack. "The Times They Are A Changin" during the opening credit montage was effective but can we get a referendum on never using Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower" in a film again? I'm aware that Chapter 10 of the book is titled after a quote from the song but they didn't use Iggy Pop's "Neighborhood Threat," did they?
However, for all my (and others) niggling, most of the film works. Jackie Earl Haley's Rorschach is particularly potent. While Zack Synder and company deserve full credit for sticking close to the original vision, it may have turned out that Watchmen was unfilmable after all. The comic's greatness comes not just from its story but also that it was formally brilliant and that aspect, by nature, cannot be translated into another medium. Watchmen, the movie, is an entertaining if flawed film. Watchmen, the comic, is one of the greatest achievements in the history of its medium. The adaptation surely won't have the lasting import of its source material but it more or less succeeds on its own terms. At very least, we should be thankful it wasn't another League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Witness Protection: Entertainment's Best New Story-Telling Device
Witness relocation is no loner just for Larry the Cable Guy vehicles and Sopranos fan fiction anymore.
Exhibit A is Incognito, the new comic book from writer Ed Brubaker and creator Sean Phillips. The Brubaker/Phillips creative team previously collaborated on a pair of outstanding comic series, Sleeper and Criminal. At first, Incognito seemed like a bit of a retread of the former, which wasn't entirely a bad thing since Sleeper was one of those rare superhero comics I would recommend without reluctance even to those who aren't fans of the genre. The premise is rather similar: a superpowered, morally-ambiguous protagonist entrenched in an environment were he can't reveal his true identity or purpose. Plus, there's the "femme fatale" that seems to be every one of Brubaker's stories. However, the second issue, just released this past Wednesday, really brought the story into its own. Incognito's reformed supervillian protagonist is now faced with a situation where his urge to do good can only result in bad things happening to him. Besides that, this urge is less a penance for his former crimes than a way of satiating of his bloodlust. It's a original and gripping take on superhero mythology. Plus, Brubaker introduces a new antagonist who, to put it in the simplest terms possible, is scary as fuck. I'm putting Incognito on my increasingly short list of "floppies" I pick up on monthly basis and you probably should as well. A preview of the first issue can be found here.
Exhibit B is Delocated, the new non-animated Adult Swim series from Late Night with Conan O'Brien writer and top shelf funny guy Jon Glaser, which premiered Thursday night. The concept is that a family is simultaneously put into witness protection and starring in their own reality show. If that doesn't sound all that hilarious, I'm just not doing Delocated justice because the 15-minute pilot had me laughing just as much as either episode of The Office or 30 Rock broadcast the same night. Below is a very brief clip from an upcoming episode:
You can find the show's official Adult Swim page here. There's not much content there now but one would have to assume videos of full episodes will be up soon. Now if only I could get a video of Glaser's complete "Johnny Ding-Dong" performance he did for the Comedians of Comedy. "This guy's a dick! Ding-dong!"
Exhibit A is Incognito, the new comic book from writer Ed Brubaker and creator Sean Phillips. The Brubaker/Phillips creative team previously collaborated on a pair of outstanding comic series, Sleeper and Criminal. At first, Incognito seemed like a bit of a retread of the former, which wasn't entirely a bad thing since Sleeper was one of those rare superhero comics I would recommend without reluctance even to those who aren't fans of the genre. The premise is rather similar: a superpowered, morally-ambiguous protagonist entrenched in an environment were he can't reveal his true identity or purpose. Plus, there's the "femme fatale" that seems to be every one of Brubaker's stories. However, the second issue, just released this past Wednesday, really brought the story into its own. Incognito's reformed supervillian protagonist is now faced with a situation where his urge to do good can only result in bad things happening to him. Besides that, this urge is less a penance for his former crimes than a way of satiating of his bloodlust. It's a original and gripping take on superhero mythology. Plus, Brubaker introduces a new antagonist who, to put it in the simplest terms possible, is scary as fuck. I'm putting Incognito on my increasingly short list of "floppies" I pick up on monthly basis and you probably should as well. A preview of the first issue can be found here.
Exhibit B is Delocated, the new non-animated Adult Swim series from Late Night with Conan O'Brien writer and top shelf funny guy Jon Glaser, which premiered Thursday night. The concept is that a family is simultaneously put into witness protection and starring in their own reality show. If that doesn't sound all that hilarious, I'm just not doing Delocated justice because the 15-minute pilot had me laughing just as much as either episode of The Office or 30 Rock broadcast the same night. Below is a very brief clip from an upcoming episode:
You can find the show's official Adult Swim page here. There's not much content there now but one would have to assume videos of full episodes will be up soon. Now if only I could get a video of Glaser's complete "Johnny Ding-Dong" performance he did for the Comedians of Comedy. "This guy's a dick! Ding-dong!"
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
50 Things I Love About Comics
Though I usually devote this blog to rock music geekery rather than comic book geekery I happened across a pair of top 50 lists at The Savage Critics and got inspired.
What can I say? It was a slow day at work.
1 Buddy Bradley
2 Getting excited when a friend is reading Watchmen for the first time
3 Bendis/Maleev's dialog-free issue of Daredevil
4 Miss Misery, the epitome of the "that gal is trouble" archetype used in what seems like all of Ed Brubaker's stories
5 Batman vs Superman fight in the Justice League New Frontier Special
6 Gotham Central
7 Smax explaining that a vision of a three-headed woman with a serpent's tale holding a flaming sword and a human heart is not sign that he's supposed to go on a quest but an "atmospheric phenomena"
8 Spider-Man trapped under heavy machinery
9 Astro City
10 The repeated humiliation/mutilation of Herr Starr
11 Joe Matt's pornography woes
12 Warpsmiths
13 David Mazzucchelli
14 Sensual Santa
15 The opening sequence to the first issue of Suicide Squad wherein super villains really fuck shit up for once
16 The Eltingville Comic-Book, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Role-Playing Club
17 The before and after "yearbook photos" in Black Hole
18 The brightly colored but eerie psychedelic landscape of Jim Woodring's Frank
19 The Amazing Screw-On Head
20 The predestination paradox denouement of the "Story of the Year" arc in Supreme
21 The repulsive yet somehow adorable recurring characters in Kaz's Underworld
22 That the Acme Novelty Library is so formally and aesthetically stunning and evocative that I keep coming back for more even though I find it invariably depressing
23 Ivan Brunetti's "humor" comics
24 Henry Hotchkiss
25 This "What If Harvey Pekar got super powers?" web comic by Gregg Schigiel
26 Jim Steranko's pop art-inspired work for Marvel in the 60s
27 "You don't get it, boy. This isn't a mudhole. It's an operating table. And I'm the surgeon."
28 Darkseid's cameo on the last page of each issue of the original Ambush Bug mini-series accompanied by the (unfulfilled) promise that the following issue would be "When Titans Clash!"
29 Jules Feiffer
30 Drew Friedman's caricatures
31 Concrete's neuroses
32 Why I Hate Saturn
33 Seeing Jen Grunwald's name when I open a Marvel book (Hi Jen!)
34 Continuity bean counters loitering in any given comic shop
35 J. Jonah Jameson
36 Mike Carey's Crossing Midnight
37 Adam Warlock stealing the soul of his future self using the vampiric soul gem on his forehead (don't ask)
38 The insane Mr Fantastic pastiche talking to his "invisible" wife in Marshall Law Takes Manhattan
39 The Green Lantern Oath
40 Peter Bagge's under appreciated Sweatshop
41 Reading old Life in Hell strips and marveling that a mind that irreverent could create one of the biggest institutions in popular culture
42 Shamrock Squid
43 Chester Brown's The Playboy
44 The fact that I know anyone with a decal of Calvin peeing on something is going straight to hell
45 Dennis Eichhorn
46 Wimbledon Green
47 Pictopia!
48 Douglas Wolk and Scott McCloud discussing the medium intelligently
49 Back issues of Weirdo on sale for the original cover price
50 Knowing that the artist for The New Yorker's post-9/11 cover and the creator of Garbage Pail Kids are the same person
(Editor's Note: I just noticed that aside from the Sensual Santa there is nary a mention of Daniel Clowes here and do I love Daniel Clowes. Maybe he should remind me how much I love him by, oh I don't know, PUTTING OUT ANOTHER COMIC BOOK!)
What can I say? It was a slow day at work.
1 Buddy Bradley
2 Getting excited when a friend is reading Watchmen for the first time
3 Bendis/Maleev's dialog-free issue of Daredevil
4 Miss Misery, the epitome of the "that gal is trouble" archetype used in what seems like all of Ed Brubaker's stories
5 Batman vs Superman fight in the Justice League New Frontier Special
6 Gotham Central
7 Smax explaining that a vision of a three-headed woman with a serpent's tale holding a flaming sword and a human heart is not sign that he's supposed to go on a quest but an "atmospheric phenomena"
8 Spider-Man trapped under heavy machinery
9 Astro City
10 The repeated humiliation/mutilation of Herr Starr
11 Joe Matt's pornography woes
12 Warpsmiths
13 David Mazzucchelli
14 Sensual Santa
15 The opening sequence to the first issue of Suicide Squad wherein super villains really fuck shit up for once
16 The Eltingville Comic-Book, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Role-Playing Club
17 The before and after "yearbook photos" in Black Hole
18 The brightly colored but eerie psychedelic landscape of Jim Woodring's Frank
19 The Amazing Screw-On Head
20 The predestination paradox denouement of the "Story of the Year" arc in Supreme
21 The repulsive yet somehow adorable recurring characters in Kaz's Underworld
22 That the Acme Novelty Library is so formally and aesthetically stunning and evocative that I keep coming back for more even though I find it invariably depressing
23 Ivan Brunetti's "humor" comics
24 Henry Hotchkiss
25 This "What If Harvey Pekar got super powers?" web comic by Gregg Schigiel
26 Jim Steranko's pop art-inspired work for Marvel in the 60s
27 "You don't get it, boy. This isn't a mudhole. It's an operating table. And I'm the surgeon."
28 Darkseid's cameo on the last page of each issue of the original Ambush Bug mini-series accompanied by the (unfulfilled) promise that the following issue would be "When Titans Clash!"
29 Jules Feiffer
30 Drew Friedman's caricatures
31 Concrete's neuroses
32 Why I Hate Saturn
33 Seeing Jen Grunwald's name when I open a Marvel book (Hi Jen!)
34 Continuity bean counters loitering in any given comic shop
35 J. Jonah Jameson
36 Mike Carey's Crossing Midnight
37 Adam Warlock stealing the soul of his future self using the vampiric soul gem on his forehead (don't ask)
38 The insane Mr Fantastic pastiche talking to his "invisible" wife in Marshall Law Takes Manhattan
39 The Green Lantern Oath
40 Peter Bagge's under appreciated Sweatshop
41 Reading old Life in Hell strips and marveling that a mind that irreverent could create one of the biggest institutions in popular culture
42 Shamrock Squid
43 Chester Brown's The Playboy
44 The fact that I know anyone with a decal of Calvin peeing on something is going straight to hell
45 Dennis Eichhorn
46 Wimbledon Green
47 Pictopia!
48 Douglas Wolk and Scott McCloud discussing the medium intelligently
49 Back issues of Weirdo on sale for the original cover price
50 Knowing that the artist for The New Yorker's post-9/11 cover and the creator of Garbage Pail Kids are the same person
(Editor's Note: I just noticed that aside from the Sensual Santa there is nary a mention of Daniel Clowes here and do I love Daniel Clowes. Maybe he should remind me how much I love him by, oh I don't know, PUTTING OUT ANOTHER COMIC BOOK!)
Saturday, March 08, 2008
My nerdiness is showing
No, this isn't about the death of Gary Gygax.
Yesterday, director Zach Snyder posted pictures from the now in post-production Watchmen movie:
I'm sure nerds around the world are alternately salivating and griping over the pictures. I really don't mind the modifications to the original costumes. Let's face it, some of them would look pretty silly on screen as compared to the page. If I have any complaint it's that Silk Spectre II looks far too young. Laurie Juspeczyk is what, in her late 30s/early 40s during the events of Watchmen? I suppose the target audience would rather look at someone more nubile in that outfit. And where's Dr. Manhattan? I want to see a blue, bald and naked Billy Crudup.
As much as I love the original graphic novel I little faith this movie is going to be any good. People have been called Watchmen unfilmable for 20 years and nothing in director Snyder's prior oeuvre (300, the Dawn of the Dead remake) that leads me to believe he's found the secret to make it work. But yeah, I'll probably still see it anyway. At the very least I'm sure it will look good.
You can see the rest of the images here. The movie won't be out for another year.
There's also a terrific piece on the work of Watchmen author Alan Moore in the Onion AV Club which I suggest you all check out. I'm going to head to the comic shop in a little while and fill in the gaps in my collection.
I'll probably be getting even nerdier in the near future but there's a good chance in will be on this blog.
Yesterday, director Zach Snyder posted pictures from the now in post-production Watchmen movie:
I'm sure nerds around the world are alternately salivating and griping over the pictures. I really don't mind the modifications to the original costumes. Let's face it, some of them would look pretty silly on screen as compared to the page. If I have any complaint it's that Silk Spectre II looks far too young. Laurie Juspeczyk is what, in her late 30s/early 40s during the events of Watchmen? I suppose the target audience would rather look at someone more nubile in that outfit. And where's Dr. Manhattan? I want to see a blue, bald and naked Billy Crudup.
As much as I love the original graphic novel I little faith this movie is going to be any good. People have been called Watchmen unfilmable for 20 years and nothing in director Snyder's prior oeuvre (300, the Dawn of the Dead remake) that leads me to believe he's found the secret to make it work. But yeah, I'll probably still see it anyway. At the very least I'm sure it will look good.
You can see the rest of the images here. The movie won't be out for another year.
There's also a terrific piece on the work of Watchmen author Alan Moore in the Onion AV Club which I suggest you all check out. I'm going to head to the comic shop in a little while and fill in the gaps in my collection.
I'll probably be getting even nerdier in the near future but there's a good chance in will be on this blog.
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