Issue 152

Here's something I wrote during my Door County vacation.

News/Film Review: Watching the Watchmen Director's Cut.

Every so often, a work appears so great that it can only be described as perfect. Such works include Mozart's Don Giovanni, Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov, and Orson Welles' Citizen Kane. One work which comes close is Alan Moore's graphic novel Watchmen. When I reviewed the movie, I loved it, but had to concede that it really removed too many things. Curiously, a lot of the little things I liked in the original were removed, foremost of which was the scene wherein Rorschach describes his connection between the Kitty Genovese case and his “face,” a scene which, while explaining why Kovacs turned to vigilantism, also explains how the blotch on his mask can move. I think it would be very little of an overstatement to say that if that scene were included, I would readily call it my favorite film of all time. Of course, most of those little things I liked that were excluded weren't reinstated in the director's cut, probably for the better. After all, why have a scene where Dr. Manhattan sends all of the rioters during the police strike to their homes when the other scene during the police strike gives much more insight to the Comedian's character and the other scene in which he sends everybody around him home is a major plot point? Well, anyway, as in the original, Malin Ackerman underacts, and Billy Crudup overacts. So what's expanded upon in this cut? Two changes that were particularly welcome were that Rorschach's interviews with Malcolm Long were expanded upon (this was one of my biggest problems with the theatrical cut. I estimated that the entire events of issue 6 were condensed into 3 ½ minutes), and the biggest advertised change is the inclusion of the subplot about the death of Hollis Mason. In the theatrical cut, he appears as Dreiberg's mentor, and disappears halfway into the movie without a trace, but however, in this cut, we actually see his death scene. All I can say is that the actual scene of his death, well, reminds me a lot of Beowulf's last battle with the dragon [not Grendel, not Grendel's mother, the dragon in the last part], although, of course, he is not victorious in the end. And now there's another edition of the film in the works. Around December, there will be a five-disc edition of the film with Tales of the Black Freighter reinstated into the film [in the director's cut, all that exists of the story is a page of the comic being read by some guy before the gang meets up to kill Hollis], bringing the running time to 3 ½ hours. Although I'm unsure as to whether there will be much else added, except maybe the long-advertised “two Bernies scene”, but at least one new special feature is planned that wasn't in the Director's Cut DVD; Commentary with Zack Snyder and Dave Gibbons. These are the major reasons for getting this edition of the DVD, but there is one big reason against it: two of the five discs are the Watchmen Motion Comics that I bought months ago. Maybe if there was a 3-Disc edition with the full cut and all the special features without the Motion Comic, I'd buy it. Point is: I highly recommend the Director's Cut of Watchmen.

Band Name of the Day: None this Week.

Film Idea of the Day: I read The Yosemite Murders, and after reading it, it seems that, of all of the serial killers I've read about, Cary Stayner's story is probably the one which seems to be the most doable in film form. Of course, perhaps the way I'd do it would probably be a more art-house way than the made-for-tv film story accorded to his brother Steven. Perhaps I may not even use real names.

Quote of the Day: “Schoolchildren are merciless people: separately they're god's angels, but together, especially in school, they're quite often merciless.”

____________________Fyodor Dostoevsky.