Episode 017 - Watching the Watchman

[Malice]

Its up!
Yes...4 episodes in about 7 days time!

[bodhicat]

...could be that I'm doing something wrong, but I don't think it's been posted yet. iTunes doesn't have it, and your "feedburner" page doesn't have it, either. Should I try something else?

[highscorefilms]

True. I haven't received it in iTunes either, so that's probably a feed issue. Makes a lot of sense, too. I was wondering why there was no activity on this page.

[Sam Fisher]

Havent got it yet either.

I was able to download it directly from the feed.

[Immortalfire]

I've got it. "Wathing the Watchman"


Spelling Fail. :oldrazz:

[bodhicat]

Ok, I finally got a chance to listen (through the Google feed, iTunes is still not lovin' it) and I found your responses very interesting.

Personally, I'd give it a 7 but I have to qualify that it's not for everybody. I know a lot of casual superhero movie fans out there because of the greatness of the first two Spidermans, the first two X Mens, Iron Man, Dark Knight, etc - but for most of those folks I still wouldn't recommend Watchmen. This one is a real challenge, and if you add the opinion that it's not very well-crafted, it's pretty hard to recommend to the everyday movie goer. I've seen it twice and both times I couldn't help but think Guillermo del Toro was the director who was born for this film - not Snyder. Overall the movie was lacking in soul, of which del Toro always provides plenty along with his eye-popping visuals.

As for the music... I've never read the book, but I've thumbed through it and I swear they use song lyrics as chapter breaks. I seem to remember both a Dylan and an Elvis Costello quote along with others spliced in the book at different parts. I'm sure this is where Snyder got the idea. Sometimes it works well, and other times it doesn't - the Leonard Cohen song was a rotten choice, turning an attempted romantic love scene into a punchline. I just don't think Zack Snyder has the maturity and passion to handle the subtle moments of an Alan Moore project.

I thought each character was pretty fascinating, as this is a group of superheroes who are a second generation. I've never seen that in a superhero story before (Flash is a close exception). We're used to seeing Batman and Spidey in a world where no one has ever seen their like before. I liked how Nite Owl II had an unloving father so he looked up to the original Nite Owl in his youth. I've never seen that. I liked how Silk Spectre was basically a stage mother, forcing her daughter to follow in her footsteps. Silk Spectre II was born famous, so she didn't have the luxury of a secret identity. Her story kinda reminded me of Carrie Fisher (or to go from slightly gross to completely disgusting - Liza Minelli). I've never seen that in a superhero story, either. The performances by the respective actors were pretty stiff at times, but I really think a more romantic, poetic director (del Toro!) would have brought out more from them. Malin Akerman looks like she's dying to give a better performance, but she hasn't been inspired. Maybe I'm cutting her too much slack because she's insanely hot, but I really think she had more to give, and wanted to.

I don't think anough attention has been paid to Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian. Before I saw the movie I was told he plays Mayor McSteamy or whatever on Grey's Anatomy, so I wanted to HATE him. Wow, he blew me away - I thought he was great. I'm not gonna start watching Grey's or anything stupid like that, but you can call me a Jeffrey Dean Morgan fan from now on. He had the challenge of portraying a pretty horrible person while maintaining the suitable integrity that would justify a hero's funeral. He nailed it.

Anyway, thanks as always for the HypeCast. Another interesting show as usual, and I can't wait for the next one!

:liz:

[Malice]

Sorry all...I made a typo in the feed...and didnt notice iTunes didnt get it.
That is my fault...sorry for the confusion on it.

[The Incredible Hulk]

Fail!

[Sketchee]

Good episode. I didn't know anything about Watchmen before the movie, though I did like it. 7 out of 10 maybe. Just listened to the podcast. Even not knowing anything about Watchmen, in all of the lines mentioned in the podcast I found them to be pretty clear about superheroes being outlawed. That part didn't seem that confusing

As for the music, I thought much more 80s music would have been appropriate. It all seemed out of place as if it was just someone's ipod on random playing their favorite songs. It didn't match

[highscorefilms]

I'd concur. Only four songs sounded like they were in place:

"Unforgettable" - Because setting a death scene to smooth jazz is a cool idea.
"The Times They Are A-Changin'" - The song is about accepting a new social norm, which is what the opening credits ask us to do, accept the alternate world history that the film is creating for us.
"I'm Your Boogie Man" - The tempo and tone of the song fit the scene, in my humble opinion.
"All Along the Watchtower" - Because it just rules. You set a chess match to that song and it's instantly interesting.

"Sound of Silence" and "99 Luftballons" were way out of place. I'm sure somebody, when the film comes out on DVD, will spend hours experimenting with new songs and posting the footage onto YouTube. I'm already thinking about what the funeral scene would look like when set to Terry Jacks' "Seasons in the Sun."