Who will watch the Watchmen?

With the Dark Knight getting Oscar worthy reviews and passing Star Wars for the no.2 spot on highest grossing domestic movies of all time list it's official: comic book movies are no longer guilty pleasures. The Dark Knight took the adult themes and serious minded outlook on super-heroes to a new level, Watchmen might be the one to take things one more step in that direction. With a pedigree that includes accolades as far ranging as a Hugo Award win and recognition from Time magazine as one of the 100 best English language novels of all-time, writer and critics darling Alan Moore(V for Vendetta, Marvelman, From Hell, Swamp thing) behind the original story , add one of the hottest directors Zak Snyder coming of a huge hit( 300) and it's fair to say expectations are high.

So I guess your asking "Who are the Watchmen"? If not, you should be. Heres a very brief spoiler free peek.

The basic premise is that masked crime fighting heroes are real and exist in a Nixon era America. Due to political pressures and public outcry almost all have retired or gone underground . One critical character changes the balance of power between the Soviet Union and the United States due to his almost godlike powers as the only truly "super" powered hero.He maintains the status quo.

Observing all this from their own vantage point are the other now retired or disenfranchised crime fighters. Most of them battle their own more personal demons, feeling impotent and unable to effect the world around them in their civilian guises. Things begin to change when ex "masks" start dying. Is it a elaborate plot to reshape the world or merely random coincidences in a sick decaying world order? You'll have to watch the Watchmen to find out.

Written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons and released by DC comics 1986, Watchman was a highly successful 12 issue mini series. The main characters were originally based on almost forgotten characters from the now defunct Charlton Comics company. DC having paid for the writes to these character decided to "use them" in a different capacity. Simply put Moore and Gibbons replaced the Charlton characters Captain Atom, Peacemaker, Blue Beetle, The Question, and The Thunderbolt ( and others) with their own super heroes ( Doctor Manhattan, The Comedian, Nite Owl, Rorschach, and Ozymandias). The results speak for themselves. Love it or hate it, no modern comic book has generated the critical acclaim that Moore and Gibbon's Watchmen has.

Will Watchmen work as a movie? I honestly don't know. I would say that the trailer and casting of the movie have left me feeling very optimistic so far but the pro's and con's are these:

Pros

• The subject matter is fascinating and unlike anything else yet brought to film in the super-hero genre
• The effects so far look spot on amazing. Some of the scenes look exactly like pages from the comic.
• I have been tremendously impressed with the look and feel of Snyder's last two films 300 and Dawn of the dead. 300 especially showed that he understands his target audience and how to translate static images to moving film.

Cons

• This movie ain't Spider-Man! The story is not forced forward by action scenes and is very wordy in many places. How this translates to film is anyones guess but I'll be surprised if Moore's prose can hold up under the medium change.
• The books is loooooong. I'm praying that the studio is willing to give Snyder the cut and running time he will need to include all the small moments that make the sum so much greater than the parts of this project. I ( and many others) always felt this movie would work better as a mini series. We'll see.

No matter what happens I applaud the effort. If the super hero genre is to last and grow more diverse movies like the Watchmen have to happen. Who watches the Watchmen? I will.

Watchmen official site

Best By Far pt.II - Omar: The Shows Over

As mentioned in the proceeding blog the wife and I went to the Omar concert at Sugarhill Friday night. What can I say: The brother was tremendous, even better than I expected! Omar performed a nice mix of his songs but seemed to stay mostly with his earlier work. Some of the highlights included "Music", "Winner", "Little Boy", "Outside", "Be Thankful", "Tell Me", "Saturday", "I'm Still Standing", "Ghana Emotion", and a show stopping cover of Roy Ayers "Everybody loves the Sunshine".The crowd moved and grooved to every song, sang every lyric!

As cool as the show was things even got better. A group of us headed over to Landmark Diner to grab a bite and discuss the show, this was cool and then we got a very "twilight zone" surprise. Omar himself came in.

As you can imagine, we were pleasantly shocked, after a moment we introduced ourselves to the man. What can I say, the brother was pure class. He posed for pictures, answered questions, and thanked us for supporting his music. After picking up his food he came back again to shake hands and say thanks again. Pure class ... best by far.

(One of the) Best By Far

Omar Lye-Fook.The Brit-funker has been blowing my mind since I picked up a CD import of his first release "There's Nothing Like This" from Atlanta CD (RIP) back in '91. As cool as that was, it didn't even begin to hint at how amazing his follow up disc "MUSIC" would be! The horns, the melodies, the VOICE. Like a handful of others around Atlanta I was asking "Who is this guy"?! For those in the know it almost seemed like Omar was a musical version of Fight Club: "The first rule of Fight club IS we don't talk about Fight Club".

The guy just kept dropping musical bombs on me and the faithful: 94's "For Pleasure", followed by 97's "This is Not a Love Song", 00's "Best By Far" ( perfectly titled by the way). I waited for him to blow up! And I waited. And Waited. Then I had a epiphany... this dudes music is beyond the corporate machine. He bobs and weaves , he counter punches, you can't predict him musically. He's a member of the old guard that puts the sound in front of the "product". He's a music lovers musician; he challenges like Prince or Miles. You stand still, he'll keep movin'.

Friday night, the wife and I will be checking the brother out at Underground Atlanta's Sugarhill. If you act right I may return with a review and a picture or two. Rest assured when he sings his latest single "Sing (if you want it)" we will!

Official Omar Web Site
Excellent article on Omar from Kick Mag.
Omar Biography/Discography from Allmusic.

Never Can Say Goodbye.

I'm almost at a loss for words. First the great Bernie Mac passing away at such a young age and now the legendary Isaac Hayes . For some reason the loss of the people with the gift to reach us through laughter and song REALLY hits home. Something about the silencing of that singular voice simply hurts. It also slams home a few issue with personal mortality that can be hard to examine.

You have heard the last Isaac Hayes song, the last Bernie Mac joke, the last Luther Vandross tune. It reminds us that we have or will soon hear the last from our own loved ones. That hurts. After the hurt though one has to focus on the moments...THE MOMENTS. That doesn't just apply to musicians or comedians that touched us but mostly to the people we actually know that touched us.

Never can say goodbye? You don't have. Remember them.

Update: Here are two excellent essays on Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes from The Root.com. Be sure to give a listen to this interview from NPR (recorded 7.28.94) "Remembering Soul Icon Isaac Hayes". Good stuff.