I'm seeing Watchmen tonight with four people who have read it and my co-worker who didn't know what a graphic novel was until last week. The idea was to have her go in completely blind, but she's since looked up a little more about the book. I showed her the first trailer because it's awesome, and when she saw Ozymandias, she asked, "Is that the bad guy?" I was all, "Uh, no, he's just one of the main characters." Heh. She's baffled about how popular Watchmen is, even with people she didn't even know read comics. She hadn't ever heard of it.

I'll admit that the Cloverfield characters were generally Too Stupid To Live, but since I run into people like that every day it didn't seem that farfetched to me. Well, aside from the giant monster devastating Manhattan.

Also, I bought that Rob and Lily had motivation to go back for Beth based on the trauma they'd just suffered. Now Hud and Marissa were complete idiots for not joining that group the Army was shepherding to safety when they had the chance...

Well, that's one way to get a bunch of positive (if not exactly literate) blurbs for your film.

I didn't hate Cloverfield, but I wasn't wowed by it either.

I found my original post-screening thoughts in Movies 6 and most of it is bitching about the NYC details they got wrong.

Jessica, the subway stuff drove me CRAZY. And your points about the found footage premise are exactly right. It was an interesting exercise in some ways, but character-wise I ... was happy everyone died. So.

Tonight we've got Blindness. Anyone see it? Don't spoil me, though!

I only caught about half of Watchmen. The first scene, a few through the middle and the last 45 minutes. I thought what they kept was perfect and what they changed needed to be changed. Right actors, right set deisgners, right costumers. I swear some actors they just sucked right out of the comic book. At one point I realized I was sitting in a theatre watching this movie and I felt a little overwhelmed. Something has happened that, for most of the last 20 years, I was sure would never ever happen. Then I realized what a silly fangirl I was being and got over it.

Harry Potter trailer

I'll admit that the Cloverfield characters were generally Too Stupid To Live, but since I run into people like that every day it didn't seem that farfetched to me.

I run into those people every day also, but I like to think they wouldn't survive an event like that. Or at least I'd like to get the joy of seeing them eaten, in return for my $10.

ION, Viggo Mortensen nonwithstanding, Appaloosa is not a good movie.

Viggo Mortensen nonwithstanding, Appaloosa is not a good movie.

Yeah, it's not a horrible way to get through an afternoon, but completely forgettable afterwards. It's hard finding movies that Dad likes, though, so it was worth going to see it with him. (He's a John Wayne buff and loves old-fashioned Westerns, so he's very forgiving of films with quality issues, as long as they feature horses and terse men with guns.)

Roger Ebert gives Watchmen four stars:

I didn't think the review was spoilery for the movie; not even really for the book (which it appears he hasn't read). His final paragraph:

I’m not sure I understood all the nuances and implications, but I am sure I had a powerful experience. It’s not as entertaining as “The Dark Knight,” but like the “Matrix” films, LOTR and “The Dark Knight,” it’s going to inspire fevered analysis. I don’t want to see it twice for that reason, however, but mostly just to have the experience again.