Thursday, December 11, 2008

watchful observations of new watchmen trailer



0:00 -- Freaky music, huh? I guess the pumpkins have been done to death with the Watchmen campaign. The churchy spookiness fits, though.

0:05 -- Has anyone noticed that in the past week YouTube has switched to the widescreen format. The place I got this from has the widescreen embedded into the blog, but it looks like it's not working for me. Sorry about half the screen being black bars everyone!

0:40 -- Check out the framed picture of the younger Silk Spectre in what's probably the Comedian's apartment. Nice touch.

0:43 -- One thing the movie really has going for it is the eerie ink movements on Rorschach's mask. I read the graphic novel twice and a half and I never really caught on that it even did that. Surely this will be one thing that's cooler on film than print.

0:45 -- Headline: "The Comedian Gets Last Laugh on Moloch."

0:52 -- Sometimes I hesitate watching and scrutinizing trailers because I'm afraid I'll hit too many spoilers. Perhaps I shouldn't have read the graphic novel then, because these trailer images are exactly like the novel's images.

1:02 -- Fade to black. I hate movie trailers for for fading in and out of black as often as they do. Since I started editing movie trailers into The Cinematic Experience, I've noticed it a lot more often. It's wicked obnoxious.

1:04 -- Wow, the original Silk Spectre's hair was hideous.

1:09 -- Was this sinister Comedian look toward Silk Spectre in the book? I don't have my copy right now (not that it matters, since I'm too lazy to look it up online). Anyway, it's a beautiful addition.

1:10-2:00 -- We've seen just about all of this in the past trailer. I suppose I didn't comment on it too much back then. The Mars sequence looks like it could be slightly breathtaking -- although it's completely given away now. I like whoever they got for Sally Juspeczyk. If she delivers her lines as well as she looks the part, I think we're in business. The Jon Osterman sequences look pretty good too. Hopefully they don't show off Dr. Manhattan too much. I think they'll get more mileage out of him if they keep him mysterious.

2:09 -- Sounds like Danny Elfman took the reins on the music.

2:19 -- Nixon! Anybody see Frost/Nixon yet? How about that Futurama where the disembodied head of Nixon wins the Earthican presidency?

2:22 -- I'm worried about Nite Owl's little ship. Will the audience believe that it can fly and shoot through ice with no wings and not really any noticeable jet propulsion? It may be the fakest looking thing in the story. Zack Snyder will need to tow a fine line between ridiculous camp and dead seriousness.

2:32 -- Did the Comedian just deck a woman?

2:35 -- Isn't Veidt supposed to be more handsome than this? He looks pretty drugged up.

2:39 -- Who's this kid? Does he have the shining?

2:42 -- Looks like Nite Owl goes a little nuts. You know there's no holding back with this movie when the nicest guy in the book is shown in the movie trailer totally wailing on a guy.

2:50 -- Is that Max Headroom as Moloch? Nice to see him getting work. Although I never really liked the guy. When he was here filming The Stand all those years ago, he implied in an interview that everyone in Utah was inbred.

2:55 -- Here's my favorite image in the trailer: Dollar Bill stuck in the revolving door. I'm pretty sure this one wasn't in the graphic novel. Kids! This is why you don't wear a cape! I like to believe that Bill's ill-devised cape was the inspiration to mention the impracticalities of capes in The Incredibles

8 comments:

Maria said...

I am getting really excited for this now. I don't know how they did it, but the images truly do look exactly like the frames in the book....amazing.

Sideshow said...

In the novel you don't get to see what kind of look the Comedian is giving the Silk Spectre, but what it's referencing is a very pivotal point in the story.

And while you never see Dollar Bill in the in the Novel, one of the Between Chapters stories (I believe an excerpt from the original Nite Owl's Biography) Explains the Dollar Bill situation.

Rhett said...

Ya Dollar Bill was explained.

And we need to get our copy back. Now. We both have to read it before this comes out.

(Ya i know its aways away, but still...)

dre said...

This post is amazing...because:
Yes the music was awesome, way better than a smoker's voice explaining our heros are in trouble.
YES! I did notice Youtube changed, I love it!
Yes I saw the framed pic and thought, very nice!
Wait, in the book his mask changes? That's wicked awesome!
No, there are no spoilers because you read the book.
Yes, Silk Spectre still looks like a slut, as does her pms-ing daughter.
Yes I hope Ms Jupiter is as bitchy as I thought when I read it.
I can't wait because Dr Manhantten actor was in Sleepers, a movie I love.
YES Veidt is suppose to be way hotter and buffer, and flexible not that it was shown.
Yeah, who is that kid?
Wha-a-aht, Max Headroom? Inbred? Well he's the fag on the snowy tv screen that wishes he was as cool as Criton from Red Dwarf!
And YES I started re-reading it over thanksgiving thanks to my sister. You need to get that copy back to your apt.

And apology for the long post!!

joN. said...

i need to comment because i have to emphasize that i know very well about the importance of the look and the fate of dollar bill. i just wanted to say that the actual IMAGES weren't in the book. maybe you're just clarifying to the uninformed, but the fact that it was in the between chapter text was the very reason i found the trailer image so worth noting.

and rhett, when are you going to stop spelling 'yeah' as 'ya.' it's like the most annoying thing on the internet right now.

kudos on your awesome insight, ladies.

Johnny 5 said...

So I'm a big fan of moral ambivalence in the genre of Superhero stories. But unlike most of you, I haven't read Watchmen. I have however read a lot of Neil Gaiman, who consulted on Watchmen, and in many ways has had his finger in most good film adaptations in the realm of sc-fi and fantasy. From the ground-breaking Sandman Series, to contracts writing several other comis, to family friendly fare like Stardust, he's pretty prolific. His novels, both graphic and the normal kind are great, a must read for anyone who claims geek status.

Anonymous said...

The Shining kid has got to be Rorschach. Rorschach is my fave, and you've got that whole why-is-Rorschach-so-messed-up-part-let's-go-back-to-his-childhood. It's gotta be. Could have cast him a little less cuter though (creepy Shining eyes aside)...

Anonymous said...

By the way, the music doesn't get any better than the Smashing Pumpkins--Watchmen or not. But maybe I'm biased. Andrea learned her 311 fanaticism from my me and my Pumpkins obsession.