And now back to my regularly scheduled post:

Alan Moore haters are the worst, I hate them. I’ll be among the first to stand in a line that says, “Alan Moore is a deranged lunatic,” because I do believe he is (so is the wonderful Warren Ellis, who has blessed us with his presence here). I’ll also be the first to stand in a line for, “Alan Moore is an immaculate genius of the sequential art medium, as well as literature, period.” Genius and lunatic go hand and hand together, and they usually make a potent cocktail when together. Something that both inspires and ignites me. I love talking about Moore (same as I love talking about Klaus Kinski, Werner Herzog, Pynchon, the list goes on). My thoughts on the ‘Watchmen’ film have varied through the years; I’ve read up on all of the past histories, and even the Sam Hamm and David Hayter drafts (trust me, you DON’T want those movies). The truth is, I trust Snyder with only an inkling of doubt. I appreciate the new flavor he injected into his ‘Dawn of the Dead’ remake; and I’d like it to a 21st Century variant of James Cameron’s ‘Aliens’. It’s certainly a big dumb action film, but it’s filled with charming characters, and more pathos and humor than most mindless action films. I think the visual style works well for the film, and I think that Snyder’s cast is very well-assembled. I’m in the group that says that ‘300′ is racist, homophobic and homoerotic, action-porn. But, honestly, you shouldn’t expect more when it’s a adapted from a post-Ayn-Rand-period Frank Miller comic. Any of the faults that’s been cited upon ‘300′ as a film, I always credit to Miller; because that’s what he wrote. It’s no surprise that Snyder and his co-writer injected the film with a very un-Miller subplot involving Queen Gorgo; I’m surprised that Miller didn’t object to the near-three-dimensional character of a woman. I was surprised to see it become so successful, but I think it’s rather obvious that the film’s target audience(s) — frat boys and gay men — would flock in drones to the film; because if there’s anything gay men and frat boys can agree on it’s well-toned abs and deltoids.

Now, onto the adaptations of Moore’s works: I saw ‘From Hell’ in cinemas with my sister. I was seeing it because it was an adaptation of probably the only thing I’d consider “un-filmable”; and I was proved right. Moore’s work on that comic is seminal, and — IMHO — is his rightful masterpiece. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the film was absolute shit — aside from Trevor Jones brilliant score (which proves a great listen when reading the book again). And then ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentleman’ came along. I’ve always thought — and will continue to — that ‘LoEG’ could provide a rich cinematic adaptation, if a filmmaker would actually draw from the film versions of these characters as inspiration. Unfortunately, when the film’s titled was promotionally shortened to ‘LXG’, I said, “No fucking way,” and skipped it (and Ben says I was right to do so). And why shorten it to something that we Americans can take as being “extreme” when the actual abbreviation of the title is an actual, pronounceable word: “LEG”? Wouldn’t it be cooler to approach the box office and announce that you’d like a ticket to “Leg”? I certainly do! And it’s no surprise coming from me that Trevor Jones’ (!) score for ‘LXG’ is ace. Then ‘V for Vendetta’ came along. I thought that the Wachowski’s and Moore made for an awful combo, but the early buzz and reviews convinced me that this might work. Unfortunately they were only half-right. I certainly think the film is watchable. But, like stated above, it’s filled with half-thoughts and inexcusable stereotyping of Brits. And the action scenes are rather lazy. The only bright spot in the film is Hugo Weaving’s masked performance as “V” and, as always, Stephen Fry. The less said about Natalie Portman, the better.

So, next year — granted that this lawsuit shit sorts itself out) — we’ll be delivered Zach Snyder’s adaptation of ‘Watchmen’. In my eyes, he’s proven that he has a good gift for visuals; and he can handle the humor and melodrama well (as proved to me in ‘DotD’ 04). Now, I’ve never thought that ‘Watchmen’ is un-filmable (and I think very little is, given the right talent behind and in front of the camera); but I’ve never wanted to see it as a 12-part mini on HBO. I enjoy going to the cinema, and ‘Watchmen’ is something I’ve always wanted to see up on the big screen. And thank to the sleeper success of ‘300′, Warner Bros. has pretty much handed Snyder the keys to the castle and we’re — finally — getting the adaption of ‘Watchmen’ that we all feared would never happen. For one thing, I never even thought I’d see a ‘Watchmen’ film before I even had any children of my own. Now, I may get stones thrown at me for this, but I think that Snyder is a very smart man (granted, he’s got a smart woman on his side, his wife, producer Deborah Snyder) and he realizes he has to deliver the initial project to Warner as they saw ‘300′: something that is visually appealing, and will appease the masses. Which is why his initial teaser is styled the way it is. The man needs to promote this thing like ‘300′ so that the bosses stay happy and off of his ass. That’s obvious to me. Now, what I think a lot of you aren’t seeing with his adaptation is what he’s doing to mirror Moore’s and Dave Gibbon’s work. He’s very in-tuned to making this a commentary on modern superhero films, as well as being a faithful translation of the comic. One need only look at the costumes of Nite Owl II and Ozymandias to see this. Since we’ve never (and doubtfully ever will) have a silver screen translation of the Blue Beetle, Snyder is drawing his inspiration from the screen iterations of Batman; from Burton to Schumaker to Nolan. The same can be said for Ozy — a fey character in the book — being given the “nipple” treatment. His cast is strong, and filled with actors rather than stars (and my only worry is Malin Ackerman as Laurie/Silk Spectre II). Snyder realizes that superhero films have reached a pinnacle, and it’s time to tear them down; and I feel he’s doing that. After ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘Watchmen’, I feel that comic book films will take a turn similar to what the books did in the late 80s and early 90s; hell, the prophet Rob Liefeld has already begun scourging Hollywood with aspirations of putting pouches and BIG guns all over our favorite actors! I also applaud Snyder and his use of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning” in the teaser because he knows that we associate the song with the worst comic-inspired film ever. He’s using irony in the same fashion that Moore and Gibbons did; but some might be too quick to judge based upon his less-than-excellent track record. That said, I should still keep reservations (and I do) but I think most of us should keep heed to the notion that Snyder intends this to be the ‘Watchmen’ of the film medium. He’s set on that.

I also think Moore has every right to be cautious of any future adaptions of his work — given the past — but I think he should look at film as a different medium; because it is.

Is Moore really touchy about his work? Absolutely, but these are his creations. Given how most of them have been bastardized and what he’s been through (the LoEG film lawsuit, etc.) I don’t blame him. I’d be tempted to say “the hell with all of it” too.

Also, mostly whenever I hear interviews with Moore, I just want to say “cheer the fuck up!”

I remember David Lloyd (the artist behind V-for-Vendetta, and designer of V) saying something a long the lines of him and Alan didn’t go innocent and blind in to selling the rights to the book. Alan is neither innocent OR blind and he can’t possibly think any adaptation of almost ANYTHING will ever live up to or match up to the original novel. Comic or otherwise. (I’m in the Phantom fandom, you want to see a story raped?) I liked Watchmen, I will probably *LIKE* the movie. I liked V for Vendetta and I LIKED the movie. He is a rather delusional old fellow who is full of so much anger I am not surprised he’s still spewing this crap.

I don’t feel bad for him at all. YES. LOEG was pretty terrible, YES they took liberties with VFV. But he needs to get a little perspective, enjoy the money rolling in (Watchmen is flying off the shelves just like V did when V was in theaters) and stop shitting on everyone that isn’t him.

Phillip K Dick said something about adaptations that just said it all, but I can’t find the quote.

I’d just be happy seeing some clever devils at KNB effects or any of their peers doing some creature concepts for Perdido Street Station. I don’t need no movin’ picture.

Mer: The thought of a film based on one of Mieville’s novels is something I had never really considered, but damn if I haven’t spent the last couple hours off and on thinking about who would be best to direct such a film.