Anyone in the user base a Watchmen fan? Won't bore even the off-topic crowd if not.

It's probably my most purely geeky fanboy interest, of more than 20 years' duration - I'm on my third copy of the hardcover collection and have a drawer full of interesting collectibles. Oh, and tix in hand for opening day. At 9 am. In IMAX.

You are all free to roll your eyes quietly and go join a discussion of importance.

Just took it down from the shelf yesterday, and am beginning to re-read it for the first time in more than a decade.

The watchmaker thing in Heroes? That's in Watchmen.

The cape thing in The Incredibles? That's in Watchmen, too.

I have no idea what Watchmen is and am not a comic book phanboy. But the movie has the most arresting trailer I have seen in years. I'll be there.

I thought the Philip Glass music used in the trailer (straight out of Koyaanisqatsi?) was dead-on perfect. I hope that's the music in the movie. Sometimes they pull a switcheroo and use completely different music in the trailer, e.g. using My Name Is Lincoln from The Island in the trailer but not the movie of Elizabeth.

Dan

As you probably know, Dan, trailers are scored with whatever is at hand - which can be good, bad or utterly indifferent. There are many cases of trailers that look/sound great on their own but turn out to be minimovies of their own, crafted by some assistant director, bearing only the faintest relationship to the finished film.

Watchmen has its own score, as well as one pop tune (over the final credits as usual, I'm sure). Some earlier trailers used a song with a really interesting history - it was written for the end credits of the last Clooney Batman movie but not used. The lyrics are eerily appropriate to the trailer.

FWIW, I've been scrutinizing every scrap of film they've released so far, and Zack Snyder has been monumentally faithful to even the smallest details. I am looking forward to Friday morning in a way I haven't looked forward to anything in decades.

I'm no comic book phan, and I loved the Watchman series when I first read it a few years ago. (My then-boyfriend, now husband insisted; he was right.) It's a subtle, complex, wonderful story, worthy of the attention of anybody who likes to read good stories. That should be everyone here, anyway.

We're planning to go to the movie this weekend. I hear it's quite faithful to the books, which is A Good Thing in this case.

I'm a huge fan of comics in general. I read Watchmen when it came out in 1986 and had to take a year to get the whole story, 1 month at a time over the year. I had to re-read it as each new book came out, and from a 17-year-old's perspective missed a lot of it, I'm sure.

I've got a trade edition around here somewhere. I was waiting to re-read until after I see the movie. We are attempting to go this weekend if the neighbors can babysit. It's had mixed reviews so far, but I haven't delved into too many reviews because so few reviewers know how to write without spoilers these days. Of course, I know the basic plot of this one already....

Saw it at 9:00 a.m. this morning in IMAX. There are plenty of reviews around so I'll refrain for now, but I will have quite a few things to say later one.

All I can say is that the mainstream reviewers seem to be actively campaigning against it for no good reason except, perhaps, a reluctance to cheer anything so fanboy, and through sitting down for their screenings with utterly unrealistic expectations.

Short dual opinion, from one fanboy(tm) and one 99% newb: It's excellent, coherent, and a fantastic ride. I will still be picking up missed bits on my tenth viewing.

Ignore the reviewers, both ecstatic and doomcrying. Go see it.

ok ok finally ended up in WP !! can't plead ignorance about the site any further

googled "Hottentot" per Peter's reference to layers and Minnesota to find that they are are south african tribe (hence the many layers of clothing in a MN winter !) but also found that "Hottentot" is a bit derogatory due to it's Dutch meaning of "stutterer" - correct name of tribe (shortened) is "Khoi"

so much for my brief trip into Wikipedia

Nick

Jim- RFB ever venture this far south ?

I dunno, Nick, how far south are you?

He never went south of the Nile basin - central Africa on both coasts, into the interior.

However, one of the things that cemented my interest in him, long ago, was the amazing discovery that he passed through my hometown, Sacramento, in 1860. Of all extremely unlikely places!

I saw Watchmen this past Saturday for the first time, in IMAX, at the Metreon in San Francisco. I liked it much more than I expected to. I've never read the graphic novel (or any graphic novel, for that matter), but for me, the film stands quite well on its own. I think it benefited substantially from the huge IMAX screen and especially the IMAX sound system. I thought the soundtrack was spectacular and was delighted to see that the Philip Glass music they used in one of the trailers is, indeed, in the film.

The only problem I had with it was that I couldn't keep track of all the characters and all the plot points, but I didn't miss enough that it ruined it for me. I'll definitely see it again, and will probably get more out of it at a second viewing.

I saw it again this Sunday, in regular format. Seeing it in IMAX was definitely worth the effort.

But it was just as much fun the second time. Since it's not killing the box office, I don't expect to get a chance to see it a third time before it's gone. The low second weekend ($18M, a 65% drop) makes it shaky as to whether the director's cut will be theatrically released in June - if it is, it will be major cities only, most likely.

I did see about a thousand things in the second viewing I missed in the first. Such as the copy of the graphic novel sitting on Dan's desk. And another "300" reference I'd missed. And something subtle but very disturbing at the end, since sequels/prequels etc. have been vehemently (and properly) sworn off.

Cracked has done a parody: .

That's pretty funny, but more labored than it could be. Heavy handed.

Me, I want a button that says "Remember Captain Carnage." I was so glad they got that exchange into the film, and got it note-perfect to boot. My fourth favorite line in the book.