Watching "Watchmen" and other Alan Moore movies
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rival studios say they have resolved their battle over the release of Watchmen.
The release of the superhero flick had been in doubt for months as 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. sparred in federal court over who had proper rights to the film. The studios say it will be released as scheduled on March 6.
(Read more here.)
Here and here is some of what I thought about Alan Moore's graphic novel Watchmen. I understand that Moore has distanced himself from films based on his work. Having recently discovered Moore, I'll probably see Watchmen. But I hope it's not just an orgy of special effects, though the story offers ample opportunity for a moviemaker who has money to spend on this sort of thing.
OK, Moore fans: What do you think of movies made from his work? From Hell, V for Vendetta and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen come to mind. What have I missed?
© Peter Rozovsky 2009
Labels: Alan Moore, comics, graphic novels, movies, Watchmen
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 2:34 AM
14 Comments:
Well he and Art Spiegelman appeared in an episode of the Simpsons. Husbands and Knives. Playing themselves of course.
I'll probably see the move for the Rorschach in prison and Dr Manhattan on Mars scenes.
Wow, an all-graphic-novel episode of The Simpsons. That is worth seeking out.
I just realized that I'm missing a very basic piece of information about the movie: whether it's live-action, or animated. Seems to me I saw a trailer that looked big-bucks, special-effects, super-hero-movie, is-it-live-or-is-it-computers, but I'm not sure.
I just hope the movie can overcome that and capture something of the atmosphere of the comic. Man, that's an ambitions project for a filmmaker to take on.
Hi Peter - EXCELLENT that you are coming to Bristol / Crimefest, anyway as old comics book fan - I loved Alan Moore's comics but being cautious about WATCHMEN as previous film adaptations have been poor [apart from one] in my opinion -
From Hell - I enjoyed this though flawed
V for Vendetta - Cack and a snore
The League of Extraordinary - actually poor, but better than I had been led to believe
Best
Ali
Wow, an all-graphic-novel episode of The Simpsons. That is worth seeking out.
An image
I'm not the biggest moviegoer as it is,and the controversies and my disbelief over the adaptability of the comics kept me out of them.
A few months ago someone mentioned on an Italian political blog Valerie's letter "from the film V for Vendetta,out of the genius of of the Wachowski brothers."
This hit my angry nerd button,and I had to respond with a paragraph length hissy fit in which I explained the autorship of Watchmen.
This post reminds me that among Moore's major works I have yet to read FROM HELL.Many say it's his real masterpiece.
v-word:unrep
Oh, hey. Let this be my announcement, then. Hey, everybody. I'm going to Bristol for Crimefest.
Thanks the comments on the Alan Moore movies. Here's a brief note I posted after reading The League of Extraordinary Gentemen and seeing the movie. In sum, the movie was routine. The comic was a good deal more.
In re Bristol, your name had just come up via e-mail when you posted your comment. A fellow Bristol attendee noted that few authors who write in languages other than English had signed up, just Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Håkan Nesser. Few such authors attended Bouchercon, but Bristol would be more convenient for European authors. Many must be comfortable enough with their knowledge English to attend such an event. Are such authors just not on the radar of convention organizers? Are English conventions not on the radar of non-English-writing authors? It would be nice to bring in the Fred Vargases and Carlo Lucarellis of the world along with the Yrsas and the Nessers. In any case, I said I'd ask you about this, so I'm asking.
Thanks for the image, Marco. It's not hard to figure out who's who in that one, but the real Alan Moore looks far weirder than his animated counterpart.
I'm interested in seeing Watchmen because I think Zack Snyder did a great job with 300 and an underappreciated job with the remake of Dawn of the Dead.
300 actually came up in a lighthearted context either here or elsewhere recently. The movie might be worth a look. At first, I thought the movie was about bowling.
I love superhero films! And I love special effects. But the story is what really matters to me.
I'd like to see a superhero who is a suspense author. Not sure what she'd be called, but she'd eliminate her enemies with a stroke of the pen...or the delete key. :)
Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
author of Whale Song
www.cherylktardif.com
That suggestion is ripe with possibilities. One of the characters in Watchmen has retried from masked superheroing and written a memoir, chapters of which punctuate the pages of the comic. Perhaps the device should not work, but it does, and splendidly.
Hello Peter. I know you LOVE memes! But I've given you an award. Please see http://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2009/01/bloggers-who-inspire-me.html
The word verification for this comment is "notes", lol.
But anyway, in short: "V For Vendetta" was brilliant, "league of E.G." was ok, I didn't see "From Hell" but I have serious doubts about "Watchmen" because of the crummy director and the fact that the story is much too large to ADEQUATELY be told in film.
Notes is a good, straightforward, no-nonsense v-word. I don't know Zack Snyder's work, but I share your apprehension about getting a story that large on film in ninety minutes or two hours. I did watch trailers for the movie, and some of the shots appear to stuck closely to the comic's graphic style, which was interesting.
Thanks, Kerrie. I'll add the logo once I can figure out how to do.
Post a Comment
<< Home