I haven’t gotten into Blu-Ray because the supposed benefits are marginal. Sure it’s got better “picture” and “sound” but if you don’t own a sweet surround sound system or own a 1080p HD television then the price for Blu-Ray doesn’t really justify itself. You’re better of paying $60 for a up-convert DVD player and saying the hell with it.
But I will admit, that this commentary track from director Zack Snyder — better known as Maximum Movie Mode — has me wanting to find a friend with a Blu-Ray player.
I understand not a lot of people get geeked out over the process of movie making, so this probably doesn’t matter one iota, but I find the nuts and bolts of the profession just slightly less fascinating than the finished product. I could watch these types of featurettes for days on end.
It’s the first time I’ve seen any movie show off the supposed advances in technology Blu-Ray offers, even if I’m not entirely sold because of it. Much of this feature rests on the charismatic shoulders of Snyder. Whether you hated or loved Watchmen, you’ve got to give him credit for not just getting the comic made into a movie, but for making sure there would be some choice extras when it arrived on DVD/Blu-Ray.
Watchmen hits Blu-Ray on July 21st 2009. You can order the Director’s Cut on Amazon for around $23 (the suggested retail price is $35.99).
In this streaming video, University of Minnesota physics professor James Kakalios discusses how he consulted with Warner Bothers to add a physics perspective to their upcoming movie, Watchmen. Kakalios discusses how quantum mechanics can explain Dr. Manhattan’s super human powers in the film, and how he came to become an expert on the topic of the physics of superheroes.
Devin at CHUD points out the company, yU+Co, that created the opening credit sequence for Watchmen has made the sequence available at their official site. The sequence which features the vocals of Bob Dylan’s “Times They Are A-Changin’” has been loved by many of the critics and I am sure fans alike. Some calling it the best thing in the movie.
Not having seen the movie it’s hard to judge this in context, but it looks like they’ve done an excellent job setting up the history and world of Watchmen. That they’ve done it with no dialogue is that much more impressive.
Stuff like this makes me wish their were an Oscar for title sequences that much more.
Roger Ebert is the first non-internet film critic to fall in love with Zack Synder’s Watchmen. Why is that significant?
Because it’s difficult to take anyone’s opinion on this movie seriously if they have a vested interest in it’s success.
Which means, anyone who grew up reading comic books, wants to see more comic book movies made, who is apart of geek culture, or worships at the alter of Alan Moore, will have their opinion skewered.
Inside many superhero stories is a Greek tragedy in hiding. There is the godlike hero, and he is flawed. In early days his weaknesses were simplistic, like Superman’s vulnerability to Kryptonite. Then Spider-Man was created as an insecure teenager, and comic books began to peer deeper. Now comes the “Watchmen,” with their origins as 1940s goofballs, their development into modern costumed vigilantes, and the laws against them as public nuisances. They are human. Although they have extraordinary physical powers, they aren’t superheroes in the usual sense. Then everything changes for Jon Osterman, remade after a nuclear accident as Dr. Manhattan. He isn’t as human as Batman, but that can be excused because he isn’t human at all.
He is the most metaphysically intriguing character in modern superhero movies. He not only lives in a quantum universe, but is aware that he does, and reflects about it. He says, “This world’s smartest man means no more to me than does its smartest termite.” He lives outside time and space. He explains that he doesn’t see the past and the future, but he does see his own past and his own future. He can apparently go anywhere in the universe, and take any shape. He can be many places at the same time, his attention fully focused in each of those places. He sees the big picture, and it is so vast that it’s hard for him to be concerned about the fate of the earth.I wonder how many audience members will know much about quantum mechanics. Some will interpret it simply in terms of Dr. Manhattan’s powers. It’s one of those story devices like the warp drive in “Star Trek.” Dr. Manhattan, however, views it in a much more complex way, from the inside, and apparently in terms consistent with current science. So let’s ask what we understand about quantum mechanics. We’ll start with me. I understand nothing.
I’m still skeptical, but the light is slightly brighter.
Watch as the Silk Spectre plays keytar in a girl band, Ozymandias and Bubastic solve crimes à la Shaggy and Scooby, and Dr. Manhattan turns into a car for the rest of the Watchmen to ride.
This is a hilarious take on what would happen if television executives from the 1980s got their hands on the rights for Alan Moore’s masterpiece.
And whether or not the movie sucks or not, it’s a good thing this never happened.
Click to watch the video. It also serves as a reminder of how awesome the cartoons were when we were kids.
It feels like it’s been the biggest movie story of the year and it feels like it’s going to be another slamdunk for geeks – like The Dark Knight a year ago. Well about a month or two ago, before the negative reviews hit the streets.
Now, I’m really intrigued what the prognosticators will predict for box office. Are non-geeks excited about this movie?
One thing is for sure, the reviews aren’t helping. The movie is getting slammed left and right by just about every non-internet fanboy. Really, the only positive or glowly reviews have come predictably from the disciples of Harry Knowles.
By James Furbush | February 20th, 2009 | 6:12 am PST
Yes, Will Wheaton, beloved geek actor/writer (the highest praise I could give someone) saw Watchmen last night and I don’t know why but I trust him. I do. He listens to Dungeons and Dragons podcasts and was the star of my favorite movie ever (I suppose we can debate whether or not River Phoenix was truly the star of Stand By Me) and for godsakes he was Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: TNG. He’s a true geek and he has just calmed me down.
I know a lot of people want to know about Watchmen, so I’ll just cut to the chase right away: It’s the best movie inspired by a graphic novel that I’ve ever seen. It could have gone wrong in a thousand different places, and it didn’t. I’ve wanted to see this movie for twenty years, and it was entirely worth the wait. Hear me now, my fellow geeks: you have nothing to worry about. Watchmen is fucking awesome.
Now, the entire story…
You probably want a few more details than that. We will try not to spoil it, but it sounds like Zack Snyder has delivered the real deal Holyfield on this one.
Now, listen, I know that we live in a world where we’ve endured Ang Lee’s The Hulk, Spiderman 3, both Fantastic Four movies, and Indiana Jones Gets Raped Repeatedly While We Are Forced To Watch In Horror, so I think it would be really strange if we weren’t worried and apprehensive about something that already means so much to us, but I hope this will calm your nerves until the movie is released: Watchmen is faithful to the book. It respects the book. I swear by the beard of Zeus, it feels like the book. Yes, there are some cuts, but they serve the release and don’t disrupt or betray the narrative at all. Yes, they made a change to something that’s a pretty big deal in the book, but it doesn’t matter; what they did instead accomplishes exactly the same thing, and it does it perfectly. There is some of the Zack Snyder signature slow motion, and though it’s a little heavy in the very first scene (which worried me) it isn’t overdone throughout the movie at all, and I found it to be pretty cool and entertaining.
By James Furbush | February 14th, 2009 | 12:01 pm PST
The Watchmen animated movie within the movie (actually it’s not in the movie it’s a straight to DVD release but if it was a comic within the comic, well you get the idea) hits store shelves after the relase of the actual Watchmenflick. A shame.
If they were smart, it would come out the Tuesday before the film’s release, rather than the Tuesday after. This looks pretty good, nice production values for a straight to DVD release.
Tales of the Black Freighter will hit store shelves on March 10th 2009.
One of the things that has amazed me start to finish about this production is the attention to detail. Nothing, no matter how small, has been overlooked by Zack Snyder and company.
The Watchmen viral website The New Frontiersman has posted a new retro Government Public Service Announcement from 1977 titled “The Keene Act & You”. The video explains the new government act to make the streets safer by removing costume vigilantest: No Masks, No Capes, No Gadgets or Experimental Weapons, No Dangerous Unlicensed Vehicles.
I like these short clips that provide a bit of background for The Watchmen. It’s not easy to cram all of this into a movie, but take two or three minutes with a few short movies and you’ve layed some nice groundwork for the uninitiated.
So we tried to cajole our way into the Watchmen screening in Portland. It’s the first test screening of Zack Snyder’s movie and unfortunately, they gave out tickets for it last weekend at the movie theater. Also, I think the Mossad was doing the security for the movie, because there was no way anyone was illegally getting into the screening. Believe me.
I also tried to buy a ticket off some poor sap, but once word got out what secret movie was screening no one was taking the bait. Not even this elderly lady, there with her daughter. They looked like neither had even heard of The Watchmen or Alan Moore or Zack Snyder, but the promise of a free movie was too enticing to them to give up their ticket to someone who actually cares enough.
If I had to guess, I’d say spoiler reviews, thoughts, ruminations on the flick will trickle in tomorrow on sites like AICN or Slashfilm. I’m also going to hazard a guess and say that the movie will make it’s premiere at Harry Knowles’s annual Butt-Numb-A-Thon. Just a hunch, nothing to go on. But it seems to make sense, given that he premieres a huge movie that tends to open in March.
Still debating whether or not I want to go back to the theater at 10 p.m. and shoot some video of people’s reactions.
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