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BaldFriede 
Prog Reviewer
Joined: June 02 2005
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
Points: 10261
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 Posted: March 10 2009 at 07:07 |
 Trouserpress wrote:
Saw it yesterday. My reaction:
"Well, that was certainly a film of Watchmen, there".
Ultimately, it was as good as it probably ever could be given the limits of film as a framework and the huge amount of material needing to be condensed/selected from in order to effectively tell the story. Ultimately, though, did it actually need to happen?
Oh, and Friede, surely you know better than to judge a book by the film it's based on? The film, I grant you, can come across as a mindless action flick at times but to dismiss Moore/Gibbon's visionary work as a mindless action comic by association is simply a huge mistake. The graphic novel is a book about people and ideas; far-reaching in its implications, astonishing in its depth and simply one of the most absorbing books I've ever read.
Have you never wondered what a world with superheros would really be like? What could drive a rational human being to dress up in a silly costume and start apprehending criminals and getting in the way of the police? The kind of flaws and insecurities such a person might have? That (and much more besides) is what drives the book. Mindless it is not. Please give it a go sometime.
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I read up on "Watchmen", but I am still not convinced. This is not because I am generally against comics, by the way; I do love, for example, the "Canardo" series of Benoit Sokal (which I hereby highly recommend). Canardo is a duck ("Canard" is French for "duck") who looks like Columbo and acts like Phillip Marlowe. I may give "Watchmen" a try, though at the moment other readings are on my agenda.
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 BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.
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Gustavo Froes
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 06 2008
Location: Rio,Brazil
Status: Offline
Points: 385
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Posted: March 10 2009 at 12:46 |
It's not the ending that bothers me.The film's pretention towards 'intellectual'(for example,the complete absence of soundtrack)is just ridiculous and annoying Javier Barden is a great actor,but wasn't for some nice dialogs here and there(that last scene isn't one of them) and Tommy Lee Jones,this would be a complete disaster.If the question sounded like 'implication',sorry,it wasn't my intention. Just please tell me WHAT makes this movie so great.
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Henry Plainview
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 26 2008
Location: Declined
Status: Offline
Points: 16715
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Posted: March 10 2009 at 13:00 |
Gustavo Froes wrote:
It's not the ending that bothers me.The film's pretention towards 'intellectual'(for example,the complete absence of soundtrack)is just ridiculous and annoying Javier Barden is a great actor,but wasn't for some nice dialogs here and there(that last scene isn't one of them) and Tommy Lee Jones,this would be a complete disaster.If the question sounded like 'implication',sorry,it wasn't my intention.
Just please tell me WHAT makes this movie so great.
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Why is not having a soundtrack a pretension of intellectualism?
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el böthy
Prog Reviewer
Joined: April 27 2005
Location: Argentina
Status: Offline
Points: 6336
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Posted: March 10 2009 at 14:27 |
Henry Plainview wrote:
Gustavo Froes wrote:
It's not the ending that bothers me.The film's pretention towards 'intellectual'(for example,the complete absence of soundtrack)is just ridiculous and annoying Javier Barden is a great actor,but wasn't for some nice dialogs here and there(that last scene isn't one of them) and Tommy Lee Jones,this would be a complete disaster.If the question sounded like 'implication',sorry,it wasn't my intention.
Just please tell me WHAT makes this movie so great.
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Why is not having a soundtrack a pretension of intellectualism? |
What makes to movie so great? Hard to say... personally I think it just gets you so into the feeling of the movie, of what´s happening, the quiet desperation... and Barden scares the sh*t out of me and I can´t stop watching him. But maybe, maybe, what, at least I, like the most about this movie... are these two things: first it´s probably the best hidden comedy of all time, you don´t really laugh at any moment, but it´s just so... not even funny, but comic... so Coen brothers (whom I come to like much more than I used to). Having a practically unstoppable killer like that is with almost cartoon like qualities is just so ridiculous and yet you never question it, it´s just a bit weird but not off puting at all. Making this kind of effect is extremly hard, specially because of it´s subtility. But maybe that´s just me. And secondly... I love how it ends. It just... ends. "And what have we leared?" (a question actually raised at the end of the Coen´s next movie Burn after reading). Well... probably nothing more than seeing how these characters act under strange circumstances. But then again who says we have to leard anything from a good movie? Yet I´m with you. No country for old men should not have won the Oscar... There will be blood should have! Now THAT´S a complete masterpiece. 
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"You want me to play what, Robert?"
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Gustavo Froes
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 06 2008
Location: Rio,Brazil
Status: Offline
Points: 385
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Posted: March 10 2009 at 14:31 |
el böthy wrote:
Henry Plainview wrote:
Gustavo Froes wrote:
It's not the ending that bothers me.The film's pretention towards 'intellectual'(for example,the complete absence of soundtrack)is just ridiculous and annoying Javier Barden is a great actor,but wasn't for some nice dialogs here and there(that last scene isn't one of them) and Tommy Lee Jones,this would be a complete disaster.If the question sounded like 'implication',sorry,it wasn't my intention.
Just please tell me WHAT makes this movie so great.
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Why is not having a soundtrack a pretension of intellectualism? |
What makes to movie so great? Hard to say... personally I think it just gets you so into the feeling of the movie, of what´s happening, the quiet desperation... and Barden scares the sh*t out of me and I can´t stop watching him. But maybe, maybe, what, at least I, like the most about this movie... are these two things: first it´s probably the best hidden comedy of all time, you don´t really laugh at any moment, but it´s just so... not even funny, but comic... so Coen brothers (whom I come to like much more than I used to). Having a practically unstoppable killer like that is with almost cartoon like qualities is just so ridiculous and yet you never question it, it´s just a bit weird but not off puting at all. Making this kind of effect is extremly hard, specially because of it´s subtility. But maybe that´s just me. And secondly... I love how it ends. It just... ends. "And what have we leared?" (a question actually raised at the end of the Coen´s next movie Burn after reading). Well... probably nothing more than seeing how these characters act under strange circumstances. But then again who says we have to leard anything from a good movie?
Yet I´m with you. No country for old men should not have won the Oscar... There will be blood should have! Now THAT´S a complete masterpiece.
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I agree,There Will Be Blood is fantastic.
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manofmystery
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 26 2008
Location: PA, USA
Status: Offline
Points: 4335
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Posted: March 10 2009 at 18:23 |
Gustavo Froes wrote:
el böthy wrote:
Henry Plainview wrote:
Gustavo Froes wrote:
It's not the ending that bothers me.The film's pretention towards 'intellectual'(for example,the complete absence of soundtrack)is just ridiculous and annoying Javier Barden is a great actor,but wasn't for some nice dialogs here and there(that last scene isn't one of them) and Tommy Lee Jones,this would be a complete disaster.If the question sounded like 'implication',sorry,it wasn't my intention.
Just please tell me WHAT makes this movie so great.
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Why is not having a soundtrack a pretension of intellectualism? |
What makes to movie so great? Hard to say... personally I think it just gets you so into the feeling of the movie, of what´s happening, the quiet desperation... and Barden scares the sh*t out of me and I can´t stop watching him. But maybe, maybe, what, at least I, like the most about this movie... are these two things: first it´s probably the best hidden comedy of all time, you don´t really laugh at any moment, but it´s just so... not even funny, but comic... so Coen brothers (whom I come to like much more than I used to). Having a practically unstoppable killer like that is with almost cartoon like qualities is just so ridiculous and yet you never question it, it´s just a bit weird but not off puting at all. Making this kind of effect is extremly hard, specially because of it´s subtility. But maybe that´s just me. And secondly... I love how it ends. It just... ends. "And what have we leared?" (a question actually raised at the end of the Coen´s next movie Burn after reading). Well... probably nothing more than seeing how these characters act under strange circumstances. But then again who says we have to leard anything from a good movie?
Yet I´m with you. No country for old men should not have won the Oscar... There will be blood should have! Now THAT´S a complete masterpiece.
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I agree,There Will Be Blood is fantastic.
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Unstoppable killer? He gets shot and hit by a car. Daniel Plainview on the other hand killed two men and didn't get so much as a scratch. There Will Be Blood was a great film but it was a 1 character film. The entire movie centered around the brutality of one man as opposed to the fairly balanced story of three very different men No Country presented. If it wasn't for the amazing performance of Daniel Day Lewis (and no, I don't believe any other actor could have made this role work) it wouldn't have had much going for it, outside the good use of landscapes (which both had). I'm still a huge fan of There Will Be Blood too but if Daniel Day Lewis hadn't been cast I don't know how it would have held up. Best scene is the Baptism, by the way.
The lack of music in No Country built tension extremely well and I have no real problem with it. Who has music play them in and out of situations in their everyday lives anyway?
No Country did a better job of sucking me into the story than any other movie I've seen. Other than the fact that I absolutely love the Anton Chigurh character that is the best way to explain why I enjoy the film so much. And I'll defend that ending to my dying day!
by the way, if you are reading this and haven't joined the 1st ever ProgArchives Fantasy Baseball League (link in sig) then I am officially calling out your manhood and insulting yo momma
Edited by manofmystery - March 10 2009 at 18:27
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 Time always wins.
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el böthy
Prog Reviewer
Joined: April 27 2005
Location: Argentina
Status: Offline
Points: 6336
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Posted: March 11 2009 at 10:41 |
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Ok, back to topic, I finished Watchmen... yes, it is the best comic I´ve ever read, by far. And no, I don´t think it´s unfilmable, I´m eagerly awaiting to watch the movie!
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"You want me to play what, Robert?"
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manofmystery
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 26 2008
Location: PA, USA
Status: Offline
Points: 4335
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Posted: March 11 2009 at 15:25 |
el böthy wrote:
Ok, back to topic, I finished Watchmen... yes, it is the best comic I´ve ever read, by far. And no, I don´t think it´s unfilmable, I´m eagerly awaiting to watch the movie! |
hope you don't mind major change
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Time always wins.
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el böthy
Prog Reviewer
Joined: April 27 2005
Location: Argentina
Status: Offline
Points: 6336
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Posted: March 11 2009 at 20:33 |
manofmystery wrote:
el böthy wrote:
Ok, back to topic, I finished Watchmen... yes, it is the best comic I´ve ever read, by far. And no, I don´t think it´s unfilmable, I´m eagerly awaiting to watch the movie! |
hope you don't mind major change |
I welcome change 
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"You want me to play what, Robert?"
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Drew
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 20 2005
Location: California
Status: Offline
Points: 12600
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Posted: March 11 2009 at 20:37 |
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Am I the only one who has no f'ing clue what this movie is or why there is so much hype surrounding it?
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Sacred 22
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 24 2006
Status: Offline
Points: 1509
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Posted: March 11 2009 at 22:23 |
manofmystery wrote:
Having read the legendary graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore, and having seen the 2nd trailer for the film version, I agree with Moore's assessment that his work is "inherently unfilmable" . Originally I had hopes that it might be ok, considering director Zach Snyder had originally promised a faithful adaptation but the more I hear and see about the upcoming film this hope dims. I mean the 2nd trailer is just ridiculous! So, I ask those of you who have read Watchmen: Is there any chance this film won't be a complete disaster? |
Never knew anything about 'Watchmen' until I went and saw it at the theatre. The movie is full of messages and most people will not understand it. I enjoyed the film for what it was but the esoteric message is what really hit me. Most people will see it for the exoteric meaning maybe, but few will understand the deeper meanings of the film.
I don't really want to get into what that messages are except to say that the ends justify the means, but from where I sit it was full of them. We live in stange times indeed.
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The Hemulen
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: July 31 2004
Location: UK
Status: Offline
Points: 5964
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Posted: March 12 2009 at 05:28 |
Drew wrote:
Am I the only one who has no f'ing clue what this movie is or why there is so much hype surrounding it?
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Probably not, but the reason there's so much hype is because it's an adaptation of a comic book which has long been hailed as one of the very best (some say THE best) graphic novels of all time. Furthermore, the movie was in "development hell" for many years, and it was often said that the book was simply "unfilmable". The fact that it happened at all is pretty staggering, let alone its largely slavish faithfulness to the comic it's based on. HTH.
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fusionfreak
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 23 2007
Location: France
Status: Offline
Points: 1317
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Posted: March 12 2009 at 08:57 |
BaldFriede wrote:
Trouserpress wrote:
Saw it yesterday. My reaction:
"Well, that was certainly a film of Watchmen, there".
Ultimately, it was as good as it probably ever could be given the limits of film as a framework and the huge amount of material needing to be condensed/selected from in order to effectively tell the story. Ultimately, though, did it actually need to happen?
Oh, and Friede, surely you know better than to judge a book by the film it's based on? The film, I grant you, can come across as a mindless action flick at times but to dismiss Moore/Gibbon's visionary work as a mindless action comic by association is simply a huge mistake. The graphic novel is a book about people and ideas; far-reaching in its implications, astonishing in its depth and simply one of the most absorbing books I've ever read.
Have you never wondered what a world with superheros would really be like? What could drive a rational human being to dress up in a silly costume and start apprehending criminals and getting in the way of the police? The kind of flaws and insecurities such a person might have? That (and much more besides) is what drives the book. Mindless it is not. Please give it a go sometime.
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I read up on "Watchmen", but I am still not convinced. This is not because I am generally against comics, by the way; I do love, for example, the "Canardo" series of Benoit Sokal (which I hereby highly recommend). Canardo is a duck ("Canard" is French for "duck") who looks like Columbo and acts like Phillip Marlowe. I may give "Watchmen" a try, though at the moment other readings are on my agenda.
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Canardo is great Baldfriede!You've got as fine tastes as in music but what are your readings at the moment?I love Attilio Micheluzzi,Hugo Pratt,EP Jacobs,Hergé,Stan Lee,Jack Kirby,Hubinon-Charlier and many more but at this moment I'm reading an Avengers one shot(by Neal Adams,John and Sal Buscema).By the way do you also know Didier Tronchet and his fabulous Jean Claude Tergal?
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I was born in the land of Mahavishnu,not so far from Kobaia.I'm looking for the world
of searchers with the help from
crimson king
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threefates
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 30 2004
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 4215
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Posted: March 12 2009 at 10:59 |
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Ok.. I saw it and found it silly. However, my husband and son loved it. So I guess its a man thing. I did love the fact that Rorschach was played by the same guy who was the kid ballplayer in all the Bad News Bears movies. Also watching the lead girl... made it feel more like a Zena episode. I kept waiting for Gabreille to show up. Hilarious.
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THIS IS ELP
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Jozef
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 17 2008
Location: Pennsylvania
Status: Offline
Points: 2204
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Posted: March 14 2009 at 00:16 |
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I saw it yesterday afternoon and enjoyed it. There were some obvious differences between the novel and the film but it wasn't too harmful. It was a much better adaptation of Alan Moore's work than the V for Vendetta film.
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TheCaptain
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 04 2009
Location: Ohio, USA
Status: Offline
Points: 1335
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Posted: March 16 2009 at 02:10 |
Drew wrote:
Am I the only one who has no f'ing clue what this movie is or why there is so much hype surrounding it?
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I knew absolutely nothing about it prior to a couple weeks ago although I have been seeing it hyped for what seems like a year. Even after hearing about it, I only got the most basic idea of what it was about. Now about the movie. The opening credits was one of the greatest pieces of cinematic majesty in recent memory. The rest of the movie was pretty good despite (or because of) not reading the graphic novel beforehand.
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Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal.
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mrcozdude
Forum Senior Member
Joined: July 25 2007
Location: Devon,UK.
Status: Offline
Points: 2078
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Posted: March 16 2009 at 20:49 |
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I'm sure how to rate the film.In a summary I would say it was a camp sin city lost within a vague plot,but liking the GN it deserves very high praise for capturing the imagery and staying true to the novels artist.Though that was the only thing that stayed true to it, it was like Alan Moore had nothing to do with the original book as the film completely missed the point and atmosphere of the book.For me just making an average action flick with a brief moral undertone.
So yeah dissapointed me but that was really the only option.
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Spammer21
Forum Newbie
Joined: March 12 2009
Status: Offline
Points: 21
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Posted: March 16 2009 at 22:49 |
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I haven't read the novel but I'd like to now, after seeing the movie. Which is weird because I really didn't like that movie.
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TheProgtologist
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
Joined: May 23 2005
Location: Baltimore,Md US
Status: Offline
Points: 27802
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Posted: March 26 2009 at 05:57 |
BaldFriede wrote:
After having seen a scene from "Watchmen" I must say I have no intention of reading it. Nor will I watch the movie.
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The you are mssing out on arguably the greatest graphic novel ever Friede,give it a chance.
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