Watchmen - Overview

I'm not totally sure why this movie was made. I mean, I know "why" but why? To meet, it felt like Zach Snyder was basically just trying to impress everyone with his reverence for the material while never actually delving into why the material is so treasured and respected in the first place. It was like an excercise in faithfulness. They sort of missed a golden opportunity to comment on the growing number of superhero movies, this movie easily could have done for superhero movies what the original Watchmen did for superhero comics. By focusing too much on the literal adaptation they missed the opportunity to translate. What works well in a comic won't always work well in a movie.

Dear Watchmen Fans,

Shut the fuck up until you see the fucking movie.

"they changed the ending" - yea, so? If you like the ending so much, read the fucking comic book jackass.

There are all kinds of reasons I have for just shutting the fuck up about any minor gripes i may have with what they done thus far, but you know what, i'll save my opinion for after I see the movie. Because i'm an adult and I can handle it if things don't always go my way. I also understand that "my way" is based entirely on my misconceptions about storytelling and the reality of the movie business.

So please. Shut the fuck up until March 7th.

Thank you.

-justin

Leatherheads

I'll be the first to admit that I'm no historian. I really really like movies, but I've definately not seen all of them, not even most of them, I've barely gotten through just the ones I want to see let alone the ones that I'm just remotely interested in. So from that perspective, and using the movies I have seen, I thought Leatherheads was thoroughly charming.

I've read alot of reviews of the film and everyone points out its stylistic ties to classic hollywood screwball comedies (none of which, i regret to inform you, have been seen by me). I'm sorry, I just haven't gotten around to it, like i said, I'm the farthest thing from an expert. And since George Clooney rose to prominence in the 90's it seems every tom, dick and harry has been trying to peg him as the next "classic hollywood" leading man while completely overlooking one glaring similarity that Leatherheads had on full display.

Imagine the movie was made in 1969. Put Paul Newman in the George Clooney role and Robert Redford in the John Krasinski role, leave Randy Newman's score where its at and throw George Roy Hill behind the camera. I can totally see this as an alternate timeline follow-up to the success of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.

Naturally, the age difference between Clooney and Krasinski is quite a bit larger than the age difference between Newman and Redford, but they're also brilliant actors who could completely pull it off.

So to me, Leatherheads was a throwback's throwback. A movie inspired by movies that were inspired by other movies. It was remarkably charming and witty, quickly paced and superbly acted (save for Renee Zellweger) and I'm actually a little surprised that that it hasn't shown up on more best of 2008 lists.

Then again, I'm not an expert and I have yet to see all the movies released in the past year, let alone all the movies released in the past 80.

Dear Chrisopher Nolan,

Thanks.

Sincerely,
Justin D. Russo

Ironman

I’m not sure when, but there was definitely a point between the opening blaze of bullets and the closing press conference of Iron Man that my mind sort of drifted to a happy place that I normally reserve for especially intriguing New York Times articles, Wikipedia entries about Space, Star Wars Video Games and socially conscious/culturally philosophical comic-booking. In this happy place, my awareness of reality melts away and become one with my chosen medium and embrace it wholly as a part of my being. It makes me feel warm, accepted and beautifully coddled in the precious womb of geekery. Needless to say, I liked Iron Man quite a bit.
I’m not going to say much that other people haven’t already said, especially regarding the flawless performances of the main cast (special recognition goes to Robert Downey Jr. for playing Tony Stark better than I could have imagined, and to Jeff Bridges for making Obadiah Stane chilling and relevant, and for being the only person to ever look like a badass on a Segway) Jon Favreau knows how to direct, and direct well. This film easily slips from rock n’ roll action to non-exploitative social commentary in a way I’m not sure I’ve seen before. It was like the Spielberg duality of thrilling of action films and historical drama sort of rolled into one, it was just fun, it was smart.
Tony Starks evolution from a male Paris Hilton to a Robotic Barack Obama is done extremely well and never once did I feel like Favreau was pandering to me or telling me “just wait til we explode stuff!”. The relationship that Stark develops while captive is heartening and develops real weight, as if it was just what he needed to divine is real purpose.
I’m also a big fan of how quickly paced the story was. The plot unfurled efficiently and never felt like it was dragging along. When the movie was over, I had hardly realized that I’d been sitting there for 2 hours, I though the film had just begun. It was fresh and never boring, each scene held its own but still made sense in the larger context of the film. All in all, the main chunk of the film takes place over a couple days, and the plot hits the right notes and it unfolds into a climactic battle that could be one of the only chinks in the armor. The final battle felt rushed and went by too fast. Having now seen it twice though, I now realize that the oft-compared to Transformers fight scene is actually just what the doctor ordered and fit well with-in the established universe, pacing and context of the film. It wasn’t too flashy, but meaty enough to make sense in the end. I think most people didn’t like it in the same way most people on a diet don’t feel full after just having a salad. We were expecting a bloated, gluttonous cheeseburger like all the superhero/action/jerk-off movies of the past, but instead, we got a well-balanced, nutritious and well portioned meal of awesome.