Buying movies is almost a dangerous obession with me.  I love it, and probably have spent more money on movies in my lifetime than any sane person.  At least I’m not spending money on heroine.

New Movie Tuesday is my favorite day of the week.  Here are this week’s releases as well as my recommendations.

Being the film snob I am, I will recommend the Blu Ray versions of these flicks if available.

Must Buy:

Up

List Price: $45.99 Amazon Price: $19.99 Average customer review:

One of the best animated movies this year finally comes out on Blu-Ray.  Disney/Pixar’s Up is a gem of a movie that is a triumph for both kids and adults.  The only kids movie I know of that has an old man as it’s main character, Up comes highly recommended!

Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut

List Price: $59.99 Amazon Price: $30.99 2 new or used available from $30.99 Average customer review:

List Price: $39.95 Amazon Price: $25.99   4 new or used available from $25.99 Average customer review:

Monsters, Inc. (4-Disc Edition) [Blu-ray] $22.99 My favorite Pixar movie in glorious HD!	Heat [Blu-ray] $16.49 Can’t wait to watch the Bank Robbery Scene w/ Master Audio. Geek-gasm.	Near Dark [Blu-ray] $12.99 One of THE best Vampire flicks of all time finally in HD.

 New to Blu-Ray 

The Negotiator [Blu-ray] $17.49 Recommended to rent if you haven’t seen it. Samuel L. Jackson & Kevin Spacey give solid performances.	Red Heat [Blu-ray] $12.99 Not sure how this will look in HD. Fun flick, though.	Logan’s Run [Blu-ray] $17.99 Don’t believe the cover art. Hokey 70s Sci-Fi. HD transfer may do more bad than good.
Godzilla [Blu-ray] $16.99 Excuse me, I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Tales of the Black Freighter

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Directed By: Mike Smith

Starring: Gerard Butler

Plot Synopsis:

A mariner survives an attack from the dreaded pirates of the Black Freighter, but his struggle to return home to warn it has a horrific cost. (IMDB)

Review:

Kudos to Zach Snyder and Warner Brothers for releasing this psuedo-special feature to Watchmen.  The fact that tons of care was put into this release is staggaring.  Here we have 3 different features.  Tales of the Black Freighter (25 minutes), Under the Hood (30 minutes), and Story within a Story: The Books of Watchmen (25 minutes).

First up, Tales of the Black Freighter is a stunningly animated short film.  In the Watchmen graphic novel, a character is seen reading a comic book called Tales of the Black Freighter.  We also get to read along with the character at certain points.  This is an interesting concept in the comic, and will be in the extended cut of Zach Snyder’s Watchmen adaptation on Blu-ray/DVD.

Here we have it as a stand-alone and as a companion piece to Watchmen, it’s pretty amazing. Gerard Butler voices the mariner perfectly and it’s an interesting study on someone attempting to do the right thing while, in fact, bringing destruction on those they love.  This is an interesting parallel to the main theme of Watchmen, so it will be interesting to see this in the context of the extended cut.

Next up we have 2 documentaries.  Under the Hood is a fictional documentary that parallels the book of the same name in the graphic novel and film.  It gives interesting back story to the original Minutemen and is played out in interview form with the original Night Owl, Hollis Mason.  Other character interviews appear as well.  This is a well done companion to the film Watchmen as well.  We’re brought in even further to this world and it showcases Zach Snyder‘s incredible attention to detail of this world.

The final documentary is a “making of” for the two features.  It does a great job of  tying everything together and helps us understand why these projects were so important for people to immerse themselves in the world of Watchmen.

This MAY be a part of a super boxed set in the future, with Tales of the Black Freighter confirmed to be spliced into an extended cut of Watchmen on Blu-ray.  But, for now, it’s good to have these if you were a fan of the film.  At only an 90 minutes, you may not like the price.  Purchase it as cheaply as possible or rent it if you’re unsure.

Tales of the Black Freighter: Rated R for violent and grisly images.

Under the Hood: Rated PG for thematic material.

Gizmodo had a Photoshop contest called Ruin the Watchmen Movie by Inserting Stuff That Wasn’t in the Comic Book. Which was a genius contest and my hats off to them.

Well, the results are in.  Check out 104 Ways to Hilariously Ruin the Watchmen Movie over at Gizmodo.  Hilarious stuff.

See my favorite 3 after the jump, view the top 6 and ALL 104 pictures HERE.

[Source: Gizmodo]

“The average fan won’t likely admit it, but they wanted more Fantastic Four and less of a thinker’s film. They wanted something they knew.”

[A Lesson Learned: Fans Want Familiarity by Adam Sweeney, Film School Rejects]

Adam Sweeney of the site Film School Rejects has a great opinion piece on why Watchmen wasn’t widely embraced by mainstream audiences.  While people like me who are familiar with the source material were satisfied with the film, many people saw the marketing as just another superhero movie.  Therefore many people were let down by Watchmen based on their expectations.  Watchmen is a thinking person’s Superhero Movie and I’m not suprised by the mainstream audience reactions.

Head over to Film School Rejects to read the article.

Watchmen screenwriter David Hayter urges fans to head out this weekend to re-visit Watchmen.

“If the film made you think. Or argue with your friends. If it inspired a debate about the nature of man, or vigilante justice, or the horror of Nixon abolishing term limits. If you laughed at Bowie hanging with Adrian at Studio 54, or the Silhouette kissing that nurse. Please go see the movie again next weekend. You have to understand, everyone is watching to see how the film will do in its second week.

If you care about movies that have a brain, or balls, (and this film’s got both, literally), or true adaptations — And if you’re thinking of seeing it again anyway, please go back this weekend, Friday or Saturday night. Demonstrate the power of the fans, because it’ll help let the people who pay for these movies know what we’d like to see. Because if it drops off the radar after the first weekend, they will never allow a film like this to be made again.”

I’ve never heard of someone attached to a film urging fans to re-visit a film before.  But, I do agree.  If you want movies like this mass produced, studios only look at numbers.  I’m going to be re-visiting the movie at some point.  Hopefully if they bring the Director’s cut to a screen near me.

Read the full letter at HardcoreNerdity.

[Source:  Slashfilm, HardcoreNerdity]

“So why is it that fully aged and allegedly mature grown-ups are so dang uncomfortable with the sight of a penis? I never hear anyone chuckling when a vagina makes its way on to the silver screen.”

[Moviegoers and Their Pavlovian Response to Penis, by Scott Weinberg, Cinematical]

Scott Weinberg raises an interesting question in one of his most recent articles.  This topic is spurred by the character Dr. Manhattan in the movie  Watchmen.  In the story, Dr. Manhattan is a god-like character who has “next to no need whatsoever for human-style clothing, shame, or insecurity” therefore appears totally nude throughout the film.  Click the above link to jump into the discussion!

Watchmen

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Directed By: Zack Snyder

Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Matthew Goode

Plot Synopsis:

A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the “Doomsday Clock” – which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union – is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed-up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes.

As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion – a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers – Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity…but who is watching the watchmen? (Trailer Addict)

Review:

With the sort of reputation and scope of Alan Moore‘s epic graphic novel, Watchmen, one can imagine the strong reaction and expectation fans have given Zack Snyder‘s film adaptation.  In fact, there was such hype that I believe there was no way Zack Snyder could deliver on everyone’s expectations with the film version of Watchmen.  Just look at the reviews.  Main criticisms included: confusing plot, strange song selection for key scenes, superhero sex and a blue penis.  Granted, this is a complex plot.  But song choice, sex and a blue penis are not what I was focused on.  Critics are a strange breed.

I am not a critic.  Nor am I a uber-geek when it comes to the graphic novel.  I’ve read it and enjoyed it immensly.  But, it’s not the end-all-be-all graphic novel for me.  So I was able to go into this movie and appreciate it as a seperate form of entertainment.  A beautiful, engaging, exciting and complex film that turns the superhero movie on it’s head.  This is not The Dark Knight nor Spiderman.  Watchmen is a truly unique vision that asks important questions and tries our patience at times, however this is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time.

Zack Snyder had a unique balancing act to perform when taking on this movie.  He had to balance cinematic vision with the expectations and the weight that comes along with a project like this.  Aiming to please the fans, non-fans and a cynical author.  However, you can’t please them all.  And that’s where I feel Zack Snyder has succeeded.  Watchmen is a movie that can stand on it’s own, but is definitely more enjoyable as a whole for someone who has read the graphic novel.

The performances are really strong.  A lot of critics were brutal when it came to the acting.  Maybe I’m not as jaded or educated as these critics, but I thought every actor brought what was needed to the table.  There were a few stand outs, though.

Jackie Earle Haley was perfect as Rorschach.  His performance was so pitch perfect, he is easily the most memorable character of the movie.  Acting through a mask for 90% of the movie, you totally get the angst and determination of the character.  Pretty astounding when you think that Jackie Earle Haley had to convey all his emotion through body language.

Other notable performances were Patrick Wilson as Night Owl II, Billy Crudup as the god-like Dr. Manhatten and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian.  These performances went above any expectation I had.  Other performances in the movie were good as well, just not as memorable as these stand outs.  I think certain characters suffered as the results of cuts that had to be made.  Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II and Matthew Goode as Ozymandias were good, but I had the feeling there were pieces to their characters that were missing.  We’ll have to see how the Director’s Cut plays out.

Overall, Watchmen is the first great movie of 2009.  It’s not a movie that’s made for mass consumption.  Those expecting The Dark Knight or Spiderman will probably be disappointed.  There are a lot of ideas and layers to this movie that will take multiple viewings to fully understand.  If you want to get the most out of Watchmen, read the graphic novel first and watch the film as a “companion piece.” There are things that had to be changed or left out to bring this to the screen, but all that is a non issue for me.

Zack Snyder has brought us a movie that will only get better with time, a visually stunning and memorable film that honors the graphic novel.  Truly one of the best adaptations from book to film I’ve ever seen.  Highly recommended.

Rated R for strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language.

What if Watchmen was never made into a feature length film, but instead was brought to Saturday Mornings? I think this gives us a pretty good idea!

Source: Slashfilm

2009 is shaping up to be a pretty kick ass year for movies. Here are a few flicks I’m looking forward to! This is the first in a series of posts.

Watchmen

A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the “Doomsday Clock” – which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union – is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed-up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion – a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers – Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity…but who is watching the watchmen?

Star Trek

From director J.J. Abrams (“Mission: Impossible III,” “Lost” and “Alias”) and screenwriters Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (“TRANSFORMERS,” “MI: III”) comes a new vision of the greatest space adventure of all time, “Star Trek,” featuring a young, new crew venturing boldly where no man has gone before.

Explores the early Starfleet careers of future Enterprise officers Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Amanda Grayson (Winona Ryder), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), McCoy (Karl Urban), Sulu (John Cho), and Chekhov (Anton Yelchin). A Romulan, Nero (Eric Bana), and a much older Spock (Leonard Nimoy) are influences, as well as Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood), the first captain of the USS Enterprise.

Terminator: Salvation

In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.

I Love You, Man

At first I thought this movie would be lame. But…with Paul Rudd you can’t go wrong.

After getting engaged, Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) realizes he’s short on guy friends. In order to correct the issue, Peter begins to go on man-dates.