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V for Vendetta Going to Hollywood
gludington writes "Alan Moore's "other" early masterpiece, V for Vendetta, is in early pre-production. Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers will produce for Warner Brothers, and Natalie Portman will play Evey Hammond. The rest of the movie is as yet uncast (and unwritten), so release dates on the article and the imdb entry should be taken with a sizable grain of salt."
The real challange is to see which sucks more, this or the movie version of Watchman.
- Crow T. Trollbot
So there will be Calvinist overtones divided into three parts, the first of which will be revolutionary and mind-blowing. The second will be an advancement, more action, have lots of confusing theology, and twins (albino). The third part of the movie will suck...but have the longest "die already!!!" scene ever.
Oh, and due to the whole pandering-to-the-audience thing they seem to be infamous for, there will be a scene with Portman and hot grits.
Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers will produce for Warner Brothers
Don't you mean the Wachowski Siblings?
I need to read this quick so I'll know what to hate about the movie when it comes out!
Thinkin' Lincoln - a web comic of presidential proportions
I'm going to take the opportunity to respond to one thing you said while ignoring most of the troll portion:
"grow up and realize that Sailor Moon and X-Men are not literature"
While I agree that most "comics" are not literature, there is a fine distinction between comics as entertainment and comics as art form. A good friend of mine presented his graphic arts thesis - a four foot high series of comic panels. I don't like the word comic because it naturally implies humor. So the term I've started to use is "graphic novels."
I don't consider serials or regular comic books to be graphic novels. But looking at something like the Pulitzer Prize winning Maus by Art Spiegelman, you see that it's not all funny or action-related. I read that when I was in seventh grade, just a year after it came out. I picked it up thinking it was a comic book... it's not.
I just read Blankets by Craig Thompson. I got sucked in and a few hours later it was all over. Most normal books don't have the emotional impact that his work does.
Graphic novels try to bridge the gap between literature and visual art. It's not often that they really succeed, but when they do it can be far more effective than a regular novel.
I really hope they don't fuck with the storyline and the politics of this classic. Alan Moore is one of my favorite political writers, and it'd be a shame if this is given the same treatment as "From Hell" was.
If you don't know, V for Vendetta was about an anarchist (in the classical theoretical sense, not the bs modern punk rock sense) revolutionary who uses "terrorist" tactics to save Britain from fascism. It's not something that I see Hollywood understanding, even though I think most people would understand why the tactics were used, and the politics behind them.
In the book, V straddles the line between anarchist and vanguard, taking actions into his own hands, but with the express purpose of encouraging the people to fight back. It's not about an anarcho-socialist utopia, it recognizes the compromises that an anarchist would have to make in dire circumstances.
And ultimately, it's really, really fucking cool. Please, hollywood, please don't fuck it up.
...You may remember me from such movies as "M is for Murderousness"...
The problem I see with this movie is that the original storyline may not seem particularly amusing for the current political and moral environment.
Right now the preview says: "a mysterious man in a white porcelain mask who fights political oppressors through terrorism and seemingly absurd acts", but this description doesn't fit the darker spirit of the original.
While the description does mention terrorism, V is much more complex than that, as described in several reviews and analysis, like this one. Thus I'm expecting that along the road, V will be transformed into some kind of "masked avenger" or Batman-like superhero, better suited for the post-9/11 era.
I don't expect the movie to portrait V blowing up government buildings, killing policemen and a priest, questioning Justice and promoting Anarchy, like in the original. So, what's the point of adapting it? If these Wachowski guys want some story about oppression, they'd be better off adapting Cinderella for that matter.
If it's changed in such a way, it will be ironic that a story that shows a world of totalitarianism and lack of freedom won't be translated verbatim into another medium because of issues with "political correctness".
- Otaku no naka no otaku, otaking da!!!