Watchmen

Me and the missus have just got in from the cinema (after stopping on the way home for a healthy take-away burger), and I have to say, we both thoroughly enjoyed 'Watchmen'.



We did, however, differ on our introduction to it. I read the graphic novel almost a decade ago, and have lived in hope of a film there has been rumours of since the story's conception in 1986. My other half was introduced to it within the last few months as I refused to shut up about the film's upcoming release.

So, I have decided to give you two people's reviews of the film, as some of you may find a critique from a newcomer to the story more helpful than mine. I will review, obviously as Elementary Penguin, while my other half takes the guise of Semolina Pilchard.


ELEMENTARY PENGUIN


Alan Moore is a dark man.

In 1986, he dreamt up an alternative reality to our world, in which Richard Nixon had stayed in power, losing control of the Cold War, leaving the Earth on the edge of total distruction. But we can turn to our superheroes, can't we?

No.

The heroes have given up, when the general public violently protested against them, even killing some in the process. Some have become businessmen, some work for the government, and some seem to do nothing at all. Only Rorschach continues to patrol the streets, dealing out his special, ultra-violent 'justice'.

When The Comedian, an incredibly unpopular ex-superhero, is found murdered, Rorschach starts investigating whether an unknown attacker is bumping off 'the masked', dragging (sometimes unwillingly) his past team-members back into the dangerous career of crime-fighting.

The graphic novel has, on so many occasionals, been referred to as 'unfilmable', and until recently, I would have agreed. The story jumps 30 years into the past, then into the future, back to the present, without so much as a 'wobbly screen' flashback warning.

How wrong I was. The film acheives this perfectly. It remains true to the book, while feeling modern, despite being set 23 years in the past. The action is spot-on, the violence is graphic without being gratuitous, and the silk spectre has a very nice bottom.

It's better than any of us fans were ever expecting.



SEMOLINA PILCHARD

I have never read the 'Watchmen' graphic novel and to be quite frank up until a few months ago I had no interest in seeing this film, but after persistent requests to go and see it I was coaxed into doing so. I have watched most of these films which could be classified as 'superhero movies' (although I turned down seeing the Incredible Hulk with Eric Bana) and this is quite different.

'Watchmen' has the atmosphere of '300' and 'Sin City' (by the same director) but doesn't smack of the same stereotypical superhero movie where the world is saved by a caped crusader and all is well in the end. This film is dark. The characters in this film are unconventional superheroes, most of which have no special powers except from brute strength and sociopathic tendencies.

It's a good film in my opinion, but definitely not one I would show to young children. It is dark, adult and the polar opposite of films such as 'Spider-man' and 'Iron Man'.

'Watchmen' in my personal opinion is one of the best superhero movies to date combining pragmatic application of justice with some awesome action sequences and a hell of a lot of nudity!



VERDICT - WHETHER YOU ARE A FAN OR NOT, YOU WILL LOVE IT, AS LONG AS YOU'RE NOT TOO SQUEAMISH.

The road to 'Watchmen'

I am a nerd, of epic proportions.

Specifically, I am a nerd for dark graphic novels, sci-fi films, and rock music.

The upcoming 'Watchmen' film, 23 years in the making, is set to rock my world!



In 1986, Alan Moore wrote 'Watchmen', released as a 12-issue limited series comic book, which was later released as a single graphic novel. It instantly received rave reviews, hailed as the greatest graphic novel of all time, even being included on Time magazine's 100 top novels of all time.

Its popularity seemed to stem from its unusually dark premise, full of death and destruction. The superheroes can't fly or climb walls, they are just members of the public who want to change the world for the better, but it doesn't always work that way. Pages filled with blood, nuclear bombs, and excessive violence towards innocents shocked and intrigued people used to the camp bright coloured antics of Superman and the like.

I will be seeing the film Sunday evening, and the review will be up later that night. Until then, here is an awesome wallpaper (click it for a larger image), if you are a fan, and looking forward to it as much as I am!

An apology, and an announcement.

I know, I am sorry. The blog is called 'Film Review A Day', and it's been ages.
Thanks to Virgin, my net has been on the blink, on and off, since I moved in in September, and it has finally given up the good fight, and gone to the Broadband provider in the sky.

Wireless was installed, and promptly joined the Virgin broadband in 'shit products heaven', before being dragged kicking and screaming to the real world, refusing to reach as far as my room, meaning I am having to work from the kitchen as I speak/type!

But wait, there is more.



Both because I think it's a great idea, and because I am very tired, and the internet is still not properly fixed, I will not be making up for the missed posts.
Instead, I will be continuing with one review a day, until next Saturday, the 14th, when between Midday then, and Midday on Sunday, I will be reviewing CONSTANTLY.

That's right, constantly. I will be watching a film, reviewing it as it plays, publishing the post, and instantly starting another film, for 24 hours. That should work out as somewhere between 12 and 16 reviews, in one day!

ALL I ASK IS FOR ANYONE WHO ENJOYS MY BLOG, TO SPREAD THE WORD. Send the link to friends, set it as your Facebook or MSN status, email people, because this will be a real experiment, and hopefully, something very special.

The countdown starts.....now.

Oh bugger...again

My net is, yet again, screwed more than Madonna was during the 80s, and so again I must apologise for a lack of reviews.
As soon as the problem is sorted, I will sit down on one of my less busy days, and fit as many reviews on as I can in 24 hours!

Thanks for reading.

"My blog is better than yours"

As I mentioned in my Oscar night blog, I have received a surprising amount of flak caused by blogging. I talked to my tutor, who is marking me for this blog (and who may I just add is an amazing tutor, and an all-round good person) and she suggested I actually wrote about the 'attack', since it is pretty bloody amusing.

Below, I lay out just a few tastes of his incredibly intelligent, lucid, not-at-all-ridiculous argument, based entirely around the fact that I said he was wrong for claiming women are only here to make men happy.

"What are you afraid of you chicken? Oh I know what - me. I don't judge you though! You do know I'm a better blogger than you and that's why you hind behind other people's blogs"

At this point, I would like to bring it to everyone's attention that out of his 12 followers, at least 4 of them are fake. That's right, all around the same time, 4 followers started accounts, and followed only him. They have no profile or contact information, and have done nothing. He started them himself.

"You see, I don't mind the criticism as long as it is a factual opinion and not that non-sense you keep writing about. And for your information, if it comes to blogging, I've got more readers, commenters, and profile views than you have. Does that tell you anything? If your little and unsocial twisted mind can't figure that out, I'll do it for you, MY BLOG IS MUCH BETTER THAN YOURS... And people like my blog, that's why they've actually made real comments on it."

As I have already said, a lot of his followers are people invented by him. What I didn't mention is that the majority of his comments are from the fake people. There are two comments from people that aren't him or me, and he has deleted one of them, because he didn't agree with what was said.

My favourite moment came from me saying I think he is so defensive because he is insecure.

"saying that my blog is better than your isn't a sign of insecurity, it's a fact. MY BLOG IS BETTER THAN YOURS..."

Isn't that exactly the sort of thing a VERY insecure person would say?

What makes me laugh the most is the 'friends' he speaks about, that support him. I can only assume he means the invisible friends he has invented who comment his posts, because everyone I have talked to that know him, have said things starting at "He does seem very insecure about someone being better than him at something" to "What a prick".


Anyway, that's my rant over, now I can get back to film reviews, on my site, which has a good few hundred more views than him....all done now.

Hellboy

Hello you beautiful people! As I have already mentioned, I lost access to the internet over the weekend, so apologies to anyone bothered by the lack of reviews, although if you were, you need to get out more. Today I am reviewing 'Hellboy', then will be reviewing two, count them, TWO films tomorrow!

So, Hellboy.



I know a lot of the people who read this are into sci-fi and comic books, so they might be a little bit disappointed by this review.

It's OK.

That's it really. It's nothing special, but it certainly isn't bad. The only good thing I can say about it is that it is fairly true to the original graphic novel. It's just a shame I never really enjoyed that either.

This is one of those films that, for me, fit into the unusual category of films I am fully aware is good, but I don't enjoy. I feel like this about some of what is considered the greatest films of all time. The Godfather, Se7en, Ben Hur, all sorts. I know they are good, but I just don't enjoy them.

Sorry!


VERDICT - WORTH A GO, YOU MIGHT LIKE IT!

Oh bugger...

Sorry folks! My net has been down for a couple of days, so I haven't been able to get any reviews up yesterday or today. Give it a couple of hours, I am reviewing Hellboy as we speak, and then I will do two tomorrow.
Ooh, I do spoil you!