"Watchmen": A Heady Mix That Will Infuriate Many

March, 01, 2009 7:14 pm | On #Watchmen

Who will watch the “Watchmen”? At a guess, I’d say everyone who has ever read the graphic novel, and a solid number of curious types besides. I have my doubts whether that’ll be enough to guarantee blockbuster box-office success – but, then again, who would’ve predicted a $70m opener on the way to a half-billion dollar global gross for Zack Snyder’s graphic-novel adaptation “300” this time two years ago?

What is assured is that “Watchmen” will result in terabytes of Internet opinion, rabidly for and against this interpretation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ ground-breaking literary comic artwork.

Having seen it last week, I can’t yet decide whether “Watchmen” is a masterpiece or a misfire comprised of many brilliant moments. It’ll take another viewing to make up my mind. The...

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The Razzies Are Coming, Too

February, 16, 2009 8:42 pm | On #oscars, Razzies

This week John Wilson, “Head RAZZBerry” of the Golden Raspberry Foundation is madly preparing for the 29th annual Razzie Awards, held this Saturday night at Hollywood’s Barnsdall Theatre Gallery. The results, tabulated from the votes from 688 Razzie members in 20 countries, will ricochet around the global media on Sunday, heaping ignominy on 2008’s biggest cinematic losers.

Wilson took time out of counting last-minute ballots and spray-painting props gold to give us the heads-up on the world’s premier thumbs-down awards show

Oscar’s preparing “surprises” this year. How about the Razzies?

They say that every year and every year it’s the best argument for euthanasia! As for us, we’re trying to get a direct response from Uwe Boll about his career-achievement award. Someone doing a...

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The Curious Case of "The Curious Case"

February, 11, 2009 5:51 pm | On #Adriana Pichini, Curious case of benjami button, eric roth, Stephen Gaghan, Syriana

I was sorting through old boxes the other day when I discovered that I'd written "Valkyrie." There it was, the short story I penned in 1986, about a British chap who, in the year 1895, has a premonition and decides to kill the then six-year-old future Fuhrer.

OK, strictly speaking, it's not “exactly” the same as Bryan Singer's movie, but, broadly, I think you’ll agree, the elements are in place.

We've got a) an assassination plot against; b) Adolf Hitler; that c) fails. That my teenage self was inspired by a) a quick dip into "World Book Encyclopedia”; and b) a desire to replicate Stephen King’s "The Dead Zone"; doesn't c) diminish my adult self's hope at securing some of "Valkyrie's" anti-Nazi box-office gold.

That's because of my new heroine, Italian office worker Adriana Pichini, who...

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Some thing wicked this way comes . . . again

February, 02, 2009 6:08 pm | On #film, horror, movie, remake

Every time another horror remake, prequel or spin-off is announced, a little part of me dies. And not in the good arrow-through-the-eye, tentacle-down-the-throat way of the genre, either.

 
I've lost count of the movies that I held dear in my scare-obsessed teen years -- from classics "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," "The Omen" and "Halloween," to schlocky pleasures "The Amityville Horror," "The Fog" and "The Hitcher" -- that have been revamped with poor results. Most such repeats - 2004's "Dawn Of The Dead" is the notable exception -- feel like little more than a series of "shock" moments coldly machine-tooled to cheaply boost the studio's bottom line. 
 
I often wonder who -- apart from VPs of production and the bean counters they serve -- these...
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Michael Adams is an editor with the international movie magazine Empire and his writing has also appeared in Rolling Stone, FHM, Interview, Men's Style, Top Gear and Jobson's Mining Year Book. His upcoming comic memoir Schlock Around The Clock (HarperCollins, 2010) follows his year-long quest to find and watch the worst movie ever made.

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Latest Posts

"Watchmen": A Heady Mix That Will Infuriate Many
The Razzies Are Coming, Too
The Curious Case of "The Curious Case"
Some thing wicked this way comes . . . again
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