Say whatever you want to in the comments to this post -- random, off topic thoughts, ideas, suggestions, questions, recommendations, criticisms (which can be anonymous), surveys, introductions if you have never commented before, personal news, self-promotion, requests to be added to the blog roll and so on. If I forget, remind me. Remember these comments can be directed at all the readers, not just me.
ALSO. You can use this space to re-ask me questions you asked me before that I failed to answer because I was too busy.
AND you can use this space to comment on posts that are old enough that no one is reading the comments threads anymore.
You do not have to have a blogger account or gmail account to post a comment -- you can write a comment, write your name at the bottom of your comment like an e mail, and then post using the "anonymous" option.
WRITING FOR THIS BLOG. If I see a big free form comment that deserves more attention, I will pull it and make it its own post, with a label on the post and on the sidebar that will always link to all the posts you write for this blog. I am always looking for reviews of games, tv, movies, music and books.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
10 comments:
I got the new CD/DVD box set of the Police's reunion tour (not a bad deal at 20 bucks) and I'm just realizing something, the Police are actually a sort of Jazz fusion combo when they play live. It's actually pretty amazing how 'big' they're able to sound and how much space they fill with just the three of them (they use no backing musicians whatsoever).
***WATCHMEN MOVIE SPOILERS***
Apparently, the ending of the Watchmen movie has been changed. No giant squid. Perhaps no alien of any kind. Here's a link: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/watchmen/news/?a=5186
There's talk of a nuclear attack, but there's also been talk of a Dr. Manhattan (henceforth DM) attack. Somehow someone - presumably Ozymandius - makes it look like DM has attacked numerous cities in the world, including a US one (or two). After all, it's already been established that DM can be in more than one place at the same time, so being on Mars is no alibi. DM is framed, the world unites against him, and he goes away. It'd be particularly tough on Laurie to maintain the lie that DM actually killed so many people around the globe.
And y'know, I can actually see the studio going that route. Don't necessarily want them to. Don't necessarily think they have. But it wouldn't surprise me.
Yeah, that Doc Manhattan frame-up ending has been floating around for a while, and it totally doesn't work. The whole point of the squid is that it gives the nations of the world some alien to unite in fear against. How could America's weapon blowing up in their face possibly have the same effect?
Others have pointed out that getting rid of the monster also screws up various other key plot points that set things in motion: the island where its made, the Comedian seeing the island, breaking down to Moloch etc. etc...
I have to say that I don't think replacing the squid with something better suited for a movie is that bad an idea, although James's point about "America's weapon blowing up in their face" is well taken. Like everything else a lot is riding on how it plays out I guess.
As the world's only known superhuman (heck, the universe's only known superhuman), Doc has always been the something of an "alien" being in the world of Watchmen, and I think the planet could certainly unite in fear against him, former US pawn or not. If he scared the world as America's big weapon, just imagine how much scarier he would be once that leash snapped. Besides, if enough American innocents died along with everyone else, I don't think the fact that Doc used to serve the States would matter quite so much - the whole "hating the government but loving (some of) the people" thing. The plan would go off even better if fake Doc(s) also managed to kill the president, etc. at the same time, so it couldn't possibly look to the world like the US govt was behind it in any way (ie. being willing to sacrifice some of its citizenery as part of some far-fetched and nefarious scheme).
The Comedian could just as easily find out about this plan and fake Docs on some island.
And the frame-up of a friend would make the heroes' choice to cover it up at the end even harder and more personal. Plus, the juxtaposition of Doc killing Rorschach versus Fake Docs killing millions could be effective.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this would be as good as the alien ending. It probably wouldn't be. But I disagree with the assessment that it TOTALLY wouldn't work. I think it could indeed work, just not nearly as well.
One way in which it serves as an improvement is that it reduces the suspension of disbelief factor substantially. Doc Manhattan is the only superhero, but Ozzy's alien is telepathic, can teleport, etc. - it really pours on the sci-fi, and that might not play so well.
On the con side, though, the supposed alien invasion allowed for a far simpler projection of xenophobia from one's military enemy to some other invading force, and while it was surely a mysterious one Ozzy probably allowed for those psychic images to make it seem like one that could be resisted. Doc Manhattan, on the other hand, is an enemy unlike anything that most people can imagine and can do pretty much anything he pleases. There are ways to prepare for an invading army, especially if the psychic alien left clues - but how do you prepare for a many that can be anywhere, anywhen, can do pretty much anything, and whose motivations are entirely unknown?
Makes me wonder how exactly the faked attacks end. Does Ozzy just make it look like Doc blasts shit up and flies into space. Or does he make it look like Doc was driven away by exploiting some Krytonite-like weakness (even if such a weakness doesn't exist in the actual Doc)?
Then again, this could all be a publicity stunt on the part of Snyder & company to get people like me talking about the movie again. A fairly big part of me hopes against hope that this is the case.
Troy: "The Comedian could just as easily find out about this plan and fake Docs on some island."
Sure, but it's not just Veidt's plan that breaks the amoral Comedian - it's the innate psychic horror of the Thing/"what they're doing".
As for the rest of it... the alien is so perfectly apolitical. On paper at least, I just can't buy a scenario that The Manhattan Solution would breed solidarity, no matter how badly he's seen to fuck America. If anything, it's the ultimate sign of U.S. hubris, and the Russians could just as easily use it as an excuse to take America off the map...
Like Geoff says, it all depends how it plays out, but I've seen zero to suggest Snyder is smart enough to make it work.
Neil: "it really pours on the sci-fi, and that might not play so well."
Completely. Heck, it's put off plenty a superhero fan in the comic, so it would be one hell of a pill for mainstream movie-goers to swallow.
Geoff: "I have to say that I don't think replacing the squid with something better suited for a movie is that bad an idea"
Agreed, I'm certainly not calling for fidelity to the source material for its own sake - which is precisely what I think will sink this mess.
Gripe gripe gripe!
I have just come across this promo picture for the Darwyn Cooke adaptation of ‘The Hunter’, the first of four Richard Stark novels that he’s adapting for IDW. It gives me hope for funny book crime fiction in a post-100 Bullets world.
http://innocentbystander.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/09/15/cookeparker.jpg
This Friday and Saturday is Brooklyn College's MFA Open Studios. I will be showcasing my work along with my peers. There will be mucho free food and booze as well. If you're in town and in need of a relatively cheap, yet exceedingly interesting thing to do, come by.
Post a Comment