* Reviews of Zack Snyder’s Watchmen film are flooding in, mostly from nerd sites. So far the main line of criticism seems to be that Snyder’s reach exceeds his grasp in terms of fitting a 12-issue serialized story that bounces back and forth in time, incorporating multiple flashbacks and focalizing characters and voluminous background materials, into the framework of even a very long feature film. You can see a pretty thoughtfully expressed iteration of that general notion here, from comics writer Mark Millar, for example. That gives me some hope, since hey, if you’re gonna strike out, you may as well strike out swinging. I was far more concerned about whether the film was just gonna be cheesy, though admittedly the kinds of sources we’re seeing reviews from right now are unlikely to detect the sort of cheesiness I suspect Watchmen: The Movie would traffic in should it traffic in cheesiness, if that makes sense.
* Samuel L. Jackson has signed a nine-picture deal to play Nick Fury in sundry Marvel Movies. Hooray!
* The great Peggy Burns of Drawn & Quarterly takes my Savage Critic overlord Brian Hibbs’s much-debated Bookscan number-crunching to task, with numbers of her own to back it up. This apparently resulted in a lengthy phone conversation between the two of them that I’ve decided sounded a lot like the one between President Merkin Muffley and the Russian Premier in Dr. Strangelove. I have however not decided which one gets to say things like “I’m perfectly capable of being as sorry as you are” and which one has to turn the music down so the other can hear–you can vote in the comments if you are so inclined.
* They’re remaking Clue as “a global thriller and transmedia event” helmed by Gore Verbinski. Oh brother. Now, Verbinski directed one of the all-time great horror films and approximately two very good Pirates of the Caribbean movies spread over three Pirates of the Caribbean movies total, so this may be great. On the other hand, there’s something inspired about the how the original recreated a murder-mystery board game as a period piece about Red Scare paranoia and ’50s sexual morés. Moreover, it was the first of two Tim Curry vehicles set in a giant Victorian mansion on a rainy night that I’ve committed to memory during the course of my life, and the combined cleavage of Colleen Camp and Lesley Ann Warren holds a special place in my, oh, let’s go with “heart,” so I’m pretty attached to it and I can’t say I’m super-excited about a do-over. (Via Vulture.)
* Delightful Tidbit of the Day: Here’s a great catch by Tim O’Neil about the genesis of the Talking Heads song “The Overload” from the Brian Eno-produced Remain in Light:
During the recording of Remain in Light, the Talking Heads came across a magazine review of a then-obscure late 70s British punk group and were utterly fascinated by the description of the music. They decided to record a song that represented what they thought the band might sound like.
… David’s contributions to this song were said to be influenced by things he had read about a British group called Joy Division. He had never actually heard their albums, but he had read about them. …*
That’s just wonderful. And I can hear it, too! (Best of all, Joy Division was originally named Warsaw, after the Eno/Bowie collaboration “Warszawa” from Low, and thus the circle is completed. Sadly, though, this makes me dream of an Eno/Joy Division collaboration that was never to be. Sigh.)
* Are Gitmo guards getting in their last licks? If so, what are the Obama administration and Gates defense department doing to stop it?
* Finally, in tribute to NeilAlien the First Comicsblogger’s astonishing NINTH blogiversary (congratulations!!!!), Tom Spurgeon runs down the reasons They should make a Dr. Strange movie. Johnny Depp, right?
George Clooney.
Just sayin’.
My guess is he’s referring to Leo DiCaprio, given the reference to age and the early years of wild living, etc. The fact that Leo has never done a movie like this would make him, like Downey, a more interesting choice than, say, Capt. Jack Sparrow (as much as I like Depp).
For me, Simple Minds’ “Premonition” is the missing link (in terms of content, not causality) between Joy Division and Talking Heads. And a Bryan Ferry-wannabe on vocals. Hearing that song convinced me that they all really did fit into an umbrella movement called “post-punk.” It’s not just a Pitchfork construct; there really is common ground there.
Also, I love the part right after the line you quote: “When [Byrne] finally heard Joy Division, he was disappointed. They sounded closer to a conventional rock group than he’d thought.”