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Watchmen Archives - ShowBizCafe.com

Watchmen Archives - ShowBizCafe.com

Mack Chico

By

2009/03/09 at 12:00am

Surprise! ‘Watchmen’ is #1 at the box office

03.9.2009 | By |

Surprise! 'Watchmen' is #1 at the box office

“Watchmen,” the superhero epic from Warner Bros. and its partners, led the movie box-office through another strong weekend but stopped short of peaks hit by some of its predecessors.

The film, directed by Zack Snyder and based on a graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, had an estimated $55.7 million in ticket sales, easily outpacing the weekend’s second-place film, “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail,” from Lionsgate, which took in about $8.8 million at the domestic box-office for a total of $76.5 million to date.

“Watchmen” was handicapped by its unusually long running time of nearly 2 hours 45 minutes. Longer films get fewer showings in each theater through the course of a day.

The movie was also stung by the ambivalence of critics and fans, many of whom came to it with expectations based on a familiarity with, and often deep reverence for, the complex illustrated story of damaged crime fighters being hunted by a killer.

“Everyone around me liked it a lot more than I did,” said James Thompson, who teaches a course in genre film, television and comics.

Oddly, though, his doubts may bode well for Warner. Thompson said that he and others he knows expected to see the film again this week, to reassess an opinion that he said may have been colored by his own history with the illustrated series. Repeat customers are definitely gravy.

Also in the top five at the weekend box office were “Taken” at No. 3 with $7.5 million, “Slumdog Millionaire” at No. 4 with $6.9 million and “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” at No. 5 with $4.1 million.

 

Jack Rico

By

2009/03/06 at 12:00am

ShowBizCafe on the radio: ‘Watchmen’

03.6.2009 | By |

ShowBizCafe on the radio: 'Watchmen'

We’re being innovative and are going to crossover some Spanish content from time to time for those of you who understand Spanish. This is a weekly radio segment we do every Friday, en español, on the ‘Luis Jimenez Radio Show’, one of the top FM morning shows in New York City. We’re sort of pioneers as this is the only Spanish language movie radio segment tht does it in the US.

So to give you a brief recap of what we spoke about today, we spoke about the Oscar’s and reviewed the new releases ‘Watchmen’.

On the DVD front, Australia and Beverly Hills Chihuahua from Disney.

If you’re interested in listening to the show live, you can log on every Friday at 10:50am to get the movie download via: http://www.luisjimenezradio.com/

Alex Florez

By

2009/03/05 at 12:00am

Watchmen

03.5.2009 | By |

Rated: R for strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language.
Release Date: 2009-03-06
Starring: David Hayter, Alex Tse
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: USA
Official Website: http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/

Go to our film page

Watchmen

Film goers, be warned. Watchmen is no ordinary superhero movie, but it’s also not an extraordinary one.

This latest comic book adaptation is one complex, multi-layered murder mystery, set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society.  It is the world Alan Moore created for his legendary comic book series, which, when published, challenged both the genre and medium. 

For those who haven’t read the books, Watchmen chronicles a group of vigilantes which disbanded years earlier when masked superheroes were banned by the US government.  The story begins when one of its members, “The Comedian” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is murdered, setting “Rorschach” (one of his former partners) on a mission to find out who done it. 

Those that have read the books, will know that in reality the story is about much more than that.  It is part political satire, part Shakespearian tragedy and oh yes, part “Detective Comics”. It’s mature content is without a doubt bound to surprise many. The ones who argue that comic books can’t be or aren’t “deep”, simply haven’t read this one.  And that’s precisely the challenge the filmmakers met when adapting it to the big screen. 

The books are so carefully crafted that everything in them, needs to be there.  If even one of the elements goes missing the story just doesn’t work. There’s no question that director Zack Snyder attempted to make a faithful adaptation, but when you try to fit all 12 issues into a regular movie’s running time (this one runs 15 minutes shy of three hours), some of the desperately needed elements in the story are bound to be lost in translation.  In the end however, some different directing choices could have tied things together more coherently.

One such thing I think could have been re-imagined is an opening montage that condenses the origins of the Watchmen lore to the duration of a 1960s folk song, leaving you will little time to figure out what’s happened.  At times things feel a bit convoluted but unlike reading a comic, in a movie you can’t go back and re-read a page to further understand what happens later in the story.  Fortunately the appeal of some of the characters are undeniable.  Jack Earle Haley wonderfully plays “Rorschach” the borderline psychopath who wears a mask with shape shifting inkblots, and gives the film its edge and ferocity. 

It is not the first time that one of Alan Moore’s graphic novels is adapted to the big screen.  V for Vendetta and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen were the other two films that fell short on their promise.

While the film disappoints on some levels, my hope is that viewers will be drawn to read to the comic book series that set a precedence for future books of its kind.

 

Mack Chico

By

2009/03/02 at 12:00am

Free tickets to see ‘WATCHMEN’!

03.2.2009 | By |

Free tickets to see 'WATCHMEN'!

It’s finally here! Your chance to get to see ‘Watchmen’ the film that is based on “the greatest graphic novel in history”. 

Wanna check out the film… for FREE?

Win FREE movie passes to see WATCHMEN on March 16th after its release on Friday, March 6th in an undisclosed theater in New York City by responding the following question:

 
What is The Comedian’s real name in the graphic novel?
 

If you know the correct answer, write it and send it to us via our COMMENTS section below with your name and email address. We will then proceed to send you the electronic ticket to attend the screening of your choice at an undisclosed theater in New York City.

Good luck!

Synopsis:

A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, the film is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the “Doomsday Clock” – which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union – is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed-up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes.

 

SBC Staff

By

2009/02/17 at 12:00am

12 never before seen images from ‘Watchmen’!

02.17.2009 | By |

12 never before seen images from 'Watchmen'!

We just got our hands on 12 images from the new ‘Watchmen Portrait’ book that was released a week ago. The movie’s official photographer, Clay Enos took these black-and-white portraits of the individuals working on the production. From the lead heroes to supporting characters, extras in the crowd and the crew who put the film together.

We bought the book and it makes for a pretty good collector’s item and film memorabilia. From what we hear, Enos, combined the aesthetic gravitas of Richard Avedon’s In The American West series with the unsung heroics of Michael Disfarmer’s work, to subtly pair the images across double page spreads like Rorschach ink blots and providing a unique look into the world of Watchmen.

The movie ‘Watchmen’ will be in theaters and IMAX 03.06.09, and just in case you want to check out Clay’s website click here: www.clayenos.com.

The pics are below. Enjoy them and check out our Watchmen film page which has SO MUCH MORE images on ‘Watchmen’.

 

Jack Rico

By

2009/01/27 at 12:00am

‘Watchmen’ Spanish posters released!

01.27.2009 | By |

'Watchmen' Spanish posters released!

After going one on one with 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros. is going out to conquer the Hispanic market with its legally owned and distributed film ‘Watchmen’!

We just received these 6 Spanish posters that are sure to be reaching Spain, Mexico and Argentina.

It only makes sense for them to go after an international community since they see this movie crossing over into all languages and cultures.

Check them out and leave us some comments of what you think of the posters.

If you read Spanish, take a look at our exclusive review of the film. Beware of the spoilers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jack Rico

By

2009/01/16 at 12:00am

Finally! Watchmen will be seen in March

01.16.2009 | By |

Finally! Watchmen will be seen in March

Warner Bros. and Fox have resolved their dispute over “Watchmen,” with the studios scheduled to present a settlement to Judge Gary Feess this morning and request that the case be dismissed.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the deal is said to involve a sizable cash payment to Fox and a percentage of the film’s boxoffice grosses; Fox will not be a co-distributor on the film, nor will it co-own the “Watchmen” property, but it will share in revenue derived from it. The studios released a joint statement last night.

“Warner Bros. acknowledges that Fox acted in good faith in bringing its claims, which were asserted prior to the start of principal photography,” the statement read. “Fox acknowledges that Warner Bros. acted in good faith defending against those claims.”

Fox sued Warners in February, claiming copyright infringement based on agreements the studio had with producer Larry Gordon. Feess ruled Dec. 24 that Gordon did not secure proper rights to “Watchmen” from Fox before shopping the project and setting it up at Warners.

Feess’ decision prompted settlement talks to heat up because Warners faced the prospect of an injunction stopping its March 6 release of the $130 million comic book adaptation.

Gordon is not a party to the case, but Warners is said to be after the producer and his attorneys to reimburse the studio for costs of the settlement. During the litigation, Gordon’s then-attorney admitted that he negotiated the producer’s 1994 separation from Fox without knowing about a 1991 agreement on which Fox based its lawsuit.

The showdown between studios became particularly nasty during recent weeks, with Gordon and the film’s other producer, Lloyd Levin,  lashing out at Fox for making a claim on the film.

But with the dispute settled, the statement took a positive tone: “Warner Bros. and Fox, like all ‘Watchmen’ fans, look forward with great anticipation to this film’s March 6 release in theaters.”

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