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'Bourne' Director to take on Watchmen
Here's one of those mixed blessing stories: Paul Greengrass, the director of the Bourne Supremacy has been tapped to direct a film based on The Watchmen, one of the greatest comics ever made. No word on if Paul plans to add Tom Sawyer to the cast.
One of Watchmen's great strengths is its interconnections. How is Hollywood NOT going to screw that up? I mean, movies like Memento are a rarity.
[You have a stable society when some nut guns down a schoolyard and the law doesn't change.]
"Darren Aronofsky? I'm on the phone NOW!" said Law, clearly excited. "Adrian Veidt, King of Kings!" And then, as if to show off his Watchmen fanboy credentials, he whispered conspiratorially. "I'm tattooed with Rorschach, did you know that?"
If Greengrass finds a camera man who doesn't suffer from non-stop epileptic seizures, I'm cool with it.
There's a reason Terry Guilliam opted out of working on a film adaptation of Watchmen. The man stated in a book dedicated to Moore's fiftieth birthday that he drew comfort from the fact that he wouldnt' be the one to fuck over the work.
:(
This is Watchmen. This ain't spiderman, this ain't X-men, this ain't dime-store fluff. This is one of the greatest works in the genre and an absolute masterpiece of the superhero medium.
And Guilliam is on the record as being happy he won't be the one to fuck it over. Paul Greengrass has stepped up to the plate, proving he has some sort of perverse urge to alienate pretty much everyone who's ever read the book.
Watchmen can't be done in 90-120 minutes with Big Name Actors. Leastwise, it can't be done right, and if it can't be done right, it shouldn't be done at all.
The thing that worries me is the "based on" bit - just as "StarShip Troopers" was "based on" the book by Robert Heinlein - in that some of the character names were used, but that's about it.
If Watchmen the movie is "based on" Watchmen the graphic novel in the same way, I suggest installing seat belts in all the theaters to prevent the audience from being pulled from their seats by the suction of the movie.
If, on the other hand, this movie is a reasonably faithful rendition of the graphic novel... then count me in.
www.eFax.com are spammers
What's next??? V For Vendetta starring Vin Diesel?? The Rock IS The Sandman... *gag* *wretch* *puke*
For those of you who haven't heard of Watchmen before, or haven't read it - you should. This is one of the works that really showed just how well comics could tell adult stories and be more than spandex and capes.
[insert sig file here]
November 23,2004
This city fears me, because I have seen its true face. The Hollywood people want to tell my story. They think they can tell my story? No one can tell my story. No one except me.
In the past there were men who could tell my story. Men like my father or President Eisenhower. But that was before the lawyers and the pornographers and the bleeding heart teachers took over.
Now the smell of their corruption is in the air, polluting everything with their filth and their pornography and their so-called civil liberties.
But their reign will not last. There will be war soon. A Great War sewwping over everything like a storm. And it will wash away the stench and corruption of Hollywood, Las Vegas, New York and all the other cesspools of this country.
And, in their desperation, the people will look up to me an beg me for their help.
And I will look down and I will say
"No."
-------- In Soviet Russia, "Soviet Russia" sigs hate Slashdot.
Have you noticed how Alan Moore's comics tend to be a little skruffy in movie form?
Yup. It's because of how Alan Moore works. He usually takes something that is normally considered "low" art--Victorian pulp fiction, superhero comics, and so on--and gives it depth and realism. The Watchmen, for example, takes the idea of the superhero and thrusts it into the real world and the resulting slow-motion trainwreck is fascinating.
Hollywood does depth really badly. Even if they manage to fit all of The Watchmen into two hours while still keeping its shape, they're going to end up turning it into just another superhero team movie.
There are several sites dedicated to critical readings of Watchmen, because it is so dense.
These are all dripping spoilers, so care should be taken in following these links. Having Watchmen spoiled is something I wouldn't wish on anyone.
Watching the detectives, a Hypertext guide to Watchmen.
Watchmen observations.
Watchmen annotations.
Taking Off the Mask, a bacheolor's thesis by Samuel Asher Effron, class 1996.
Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
Who will watch the watchmen?
When this happens, please do the right thing and save us the trouble of having to hunting you down.
1. V for Vendetta
2. Watchmen
I can't think of anything that I'd put anywhere close to those two.
I've said it previously on Slashdot (in someone's journal, if I remember correctly) but V for Vendetta would make a great movie. The only problem is that movies that have a terrorist attacking the machinery of a fascist state aren't exactly easy to sell in today's political climate.
Seriously, if you haven't read V for Vendetta (or Watchmen) then do whatever you have to to do so. I found copies of both at my library recently, together with a whole bunch of great graphic novels. which totally blew me away. Even the librarian who checked out my books remarked at how much she'd enjoyed them.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
Strikes Back on the big screen seems more appropriate.
Think about it.