Kevin's Watch

sgtnull wrote:Fawkes has become a symbol, much like John Brown. if you examine Brown's actions it may change your perception of him as well. while both tried extreme measures, some would argue they were driven to those actions.

Fist and Faith wrote:

Matrixman wrote:For instance, why did the cast of LOTR make a big impression on me? Because it was largely composed of actors unfamiliar to me.

That's the best example of an unknown cast I'm aware of. They were all fantastic, and I'd never so much as heard of most of them. Yet I can't imagine anyone looking more like the characters they portrayed, or doing a better job.

Lorelei wrote:Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry and John Hurt were all excellent!

Lord Foul wrote:Good timing, too, since I'm about to finish Watchmen.

The Genius That Is Alan Moore wrote:Stood in firelight, sweltering. Blood stain on chest like map of violent new continent. Felt cleansed. Felt dark planet turn under my feet and knew what cats know that makes them scream like babies in night. Looked at sky through smoke heavy with human fat and God was not there. The cold, suffocating dark goes on forever, and we are alone. Live our lives, lacking anything better to do. Devise reason later. Born from oblivion, bear children, hellbound as ourselves, go into oblivion. There is nothing else. Existence is random. Has no pattern save what we imagine after staring at it for too long. No meaning save what we choose to impose. This rudderless world is not shaped by vague metaphysical forces. It is not God who kills the children. Not fate that butchers them or destiny that feeds them to the dogs. It's us. Only us. Streets stank of fire. The void breathed hard on my heart, turning its illusions to ice, shattering them. Was reborn then, free to scrawl own design on this morally blank world. Was Rorschach.

Fist and Faith wrote:Issue after issue of GENIUS!!! Laurie's revelation (which I won't get into, since I don't know if you read it yet) and subsequent discussion with mother and Dr. Manhattan's origin are also particular favorites. All the backup stories. Just extraordinary!!! It can only barely be called a comic book, so far beyond the norm does it go in both quality and form.

Lord Mhoram wrote:Alan Moore is indeed a genius. V and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen are great. I've been meaning to read Watchmen for a while now.

Lord Mhoram wrote:Well, The Dark Knight Returns is almost universally hailed as one of the greatest graphic novels of all time, and certainly the best of the Batman ones. It and Watchmen really transformed the art form of the graphic novel altogther.

...Alan Moore has been very vocal about his unhappiness with the new adaptation of V For Vendetta, his 1988 graphic novel about a future fascist Britain. Last weekend, The New York Times reported on Moore's decision to not only remove his name from the movie's credits but - as a shot at DC Comics and its corporate parent Time Warner - have his name removed from every work controlled by his former publisher.

The cause of Moore's displeasure is not the movie itself. No, Moore was upset because producer Joel Silver claimed that Moore had given it his blessing. When DC Comics failed to get Silver to retract the remarks, which were based on a meeting with Moore when Silver optioned the material nearly two decades ago, Moore severed any relationship with the company. His reaction may seem out of proportion to the affront - aren't movie producers expected to be creative with the facts? Yet it's easy to see why Moore has run out of patience when the system has been so cruel to his vivid and imaginative creations.

The British writer, who began his career as a cartoonist for British rock magazines in the late seventies, has long had a wary relationship with the film industry. For one thing, he has not written or collaborated on any of the screenplays. As he once told the Guardian, "If someone's going to butcher my baby, I'd rather it wasn't me." Including V For Vendetta, four of Moore's works have been made into movies. Another, Watchmen, has failed to make the jump despite innumerable attempts. Filmmakers have been consistently stymied by both the complexityof Moore's storytelling and his quintessentially English preoccupations.

From Hell (2001) was based on Moore's exhaustively researched inquiry into the mystery of Jack the Ripper. The filmmakers opted to present the story as a murky whodunit, disregarding Moore's wider examination of how societal conditions in 19th-century England set the stage for the Ripper's crimes and future atrocities. In the case of the 2003 adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - about the adventures of a crimefighting team of fictional heroes including Allan Quartermain and Captain Nemo - Moore's playful reimagining of the Victorian era's fantastic literature was lost amid a cacophony of explosions. (Adding insult to injury, Moore had to testify in a lawsuit by writer Larry Cohen and producer Martin Poll, who believed the finished movie bore a greater resemblance to their unproduced screenplay than Moore's original comic.)

The 2005 thriller Constantine was based on a character that Moore invented while writing Swamp Thing. It was Sting who inspired the image of demon-fighter John Constantine. He was played on screen by Keanu Reeves; in the words of Stan Lee, "nuff said." As for Watchmen, Moore's revered series about the murder of superheroes, the film project has been linked to Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky and, most recently, Paul Greengrass. If it's any consolation to Moore, Silver no longer has the rights.

Ironically, of all the movies based on Moore's comics, V For Vendetta is the most faithful. Though a work that was originally intended to demonize Thatcher's Britain now includes references to America's war on terror, it remains Moore's dark vision at its core. There's even a new scene in which a police inspector is given information by a mysterious gentleman who, with his unkempt, greying hair and long beard, bears a distinct resemblance to the now-uncredited author. However, if this hirsute figure is not intended as an homage to Moore, then Mick Fleetwood should sue.