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grrgoylThe good news is I now have a working copy of the Wii Link's Crossbow training. The bad news is I had to shell out to buy it all over again, but whatev. It seemed preferable to spending the rest of my life puzzling over the mystery of why it works on my neighbor's console and not mine, even after my otherwise last hope of an online update.
I also just spent probably more time than I should have creating Harry and Snape Miis. I can't wait for Tery to see them.
And Me Mii:
I also got some of my Snape paraphernalia. First, something I came across while wandering on eBay and HAD to have:
This is actually a pencil drawing (or a print of the drawing, but it feels original) by artist Andrew Fry, despite looking like a photo. I just wish the orangutans at the post office could read the instructions written in huge letters "DO NOT BEND." You can see the bend in the bottom right corner.
I also got the NECA resin statue:
This photo proves that lighting can make all the difference. He actually doesn't look this nice in regular sunlight.
Hopefully these will satisfy my hunger for awhile.
~*~
Tery's home in Connecticut for 2 weeks, which means lots and lots of movies are being watched in her absence. A few I think are worthy of my comments.
First, the lesser ones. I'm cutting for length, not spoilers (except Watchmen, and I put a big warning in just in case):
Day Watch (this one's short and sweet): The follow-up to Night Watch, by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, and even more incoherent. Remember the first one when I fell asleep and regretted trying to finish it anyway? Tery came in 30 minutes into Day Watch and watched a bit. I said, "If you're confused, don't feel bad. I am too and I watched it from the beginning." I made it to the 1-hour mark and it still wasn't half done, which is when I decided I'd had enough.
Timur has a very pretty, showy style. He was behind Wanted (which I loved) and the upcoming 9 which also looks visually distinctive. As far as a plot that makes sense (with the exception of Wanted), he's got a bit to learn.
Ghost Town: Ricky Gervais plays Whoopi Goldberg to Greg Kinnear's Patrick Swayze (awww, R.I.P., big guy), with a healthy dose of Heart and Souls thrown in.
Ricky is perfect as the totally misanthropic, sad, lonely dentist who, thanks to a freak anesthesia complication, dies for 7 minutes and comes back with the ability to talk to ghosts.
He's immediately beset by every spirit in the city with pleas to help them finish their unfinished business. Kinnear has to settle up with his wife Tea Leoni, who falls in love with Gervais, and that's where my suspension of disbelief failed me. Which isn't to say I didn't bawl my eyes out at the totally predictable, totally calculated tearjerker moment when Ricky realizes his selfishness has gotten him nowhere and he should help all these strangers to be worthy of Leoni.
Funny, moving, and ample footage of Central Park, which is why I think Tery might like this.
Bruno: I love Sacha Baron Cohen. Borat: Hilarious. Ali G in da House: Loved it. Even Da Ali G Show. Yep, I'm all about Sacha. So I scoffed at the reviews for Bruno that accused him of crossing the line into bad taste and offensiveness. The only thing I love more than Sacha himself is teh gays, so I poo-poohed them all.
Turns out they weren't wrong. Some people call it a biting satirical commentary on homophobia in America. I think it was more Cohen going for extreme shock values so he could accuse his critics of homophobia. So people who DID laugh could feel enlightened and superior.
I call bullshit. I'm not homophobic (which should be fairly evident). I have a sense of humor. I recognize satire. I think I laughed once in the whole movie (when Bruno encounters a dominatrix at a swingers party who beats him, eliciting hilariously girlish little shrieks).
I find it hard to believe anyone still exists on this planet who hasn't heard of Sacha and his "candid camera" tricks. I find it even harder to believe that Richard Bey still has a television show somewhere.
People who are offended by Bruno aren't homophobic. They're more likely to be offended by the lewd sex behavior he implies and sometimes acts out just to get a reaction. Just like the Pride parades with the homos wearing assless chaps and making it all about sex and generally terrifying Middle America and adding fuel to the religious fires -- it's this outlandish stereotype we've been fighting so hard to overcome just to be granted basic relationship rights. Thanks, Sacha, for setting the movement back a few decades.
This wasn't meant to make fun of gays, it was meant to shock and offend the straights. Except we've been doing that all on our own just by existing.
Choke: Speaking of lewd public sex acts. This is based on the Chuck "Fight Club" Palahniuk novel about a sex addict (Sam Rockwell) who pays for his mother's (Anjelica Huston) nursing home by feigning choking episodes in restaurants and somehow guilting his rescuers into giving him handouts (not clear how this is done. We don't see the how, only the what).
When I took this out of the Netflix envelope, my first thought was actually "Oh yeah, I forgot I added this. Meh." This unfair attitude vanished in practically the first five minutes. It starts with my very favorite storytelling device, the voiceover narration. From there it kicks in right away with the funny, with the quirky, with the unexpected plot turns.
Strongly reminiscent of the Running with Scissors family dynamic, Victor's relationship with his mother is slowly revealed through a series of flashbacks. Meanwhile in the present he's battling his sex addiction, complicated by the fact that he's slept with every staff member at his mother's home. All while struggling to keep his job as a "historical interpreter" (he's a tour guide at a colonial village, which of course reminded me of the South Park episode "Super Fun Time"). You can see the potential for wackiness, and the movie realizes it to its full.
Instant purchase. I was thoroughly unprepared for how much I loved this movie.
Another one that falls firmly in this category, and no one was more surprised than me, is Watchmen.
Not all comic book movies are created equal. I can count on one hand the number I've watched being familiar with the source material, which might have given the ones I end up loving an advantage: no expectations to live up to.
So Tank Girl, V for Vendetta, the Christian Bale Batmans, 300, Mystery Men, Iron Man, Monkeybone (okay, so sometimes I like off-the-wall things), The Crow, the first Spidey, Men in Black, whaddya know Wanted! and of course X-Men have all made my cut.
Ones that weren't so lucky were Sin City (gave me a headache, and way too much violence), The Spirit (fell asleep over and over again), Constantine (pretty but nonsensical) and both Incredible Hulks (too much CGI), to name a few.
I tried several times to see Watchmen in theaters. What stopped me mostly was the prohibitively long running time -- 2 hours 45 minutes! That's a long time to devote to a story I knew nothing about. Consequently I would suggest anyone taking my recommendation to watch this do so only if there will be ample opportunity for breaks.
As you read this, keep in mind as I said I know nothing about the source material. I'm speaking purely as a viewer of the film. If I screw something up, break it to me gently.
The Watchmen are the second generation of the group of masked crimefighters called The Minutemen. There's Nite Owl (a Batman knock-off), The Comedian (sort of a Wolverine knock-off), Silk Spectre II (whose only super power seems to be instant seduction), Ozymandias (a rich corporate CEO obsessed with Egyptology, again, powers unclear other than his super checkbook), and my two favorites, Dr. Manhattan (big blue guy, victim of radiation accident) and Rorschach (always wears face stocking with shifting ink blots, no super powers except incredible agility and being utterly psychopathic).
This is actually an AU (alternate universe), so it's Nixon's third term and we've won the Vietnam War (with a little help from Dr. Manhattan). But then public opinion starts to turn against them. The Keene act is passed outlawing all "masks," leaving most of our heroes prematurely retired (except Manhattan, who can't exactly go back to being normal, and Rorschach who refuses to). Vietnam was a success, however, the Cold War is still alive and kicking, and the world lives under the threat of a very possible nuclear armageddon.
The movie opens with The Comedian being murdered. No one knows who by or why. In the course of finding answers to these questions, the story unfolds in two timelines, the present and the past, and the way the one still very much affects the other.
I don't want to tell the whole movie. Before I hit on the real highlights, I need to point out that the running time flies by. As a complete novice, I never felt bored. And despite having 5-6 main characters (more or less), the skillful use of flashbacks and very precise storytelling meant I very rarely found myself confused. And Zack Snyder's (300) unique cinematic style meant more often I just found myself in awe.
Beginning with the opening credits. I think this might be my favorite opening sequence of any movie ever. I won't make Tery sit through the whole film, but I might show her the credits. A series of snapshot moments that create a solid back story foundation to start from, transitioning from their Minutemen predecessors to the present, set to Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a'Changing" (normally hate Dylan, but loved him here). I think Tery will love especially the dead ringer Kennedy look-alike shaking Dr. Manhattan's hand (she's an enormous Kennedy buff). Key moments in history with the Watchmen inserted seamlessly.
I'll be honest. Far and away my favorite things about this movie were Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach, I think mainly because they're both at the extremes of antisocial, for different reasons and in different ways, both fascinating.
Dr. Manhattan started as mild-mannered physicist Jon Osterman (Billy Crudup, who was perfect). His future looks bright, until he gets trapped in an intrinsic field generator, whatever that is. Basically it dismantles all his molecules. But somehow he comes back -- not all at once, but gradually, leading to the best line in a movie (and presumably a book) ever: "A circulatory system is seen near a perimeter fence" (as he dispassionately narrates his origin story).
The key word up there is "dispassionately." Billy Crudup probably didn't have to do much, being 100% CGI, however he must have needed extensive voice coaching to achieve his perfectly emotionless and evenly paced without being robotic voice (that I could listen to for days. Very soothing).
Dr. Manhattan comes back with the ability not only to rearrange matter with a thought, but with the power to see into his own future to a certain extent. He's regarded as a god, and this is his tragedy -- being so powerful, being able to see the (really) big picture, seeing the Earth for the anthill it is, he's finding it increasingly difficult to relate to us or care about our ridiculous little problems.
This is even more of a concern to his girlfriend, Silk Spectre II, but she's kind of a bitch -- she gets upset when he replicates himself to make love to her with two sets of hands (while a third version gets some work done in the living room). Sounds like the ideal arrangement to me.
There's all kinds of complaining going on at Amazon about mini-Manhattan swinging in the breeze. As if we're all 12-year-olds sniggering at a bit of male nudity. They complain it wasn't really necessary, totally gratuitous (someone else also accused the movie of being "nothing but sex." I don't think they were talking about THIS movie). One person was brave enough to stand up to them, pointing out the volumes it spoke about his character: he's so far removed from social niceties that it doesn't even occur to him it might be a big deal that he's working au naturale.
Except he isn't natural -- I wondered briefly why skinny, slightly nerdy Jon Osterman came back completely buffed out. Then I answered why not? If you could manipulate matter that easily, wouldn't you make some improvements to yourself? Which I guess makes a lie about everything I've said so far about him not caring about this world or people's opinions. Take it up with Alan Moore. Or maybe one of my fine comic geek friends knows the answer.
I can certainly relate to his detachment from the world and inability to understand human beings any longer. I'm not saying I'm a god, but every day I hear about some new atrocity that makes me feel less and less like I'm the same species as some people.
Then there's Rorschach, who brings antisocial to a whole different level. He understands humanity, he just feels nothing but contempt for them (and I could be on-board with that too).
We don't get much of a back story on him, just some tantalizing glimpses, enough to show us how he got to this point: growing up a red-headed runt with possibly an abusive father, picked on by bullies, but giving as good as he gets. Becoming the least popular crimefighter of all time (He's not particularly liked by anyone, the public, the police, obviously criminals. Nite Owl seems to be the closest thing to a friend he's got. He's not really bothered by this). And the one case that sends him all the way around the bend, convinces him he's been too soft by letting some criminals live. Easily the most chilling scene in the movie.
**SORT OF MAJOR SPOILER ALERT**
Rorschach sees things very clearly in black and white. He's utterly unforgiving, uncompromising. But in the end it's this inflexibility that's his undoing. A secret is revealed among the Watchmen, the keeping of which means millions have died to save billions, the telling of which would make those millions of deaths in vain. To Rorschach, the choice is clear. Truth is truth, regardless of the rationale and logic in hiding it. Even though he knows his refusal to stay silent gives his fellow superheroes no choice but to use lethal force, he doesn't back down. A man of absolute unwavering integrity, proving integrity isn't always a good thing.
Again folks over at Amazon are bitching about the actor's gruff voice a la Christian Bale's Batman. I don't know why these people even watch movies, or why I bother reading their reviews. I loved what a total bad-ass he was -- the scene in prison when he takes out a hostile inmate twice his size, then while being restrained by three guards growls, "None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you. YOU'RE LOCKED IN HERE WITH ME." That was the moment I thought, "Damn, well I'm buying this movie now."
Anyway, back to the end. I think it was the moral quandary, and my ability to follow the reasoning of all the characters (again, without any foreknowledge whatsoever) that really made me like the movie. And as I previously mentioned, the way the script flows to allow in newcomers and fanboys alike (well, I can't speak for fanboys) was very enjoyable.
Heed my warning about the generous allowance for pauses. Although unless you watch it with friends (or fanboys) who are complete fascists, it probably won't be an issue.
I also just spent probably more time than I should have creating Harry and Snape Miis. I can't wait for Tery to see them.
And Me Mii:
I also got some of my Snape paraphernalia. First, something I came across while wandering on eBay and HAD to have:
This is actually a pencil drawing (or a print of the drawing, but it feels original) by artist Andrew Fry, despite looking like a photo. I just wish the orangutans at the post office could read the instructions written in huge letters "DO NOT BEND." You can see the bend in the bottom right corner.
I also got the NECA resin statue:
This photo proves that lighting can make all the difference. He actually doesn't look this nice in regular sunlight.
Hopefully these will satisfy my hunger for awhile.
~*~
Tery's home in Connecticut for 2 weeks, which means lots and lots of movies are being watched in her absence. A few I think are worthy of my comments.
First, the lesser ones. I'm cutting for length, not spoilers (except Watchmen, and I put a big warning in just in case):
Day Watch (this one's short and sweet): The follow-up to Night Watch, by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, and even more incoherent. Remember the first one when I fell asleep and regretted trying to finish it anyway? Tery came in 30 minutes into Day Watch and watched a bit. I said, "If you're confused, don't feel bad. I am too and I watched it from the beginning." I made it to the 1-hour mark and it still wasn't half done, which is when I decided I'd had enough.
Timur has a very pretty, showy style. He was behind Wanted (which I loved) and the upcoming 9 which also looks visually distinctive. As far as a plot that makes sense (with the exception of Wanted), he's got a bit to learn.
Ghost Town: Ricky Gervais plays Whoopi Goldberg to Greg Kinnear's Patrick Swayze (awww, R.I.P., big guy), with a healthy dose of Heart and Souls thrown in.
Ricky is perfect as the totally misanthropic, sad, lonely dentist who, thanks to a freak anesthesia complication, dies for 7 minutes and comes back with the ability to talk to ghosts.
He's immediately beset by every spirit in the city with pleas to help them finish their unfinished business. Kinnear has to settle up with his wife Tea Leoni, who falls in love with Gervais, and that's where my suspension of disbelief failed me. Which isn't to say I didn't bawl my eyes out at the totally predictable, totally calculated tearjerker moment when Ricky realizes his selfishness has gotten him nowhere and he should help all these strangers to be worthy of Leoni.
Funny, moving, and ample footage of Central Park, which is why I think Tery might like this.
Bruno: I love Sacha Baron Cohen. Borat: Hilarious. Ali G in da House: Loved it. Even Da Ali G Show. Yep, I'm all about Sacha. So I scoffed at the reviews for Bruno that accused him of crossing the line into bad taste and offensiveness. The only thing I love more than Sacha himself is teh gays, so I poo-poohed them all.
Turns out they weren't wrong. Some people call it a biting satirical commentary on homophobia in America. I think it was more Cohen going for extreme shock values so he could accuse his critics of homophobia. So people who DID laugh could feel enlightened and superior.
I call bullshit. I'm not homophobic (which should be fairly evident). I have a sense of humor. I recognize satire. I think I laughed once in the whole movie (when Bruno encounters a dominatrix at a swingers party who beats him, eliciting hilariously girlish little shrieks).
I find it hard to believe anyone still exists on this planet who hasn't heard of Sacha and his "candid camera" tricks. I find it even harder to believe that Richard Bey still has a television show somewhere.
People who are offended by Bruno aren't homophobic. They're more likely to be offended by the lewd sex behavior he implies and sometimes acts out just to get a reaction. Just like the Pride parades with the homos wearing assless chaps and making it all about sex and generally terrifying Middle America and adding fuel to the religious fires -- it's this outlandish stereotype we've been fighting so hard to overcome just to be granted basic relationship rights. Thanks, Sacha, for setting the movement back a few decades.
This wasn't meant to make fun of gays, it was meant to shock and offend the straights. Except we've been doing that all on our own just by existing.
Choke: Speaking of lewd public sex acts. This is based on the Chuck "Fight Club" Palahniuk novel about a sex addict (Sam Rockwell) who pays for his mother's (Anjelica Huston) nursing home by feigning choking episodes in restaurants and somehow guilting his rescuers into giving him handouts (not clear how this is done. We don't see the how, only the what).
When I took this out of the Netflix envelope, my first thought was actually "Oh yeah, I forgot I added this. Meh." This unfair attitude vanished in practically the first five minutes. It starts with my very favorite storytelling device, the voiceover narration. From there it kicks in right away with the funny, with the quirky, with the unexpected plot turns.
Strongly reminiscent of the Running with Scissors family dynamic, Victor's relationship with his mother is slowly revealed through a series of flashbacks. Meanwhile in the present he's battling his sex addiction, complicated by the fact that he's slept with every staff member at his mother's home. All while struggling to keep his job as a "historical interpreter" (he's a tour guide at a colonial village, which of course reminded me of the South Park episode "Super Fun Time"). You can see the potential for wackiness, and the movie realizes it to its full.
Instant purchase. I was thoroughly unprepared for how much I loved this movie.
Another one that falls firmly in this category, and no one was more surprised than me, is Watchmen.
Not all comic book movies are created equal. I can count on one hand the number I've watched being familiar with the source material, which might have given the ones I end up loving an advantage: no expectations to live up to.
So Tank Girl, V for Vendetta, the Christian Bale Batmans, 300, Mystery Men, Iron Man, Monkeybone (okay, so sometimes I like off-the-wall things), The Crow, the first Spidey, Men in Black, whaddya know Wanted! and of course X-Men have all made my cut.
Ones that weren't so lucky were Sin City (gave me a headache, and way too much violence), The Spirit (fell asleep over and over again), Constantine (pretty but nonsensical) and both Incredible Hulks (too much CGI), to name a few.
I tried several times to see Watchmen in theaters. What stopped me mostly was the prohibitively long running time -- 2 hours 45 minutes! That's a long time to devote to a story I knew nothing about. Consequently I would suggest anyone taking my recommendation to watch this do so only if there will be ample opportunity for breaks.
As you read this, keep in mind as I said I know nothing about the source material. I'm speaking purely as a viewer of the film. If I screw something up, break it to me gently.
The Watchmen are the second generation of the group of masked crimefighters called The Minutemen. There's Nite Owl (a Batman knock-off), The Comedian (sort of a Wolverine knock-off), Silk Spectre II (whose only super power seems to be instant seduction), Ozymandias (a rich corporate CEO obsessed with Egyptology, again, powers unclear other than his super checkbook), and my two favorites, Dr. Manhattan (big blue guy, victim of radiation accident) and Rorschach (always wears face stocking with shifting ink blots, no super powers except incredible agility and being utterly psychopathic).
This is actually an AU (alternate universe), so it's Nixon's third term and we've won the Vietnam War (with a little help from Dr. Manhattan). But then public opinion starts to turn against them. The Keene act is passed outlawing all "masks," leaving most of our heroes prematurely retired (except Manhattan, who can't exactly go back to being normal, and Rorschach who refuses to). Vietnam was a success, however, the Cold War is still alive and kicking, and the world lives under the threat of a very possible nuclear armageddon.
The movie opens with The Comedian being murdered. No one knows who by or why. In the course of finding answers to these questions, the story unfolds in two timelines, the present and the past, and the way the one still very much affects the other.
I don't want to tell the whole movie. Before I hit on the real highlights, I need to point out that the running time flies by. As a complete novice, I never felt bored. And despite having 5-6 main characters (more or less), the skillful use of flashbacks and very precise storytelling meant I very rarely found myself confused. And Zack Snyder's (300) unique cinematic style meant more often I just found myself in awe.
Beginning with the opening credits. I think this might be my favorite opening sequence of any movie ever. I won't make Tery sit through the whole film, but I might show her the credits. A series of snapshot moments that create a solid back story foundation to start from, transitioning from their Minutemen predecessors to the present, set to Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a'Changing" (normally hate Dylan, but loved him here). I think Tery will love especially the dead ringer Kennedy look-alike shaking Dr. Manhattan's hand (she's an enormous Kennedy buff). Key moments in history with the Watchmen inserted seamlessly.
I'll be honest. Far and away my favorite things about this movie were Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach, I think mainly because they're both at the extremes of antisocial, for different reasons and in different ways, both fascinating.
Dr. Manhattan started as mild-mannered physicist Jon Osterman (Billy Crudup, who was perfect). His future looks bright, until he gets trapped in an intrinsic field generator, whatever that is. Basically it dismantles all his molecules. But somehow he comes back -- not all at once, but gradually, leading to the best line in a movie (and presumably a book) ever: "A circulatory system is seen near a perimeter fence" (as he dispassionately narrates his origin story).
The key word up there is "dispassionately." Billy Crudup probably didn't have to do much, being 100% CGI, however he must have needed extensive voice coaching to achieve his perfectly emotionless and evenly paced without being robotic voice (that I could listen to for days. Very soothing).
Dr. Manhattan comes back with the ability not only to rearrange matter with a thought, but with the power to see into his own future to a certain extent. He's regarded as a god, and this is his tragedy -- being so powerful, being able to see the (really) big picture, seeing the Earth for the anthill it is, he's finding it increasingly difficult to relate to us or care about our ridiculous little problems.
This is even more of a concern to his girlfriend, Silk Spectre II, but she's kind of a bitch -- she gets upset when he replicates himself to make love to her with two sets of hands (while a third version gets some work done in the living room). Sounds like the ideal arrangement to me.
There's all kinds of complaining going on at Amazon about mini-Manhattan swinging in the breeze. As if we're all 12-year-olds sniggering at a bit of male nudity. They complain it wasn't really necessary, totally gratuitous (someone else also accused the movie of being "nothing but sex." I don't think they were talking about THIS movie). One person was brave enough to stand up to them, pointing out the volumes it spoke about his character: he's so far removed from social niceties that it doesn't even occur to him it might be a big deal that he's working au naturale.
Except he isn't natural -- I wondered briefly why skinny, slightly nerdy Jon Osterman came back completely buffed out. Then I answered why not? If you could manipulate matter that easily, wouldn't you make some improvements to yourself? Which I guess makes a lie about everything I've said so far about him not caring about this world or people's opinions. Take it up with Alan Moore. Or maybe one of my fine comic geek friends knows the answer.
I can certainly relate to his detachment from the world and inability to understand human beings any longer. I'm not saying I'm a god, but every day I hear about some new atrocity that makes me feel less and less like I'm the same species as some people.
Then there's Rorschach, who brings antisocial to a whole different level. He understands humanity, he just feels nothing but contempt for them (and I could be on-board with that too).
We don't get much of a back story on him, just some tantalizing glimpses, enough to show us how he got to this point: growing up a red-headed runt with possibly an abusive father, picked on by bullies, but giving as good as he gets. Becoming the least popular crimefighter of all time (He's not particularly liked by anyone, the public, the police, obviously criminals. Nite Owl seems to be the closest thing to a friend he's got. He's not really bothered by this). And the one case that sends him all the way around the bend, convinces him he's been too soft by letting some criminals live. Easily the most chilling scene in the movie.
**SORT OF MAJOR SPOILER ALERT**
Rorschach sees things very clearly in black and white. He's utterly unforgiving, uncompromising. But in the end it's this inflexibility that's his undoing. A secret is revealed among the Watchmen, the keeping of which means millions have died to save billions, the telling of which would make those millions of deaths in vain. To Rorschach, the choice is clear. Truth is truth, regardless of the rationale and logic in hiding it. Even though he knows his refusal to stay silent gives his fellow superheroes no choice but to use lethal force, he doesn't back down. A man of absolute unwavering integrity, proving integrity isn't always a good thing.
Again folks over at Amazon are bitching about the actor's gruff voice a la Christian Bale's Batman. I don't know why these people even watch movies, or why I bother reading their reviews. I loved what a total bad-ass he was -- the scene in prison when he takes out a hostile inmate twice his size, then while being restrained by three guards growls, "None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you. YOU'RE LOCKED IN HERE WITH ME." That was the moment I thought, "Damn, well I'm buying this movie now."
Anyway, back to the end. I think it was the moral quandary, and my ability to follow the reasoning of all the characters (again, without any foreknowledge whatsoever) that really made me like the movie. And as I previously mentioned, the way the script flows to allow in newcomers and fanboys alike (well, I can't speak for fanboys) was very enjoyable.
Heed my warning about the generous allowance for pauses. Although unless you watch it with friends (or fanboys) who are complete fascists, it probably won't be an issue.
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-17 07:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-17 04:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-17 11:29 am (UTC)skipskipskip-I've only seen Ghost Town-skip.
Hey, put your disbelief right back where it was. Fat funny guy/hot girl is a staple in American entertainment. Plus, have you seen Girlfriend Jane? She's kind of hot in a really really English kind of way. Plusplus, he's so much funnier than the King of Queens.
Wii II; Snapey goodness; a whole bajoogaboob of movies
Date: 2009-09-17 03:44 pm (UTC)Re: Wii II; Snapey goodness; a whole bajoogaboob of movies
Date: 2009-09-17 04:38 pm (UTC)the distress at realizing he's fallen in love with Harry.no subject
Date: 2009-09-17 04:36 pm (UTC)I blame it on malnutrition. I've been living on fish sticks and frozen pizza for two weeks. It's amazing I can still type.
I don't know if it was the fat funny guy/hot girl dynamic that I had a problem with as much as the speed with which she was won over despite not only not knowing him, but thinking he was an ass from previous encounters.
See, if I was holed up house-sitting somewhere with no internet, massive movie watching would be the first order of business. Looks like you've got some catching up to do.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-19 06:46 pm (UTC)But he was so funny in that scene when he came over to drink with her and Mr. Perfect! Nothing spurs on love between characters like the realization that Mr. Perfect is boring.
Mostly I watched tv. Got through Pushing Daisies, Cities of the Underworld, and part of Rome. Also I have seen every single episode of SVU and CI a gazillion times.
Ok, ok, I've seen more of those movies. I just didn't want to skim through the other reviews and take a chance on being SPOILED (you know I'd never do that to you). Here's what I have seen: Tank Girl, the Christian Bale Batmans (I can't help but be annoyed by his voice, too. What, Bruce Wayne is American, but Batman is Tom Waits?), 300 (icon!), Iron Man (only made watchable by lead actor cuteness), the first Spidey (and the others, but they wouldn't make my cut), Men in Black (this was a comic book?), Sin City, Constantine (kind of wanted my money back), and both Incredible Hulks.
Have you seen Ghostrider or Daredevil? I didn't like either of them. I might be biased against the first one because of my feelings about Nick Cage, but the second was terrible. If you haven't seen it but feel like you really need to, I'd advise you to skip a step and just watch the Rifftrax version.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-19 08:39 pm (UTC)I suspect the secret to everlasting love has more to do with fear of hunger than actual affection.
Ricky was very funny. He certainly has that Brit sarcasm down that I love so much. In fact I spent the whole first half thinking I might buy it because he made me laugh so much. Then the second half just got all maudlin and predictable.
We love Cities of the Underworld, especially that super dramatic music they play every. single. time. they go underground. It's become sort of a running joke with us.
Don't be too impressed with my apparent comic movie know-how. I actually had to look on Wiki for a list, because I knew there would be some that I either forgot or didn't realize were based on a comic. For instance, did you know Schindler's List was based on a comic? Many people don't realize. (just kidding. Am I?)
I think Ghost Rider might have been playing on a plane flight I took. Even without bothering to plug in my headphones for the sound, I could tell it wasn't very good. Another bad one is I think Electra? I remember watching one scene on my way out the door to work and thinking, "Is the rest of the movie this bad? Because this is BAD."
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Date: 2009-09-20 06:22 pm (UTC)I thought it had to do with fear of not having an automatic date to special functions.
I bought it for the special features. Specifically, the director's commentary. I don't think I would've gone for it otherwise.
Haha. Without the music, how would you know something Super Cool and Potentially Dangerous was going down? I love that he has to say, "We have special permission to be here" every time he goes anywhere.
You are kidding. I looked it up myself, because that's the kind of thing that's so outrageously unbelievable that it could actually be true. You've missed these out - is it because you haven't seen them?:
30 Days of Night
Alien vs. Predator
Blade
Fantastic Four
Flash
From Hell No, srsly.
Howard the Duck
The Mask
Sabrina the Teenage Witch Ok, this is a tv show.
Spawn
Tales from the Crypt Ok, also a tv show, but worth an honorable mention!
I saw GR with a group of people, and we all decided immediately that it hadn't been worth paying for. So we snuck into Reno 911! Miami.
I haven't seen Electra - but I think it was a sequel to Daredevil, so I believe you about its BADness.
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Date: 2009-10-16 10:16 pm (UTC)From Hell I remember making little to no sense, just relying on Johnny to save it. I loved the Tales from the Crypt HBO series. And that's all I have to say about those.
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Date: 2009-09-17 01:23 pm (UTC)And I can't believe that is a pencil drawing. Just amazing!
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Date: 2009-09-17 04:40 pm (UTC)The guy is incredible. He has a series of 50 celebrities and movie/TV characters that all look equally lifelike.
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Date: 2009-09-18 08:21 am (UTC)I loved the opening sequence so much. It was actually released a few weeks before the movie opened, and I couldn't stop watching it. I was impressed by how they managed to condense almost all of the Minutemen history into that one sequence. (A couple of things that you probably already noticed but I wanna say cause it's awesome: Sally's party that mimics the Last Supper, and when Nite Owl is beating up that criminal he is doing so in front of the Gotham Opera House, having saved a wealthy couple including a woman wearing pearls, and there's a batman poster in the background)
Billy Crudup may not have had to fight like the others, but did you see the suit he had to wear? Total props to him for putting up with that.
I can think of two possible explanations for the whole buff thing, though I don't think there's a definite answer. One is that Jon Osterman in the book had a very different build from Billy Crudup, so it's plausible that he was already ripped (Dave Gibbons tends to draw ALL his characters with a typical superhero hyper-masculine figure - even the women to some extent) and they just decided that it would be strange to make movie-Manhattan less muscular. The other possibility is that when Jon was rebuilding his molecular structure (like a watchmaker putting a watch together from scratch - heee!), he made no real effort to made his new form look like his old self because he was working so tirelessly just to have a body again, and instead tried to replicate the ideal statuesque human form that's so popular in history and mythology.
Rorschach's mother, the prostitute, was the abusive one. His father left for unknown reasons when he was young, but Rorschach idolized him long after he'd been taken into foster care (part of the reason he generally dislikes woman and respects men).
INTERESTING THING: One of the remnants of his father's influence on his moral values is that Rorschach respects President Truman (as his father did) for his decision to drop the atom bomb on Hiroshima and grew up thinking that those kinds of choices had to be made by the righteous to save the many and that it was a sacrifice worth making and so on. This of course makes the shock of being near the center of such an event at the end of the story even greater, as he is horrified by the reality of the action, which suddenly calls all of his core values into question so that he starts to doubt the validity of everything that he has worked for, and you get the picture. On top of this is Manhattan's name being a blatant reference to the Manhattan Project. DO YOU SEE ALL THE DETAIL THOSE CRAZY BRITS PUT INTO THIS STORY JESUS H. CHRIST
Another note, in case you're ever debating with some crazy hardcore nerds, in the original story the group isn't actually called "The Watchmen". There's no one called Watchmen, and the only time that word appears is in graffiti form in the background. It was meant to be subtle (in fact, the phrase never even appears in full, as part of it is always obscured or interrupted), but of course Hollywood doesn't do subtle. They thought that average moviegoers would say "BUT WHY IS IT CALLED WATCHMEN HURR DURRR", which is valid enough from the studio's point of view but still upset most of the fans. Luckily they only mentioned it a few times. To further your nerd cred, the original name of the group was Crimebusters. It was meant to sound stupid (part of Captain Metropolis' optimistic naivete in trying to start a second crime-fighting group), but the group was together only briefly before the Keene Act was passed, so it wasn't really significant.
Oh wow, lots of rambling thoughts! Sorry about that, heh.
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Date: 2009-09-18 07:53 pm (UTC)All very, very interesting. You have convinced me I need to read the book (not that I needed convincing).
The extras on the Blu-ray didn't really include a behind-the-scenes (unless I skipped it to save it for later enjoyment) but there is a PIP commentary with Zack Snyder that will probably include Dr. Manhattan's effects (at least, IT BETTER).
Might I add that you are adorably nerdy? ; )
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Date: 2009-09-20 06:16 am (UTC)Haha, I have been known to talk about nerdy things until I'm flaily and flustered. That's just how I roll.
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Date: 2009-09-23 09:09 pm (UTC)I would highly recommend reading anything by Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Top 10 and the list goes on for ever...) as he is the best writer of comics there has ever been. They've all been made into vastly stupid movies (Watchmen and V aren't too bad actually) but more often than not they have to be dumbed down (V, LOEG) or drastically changed (From Hell the book and From Hell the movie are world's apart).
Watchmen begs the question "What's the point?" as the film is almost identical to the book (apart from the changed ending which I felt was a little bit silly in the book, but at least it worked. The movie's version doesn't). What's the point of making a movie if you're not going to add anything (or bring anything new) to the story. At least with V, they took some very bold moves with exploring terrorism and conspiracy theories.
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Date: 2009-09-25 05:59 pm (UTC)Plus it has to be a little cool seeing the book brought to life on the screen. For instance, I'd love to see Gaiman's Sandman done, if there was any chance of doing it justice (and making it less than 6 hours).
I liked the ending of the movie. Why don't you think it worked? The disc extras mentioned the original ending with the alien(s), and that looked very silly. And would probably add 2 million to the budget just to stay true to the silly original.
I will definitely read the book(s) eventually. I'm waiting for when I break my leg or something and am bedridden for a month or two.
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Date: 2009-09-26 11:23 pm (UTC)Right - the whole point of Ozymandias' 'evil' plan is to unite the Russian and American superpowers (and the rest of the world) against a common enemy, thus ensuring that there would be no nuclear stockpiling and thus the world is saved from nuclear armageddon. Ozy chose the 'common enemy' to be extraterrestrial, thus giving the world something to be wary of and unite to try and fend off. The movie opts to make that threat Jon and it just doesn't make sense - Jon is American. If an American (and one who had been trained to fight in wars for them) laid waste to cities around the world, the world wouldn't just go "Oh, he's buggered off to Mars has he? We better join forces and make sure that he doesn't try that again. Cuh! Homo superior, eh? You just can't trust 'em..." No! They'd demand that the US strip its armed forces unit (of which Jon was a part), cut back its weapons, do the whole Treaty of Versailles thing and basically try to neuter them. Of course, the US would refuse, there'd be arguments and eventually an actual World War.
The problem is that the aliens ending sounds silly but actually works in the book. And here's where we get on to my 'What's the Point?' comment - the story of Watchmen is already in the best medium for the story - a comic book. The comic allows the different story arcs to overlap and merge whenever they like - unconfined to the 2/3 hour time limit set by most films of today. And, more importantly, it allows the ending to work. If you haven't read it, then you've just made my Christmas shopping far, far easier!
There's a comment you made - "I'd love to see Gaiman's Sandman done" - which brought a wry smile to my lips. Because, of course, you have seen Gaiman's Sandman done - in the comics that you read and loved. Your Dream sounds the way you think he should because it's your mind and imagination helping to create him as you read the stories. Any screen version is bound to be second best, which is why most comic book films get mauled by the fans.
I'd extend this argument to any book to screen - if you're not doing something interesting with the tale, don't bother.
Grouchily yours...
HA. I waited so long to reply to this you probably forgot your original argument.
Date: 2009-10-21 08:15 pm (UTC)If you haven't read it, then you've just made my Christmas shopping far, far easier! I'll admit a large part of me was hoping you might say something like this. I almost ran out and bought it but I didn't want to spoil your gift options.