WATCHMEN Movie Discussion (SPOILERS allowed)!
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Found this over at AICN...
David Hayter, one of the screenwriters of "Watchmen" penned this plea to the fans to get out and see the movie again this weekend...
AN OPEN LETTER FROM A WATCHMEN SCREENWRITER
So it has been five months since I saw my first rough cut of WATCHMEN, and eight days since the premiere of the film I've been working on since late in the year 2000.
The reviews are out -- Some outstanding, others rankly dismissive, which can be frustrating for the people involved, (though I can only speak for myself,) because I firmly believe that WATCHMEN, the novel, must be read through more than once to even have the faintest grip on it. And I believe the film is the same.
I've seen it twice now, and despite having run the movie in my head thousands of times, my two viewings still don’t' allow me to view the film with the proper distance or objectivity. Is it Apocalypse Now? Is it Blade Runner? Is it Kubrick, or Starship Troopers? I don’t know yet.
All I know is that I had a pretty amazing experience the two times I've seen it. And both viewings produced remarkably different experiences. The point is, I have listened for years, to complaints from true comic book fans, that "not enough movies take the source material seriously." "Too many movies puss out," or "They change great stories, just to be commercial." Well, I ^^^^^*ing dare you to say any one of those things about this movie.
This is a movie made by fans, for fans. Hundreds of people put in years of their lives to make this movie happen, and every one of them was insanely committed to retaining the integrity of this amazing, epic tale. This is a rare success story, bordering on the impossible, and every studio in town is watching to see if it will work. Hell, most of them own a piece of the movie.
So look, this is a note to the fanboys and fangirls. The true believers. Dedicated for life.
If the film made you think. Or argue with your friends. If it inspired a debate about the nature of man, or vigilante justice, or the horror of Nixon abolishing term limits. If you laughed at Bowie hanging with Adrian at Studio 54, or the Silhouette kissing that nurse.
Please go see the movie again next weekend.
You have to understand, everyone is watching to see how the film will do in its second week. If you care about movies that have a brain, or balls, (and this film's got both, literally), or true adaptations -- And if you're thinking of seeing it again anyway, please go back this weekend, Friday or Saturday night. Demonstrate the power of the fans, because it'll help let the people who pay for these movies know what we'd like to see. Because if it drops off the radar after the first weekend, they will never allow a film like this to be made again.
In the interests of full disclosure, let me also point out that I do not profi t one cent from an increase in box office, although an increase in box office can add to the value of the writers' eventual residual profits from dvd and tv sales.
But I'm not saying it for money. I'm saying it for people like me. I'm saying it for people who love smart, dark entertainment, on a grand, operatic scale. I'm talking to the Snake fans, the Rorschach fans, the people of the Dark Knight.
And hey, if you hated the film, if you think we committed atrocities, or literary mistakes of a massive, cephalopodic nature. If the movie made you a little sick to your stomach, or made you feel bad about your life. If you hated it for whatever reason, that's cool too. I'm not suggesting you risk gastro-intestinal distress just for the sake of risky filmmaking.
But if you haven't seen it yet? Well, I'll just say this...
It may upset you. And it probably will upset you.
And all along, we really meant it to.
Because face it. All this time...You there, with the Smiley-face pin. Admit it.
All this time, you’ve been waiting for a director who was going to hit you in the face with this story. To just crack you in the jaw, and then bend you over the pool table with this story. With its utterly raw view of the darkest sides of human nature, expressed through its masks of action and beauty and twisted good intentions. Like a fry-basket full of hot grease in the face. Like the Comedian on the=2 0Grassy Knoll. I know, I know...
You say you don't like it. You say you've got issues. I get it.
And yet... You'll be thinking about this film, down the road. It'll nag at you. How it was rough and beautiful. How it went where it wanted to go, and you just hung on. How it was thoughtful and hateful and bleak and hilarious. And for Jackie Earle Haley.
Trust me. You'll come back, eventually. Just like Sally.
Might as well make it count for something.
David Hayter
I plan on going back this weekend...hopefully it'll still be at the IMAX in Montreal for a dew more weeks so I can check it out up there too...
It is a great movie...and big BO or not, I hope the studio wags have enough foresight to see that they'll get their coin in the end, one way or another...
After last summer's superb "Dark Knight" we get another smart, well-crafted, well-written comic-based film in "Watchmen". It's almost sad to think that soon summer will be here and we'll be back to the usual, loud, overblown studio dreck-fest...hopefully there will be that rumored "Extended Cut" release of "Watchmen" to check out as well...
David Hayter, one of the screenwriters of "Watchmen" penned this plea to the fans to get out and see the movie again this weekend...
AN OPEN LETTER FROM A WATCHMEN SCREENWRITER
So it has been five months since I saw my first rough cut of WATCHMEN, and eight days since the premiere of the film I've been working on since late in the year 2000.
The reviews are out -- Some outstanding, others rankly dismissive, which can be frustrating for the people involved, (though I can only speak for myself,) because I firmly believe that WATCHMEN, the novel, must be read through more than once to even have the faintest grip on it. And I believe the film is the same.
I've seen it twice now, and despite having run the movie in my head thousands of times, my two viewings still don’t' allow me to view the film with the proper distance or objectivity. Is it Apocalypse Now? Is it Blade Runner? Is it Kubrick, or Starship Troopers? I don’t know yet.
All I know is that I had a pretty amazing experience the two times I've seen it. And both viewings produced remarkably different experiences. The point is, I have listened for years, to complaints from true comic book fans, that "not enough movies take the source material seriously." "Too many movies puss out," or "They change great stories, just to be commercial." Well, I ^^^^^*ing dare you to say any one of those things about this movie.
This is a movie made by fans, for fans. Hundreds of people put in years of their lives to make this movie happen, and every one of them was insanely committed to retaining the integrity of this amazing, epic tale. This is a rare success story, bordering on the impossible, and every studio in town is watching to see if it will work. Hell, most of them own a piece of the movie.
So look, this is a note to the fanboys and fangirls. The true believers. Dedicated for life.
If the film made you think. Or argue with your friends. If it inspired a debate about the nature of man, or vigilante justice, or the horror of Nixon abolishing term limits. If you laughed at Bowie hanging with Adrian at Studio 54, or the Silhouette kissing that nurse.
Please go see the movie again next weekend.
You have to understand, everyone is watching to see how the film will do in its second week. If you care about movies that have a brain, or balls, (and this film's got both, literally), or true adaptations -- And if you're thinking of seeing it again anyway, please go back this weekend, Friday or Saturday night. Demonstrate the power of the fans, because it'll help let the people who pay for these movies know what we'd like to see. Because if it drops off the radar after the first weekend, they will never allow a film like this to be made again.
In the interests of full disclosure, let me also point out that I do not profi t one cent from an increase in box office, although an increase in box office can add to the value of the writers' eventual residual profits from dvd and tv sales.
But I'm not saying it for money. I'm saying it for people like me. I'm saying it for people who love smart, dark entertainment, on a grand, operatic scale. I'm talking to the Snake fans, the Rorschach fans, the people of the Dark Knight.
And hey, if you hated the film, if you think we committed atrocities, or literary mistakes of a massive, cephalopodic nature. If the movie made you a little sick to your stomach, or made you feel bad about your life. If you hated it for whatever reason, that's cool too. I'm not suggesting you risk gastro-intestinal distress just for the sake of risky filmmaking.
But if you haven't seen it yet? Well, I'll just say this...
It may upset you. And it probably will upset you.
And all along, we really meant it to.
Because face it. All this time...You there, with the Smiley-face pin. Admit it.
All this time, you’ve been waiting for a director who was going to hit you in the face with this story. To just crack you in the jaw, and then bend you over the pool table with this story. With its utterly raw view of the darkest sides of human nature, expressed through its masks of action and beauty and twisted good intentions. Like a fry-basket full of hot grease in the face. Like the Comedian on the=2 0Grassy Knoll. I know, I know...
You say you don't like it. You say you've got issues. I get it.
And yet... You'll be thinking about this film, down the road. It'll nag at you. How it was rough and beautiful. How it went where it wanted to go, and you just hung on. How it was thoughtful and hateful and bleak and hilarious. And for Jackie Earle Haley.
Trust me. You'll come back, eventually. Just like Sally.
Might as well make it count for something.
David Hayter
I plan on going back this weekend...hopefully it'll still be at the IMAX in Montreal for a dew more weeks so I can check it out up there too...
It is a great movie...and big BO or not, I hope the studio wags have enough foresight to see that they'll get their coin in the end, one way or another...
After last summer's superb "Dark Knight" we get another smart, well-crafted, well-written comic-based film in "Watchmen". It's almost sad to think that soon summer will be here and we'll be back to the usual, loud, overblown studio dreck-fest...hopefully there will be that rumored "Extended Cut" release of "Watchmen" to check out as well...
Scar
Super Freak
I'll be taking several friends + girlfriend to see it this weekend. 
David Hayter said:
Stay classy!
I wish I could see the same movie some of you seem to have seen. I didn't find it smart, well crafted or well written at all. Parts of it looked okay, but that's about it for me. The writing especially is pretty dire and riddled with inconsistencies.
plasmid303
Super Freak
I will see it again if Solid Snake needs me to! (In reality I'm taking some friends to see it next weekend).
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maybe...but I don't always wade through 200+ pages of posts to check on that so...here it was again...
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I'm going home in a week or so for spring break so I'll probably see it again with a friend. Maybe IMAX too since the nearest IMAX in Arkansas is in Little Rock.
DinoLast
Super Freak
1. Desolation Row My Chemical Romance
2. Unforgettable Nat King Cole
3. The Times They Are A-Changin' Bob Dylan
4. The Sound Of Silence Simon And Garfunkel
5. Me And Bobby McGee Janis Joplin
6. I'm Your Boogie Man K.C. And The Sunshine Band
7. You're My Thrill Billie Holiday
8. Pruit Igoe & Prophecies Philip Glass Ensemble
9. Hallelujah Leonard Cohen
10. All Along The Watchtower Jimi Hendrix
11. Ride Of The Valkyries Budapest Symphony Orchestra
12. Pirate Jenny [Live] Nina Simone
I loved this Soundtrack. Hendrix, Dylan, Cohen and Nat King Cole. It was perfect
2. Unforgettable Nat King Cole
3. The Times They Are A-Changin' Bob Dylan
4. The Sound Of Silence Simon And Garfunkel
5. Me And Bobby McGee Janis Joplin
6. I'm Your Boogie Man K.C. And The Sunshine Band
7. You're My Thrill Billie Holiday
8. Pruit Igoe & Prophecies Philip Glass Ensemble
9. Hallelujah Leonard Cohen
10. All Along The Watchtower Jimi Hendrix
11. Ride Of The Valkyries Budapest Symphony Orchestra
12. Pirate Jenny [Live] Nina Simone
I loved this Soundtrack. Hendrix, Dylan, Cohen and Nat King Cole. It was perfect
hairlesswookiee
PALPATINE CRUSADER!!!!
the score isn't too bad either.
DinoLast
Super Freak
Yes, Tyler Bates and Snyder seem to make a great match up.
Ven
Super Freak
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That score is in my truck on repeat....great driving music.
Not to disparage Bate's effort at all, but it's almost too much how listening to this you can almost tell what Snyder might've temp-tracked the movie with...lot's of hints of Blade Runner, someTangarine Dream, his own 300, a little Don Davis (Matrix)...great influences for sure. Bates does a great job working with Snyder...it'll be cool to see if they keep a director/composer partnership going for Snyder's next few films...
Not to disparage Bate's effort at all, but it's almost too much how listening to this you can almost tell what Snyder might've temp-tracked the movie with...lot's of hints of Blade Runner, someTangarine Dream, his own 300, a little Don Davis (Matrix)...great influences for sure. Bates does a great job working with Snyder...it'll be cool to see if they keep a director/composer partnership going for Snyder's next few films...
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Malice
Super Freak
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i don't mind rated -R i really don't now much of the story that's why i was asking, but i liked the trailer and if it got blood and guts in it i'm there.
hairlesswookiee
PALPATINE CRUSADER!!!!
i've pretty much found that most of what tyler bates makes kicks major arse.
King Darkness
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Saw it again today. Even better the 2nd time around.
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Even better the third time!
And serioulsy...Watchmen isnt even overrated. Its a very neutral movie....
And serioulsy...Watchmen isnt even overrated. Its a very neutral movie....
Certain fans overrate it, but of course that happens with everything. I can't say it's a "neutral" movie though: 64% at Rotten Tomatoes and as we all remember from school that's a D- from the critics! Yikes.
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I'd say they got it right on this one.
