Odds and Ends

I’ve got a bunch of random stuff to post about, so read on for a grab bag of topics that may be of interest to you, the reader.

Watchmen Trailer

I’ve made no secret of my lack of support for the Watchmen film. I just don’t think there’s any point to doing it, it’s not called comics’ Citizen Kane because it should be a movie, it’s called that because it’s the ultimate use of the medium to tell a story. Though the story is good, I don’t think a film can capture what made the book so special.

But, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited when I saw the trailer had been released. The trailer has its moments, seeing Jon building the structure on Mars was amazing, and there were a few other moments where it was just cool to see them jump off the page. Dr. Manhattan doesn’t look bad, but the whole thing has a very artificial feel. It captures the feel of the art, but there’s a reason superhero comics usually aren’t drawn in a photorealistic style. The characters just don’t look right as real people. The Rorshach design is very cool, but translated to reality, it doesn’t quite make it.

My other big issue is I still have no faith in Zack Snyder’s ability to make the characters feel real. All the dialogue in the trailer is pretty bad, and I can’t imagine him capturing the middle age melancholy of Dan and Lori. But, we’ll see. If nothing else, it looks to be the most faithful Alan Moore film adaptation so far.

As a side note, if any Alan Moore comic is begging for a film adaptation, it’s Miracleman. It’s not as technically ambitious as most of his other major works, and offers plenty of opportunity for big screen spectacle. I see a two film series, one covering the first two books, through the birth issue, the other covering Olympus. But, the rights situation is so fucked on that, I’m probably breaking copyright even thinking about it.

The Dark Knight

Speaking of downbeat comic book adaptations, I’ve made the decision to go see The Dark Knight this weekend, with an open mind. I read Grant Morrison’s review of the film on his blog, and that, combined with the countless other good reviews, sold me. I didn’t like Batman Begins, but maybe this will be different. Certainly Heath Ledger’s Joker seems like he’ll be worth seeing, and between him and Harvey Dent, how much time can we have for the Mysterious Whisperer, aka Batman. I’m hoping this isn’t a Lost season two situation, where I give something another chance because it’s getting such insanely good buzz and wind up disappointed again. But, I want to like it. I hope I like it. We’ll see.

Doctor Horrible

I watched the first two episodes of Joss’s online musical last night and thoroughly enjoyed them. I wasn’t expecting that much, it seemed to play to all the goofier traits that bother me about Joss’s work, but it totally worked. There was a real emotional undercurrent in the story world, and it merged well with the more over the top elements. Horrible/Billy reminds me a lot of Andrew and his fellow Trio members, right down to the use of a freeze ray, but it’s ripe territory, so I don’t mind going back.

I think it’s interesting that outside of the vampires, almost all of Whedon’s male characters are ineffectual and intimidated by women. It reminds me a lot of Claremont’s work, where all the strength is in the females, and males struggle to deal with that strength. How will it play out in the final episode? I’ll find out tomorrow.