Watchmen

Tools    





Okay, so, uh...apparently we're going to get a very, uh...thorough view of Dr. Manhattan:

With just over two weeks before "Watchmen" hits theaters, Hollywood Outbreak spoke to director Zack Snyder about the nudity audiences are expected to see in his film. More specifically, Dr. Manhattan's blue penis.

Snyder revealed that he was asked by Warner Bros to keep the character's junk screentime to a minimum and while he respects that request, he felt that he needed to be faithful to the source material. As a result, he believes that the first time Dr. Manhattan steps out fully nude, there will be some giggling in the theater.
Here's a quick audio clip of Snyder talking about all this:



In theory, this doesn't particularly bother me, but I do think it's going to take me out of the movie when people start chuckling like mad upon its first appearance.



Sci-Fi-Guy's Avatar
Beware The Probe!
Here's one extremely negative review of the movie that somehow makes me want to see it even more.
Clearly NOT a kid's superhero movie but I guess some people have a problem with that.
__________________
Fear the Probe!



I wouldn't take that review very seriously - just by the look of several paragraphs she appears to be in "attack-mode" on the film, rather than cold analysis.

Also, I saw it tonight. I enjoyed it for the most part. I'll put up a review when I'm slightly more awake.



Let's try to be broad-minded about this
k, i just saw it too and i am soooo angry. First off, the film was great very faithful to the graphic novel and i loved it which was expected. But i HATE teenage boys soooooo much! (no offense any of you on here...) but seriously, i went with a group of about ten people and me and one other person who read the graphic novel liked it and then one was undecided and the only two other girls fell asleep and all the rest of the guys hated it. They kep saying "omg there was too much blue penis and the only good part was the sex scene" and seriously i'm going to slaughter teenagers. Like really, pick up a book once in a while and try broadening your narrow minded ****-filled intellects. AH! so angry...i dunno though i might just be really friggin tired and sick of trying to convince a bunch of dumbass idiot termites that that movie didn't suck and yeah, i've already given up hope for teenage girls. They both fell asleep but they at least didn't say anything about it. And! Aaaaand! They were all saying "omg i can't believe you have a shirt that movie was such crap i'm so disappointed" oooohhh i was sooo angry because god forbid they'd have to use their brains to interpret great material put in front of them but that obviously does not compute with such low functioning mentalities. And the reason i'm so angry is probably because i know that's not just happening in my group of friends but around the country and thinking of that makes me even more mad bleh i can't go to bed now. Too angry and i've been downing cherry coke. *deep breaths*



Welcome to the human race...
People are morons. I know this, which is why I go either by myself or with only one other person whose taste in film/anything I can trust. Second time around, I watched it with a guy who hadn't read the graphic novel, yet he still loved the film. So there may just be hope.

Dumb teenagers are still no match for irresponsible parents, however.
__________________
I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



A system of cells interlinked
Sorry to hear that Rice. Just be happy you are not one of these people.
__________________
“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



Let's try to be broad-minded about this
well it was really difficult actually finding anyone to go with, becca (igor) was in chicago and my other friend had to get up in the morning and like alllllll my friends couldn't go...and really i'd like to think i have a lot of friends haha so i called my friend ian and he was planning on going so i told him i'd be coming with him whether he liked it or not because no matter what i'd be seeing that movie but i didn't want to go alone and yeah so i went with him and a huge group of people i'd never met before, i knew one other one and he had read the book so he liked it and yeah the people were really cool before we saw the movie, lots of charisma which they obviously use to compensate for their lake of brains. So i didn't really know what to expect from these people and i am really glad i'm not like them



k, i just saw it too and i am soooo angry. First off, the film was great very faithful to the graphic novel and i loved it which was expected. But i HATE teenage boys soooooo much! (no offense any of you on here...) but seriously, i went with a group of about ten people and me and one other person who read the graphic novel liked it and then one was undecided and the only two other girls fell asleep and all the rest of the guys hated it. They kep saying "omg there was too much blue penis and the only good part was the sex scene" and seriously i'm going to slaughter teenagers. Like really, pick up a book once in a while and try broadening your narrow minded ****-filled intellects. AH! so angry...i dunno though i might just be really friggin tired and sick of trying to convince a bunch of dumbass idiot termites that that movie didn't suck and yeah, i've already given up hope for teenage girls. They both fell asleep but they at least didn't say anything about it. And! Aaaaand! They were all saying "omg i can't believe you have a shirt that movie was such crap i'm so disappointed" oooohhh i was sooo angry because god forbid they'd have to use their brains to interpret great material put in front of them but that obviously does not compute with such low functioning mentalities. And the reason i'm so angry is probably because i know that's not just happening in my group of friends but around the country and thinking of that makes me even more mad bleh i can't go to bed now. Too angry and i've been downing cherry coke. *deep breaths*
OK, I just gotta ask--when did comic books turn into "graphic novels"? Is there a difference between the two?



In the Beginning...
OK, I just gotta ask--when did comic books turn into "graphic novels"? Is there a difference between the two?
In the most basic sense, a "comic book" is a single issue, and a "graphic novel" is a complete work printed in its entirety. These meanings, of course, tend to become nebulous because the method for publishing and printing illustrated comics isn't so cut and dry.

For example, "comic book" can refer to a continuing series consisting of many issues, probably because you can always count on an issue of whatever to be on the stands.

Likewise, a series often becomes a "graphic novel" when the many issues are compiled into a collection. Watchmen is a prime example: it was originally released as a 12-issue miniseries, with each issue released on a monthly basis. Later, it was collected into the book you can purchase today.

Generally, collections of ongoing series are called "trade paperbacks" instead of "graphic novels," considering that the story continues. However, I can't imagine that if ever DC Comics decided to release the entire collection of Superman comics from beginning to end, we could call it a "graphic novel."

Of course, the term "comic book" will probably always be used colloquially for any kind of illustrated comic serial published in the familiar 24-page, 7.5" x 11" booklet format, adding further fuel to the confusion fire.



Will your system be alright, when you dream of home tonight?
I can't imagine that if ever DC Comics decided to release the entire collection of Superman comics from beginning to end, we could call it a "graphic novel."
Or when a kid accidently drops it on a friend "murder weapon"
__________________
I used to be addicted to crystal meth, now I'm just addicted to Breaking Bad.
Originally Posted by Yoda
If I were buying a laser gun I'd definitely take the XF-3800 before I took the "Pew Pew Pew Fun Gun."



sharkfan's Avatar
Registered User
First off, the film was great very faithful to the graphic novel and i loved it which was expected.
Glad you liked the film. I liked it as a film too. But it definitely was not "very faithful to the graphic novel." I am waiting for time to pass before writing a review or commenting on it further, but there are specific, important distinctions between them.



OK, I just gotta ask--when did comic books turn into "graphic novels"? Is there a difference between the two?
Sigh. Pedants still argue about this. the most recent big one I can remember (I stopped following a while ago) was comic artist/graphic novelist Eddie Campbell's Graphic Novel Manifesto, which he first published on the old Comics Journal Message Board. In it's current incarnation most people seem to trace it back to the late seventies and it basically means a comic book with highfalutin' literary or artistic ambitions/pretensions. That includes pretty much everything these days.

EDIT -- Here's the [satirical?] graphic novel manifesto. Point of interest:


5. Since the term signifies a movement, or an ongoing event, rather than a form, there is nothing to be gained by defining it or "measuring" it. It is approximately thirty years old, though the concept and name had been bandied about for at least ten years earlier. As it is still growing it will in all probability have changed its nature by this time next year.


6. The goal of the graphic novelist is to take the form of the comic book, which has become an embarrassment, and raise it to a more ambitious and meaningful level. This normally involves expanding its size, but we should avoid getting into arguments about permissible size. If an artist offers a set of short stories as his new graphic novel, (as Eisner did with A Contract with God) we should not descend to quibbling. We should only ask whether his new graphic novel is a good or bad set of short stories. If he or she uses characters that appear in another place, such as Jimmy Corrigan's various appearances outside of the core book, or Gilbert Hernandez' etc. or even characters that we do not want to allow into our "secret society," we shall not dismiss them on this account. If his book no longer looks anything like comic books we should not quibble as to that either. We should only ask whether it increases the sum total of human wisdom.