The Losers and Freddy Krueger to go head to head in 2010

It looks as if the Comedian and Rorschach will be battling it out in the box office next year.

According to Box Office Mojo, the adaption of DC Comics The Losers will hit theaters on 16th April 2010. This is the same release date as New Line’s A Nightmare on Elm Street

Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jackie Earle Haley are the leading men of The Losers and Nightmare.

As far as I was aware The Losers had yet to start filming so it is a bit of a surprise for the release date to be announced so soon.

2010 should be quite a good year for Comic Book lovers - The Losers, Iron Man 2, Jonah Hex and Scott Pilgrim vs The World announced so far.

Out of The Losers and The Nightmare on Elm Street remake which one are you most looking forward to?

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Watchmen: The High School Years - Fan series

Here is a funny little web series based on the Watchmen world.

The always excellent Fan Cinema Today spotted it over on Jackie Earle Haley's blog.

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Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC: Deadpool and Watchmen

Deadpool has to be played like this in the film.

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Alan Moore reads Rorschach's Journal - Children weep in fear

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Hurm - Rorschach by NinjaInk

Source: NinjaInk

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Brave & the Bold: Batman and The Question (or Rorschach without the cool mask)

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Cool Art: The Birth of Rorschach

By NinjaInk

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David Hayter wants you to go and see Watchmen again

AN OPEN LETTER FROM A WATCHMEN SCREENWRITER

So it has been five months since I saw my first rough cut of WATCHMEN, and eight days since the premiere of the film I've been working on since late in the year 2000.

The reviews are out -- Some outstanding, others rankly dismissive, which can be frustrating for the people involved, (though I can only speak for myself,) because I firmly believe that WATCHMEN, the novel, must be read through more than once to even have the faintest grip on it. And I believe the film is the same.

I've seen it twice now, and despite having run the movie in my head thousands of times, my two viewings still don’t' allow me to view the film with the proper distance or objectivity. Is it Apocalypse Now? Is it Blade Runner? Is it Kubrick, or Starship Troopers? I don’t know yet.

All I know is that I had a pretty amazing experience the two times I've seen it. And both viewings produced remarkably different experiences. The point is, I have listened for years, to complaints from true comic book fans, that "not enough movies take the source material seriously." "Too many movies puss out," or "They change great stories, just to be commercial." Well, I f***ing dare you to say any one of those things about this movie.

This is a movie made by fans, for fans. Hundreds of people put in years of their lives to make this movie happen, and every one of them was insanely committed to retaining the integrity of this amazing, epic tale. This is a rare success story, bordering on the impossible, and every studio in town is watching to see if it will work. Hell, most of them own a piece of the movie.

So look, this is a note to the fanboys and fangirls. The true believers. Dedicated for life.

If the film made you think. Or argue with your friends. If it inspired a debate about the nature of man, or vigilante justice, or the horror of Nixon abolishing term limits. If you laughed at Bowie hanging with Adrian at Studio 54, or the Silhouette kissing that nurse.

Please go see the movie again next weekend.

You have to understand, everyone is watching to see how the film will do in its second week. If you care about movies that have a brain, or balls, (and this film's got both, literally), or true adaptations -- And if you're thinking of seeing it again anyway, please go back this weekend, Friday or Saturday night. Demonstrate the power of the fans, because it'll help let the people who pay for these movies know what we'd like to see. Because if it drops off the radar after the first weekend, they will never allow a film like this to be made again.

In the interests of full disclosure, let me also point out that I do not profit one cent from an increase in box office, although an increase in box office can add to the value of the writers' eventual residual profits from dvd and tv sales.

But I'm not saying it for money. I'm saying it for people like me. I'm saying it for people who love smart, dark entertainment, on a grand, operatic scale. I'm talking to the Snake fans, the Rorschach fans, the people of the Dark Knight.

And hey, if you hated the film, if you think we committed atrocities, or literary mistakes of a massive, cephalopodic nature. If the movie made you a little sick to your stomach, or made you feel bad about your life. If you hated it for whatever reason, that's cool too. I'm not suggesting you risk gastro-intestinal distress just for the sake of risky filmmaking.

But if you haven't seen it yet? Well, I'll just say this...

It may upset you. And it probably will upset you.

And all along, we really meant it to.

Because face it. All this time...You there, with the Smiley-face pin. Admit it.

All this time, you’ve been waiting for a director who was going to hit you in the face with this story. To just crack you in the jaw, and then bend you over the pool table with this story. With its utterly raw view of the darkest sides of human nature, expressed through its masks of action and beauty and twisted good intentions. Like a fry-basket full of hot grease in the face. Like the Comedian on the Grassy Knoll. I know, I know...

You say you don't like it. You say you've got issues. I get it.

And yet... You'll be thinking about this film, down the road. It'll nag at you. How it was rough and beautiful. How it went where it wanted to go, and you just hung on. How it was thoughtful and hateful and bleak and hilarious. And for Jackie Earle Haley.

Trust me. You'll come back, eventually. Just like Sally.

Might as well make it count for something.

David Hayter

Source: Hardcore Nerdity

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Watchmen Cocktails - I said Blue Bols!!

Still thirsty for more Watchmen related stuff? Groaning at the dreadful punnage?

Well fret no more as the good people over at Isotope Comics have come up with some Watchmen inspired cocktails. Here are a couple of them (remember kids no drinking alcohol until your reach the recommended age for your country, state, or Mega City Block).

Full Frontal Manhattan

Those who have already seen the movie or read the book will want to start their boozing off with this tribute to Dr. Manhattan's... (ahem)... full-frontal blueness!

2 oz Bombay Sapphire Gin
1 oz Hiram Walker Blue Curacao
1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
3 dashes Regan's Orange Bitters

Shaken and served up. The Isotope staff prefers this cocktail to be served with a little backlighting for best blue glow effect.

The Comedian

Here's a great follow-up to that blue-hued cosmic adventure... a drink of pure nihilism! But be warned, this one is sure to rough you up a bit, just like the drink's namesake, The Comedian.

2 oz Yukon Jack Canadian Whiskey
Dr. Pepper

Fill a tall glass with ice and feel free to go heavy on the Yukon Jack. Top off with as little Dr. Pepper as you dare. Garnish with a slice of lemon and a drop of blood in honor of that Watchmen smileyface button you've been bootlegging.

Black Freighter

Because it wouldn't be complete without a little pirate adventure!

2 oz Gosling's Black Seal Dark Rum
3/4 oz Grand Marnier
1/2 oz Hiram Walker Creme De Cacao Dark

Combine over ice and stir. Too many of these, and your night might end up on the cutting room floor of your memory just like the Black Freighter scenes that were cut from the movie. Hope it doesn't get its own DVD!

Head on over to Isotope to check out the rest. They are also after some more cocktail recipes for Rorschach and Nite Owl.

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Watchmen Cake and Rorschach Brownies

Source: Geekologie
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Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC: Wolverine and Watchmen

Wolverine and Rorschach go all Mac and PC on us.

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General Watchmen pictures, figures and things

Just a few of the cool images that Super Punch have collected for the Watchmen film.

Watchmen custom action figures
Watchmen Mighty Muggs
Dr. Manhattan t-shirt.
Dr. Manhattan poster

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Watchmen - Interactive 10 minute trailer thing

Here is your daily dose of Watchmen.

Warner Bros has released a new 10-minute interactive trailer for Watchmen on 6MinutesToMidnight.com. You visit the site, enter your name and try to decipher the ink blots on Rorschach’s mask to unlock exclusive content and enter the world of Watchmen.

Source: /film

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Watching the Watchmen - Featurettes on all the main characters

I have quite literally just been sent these four featurettes from the people who made them. They deal with the main characters and the last on is about Zack Snyder and Dave Gibbons. Lots of interviews, behind the scenes footage and other stuff.

Dr. Manhattan / Silk Spectre - Another online Watchmen exclusive. See Silk Spectre and Dr Manhattan in action. Your chance to see them in action, meet the actors and see behind the scenes before the big release on 6 March.

Nite Owl II / Rorschach - A look at the Watchmen characters Nite Owl II/Dan Dreiberg and Rorschach/Walter Kovacs with actors Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley.

The Comedian / Ozymandias - A look at the Watchmen characters The Comedian/Edward Blake and Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt with actors Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Matthew Goode.

Zack Snyder / Dave Gibbons - An exclusive behind the scenes chat with Watchmen director Zack Snyder and legend Dave Gibbons

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Watchmen Page 5 - Brilliant fan film

This is fantastic. Looks amazing. It was made by Bryant Hodson and FCT rightly call it one of the best Watchmen fan films out there. I want to see more of the pages though! Here is what Bryant had to say about it.

I made this as a final project in a media production class as a senior in high school. I tried to adapt page 5 of the graphic novel, WATCHMEN, into a movie. As you will probably notice, I followed Sin City's production techniques and used some of the score that best fit the mood of the page in my opinion. I did the best I could. Finished it in two weeks time. Let me know what you think. Compare it to the page!

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Watchmen - Even more promotional stuff. This time from the Watchmen universe

Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be any more Watchmen promotional material along comes this. It is all stuff from official Flickr page of fake magazine ads, newspaper clippings, auction listings, and many other things that Warner Bros put together to go in the film. Some of it may never be seen on the big screen but it does go to show the amount of work that has gone into it.



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Watchmen reviewed by The Hollywood Reporter

The Hollywood Reporter have put this review of Zack Snyder's Watchmen online. To sum up they didn't like it and as you are probably aware it has been getting mixed reviews.

I don't mind if the critic, Kirk Honeycutt, doesn't like it (I have my doubts that it will be the great movie we all hope it will be). However, it does bother me when reviewers knock something because they think it is cool to do so. I'm guessing Kirk hasn't read the comic and I also think he probably loved The Dark Knight because everyone else did.

I think it is this line of his review that irks me the most, "And it is nonsense. When one superhero has to take a Zen break, he does so on Mars. Of course he does."

He later goes on to describe Dr Manhattan with his god like powers but he find the fact he pops over to Mars as nonsense. Any comic book movie, well actually pretty much most films when you look at them closely enough are nonsense. He's just not consistent in his review. Just smacks of lazy reviewing. I also think he gets the Silk Spectre's mixed up. If memory serves it is Malin Ackerman's Spectre (the daughter of Carla Gugino's character) who hooks up with Dan.

"And what's with the silly Halloween getups? Did anyone ever buy those Hollywood Boulevard costumes?"

It's a comic book film about superheroes Kirk. That's the reason for the costumes. I could go on butI've said enough. Here's his review in full. Let me know your thoughts on the matter. I'll post more reviews as and when I find them.

It's not easy being a comic-book hero these days. The poor boys have taken their lumps in "Hancock," "The Dark Knight" and even "Iron Man." Self-doubts, angst and inadequacies plague them. And now comes "Watchmen." Its costumed superheroes, operating in an alternative 1985, are seriously screwed up -- and so is their movie. If anyone were able to make a nine-figure movie, something like "Watchmen" would have been the opening-night film at the Sundance Film Festival.

As stimulating as it was to see the superhero movie enter the realm of crime fiction in "The Dark Knight," "Watchmen" enters into a realm that is both nihilistic and campy. The two make odd companions. The film, directed by Zack Snyder ("300"), will test the limits of superhero movie fans. If you're not already invested in these characters because of the original graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, nothing this movie does is likely to change that predicament.

That's bad news for Warner Bros. and Paramount, which hold domestic and international rights, respectively. Opening weekends everywhere will reflect the huge anticipation of this much-touted, news-making movie. After that, the boxoffice slide could be drastic.

Snyder and writers David Hayter and Alex Tse never find a reason for those unfamiliar with the graphic novel to care about any of this nonsense. And it is nonsense. When one superhero has to take a Zen break, he does so on Mars. Of course he does.

The film opens with a brutal killing, then moves on to a credit-roll newsreel of sorts that takes us though the Cold War years, landing us in 1985 when Nixon is in his third term, tipping us that we're in an alternate 1985 America, where our superheroes have taken care of Woodward and Bernstein and other forces have evidently taken care of the U.S. Constitution.

The opening murder happens to a character called the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who was once a member of a now banished team of superheroes called the Masks. Fellow ex-Mask Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) -- his mask one of perpetually shifting inkblots -- takes exception to his old colleague's death. He believes the entire society of ex-crime-fighters is being targeted even as the Doomsday Clock -- which charts tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that could lead to nuclear war -- nears midnight.

His investigation and renewed contacts with former buddies fills us in on the complicated histories and problematic psychiatric makeups of these colleagues.

It's all very complicated but not impenetrable. We pick up the relationships quickly enough, but soon realize these backstories owe more to soap operas than to superhero comics.

The thing is, these aren't so much superheroes as ordinary human beings with, let us say, comic-book martial arts prowess. The one exception is Billy Crudup's Jon Osterman, aka Dr. Manhattan, who in true comic-book fashion was caught in a laboratory accident that turned him into a scientific freak -- a naked, glowing giant, looking a little bit like the Oscar statuette only with actual genitals -- who has amazing God-like powers.

These powers are being harnessed by an ex-Mask, Matthew Goode's menacing though slightly effeminate industrialist Adrian Veidt.

When Dr. Manhattan's frustrated girlfriend, yet another former Mask, Carla Gugino's Sally Jupiter, can't get any satisfaction from Dr. M, she turns to the former Nite Owl II, Dan Dreiberg, who seems too much of a good guy to be an actual superhero, but he does miss those midnight prowls.

The point is that these superheroes, before Nixon banned them, were more vigilantes than real heroes, so the question the movie poses is, ah-hah, who is watching these Watchmen? They don't seem too much different from the villains.

Which also means we don't empathize with any of these creatures. And what's with the silly Halloween getups? Did anyone ever buy those Hollywood Boulevard costumes?

The violence is not as bad as early rumors would have one believe. It's still comic-book stuff, only with lots of bloody effects and makeup. The real disappointment is that the film does not transport an audience to another world, as "300" did. Nor does the third-rate Chandleresque narration by Rorschach help.

There is something a little lackadaisical here. The set pieces are surprisingly flat and the characters have little resonance. Fight scenes don't hold a candle to Asian action. Even the digital effects are ho-hum. Armageddon never looked so cheesy.

The film seems to take pride in its darkness, but this is just another failed special effect. Cinematographer Larry Fong and production designer Alex McDowell blend real and digital sets with earthen tones and secondary colors that give a sense of the past. But the stories are too absurd and acting too uneven to convince anyone. The appearances of a waxworks Nixon, Kissinger and other 1980s personalities will only bring hoots from less charitable audiences.

Looks like we have the first real flop of 2009.

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Watch Rorschach rave...I'm not kidding!

Well the smiley badge was the symbol for acid house and Watchmen so it is no surprise that someone went all techno techno with Alan Moore's creations! Watch in horror / awe / amazement / despair as Rorschach busts a move.

Source: FCT

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Watchmen - Zack Snyder talks about the differences in the film from the book

Wondering what differences there are between Alan Moore's Watchmen the comic book and Zack Snyder's Watchmen the film? Well wonder no more.

Zack has been speaking to MTV and, as well as the change to the ending, he mentions 9 more. I've put them in inviso-text to avoid spoilers. So click and drag over the space below if you don't mind reading them. I like the fact some of the changes won't exist on the Director's cut.

Nite Owl Watches Rorschach Become a Blot
Following their confrontation with Ozymandias, Rorschach is blown to bits by Manhattan. In the novel, Nite Owl misses the kill because he's with Silk Spectre. In the film, Dan Dreiberg watches helplessly as his old partner is killed. "I just felt that I needed a moment at the end," Snyder explained. "That relationship between Rorschach and Nite Owl is a sweet relationship that we establish in the movie. We get a glimpse of what their partnership was like. ... I thought it was nice [for Dan] to see Rorschach die, and also it motivates him to come back in [to confront Adrian] and be mad. You think, for a second, maybe, 'Whoa, this is going to be a superhero movie!' But he has no chance against Adrian."

Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
In the novel, young Laurie has a touching flashback in which she drops a snow globe. And although the scene isn't in "Watchmen," Snyder revealed that the globe is. "In that title sequence, when you peek past the doorway ... you can see little Laurie walking down the hallway to her mother and her stepfather fighting at the end of the hall," Snyder said. "On top of the TV, we built a snow globe that's got the snow, and we actually shook it [before cameras rolled] so fans could see it."

A Short Stroll to Ozymandias' Crib
In the novel, Nite Owl and Rorschach crash their ship in Antarctica, then ride Segway-like hovercrafts over several freezing miles to Adrian Veidt's lair. In the movie, they walk a few hundred feet. "It's because I like that shot where you can see the Owl Ship, and you can pull back and see Karnak in the foreground," Snyder said of the first time we see Ozymandias' enormous fortress of solitude. "I wanted to have geography, for the audience to understand the distances. And also, when they approach Karnak, you can [now] see it as you approach. [Otherwise], it would be difficult for them to fly so far away. It would be some bad flying by the end."

A Hairy Interview?
A bona fide superhero celebrity, Dr. Manhattan goes on a news talk show during a key "Watchmen" moment. In Moore's novel, the interviewer is a generic talking head. In the movie — is that Ted Koppel? "It is Ted Koppel," Snyder confirmed. "I do that a lot in the movie. I try to drill down on pop culture and make you have a reference to your own world."

Kill the Media
Following the revelations during his interview, a frenzied Dr. Manhattan is surrounded by reporters screaming questions. In the novel, he makes them all vanish and reappear outside. In the movie, he makes himself vanish and reappear on Mars. "In the director's cut, he beams them all out," Zack said. "That was just a little time-saving device to move us along in the [story] of Manhattan." But wait, it gets cooler: "In the director's cut, you don't know what he did with those people," Snyder grinned wickedly, implying that Manhattan may have killed the reporters. "You don't see them in the parking lot. We don't PG-13 them; you just don't know where they went."

Janey's Got a Wig
In Alan Moore's graphic novel, Dr. Manhattan's interview goes off track as reporters reveal that he might be giving his loved ones cancer. In the movie, his former lover Janey Slater actually shows up at the TV studio and dramatically takes off her wig, revealing that she's dying. "I just needed and wanted that to be tied back to Janey emotionally and felt that the reporters weren't enough," Zack said of the addition. "There's an interview with her [in the graphic novel], and she reveals a lot of the stuff that she reveals in that speech to him. We took it from that moment; I took all of those ideas and had her confront Manhattan with them instead."

Shrinkage!
In Moore's novel, Rorschach's intense meetings with Cosby-like shrink Dr. Malcolm Long send the good doctor down his own dark, downward spiral. In Snyder's film, the subplot is nonexistent. "That's very indulgent. We didn't quite go that far, but I would have loved to," he said of Dr. Malcolm's scenes at home.

Drinks Are on the Comedian
In the novel, a tense flashback has Laurie confronting Edward Blake and throwing a drink in his face. In the movie, the scene doesn't exist. "Yeah, I didn't put that scene in. I felt that I could only have one Comedian/Laurie flashback," Snyder explained. "So I stayed with the one outside the Watchmen headquarters."

Screeching to a Halt
In both the novel and film, Archie is the vehicle of choice for breaking Rorschach out of prison, but the movie version doesn't give us the ear-piercing Screechers that disable the guards and convicts. "The Owl Ship does have Screechers; you don't hear them," Snyder said. "But in the director's cut, when they are escaping from prison, there's a scene when they are up on the rooftop and Dan says, 'I had to turn the Screechers off, so we're going to be drawing fire soon!' So there's a little reference."

End of Spoilers.

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Lying in the Gutters at the Watchmen Premiere

The always good Rich Johnston, of Lying in the Gutters fame was lucky enough to get to the Watchmen premiere last night. This is him on the yellow carpet. He chats to Dave Gibbons, Jackie Earle Haley and Billy Crudup.

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