Watchmen film, a faithful adaptation... to a certain degree.

Before seeing the movie, I tried to convince myself to have low expectations for Zack Snyder's Watchmen so that I wouldn't be disappointed after seeing the film, especially having just read the Watchmen book several days prior.

I soon realized my expectations for this adaptation were quite high -- fresh from experiencing the written Watchmen, I was surprised by what had been cut, altered, and tailored from the book. My immediate reaction was, WTF? Turns out I was more attached to the source material than I had previously thought, and seeing it play out on screen the way Snyder had envisioned, had me sort of squirming in my seat at times. I expected more from the film.

As the end credits rolled, I immediately turned to a friend who had also read Watchmen, and expressed my, dare I say, disappointment, in how much was missing, and how much the audience wasn't getting from watching the movie -- who the majority of people most likely never read the book, and are only seeing the movie because of the hype surrounding it.

The film succeeds in that sense, introducing those who are unfamiliar with Watchmen to the bare-bones of Alan Moore's superhero epic. It's a good adaptation, it is just lacking much of the details that makes Watchmen so amazing.

For a film adaptation, Zack Snyder's Watchmen is as true as it could have been to the material, given the complexity of the narrative structure in book form. Which is something that I need to get over, because this isn't the book. It will never be the book. The book is a book for a reason, and the movie is a movie for a reason. The film lacks a certain depth that makes the Watchmen universe what it is. The film conveys the gist of the situation, and the characters, but leaves out a lot of detail that resonated with readers, the much needed 'human' element.

My two other friends who came along to the Friday night screening, had never read the book, so they came in with a fresh perspective on the movie. They were able to follow along without thinking about the book, but you could say they weren't as passionate about the ideas within the film, because well, without reading the book, there's no way that a film-goer would truly get the same feeling about the material.

Especially given the time constraints of the film. I felt the movie wasn't long enough, and I felt like everything was being sped up. Again, reading a book at your own pace adds a personal experience, while a movie forces you to move along without the ability to flip back, re-read, absorb or reflect on a previous page. Snyder, takes the relevant points from the book, and sticks to it, which is why it feels sort of clinical.

If anything, this movie should inspire those film viewers to read the book!

***SPOILERS

I especially hate it when, characters from the book only make very brief screen appearances, and are only recognizable to those who read the source material. What's the point of having these characters appear if they aren't going to be doing anything but standing there? Fan service? Hardly. It is more insulting if anything, to have secondary characters of the book reduced to 'extras'. Case in point, the Newspaper stand guys Bernard, and Bernie who are seen in two shots, and the Pirate comics have been removed completely.

Other things that disappointed me were the visual recreations of things like Adrian's Antarctic complex which was nothing like the Bio-dome in the book. The way he killed off his crew sucked as well. Also, Rorschach, and Nite Owl never used their cruiser devices to traverse the snow on the way to Adrian's hideout, which would have been a nice touch if the filmmakers bothered to create a new design. Instead the two characters walked in the snow.

Also Dr. Malcolm Long, was never shown having a home life, with his wife who hated losing her husband to the Rorschach case. And prior to the attack on the city, Dr. Long never intervened on the lesbian couples argument happening in the streets. There was no lesbian couple arguing. This scene in the book in particular showed people uniting to help total strangers, despite their companions demands to stay out of other people's business. These two scenes showed humanity, and the changing view of characters before the destruction of the city. It would have been a nice addition.

No giant squid either. No Dr. Manhattan walking on water, or transcending to godly state. No final sex scene either. lol

The depiction of Seymour at the end was also a disappointment, looking more like a stereotypical comic nerd, than an overweight Jimmy Olson, whose boss editor Hector Godfrey, didn't come off as mean as in the book. I think that was Snyder's way of saying, 'this movie is going to please all comic nerds'. Yeah right.

If it is one thing that really impressed me about the movie, and what made the material come to life, it was the opening credits. HAHA.

It's a good entertaining adaptation, just not entirely what I expected.

Tokyo Sneakers Fucking Cool

Sneak Sneak Dance.

Just when I thought I was over the excitement of my trip to Tokyo back in October, this video comes along, and has reminded me of one of the many reasons Tokyo is 'the shizzle'. Sneaker culture is ridiculous in Tokyo, and almost everywhere I went, I'd see cool sneakers on people, from the kids going to school, to the peeps hanging out in Shibuya. Ah, I need to go back. Not to teach English like others out there, but to just soak in the awesomeness of the urban culture.

Funny, the first Annual Sneaker Con, just went down in NYC. Damn I wish I coulda been there!!!

I love sneakers. 20 bucks or 200 bucks, if it's a nice sneaker, I might get it. Though, I wouldn't spend as much as these folks in the video on a swank pair of kicks, I do have a thing for the good lookin' shoe. Especially since I went to Tokyo. Damn, they have some mighty fine sneakers over there.

Finished reading Watchmen ready for movie

Done and done.

The other night I finished reading the epic graphic novel Watchmen, and I can't believe I'm done. The characters, and the Watchmen world, I don't want it to end. I think I might actually read it over, after seeing the movie this Friday. I AM SO READY for this flick.

This is the only book I bothered reading before seeing the film adaptation. I never read through all the LOTR books, before seeing the movie, or Sin City, or The Spirit. I think Watchmen was just different. With all the praises that surround Watchmen, I just had to read it, to see what the hype was about. I'm glad I did. I don't read many comics, but if I did, I'd want every comic to have the same depth, intelligence and thoughtfulness as Watchmen.

Bring on the flick!

VBS Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, plus Cute animals, and more.

Gimme Gimme MORE!

I like VBS. I really do. The Imbalu circumcision traumatized me like you wouldn't believe, and Alarma!'s photography of Mexico's crime victims traumatized me even more. I've never seen human parts displayed in such a manner, and come to think of it, I've never seen real crime scene photography outside of the sterilized crime dramas on TV. That is, until VBS shoved it in my face. And I couldn't stop watching, my eyes unable to look away. That's the thing with VBS content, whether it is the subject matter, or the catchy opening music for each segment, I find myself unable to turn away from the screen. (With regards to the Imbalu circumcision, I turned away only to look back, my eyes squinted to blur out the graphic nature somewhat unsuccessfully).

Somewhere between the shocking imagery, informative tidbits, or risky adventures of the talking-head correspondents like Shane Smith and co., VBS has a formula, one that is an irresistible formula, eye-opening and so damn good. They've shown me that there is more to surfing online, than just pr0n! LOL J/K, or am I?

Though I am convinced that there is no possible way that VBS.tv can keep up with my insatiable appetite for online video, and it disappoints me to see that they don't update very often.

Unlike other sites out there, VBS doesn't upload content on a daily basis, in fact much of their stuff has been sitting around since 2007, recycled for daily viewing. It is understandable though, the places they go, the people they see, the stories they document, it takes a lot of time to put together, which is reflected in their videos. Its hard work. I never really got into reading Vice either, since I'd personally rather watch videos instead of reading, but VBS has rekindled my interest in reading Vice, of all things.

I first discovered VBS when searching for interviews with M.I.A. I found Spike Jonze's (awesome director, and VBS creative director) interview with the Srilankan rapper and from there, I kept clicking around the site.

I think what also makes VBS entertaining, is the fact that they send white boys dressed in American Apparel to travel the globe to places where fashion is not a concern, and in combination with their skin color, and western appearance, definitely grabs attention, making them stick out like sore thumbs. And yet they get the job done, with the help of interpreters of course.

You'd have to wonder if these people in Africa, or Afghanistan, or Korea, or Japan would react differently if they weren't interviewed by a white person. (Are the stories of those interviewed exaggerated, because a foreigner is interviewing them?) Heh, putting political correctness aside, I can't help but think that sometimes VBS is like the suburban stoner college kids form of educating themselves about global affairs through the point of view of a 'drug' research trip. White boys looking for Moonshine in the American south, to Bolivia for coca leaves, and in Columbia for Devil's Breath. It's like what college kids do on Spring Break. Target demographic?

Not to bash any of the hard working folks who travel the globe, and who report their adventures, but there's something really 'college humor'd' about the content, and it's intended audience. There's just something funny about watching foreigners in another land. Whiteboys eating No.5 soup and riding Jeepneys in the Philippines, Whiteboys testing out bulletproof clothing in Columbia, Whiteboys fucking Japanese love dolls(Shane is hilarious!), Whiteboys watching Columbian's screw donkeys. This is the type of stuff you show your friends on the living-room TV, on the Nintendo Wii, while drunk or getting stoned.

VBS is not all about drugs though, music, culture, life, and interviews with artists, photographers, and their nude/semi-nude models is a good way to spend time on VBS. So is learning history through watching Drunk History, and watching The Cute Show. You can also freak yourself out by watching True Norwegian Black Metal.

There are somethings on VBS I could careless for, which goes back to my 'Whiteboy' observation. School of Surf. Nuff said.

Truly VBS has content for everyone.