Yesterday my new phone was wigging out and making up a bogus time/date. If you're like me, this is a big deal because my cell is my only source for the time. Without my phone I wouldn't know which ways up. It's authority and I abide by what it tells me is truth. If it says its 930 AM Oct 3 2010 then it is 930 AM Oct 3 2010 (when its really 10:05 AM Oct 26, 2009 and I'm late to pick up my roommate from the airport).
The worst part of this story is this: when I reset the date and time I was bewildered at what year it really was. Not for a brief second but for long enough that I had to type in the google search engine "what year is it?" And when the Google Gods told me I didn't go "oh yeah duh," I questioned it all day long. True story.
The moral of this story is: I don't know a lot of things, like what year it is but I do know its Halloween (don't ask me what month that's in) but you can ask me what my pumpkin looks like. It looks like the JOKER. ...or it did look like the Joker but the sun melted his face.
This will be my last blog about WATCHMEN. Cross my heart.
It seems as though a lot of people went into Watchmen expecting another superhero movie, polished and triumphant, those people came out disappointed.
Aside from a few moments, Snyder avoided dumbing down Moore’s masterpiece to win over the public. Watchmen was made for fans.
This isn’t another comic book movie. It exposes the paradox of the superhero genre. In this reality Superman doesn’t care for humanity, Batman’s a nut, everybody else’s damaged, paranoid, narcissistic, sadistic, sexually deviant. Got goosebumps when Dr. Manhattan says if there is a God, I’m nothing like him.
Watchmen imagines a reality universe. It’s the possibility of what could have been if we had superheroes. We wouldn’t let superman just rescue cats from trees or fight crime in Metropolis. He would help us change history! If Superman existed and he was American, we surely would have won the Vietnam War and what would that have meant?
Watchmen was less plot driven and more character based. Generally, the movie medium doesn’t need to worry about character development and they don’t really have time to. The book is addicting and emotional because you get attached to characters, especially Rorschach whose character is heartbreaking.
I think just as the graphic novel redefined the comic book genre, the movie redefined the comic book movie genre. Comic book movies aren’t just for kids anymore. Watchmen hit theatres at a time when superhero movies are growing tiresome. How about something new, refreshing and serious?
I loved the movie from the very beginning when Bob Dylan’s “Times they are A’Changing” played through. It got me feeling all “Watchmen-y” (which is a word, Zach Snyder used it).
Today was an extension of Christmas. I bought the Blitzen Trapper album on vinyl and white converse.
Anyone who knows me knows I’ve never been one for fashion. Being trendy for some strange reason embarrasses me (Note: I admire people who are fashionable and up-to-date with trends. I think this quirk shares its roots with the same quirk that prevents me from dancing "sexy" at clubs. I just get embarrassed okay?!) I don’t usually buy things for fashion sake, and if I bought these converse to be trendy I would surely be a day late and a dollar short, even I know that. What I'm trying to say is I bought these because Gabriel Macht looked so cool in his black converse in the movie The Spirit! It’s pitiful to admit but as soon as I saw them I thought “I want to look like the Spirit.”
This is the only picture I could find of The Spirits converse. Don’t ask me why in the infinite fountain of internet trash there isn’t one picture of his shoes. Did nobody else think that was the coolest part of the movie?
As I have mentioned before Zack Znyder is directing the movie screenplay of one of my favorite graphic novels The Watchmen. I’ve been waiting for almost a year for this movie, whose release date was supposed to be 3-6-09. However, there have been some complications in one of the most anticipated comic book movies ever made. There is some disagreement between Fox who bought the rights to the movie back in the late 80’s and Warner Brothers who just spent a lot of money filming and advertising for the movie and its release in March. Read more. I would be one disappointed child if the movie doesn’t ever make it to the big screen.
The Watchmen is so incredible because it asks all the questions super hero stories should ask. It’s the reality of the super hero genre. What would super heroes look like in the real world? What should the world look like with super heroes? And of course what in reality would the world look like with super heroes? Who watches our superheroes? Who watches America? Where are we headed? SO COOL!!
My parental unit was wondering what I was asking Santa for this year. So I concocted a wishlist for them. Like I said before I’m a girl of humble needs. I don’t ask for much in this bankrupt world. Just cloths on my back, food and shelter, maybe a nice platinum grill for my top teeth, some foie gras and an artisan cheese basket, a little sashimi and those nice warm little hand towels. I listed some things off for my mom then the conversation ended like this:
Me: “What I really want is just some comic books. It’s what I spend most of my money on.”
Mom: “Comic Books?”
Me: “Yeah like anything DC, Batman, Frank Miller, Alan Moore”
Mom: “We’re not getting you comic books. That’s….geeky.”
Silence.
In defense of all the four- eyed, acne plagued losers in basements across America, comic books are cool. These kids are not just a bunch of virgins salivating over some half naked sketch called Catwoman. They’re not! (hesitate) And even if they are, they’ll soon be the guys who write or sketch the next great Joker story and in turn get paid lots of money when it gets made into a movie.
In my defense, underneath the violence of comic book stories is a sort of prevailing morality. The superhero world is a world of absolute values. What was good was never doubted and what was evil suffered a fitting punishment. It’s our modern bible. A glimpse of a world of absolute justice, where morality worked the way it was meant to. I’m sorry that I want to live in a world of superheroes, instead of this day in age when the cowards hide in the shadows.
While you all thought I was in the trunk of Ted Bundy's car, I really was in one of the greatest places in America, Seattle. We explored the whole city, and we ate like Kings, fattening up like prize heffers, thanks to my parental unit. Some notable and unforgettable events: A lot of thrift store shopping. We may have tried on every hat in Seattle. We gave the Post Alley Gum Wall our stale Peppermint Orbit and in return it offered us this piece of advice... Then went to a place that was barely shy of heaven. Comic book heaven. We found the troll under the bridge. Then we went to an 80’s Dancing Freak Show where I was attacked by a strange man in a full body spandex suit, though he was the best dancer in the world! We sang Karaoke…:) Seattle is such a quirky cool town. I wish I lived in a quiet loft above the market. Where I could walk down grab a comic book, a chai latte and some fresh fruit. Maybe even get some Salmon for dinner. I’m a girl of humble needs, and I think that’s all I would ever need. In the end, the trip was stinking fun slash funny.
All week I’ve been dreaming of costumed super heroes and Heath Ledger. This morning at 9 AM I finally got to watch The Dark Knight at the IMAX. It changed my life. Only one regret, that I didn’t get my friend Stephanie’s 8 yr. old boy Batman costume to wear.
Reasons why this movie was incredible:
1. Heath Ledger. Top Five Favorite performances ever. 2. Favorite line “Either you die a hero or live long enough to become the villain.” (The foreshadowing of Harvey Dent.) 3. The relationship between The Joker and Batman. One couldn’t exist without the other. They are social outcasts. Neither could ever live normal lives and that is the great sacrifice Batman makes. 4. The preview for “Watchmen.” The greatest graphic novel ever written. It’s the only graphic novel in “Time Magazine Top 100 Novels.” Can’t wait for this movie!
My most recent indulgence has been comic books. I have spent a lot of money and time on this new addiction. Batman is my favorite and anything Frank Miller, like Sin City. (After I say this you will think "Get a life," but here goes anyway.) I have been creating my own Sin City style comic art out of my pictures. Cool? Yeah, well cool never was my style.
Why am I too old for comic books? Why can't I imagine a world with superheroes?
