On the plus side, movie!Dan Dreiberg was OMFGHAWT. Which is completely out of character and I DON'T CARE.

Dude, not only

I'm starting to think Alan Moore has some Issues.

We didn't have Rorschach jumping out of the refrigerator. Which made me sad.

Agreeing with many of the comments here on Watchmen, which was a big ol' "meh" for me. I'll just add that I thought the soundtrack was one of the most jarring elements of the movie, and really didn't add to the story or the atmosphere of the film (aside from the Muzaked "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," which I wish I'd noticed during my viewing but will happily believe is there).

I mean, all the song choices seemed more or less reasonable for the time period, in that they were songs that would have been around at the time -- there were still plenty of people listening to Bob Dylan in the mid-80s, and I'm willing to handwave that the Watchmen are so caught up in reliving/recapturing their past glories that they've hung onto the music of their past as well. (And, as Laga points out, "All Along the Watchtower" is lifted directly from the novel.) But most of the songs were just, ugh, so boring and uninspired! "Sounds of Silence"?? Really? And we've all noted the hilarity of the "Hallelujah" scene. I think the movie would have been far better served by a much more obscure, truly period-appropriate, and apocalyptic soundtrack (what's that band whose upcoming show is advertised throughout the novel? Pale Horse? Something like that would have been awesome).

As far as things from the novel that I missed, I was surprised that Snyder left out what always seemed to me like a very telling moment about the Minutemen. When Hooded Justice catches the Comedian in the act of trying to rape Sally Jupiter, he beats him up good, and then turns to Sally and says something like "Get your clothes on, slut" (paraphrasing). It's a chilling moment and one that reinforces the idea that these costumed heroes are all pretty psychotic and fucked up in one way or another. Sure, that concept came through just fine in the movie anyway, but it still surprised me that that one line was left out.

They also took out Sally saying she was going to change and her scratching up The Comedian's face when she says, "EN OH!"

Wasn't the "Hallelujah" scene actually Billie Holiday in the book?

Which I could go get, except I'm lazy.

I did just play the demo game on Xbox, first as Rorschach (who apparently farts as his special combat power - the DH rolled his eyes and said "I cast Stinking Cloud"), and then as Nite Owl. Mal, behind me, said "It's Batman! Mom, let's watch Batman beat up bad guys!" Good art, when a four-year-old gets it.

Otherwise, I really hope the movie is better than the game. I go see it Monday.

I'm a broken record at this point, but I do feel like at least Moore had the good sense to hang giant neon lanterns on his Comics Sexism Bingo card entries, where Snyder just kind of...went with it. Neither of them gets a free pass to Successful Trope Subversionland, but...eh. I'm tired.

Raq, I don't have the book handy but Google says Billie Holiday is right.

The song was Billie Holiday "You're My Thrill", but it was playing during the tenement fire rescue. There was no specific mention of music playing during the Owlship Bonk.

Kate P., the line you're thinking of is "For God's sake, cover yourself up." To me it wasn't so much "...slut" but sort of a '40s era implicit blaming of rape on the victim without the harsh "YOU are a WHORE". More institutionalized than HJ's opinion. I'm probably not being very clear.

As to the Dead Lesbian Cliche I see it, but I also think that Moore was again commenting on the inherent close-mindedness of the times. In the comic there is explicit statement that Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis are gay, but keeping it under wraps. If Silhouette hadn't been found out, she would still have been in the Minutemen and may still be alive. Conversely, if HJ and CM had been exposed, they would have been out of the Minutemen.

And as for the "fall in love with your rapist"...yeah, I got nothing.

Dear David Hayter: FUCK YOU.

(Watchmen screenwriter has an open letter on AICN asking fanboys to see the movie a second time. Here's how he ends it. The last line is whitefonted both for spoiler protection and because I haven't stopped shaking with rage yet.)

You say you don't like it. You say you've got issues. I get it.

And yet... You'll be thinking about this film, down the road. It'll nag at you. How it was rough and beautiful. How it went where it wanted to go, and you just hung on. How it was thoughtful and hateful and bleak and hilarious. And for Jackie Earle Haley.

Trust me. You'll come back, eventually. Just like Sally.

So to summarize, people should see Watchmen again because it's JUST LIKE EXPERIENCING AN ATTEMPTED RAPE. Oh yeah - I'm the one with "issues." Did I mention FUCK YOU?

Jee-zuz Ker-riste.

I mean, WTF?