Watch "Men's Night Out"

Okay, I'm on the record for having some hesitation to Zack Snyder directing The Watchmen, based on his previous comic book to film adaptation of 300, which was visually stunning, but the acting was pretty hambone.

The Watchmen comic is like, the Rosetta Stone of modern comics, and it was notoriously hard to adapt into film. Terry Gilliam, Darren Aranofsky and Paul Greengrass tried it, and subsequently abandoned it. At one point, Robin Williams was named as a possible Rorschach, and Keanu Reeves was named as a possible Dr. Manhattan. Despite all these big names, the movie remained in development hell for quite a while, which may not have been a bad thing for long-time fans of the graphic novel. It just seemed like the whole movie was a bit out of Zack Snyder's league.


But, the viral marketing campaign has got me re-thinking my original position a bit. It's obvious that Snyder takes the import of the whole undertaking seriously, and has immersed himself in the world of The Watchmen. Take for instance this film clip:



I really dig the whole cheap-o, classroom filmstrip feel. It also is a creative way to evoke the Macarthy Era-like paranoia, which is a key theme of the graphic novel. Also the way Rorschach is captured in a way that reminds us that infamous Sasquatch-sighting shot is genius.

This news clip is also pretty cool:



Also the movie's production company issues an 8-bit video game where you can fight as one of the Minutemen against Moloch and his henchmen. It's a nifty little link, and a fun way to add a bit more depth to the Watchmen universe. The link is provided here

A faithful recreation of The Watchmen's alternate reality, a reality where Nixon is King and God is blue, goes a long way of making me think this may be the first film adaption of an Alan Moore work that doesn't suck. I'm willing to gamble the price of a movie ticket, and I'm hoping my homies are willing to gamble with me.



So, in March, I would like to plan the Watch-"Men's Night Out" for all the Dad's. You've got 17 day's 'til the movie's release (March 6, 2009), so you have ample time to alert the wives. Opening night is going to be at biatch, so let's plan for a matinee on opening weekend, either Saturday or Sunday March 7th or 8th (makes it easier on the wives too).

Shoot me an email if you are interested (Eric, you gotta let me know when you guys coming to visit so that you can participate). Cheers