Comic Book Resources

I know this reference is from another website, but I got three words in response to this:

“AAAIIEEEE SIN CITY!!”

I’m not one to throw sole responsibility for this sort of thing at the feet of the parents, but you have to be functionally retarded to not know what Watchmen is going to be like before going in. Anybody who, after watching any of the commercials, takes their kids into this movie, is just stoopid. Period.

I was listening to a local radio show, which on Fridays has a movie review hour. The critic (Gary Cogill of WFAA in Dallas) said many times, “Watchmen is a hard R bordering on NC-17.” Caller after caller would phone in and ask, “Ok, I know it’s rated R, but I can still take my 12 (or 13, or 14) year old to this, right?” Or, “This is going to be like Spider-Man, right?”

Here’s what most likely happens: Kids see commercials with cool soundtracks and superheroes. Kids tell parents, I want to see that movie. Parents say, “OK.” Parents then learn movie may not be appropriate for kids. In the “good old days” (god, I can’t believe I sound like my father), that would be that. Parents tell kids, “Sorry, but you can’t see that,” and the story ends. Today, most parents aren’t willing to, oh, PARENT their kids. The callers asking if the movie was appropriate weren’t looking for a reason to not go… they were looking for a justification TO go, because their kids were looking forward to it, and it would be a big disappointment if they didn’t see it, and now you’ve got 10 year olds sitting in a Rated R movie with all of their friends… Oh, the outrage… Congress should pass a law or something…

Stupid parents.

Throughout all the hype for this movie, the one thing I told people I knew that had never read the comic was that they shouldn’t expect a straight action movie. Most of the commercials made it seem like just another summer action flick and I think some of the walk-outs could be contributed to people who had no experience with the comic and just saw the trailers featuring lots of slow-mo explosions and heard “from the director of 300″ and expected a movie of that nature.

Check this out. It’s hysterical. Watchmen is a communist plot to warp your kids. Except when it’s a NAZI plot to warp your kids.

http://adistantsoil.com/2009/03/11/conservative-blogger-has-meltdown-over-watchmen/

I agree the marketing for this movie is all wrong. People don’t know that it’s not an action movie. It’s a pretty rough ride. Read the graphic novel before you see the movie. Do not take children under 17. Worst scene for me was seeing Rohrshach getting blasted away by Dr. Manhattan especially when Rohrshach was the conscience of the Watchmen. Veidt should have been shot and killed by Silk Spectre II instead of being allowed to live.

Pansies. I saw Starship Troopers when I was 12 with my dad, and I escaped only marginally disturbed.

This wasn’t even close to being rated NC-17. The Reader, also rated R, has more sex and nudity than this does, and one of the characters involved is 15, fer cryin’ out loud.

rolando says:

“Here’s what most likely happens: Kids see commercials with cool soundtracks and superheroes. Kids tell parents, I want to see that movie. Parents say, “OK.” Parents then learn movie may not be appropriate for kids. In the “good old days” (god, I can’t believe I sound like my father), that would be that. Parents tell kids, “Sorry, but you can’t see that,” and the story ends. Today, most parents aren’t willing to, oh, PARENT their kids.”

I agree with you 100%, rolando. As a public school teacher, I see this sort of nonsense all the time. Parents are more interested in being their kids’ friend than in being their parent, and it always ends up badly for the kid. Kids need limits and if parents don’t provide those limits, the there’s a world of trouble ahead.

Unlike Wesley, I am quite willing to lay this at the feet of the parents. IT’S THEIR JOB! It’s not Zack Snyder’s job, or the critic’s job, or the marketing guy’s job. It’s the parents’ job. WIth the availability of the internet, there’s absolutely no reason for a parent to not have a good idea what to expect when they walk into a theatre. And if you don’t know what to expect (and by “you”, I mean “parents”), then screen it yourself first.

That’s my opinion. It’s free, so take it for what it’s worth…

The manager at the local cinema told me that a bunch of customers had walked out over opening weekend and demanded their money back. Apparently, this happened over the course of several showings, and a few of them even said the same things when they complained to the manager: “I expected something like X-Men.”

The “harumphs” and walking out sound a LOT like the reaction of the audience the first time I saw “Pulp Fiction,” by the way.

Does that make “Watchmen” this generation’s “Pulp Fiction”?

(Note: I sincerely doubt it.)

I read the material on the internet and the film was exactly as described. It is an incredibly deep philosophical story played out by well-developed comic book charaacters. Not for kids at all.

I walked after forty minutes. Not because I felt that the screen adaptation was a betrayal of the source– it couldn’t hold a candle, and I certainly didn’t expect it to –but because it was honestly one of the worst, most po-faced attempts at High Seriousness I’ve seen in recent memory. It was quite simply a Bad Film, a Hack Movie, a pile of Deeply Conflicted Schlock, and I’d very surprised if WATCHMEN managed to make back its advertising budget before it leaves theatres.

The head count for the Monday night showing at 7PM was fifteen total, btw. Not exactly an auspicious sign, post- Opening Weekend…