The Dark Knight and Watchmen

So, I saw the Dark Knight featuring my man Pro the other night.













It was a really good movie but went on too long. The hype on Heath Ledger is well earned. You can't take your eyes off him. He's the reason to see the movie. I understand the morbid curiosity in watching him, but even if he had not died, he would still get praise, after all the Joker is a great character and Jack Nicholson got similar praise when the first Batman movie came out.














The movie went on too long though. The subplot with Harvey Dent made for a nice set up for the third Batman movie. It's no spoiler that Harvey Dent was to become the villain Two-Face. It happened very late in the movie but still was significant enough to be a distraction from the rest of the movie.



















Geek Alert!!!!





Anyway, along the way I came across the trailer for the upcoming movie based on the great comic book series of the 80's, The Watchmen. I have to say the period of 1985-88 was the zenith for comic book enthusiasts. The Dark Knight series, Maus, Love and Rockets, and The Watchmen created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons were published then. Comic Books were taken seriously as art, and no wonder. I read the first issue of Watchmen when I dropped off my buddy Inkboy at his house at the end of my freshman year of SVA. It was such a dense comic book series full of references that took multiple readings to catch up with. Each issue was a greatly anticipated event. Luckily there was a comic book store across the street from our dorms.










So, now the movie is coming out in March 2009. Like V For Vendetta, Alan Moore has disavowed any involvement with the film adaptation.









Yeah, The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen was THAT bad of a movie. I don't care, I loved the comic and am really looking forward to the movie. The cast is relatively unknown (a plus) directed by the guy who somehow made the movie 300 a hit, Zack Snyder. The two best known actors, Billy Crudup and James Earle Haley are either computer generated or hidden beneath a mask. From what I've seen the movie seems true to its source.






Now, I've seen The Spirit previews too. It's directed by Frank Miller, the famed comic book artist. I'm not sure it quite captures the right mood. It seems too Sin City, and I don't like The Spirit's mask. Still, it does have Scarlett Johannson.


Oh well...Geek Time over.