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Watchmen

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:05 am
by jfish26
I understand that this is one of those shows/IPs where the danger of touching a nerve is omnipresent, but:

They're really fucking this up.

Not in the, "ruining/deviating too much from the source material," way (I wouldn't know), but in the making it utterly impossible for a non-devotee to even follow this shit sort of way.

It's a bit stunning to me that Lindelof and Cuse can get this kind of budget (and placement) to make a show that is inaccessible on its face if you're not at least comfortably familiar with the source material.

I sort of thought the plan was to leave new viewers in a bit of a fog, and then start giving out information necessary to decode the motivations and such (not to mention the Easter eggs), but...nope, it seems they're fine just letting people tune out.

Too bad - the bits and pieces I catch are fun and cool, and the writing is crisp and interesting. But what's the fucking point if I have to do two hours of homework every week just to even sort of understand what's going on?

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:11 am
by ousdahl
I am not at least comfortably familiar with the source material enough to know what this thread is about.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:16 am
by MICHHAWK
It would have been easier to just type “the new Watchmen sucks. Don’t bother.”

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:21 am
by jfish26
MICHHAWK wrote: Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:16 am It would have been easier to just type “the new Watchmen sucks. Don’t bother.”
But here's the thing: I don't think it does suck! I think if they'd have just found a way to make things a bit more accessible (maybe a prologue episode in like an 80s made-for-school TV program motif), it would be much more enjoyable.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:54 am
by pdub
I watched the first episode and as a huge fan of The Watchmen ( the graphic novel ) I wasn't interested in tuning in anymore.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:57 am
by jfish26
pdub wrote: Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:54 am I watched the first episode and as a huge fan of The Watchmen ( the graphic novel ) I wasn't interested in tuning in anymore.
Which illustrates the problem in mining established IP for new content: you're either going to piss off the pdubs of the world, or the mes of the world. Or both!

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 12:12 pm
by pdub
Yup.
No need to piggyback on Watchmen.
It was already a masterpiece of fiction.

Would be like making Goonies 2 or Ghostbusters with 4 women.
Just stop.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 8:52 pm
by Geezer
Praise Heysus that there was no Caddyshack 3.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 11:02 am
by Deleted User 318
jfish26 wrote: Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:05 am I understand that this is one of those shows/IPs where the danger of touching a nerve is omnipresent, but:

They're really fucking this up.
‘Watchmen’ leads all Emmy nominees with 26

https://apnews.com/f12347dae120f532cc21 ... SocialFlow
“Watchmen” is the leading contender at the Emmy Awards with 26 nominations.

The HBO series stars Regina King and is a dystopian superhero drama dealing with race, police and white supremacy based on a 1980s graphic novel.

The Amazon comedy “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is the second most-nominated series with 20, followed by Netflix’s “Ozark” with 18.
I'm not a big comic book fan, but Watchmen breaks that trend. I loved the series, and it came out at an amazing time.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 11:48 am
by pdub
More and more, awards shows have become a political stunt.
Create a new story based on the things you want to tell and don't involve Watchmen.
"...based on a 1980s graphic novel..." No. Not really. Alan Moore wants nothing to do with you.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:01 pm
by Deleted User 318
pdub wrote: Tue Jul 28, 2020 11:48 am More and more, awards shows have become a political stunt.
Create a new story based on the things you want to tell and don't involve Watchmen.
"...based on a 1980s graphic novel..." No. Not really. Alan Moore wants nothing to do with you.
What's the stunt? And Moore signed a contract with DC. Same as Stan Lee. Why is Moore exempt?

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:07 pm
by pdub
Moore is not exempt legally.
I don't care about the law here - it's just a dick move to piggyback on something he created.
He wanted nothing to do with it - so unless there was an undeniably awesome first episode, which it certainly wasn't, I want nothing to do with it.

Again, create a new story based on the things you want to tell.
Why do you need The Watchmen as part of this story at all?
Oh, right, to ride the success of the graphic novel as a PR move to get people interested.

And the political stunt is the awards and show itself.
The speeches and nominations are all pretty/very liberal.
If that isn't obvious ( just go back to the last Oscars and listen to the acceptance speeches ) I am unsure what to tell you.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:21 pm
by Deleted User 318
pdub wrote: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:07 pm And the political stunt is the awards and show itself.
The speeches and nominations are all pretty/very liberal.
If that isn't obvious ( just go back to the last Oscars and listen to the acceptance speeches ) I am unsure what to tell you.
Soooo, because they skew liberal, they are no good? You mean Hollywood skews liberal? Who cares? If you don't like Hollywood produced media, don't watch it. Sounds like you are trying to govern their speech, which you always seem to rally against.

And if the nominations are liberal, why do they skews so heavily white and conservative (i.e. not unique or groundbreaking, not in the political sense). Watchmen was amazing, but no episode got over a million views on initial watching, and only seemed to come into its own after lockdown, Floyd. Wouldn't Black-ish or some other black-created media be better to champion? Tons of white folks made Watchmen.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:24 pm
by pdub
Also, I heard ( spoiler alert )







That Dr Manhattan morphs himself into the husband of Regina King and is there, quietly posing as him, all along.
So. Dumb.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:25 pm
by pdub
NiceDC wrote: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:21 pm
pdub wrote: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:07 pm And the political stunt is the awards and show itself.
The speeches and nominations are all pretty/very liberal.
If that isn't obvious ( just go back to the last Oscars and listen to the acceptance speeches ) I am unsure what to tell you.
Soooo, because they skew liberal, they are no good? You mean Hollywood skews liberal? Who cares? If you don't like Hollywood produced media, don't watch it. Sounds like you are trying to govern their speech, which you always seem to rally against.

And if the nominations are liberal, why do they skews so heavily white and conservative (i.e. not unique or groundbreaking, not in the political sense). Watchmen was amazing, but no episode got over a million views on initial watching, and only seemed to come into its own after lockdown, Floyd. Wouldn't Black-ish or some other black-created media be better to champion? Tons of white folks made Watchmen.
I don't watch it - I haven't watched an awards deal for quite a while ( worse than watching White Sox v Minny Twins ).
I've watched some clips ( of their speeches ), read some twitter/articles with quotes.
I am not trying to govern their speech.

But I certainly am allowed to bitch about it on this website.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:27 pm
by jfish26
I don't know anything about something.

But here's my opinion on it anyway.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:33 pm
by pdub
I mean, I don't think it's news to think awards shows, in particular the Oscars, have become more political over the last few years:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... ts-1277441

I hope the source is OK.
Feel free to try and pick holes in something that is overwhelmingly obvious - or dig at the source despite the fact that this same information was probably written by dozens if not hundreds of editors/writers across the US/World.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:40 pm
by pdub
In the end I like to ( and this is a personal preference ) seek political information/opinion on my own.
Read about candidates, the climate, the world in a channel/avenue that makes sense for it.
It's why I don't like political talk on anywhere else on the site but the poli-bored and here.

If I want to watch sports or movies/shows, and I'm not in the mood for political leanings and they are prevalent, I won't watch. Just a preference - both those things serve as an escape to an already divided and be-as-loud-as-fuck environment.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:42 pm
by Deleted User 318
pdub wrote: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:40 pm In the end I like to ( and this is a personal preference ) seek political information/opinion on my own.
Read about candidates, the climate, the world in a channel/avenue that makes sense for it.
It's why I don't like political talk on anywhere else on the site but the poli-bored and here.

If I want to watch sports or movies/shows, and I'm not in the mood for political leanings and they are prevalent, I won't watch. Just a preference - both those things serve as an escape to an already divided and be-as-loud-as-fuck environment.
You called it a political stunt. I said it was an amazing piece of work, and was in awe that it is leading the way with 26 award nominations (while playfully chiding JFish slightly). I just don't know how it's a stunt. It's silly awards for an amazing show.

Re: Watchmen

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:49 pm
by pdub
I meant the awards shows themselves not directly the nominations for Watchmen, though I still think partly politically driven in this case but I won't waste anyone's time arguing - we won't get anywhere.

In the end, good for The Watchmen, a show that took something original that already was a masterpiece, and went out and won some Emmy awards. Justification for some people to try and watch, others not so much.