but wasn't The Incredibles the Incredibles for grown-ups? 

given 300 but I'd like to be surprised. Might watch it next week. 

watchmen looks good, but then, the trailer for 300 made it look awesome, and it was terrible. 

...is a clever WATCHMEN ripoff.

This flick here, I think will be the Superhero movie I'll hate most.

Poor Zack has alredy done an ugly enough job in turning a wonderfully dry tale of pride&power(300) in a syrupy melodramatic nonsense.
I think it's about time he gives up comics movies for good and moves on a field that suits better his talents.

Like flipping burgers.

I'm dead scared of what he may have done to one of the greatest GNs of all time... 

General consensus among hardcore Watchmen lovers around the office is that the movie rocks. Just FYI. 

...I hope everything turns out well...

But, from the screens and trailers around the net, it seems to me that ol' Zack did it again...

I got a bad vibe about the characters having even half the depth of their paper orginals...

A fit and muscular Nite Owl, for example, gives away a lot about how misrepresented he has been...


I'll be happy to change my mind, though... 

I guess. I don't really know the original book myself but those who I know who do, loved the movie. They even loved the ending and say it was changed for the better.

You seem extremely negative on the whole thing and are probably going to not like it out of spite or something, but hopefully you'll be surprised. 

...yes, I guess I'm extremely negative on a whole lot of things, lately, and I think you're right.

But I will try to look at it with the best disposition.

As for the book... Well, I suggest you give it a look. If you love superhero comics, even slightly, you're really missing something. I somehow envy all those who still don't know it.

I'd like to go on with an angry rant about From Hell, but I think the old boring man inside me has said enough for today!!!

I'll go watch the Watchmen(so we finally found Who Watches them, we do!) on Wednesday. We'll see. 

If you already feel so negative about it, why are you even watching it? Why not simply keep the images and fantasy you have of the comics? 

And, maybe I really don't know...

Because lately I'm buried at work, and when I'm not in the office, I'm home working?

It's nice to have a night out, every now and then.

Because a lot of friends want to go see it with me?

It's fun to argue upon a very useless matter with someone as nerd as you...

Do I think it will ruin my view of the Comic Book?

Nah, impossible... I read it every year or so and it never fails to impress me. I learned to keep movies and comics in separate drawers of my brain. No matter how hard they try. They're simply 2 very different media formats, and it takes a very good artist(be it a director or a writer) to merge them functionally... Better than the ones that usually have a go at it...

In the end, if I don't like it, it'll end up there with the other stuff I watched and did not like... And they sure are not all Comic based movies.

And, mind you, I'm not saying it will necessarily suck as a movie, but it may suck bad as an adaptation of a very complex and multi-layered novel. 

If you act like a sheep, she comes back after going on a fucking tour of the world and you'll get together and have a happy life.
Ok yeah whatever.

Otherwise it had its moments. 

shouldnt you factor that in though?

The LOTR films are great but as adaptations of the books, they're not so great. Heaps of stuff is omitted/changed/modified but luckily mainly for the betterment of having a movie instead of fetishistic translation.

From Hell isnt a great film, but its a pretty good one, even though its a poor adaptation of the actual novel.

But I do tend to agree that, from the trailers, Watchmen looks more like what V for Vendetta turned out like rather than any of the above.

Still, plan to see it next week. I'd be happy if they only get Rorshach right. 

In fact:
"I'm not saying it will necessarily suck as a movie, but it may suck bad as an adaptation of a very complex and multi-layered novel"

Your observation about LOTR is right.
I wouldn't agree about From Hell being a good film though,IMO, it's a bit of a mish mash of ideas from the GN (very few) and standard Hollywood fare. I did not like this one.

From what I read above, you're much more competent and informed than me about cinema, so that must be taken into account.

V for Vendetta, yes, it was pretty good, and I'd be happy if W turns out like it. Probably it will.

A person from another forum brought up an aspect of this kind of operation that I think must be considered

"The "too faithful" aspect in WATCHMEN for me were a lot of places where actors and cameras moved in an overtly contrived manner to "land" on iconic images from the book, and instances where dialogue that should never have been spoken out loud was transferred from the page verbatim."

This has been, from what I saw, a common trend in later comic based productions, and I can see a certain logic behind it, but only if done with good measure.

Rorschach, well, I totally agree with you.
A very good comic book artist, that maybe you're familiar with, John Byrne, said on his forum on this very subject:
"WATCHMEN is considered a literal translation? Rorshach is about the only
character who looks like himself!"

So I guess we can rest assured about that one. 

Not used to NZ getting movies before the US...

Went to see it again tonight, still liked it :) If you pretend it was an original work and forget about the novel or do a shot-by-shot comparison of the novel and the film, either way heck, it's nice to have a superhero movie that's so deeply ambiguous and without it degenerating into giant robots hitting each other (I'm looking at you, Iron Man).

Go watch. 

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Nick and Norah's Infinite Shitfest. I want to love you Michael Cera, why must you make it so difficult? At least you finally signed on for the Arrested Development movie, hopefully that will have jokes and/or a plot. 

you secretely already love him and make love to him every night in your mind. 

I quiver before your tedious attempted burn. Ok, sometimes I might dream of Gob, occasionally Tobias (in the daddy loves leather outfit), but never have I imagined a passionate night of love with George Michael in the frozen banana stand. Never. 

I hope you never wake up from those dreams wondering where the lighter fluid came from :) 

Jab We Met (2007) - above average bollywood film that is fairly easy to sit through but pretty forgettable. All the best bits are taken from better films and are offset by some really cringe worthy ones, especially in the second half. Two leads have reasonable chemistry.

5.5/10


Kill! (1968) - based on the same source as Akira Kurosawa's Sanjuro but you would be pretty hard pressed to know that when watching Kihachi Ochamoto's spaghetti western influenced film. Sanjuro is the better movie overall but this is plain fun throughout its running time. All the lifts from Sergio Leone's westerns are used well, right down to the Ennio Morricone-esque score, and the action scenes are as visceral as those in Ochamoto's Sword of Doom.

7/10


Mad Detective (2007) - Detective Bun has a gift, he can see people's 'inner personalities'. His gift is also his curse, and with that curse comes his madness which isolates him from his friends and colleagues. It might sound familiar to pretty much every detective thriller made in recent years but what sets Johnnie To's movie apart is the confident storytelling with which he approaches his material. The style used to convey Bun's gift is novel and unique, and to give it away would be an injustice to To's expertise, but it makes for a fascinating little thriller despite the mundane central plot.

7-7.5/10


Midnight (1939) - pretty funny screwball comedy written by Billy Wilder and with Claudette Colbert, Mary Astor, Don Ameche and John Barrymore. The script is a little uneven but even when the writing is not upto scratch, the performers are resulting in a pleasant and occasionally hilarious movie.

6.5-7/10


Mr Deeds Goes to Town (1936) - above average effort from Capra with the dramatic bits really coming across as too corny. But the leads are good and the movie works reasonably well when not taking itself too seriously.

6/10 

The Night of the Iguana (1964) - pretty good version of one of Tennessee Williams' lesser known plays directed by John Huston and with Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner.

The first half is the best with some vicious humour, which Burton clearly relishes in dispensing, and some nice byplay between the various characters. The second half which has a more redemptive and serious tone is not quite as good, lacking conviction for the most part despite good acting.

6.5/10


No Way Out (1950) - solid, noirish, racially charged thriller/drama by Joseph L Mankiewicz with Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier putting in good performances and with some cracker scenes that don�t hold back. The main problem is the pacing which is all over the place but the reaosnably good writing and acting overcome it for the most part.

6.5/10


Before the Reovlution (1964) - extremely casual and indifferent in the way it presents its characters and themes, actually narratively it�s a bit of a mess. But Bernardo Bertolucci is more interested in the marriage of imagery and sound and this is one extremely stylish film.

Combining one of Ennio Morricone's best scores with some amazing camerawork Bertolucci manages to readily involve you with the plight of his characters, without admittedly ever really managing to communicate what is driving them.

But this is as close to visual grace as you are going to find and is worth watching for that alone.

7/10


Ridicule (1996) - decent and quite clever french period film set in the 18th century at the decadent court of Versailles where social status can rise and fall based on a person's ability to dish out witty insults and avoid ridicule themselves. The plot centers around a young aristocrat wanting to see the king and finding out that it requires more than just goodwill. He's of course taught in the ways of upper class and the movie follows the regular path of most underdog narratives. But the script is genuinely sharp and witty and quite a pleasure to see performed, even if it achieves that at the expense of character involvement. Patrice Leconte has always been a very good visual director and this is also quite a nice looking film.

6.5-7/10


Samurai Rebellion (1967) - one of the greatest japanese films of all time and probably only matched by the (very different) The Seven Samurai when it comes to samurai films.

Its pretty much perfect in all aspects and unfolds its tragic story beautifully with a noticeable but not overbearing critique of Edo period Japan. Like The Seven Samurai, it has absolutely no dead space with every scene adding to either character or plot or both.

Masaki Kobayashi gets great performances from his cast, including Toshiro Mifune, and his command of the high quality material at his disposal is fantastic.

8.5-9/10


Stage Fright (1950) - minor but still entertaining Hitchcock that is really let down by an ending that has more holes in it the more you think about it. Until then, it�s a deft mix of humour and light suspense that never reaches any great heights but is very watchable.

6/10


Let the Right one In (2008) - one of the best films of last year, this Swedish film is a very interesting and different take on the vampire mythology. It avoids most of the cliches of the vampire genre, probably because it really is more of a story about two lonely children who find comfort in each other.

Those expecting constant action will probably be disppointed, although the set pieces are still stunningly staged, but if you are willing to put up with a slightly slow pace it rewards you with a touching and dark relationship between its young protagonists.

7.5-8/10 

I'm a watchmen fan *comic - NOT GN!(pedantic)* and I thought it was ... decent? The ending was an improvement in my mind, and it certainly made sense since the tie-in stories had to be cut due to length etc. Violence seemed to take center stage in some ways. It was one area where the movie kind of 'expanded' on the comic book in a way that seemed more sensationalistic than faithful. Especially in the rorshach psych profile section where they changed elements which made the scene more intimately graphic.
It's just one of those situations where the creators want to be faithful to the comic, but there are always iteneraries with regards to what will get the most attention. This is a visually faithful movie, but it feels as if it has less soul and a less intimate understanding of itself.

Oh, and LTROI is fucking amazing, love it even if some scenes are goofy instead of 'scary' since that's not what this movie is really about at its heart at all. 

....I assume you're familiar with Byrnerobotics? 

I picked up IT Crowd lately and damn what a great show. Just watched S02E01, haha. 

no. why? 

...of an ever heated discussion over there on GN/Comics issue!

http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=30534&PN=2&totPosts=75