Jason KingWatchmen ($14.75) plus interviews with Malin Ackerman and Jeffrey Dean Morgan
March 8th 2009 00:00
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Watchmen ($14.75) The Review and The Interviews
REPUBLISHED AS THE WAIT IS OVER - FILM IS RELASING TODAY - 5TH MARCH! YAY
What an amazing journey this film has been for us. Not only did we have the excitement of watching one of the most anticipated films of all time, that could create riots from millions of fans if they are dissatisfied, but this film is being made from the biggest selling graphic novel (comic) of all time that is the only graphic novel to be in Time's Top 100 Books of All Time - this is seriously one of the all time greats. But to put icing on the cake Salty Popcorn was invited to interview Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Comedian) and the ravishing Malin Ackerman (Silk Spectre II). What a treat!!!
I will start with the interview and both our thoughts on the film will follow.
After waiting in an elegant suite at the Intercontinental and after breaking nerves David and I finally got to meet the stunning Malin Ackerman (27 Dresses and Silk Spectre II) and handsomely rugged Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Supernatural, Grey’s Anatomy and The Comedian). We had been told they were doing interviews from about 8 in the morning non stop and had flown into the country the day before. We caught a few glances of Zack Snyder (director) walking about doing interviews but I got to speak to him last time interviews were organised so did not get another chance. We were warned that Malin was handling things a bit better and Jeffrey was getting a bit tired.
It could not have been any better; speaking to them jet lagged was like we had all been out for a few drinks and they were relaxed and said probably too much than they should have
. Malin asked if she said anything stupid or silly could we maybe edit it out. Upon listening back the majority of the interview is probably something I should have edited out. But it was fun and everything was said in jest. This was my second interview with someone famous (Dave’s first) and I have never laughed so hard, they relaxed us and in only ten minutes I thought I was chatting with friends.
Malin is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. Standing at about 6ft wearing comfortable jeans and a white shirt she was stylish, relaxed and without pretension. She looks so much better in real life – if only Silk Spectre had blonde hair they could have utilised her soft features as opposed to the harsh features of the character. Jeffrey Dean Morgan has that Alaskan/ Canadian filming look, like he is straight off the set of Supernatural, three day growth that suits him better than most, dark skin and jeans and suede jacket. He looks a lot younger than he does on film and his junior resemblance to Javier Bardem is uncanny. I can see why he was the instant heartthrob on Grey’s Anatomy, he is/ was the replacement for sexy George Clooney on television.
Reclining in chairs with a backdrop of Sydney behind them I asked if I should just fire into it.
Me: What attracted you guys to want to be a part of The Watchmen?
JDM: Her outfit (this is where the laughter began and pretty much set the tone for a lot of the interview)
Malin: Ummm, I get to do two men in this film (laughs from all of us). Really, I think that anyone who reads the graphic novel would want to be a part of it. I mean, it’s a masterpiece; we get to be a part of film history
JDM: I hadn’t even read the novel and just knew Zack was directing it, and you combine that with The Watchmen and you’re screwed if you want to be a part of it
Malin: And you’re fighting tooth and nail to be in it
David: The graphic novel has this extremely high profile, how did you guys deal with that pressure?
Malin: We just ignored it
JDM: Liquor…….a lot of it
Malin: Meth amphetamines (there was a lot of laughter at this stage)
Me: So is that one of the things you want edited out? (more laughter)
JDM & Malin: Yeah – it’s jet lag talking
Malin: No you zone everything out when you’re filming, you get right into it. We feel more pressure now, going to Comicom etc. It’s likely so, it’s a great novel and it’s hard when it is such a great novel
JDM: They all go a little bit crazy, let’s be honest; it’s a rare and special breed. Fans of this are so incredibly smart and there is no side stepping questions, you can’t run and hide behind anyone for this film for any of us, especially Zack. The pressure on him has got to be fucked up because it seems like a lot on us but we aren’t Zack Snyder. I can blame him – I can say something like “Man I wasn’t going to do it that way…but you know Zack” (more laughter) “I had a different idea that was right but Zack…” (more laughter)
Me: This leads us to the next question, how was it working with Zack?
Malin: Ugh, amazing. I don’t think we could have had a better person for this film. His energy is incredible. In 6 months he was the first one there, the last person to leave……
JDM: Nearly as much as I was
Malin: Yeah a lot of makeup on this guy; don’t look at him actually, he needs make up. Not but it was (lots of laughter as JDM throws the bird to Malin) ….Ummm he was phenomenal, he was so inspiring, he had books and books of illustrations that he made up, he had drawn out every scene that he saw visually and then he would do sound effects. He would go like “pyeow” and then he would go like this (she is moving arms everywhere trying to imitate Zack). He was an excited kid with a new toy, he really got into it. He really got us all going, and you know, in the eighteenth hour of the day and you’re freezing and you’re tired it’s the sixth month and the sixth day of the week and he’s going and we’re like ok we’re still with you, you have to have it and Zack did it for us.
Malin to JDM: Are you with us? (He is staring at a spot on the carpet in a swirl shape)
JDM: You kind of lost me and the carpet is making weird shapes (remember massively jet lagged)… Yeah what she said (more laughter). No she’s right, no-one else could have done this movie. I know there has been a lot of speculation that he was the wrong guy for the job but in seeing this movie no-one else could have done this job. It’s as simple as that no-one else could have pulled this off. The way he kind of united all of us and made this as much our passion as his, ‘cause he started this, he hired all of us from him down to craft service guy. Everyone cared as much about this movie than any other film I have ever been on and that reflects when you see it on the screen. And that’s due to him. I mean, visually it’s just stunning – it’s art.
Malin: He’s a visionary.
JDM: Yeah – he’s a cool dude man.
Malin: Yeah, I loved him, if only he wasn’t married and well, if I wasn’t married – another edit!
David: Ok guys, could you go through a typical day on the set for us?
Malin to JDM: Why don’t you start with your typical day on set?
JDM: In at about 2 in the morning, to start the make up, then everyone shows up about nine… (Malin: Four)…. Hungover … still drinking (lots of laughter here) Umm you know it was a lot of… I aged from about 20 to 69. 20 was the really hard part, I couldn’t shave close enough for that. Umm, there was a lot of that and they really only used one camera (for the entire film) and that was Zacks deal, he didn’t want to shoot on multiple cameras. It probably would have saved us a lot of time but he didn’t want to shoot it that way. And Larry (Larry Fong DOP on this, 300 and episodes of Lost), our DP really wanted to light every shot. It was like the comic book and shooting each frame, probably could have shaved 2 to 3 months off but it paid off. That’s how much care these guys have for it. There’s a lot of time getting ready and then sitting around but then when it’s time to rock and roll we did man. And they were long days, we were filming in Vancouver in the middle of winter and it was cold (Malin: freezing cold). We had 43 days of rain or some shit like that.
Malin: Let me give you a little bit of information about latex. Firslty, it’s not comfortable, it looks great (JDM: It looks GREAT). Whatever temperature it is it magnifies this through the latex (at this stage JDM picks up a cushion from the couch and places it over his crotch and Dave asks if he is covering anything up to which the whole room erupts in laughter – we never did get the answer – Malin just calls him a dirtbag). Anyway it was so so cold and we are standing outside and its night time and it’s raining and it’s freezing and these guys are boiling because they are in foam costumes (JDM: Yeah we were sweating) and I would rather be standing there naked in the cold air. (JDM: That too would have been ok – no one would have said anything). I will keep that in mind for next time. But yeah they were long days but luckily we all came together to get through it and we all had a lot of support for each other. We are all now really good friends and we all got along which is so necessary for a film like this.
JDM: I agree honey
Me: Last one guys, what would you like to say the billion or so fans of The Watchmen for this film?
JDM: (very jokingly and we all pissed ourselves after he said it) Fuck off.
Malin: NO – we hope you like it. You know what; I think you have got to see it. Don’t Ixnay on going to see it. What did I just say?
JDM: You starting speaking pig Latin
Malin: Just go and see it and I personally think you will be pleasantly surprised.
JDM: Get off your butt and go and see it. You will love it. It’s awesome.
At this stage the interview was over and we got up for farewells. JDM is a double hand shaker and very firm and you could tell he had fun and it was nice chatting, they weren’t thinking “I wish this fucking thing was over”. And Malin was so nice I just wanted to hug her goodbye. They were so lovely. The first thing I said to Rob from Network PR was that I wished we could go out and have a few drinks with them as they were so much fun.
On behalf of Dave and myself for Salty Popcorn I would very much like to thank JDM and Malin, Rob and Leslie from Network PR and the wonderful people at Paramount for giving us the pleasure of the interview.
Note to Rove McManus: You totally screwed up your interview buddy, you had them on national TV for a one on one on the most anticipated film of the year and you sit them in a group with your regulars. I normally love Nat Bassingthwaite, but seriously was she on drugs? She needed a muzzle to stop stealing their answers and screen time. We watch you too many times each week Nat, these guys we get one opportunity and you steal every second of camera you can. Sheesh – I was embarrassed for them – they looked uncomfortable on the TV show and you is a pro Rove – Dave and I are amateurs and I am pretty confident they had way more fun with us.
The Review:
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 -- moves closer to midnight.
When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the outlawed 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 disbanded 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? --© Warner Bros
JASON'S THOUGHTS:
Worth $13-
This would have to be one of the most visual films ever made - Zack truly is a visionary, I am nearly speachless at the visuals. I have also not read the book, unlike Dave, and was determinded not to until I saw the film. I really wanted to experience this as a film watcher and I was not disappointed. Zack Snyder is an artist beyond his years and has that Leonardo DaVinci skill to his film art.
This film is so complex and long - it is close to 3hrs in length and I am in two minds as to how it will fare. From what I have read if they shot frame for frame it should have been 12hrs long so will serious fans be upset that there is so much missing and will the general public, who have not read the book, find it too complex and at times hard to follow. I know the film will go down in history as one of the biggest cult films of all time, but will it make lots of money? Really, who cares as long as you enjoy it (oh yeah, the studios). It is quite complex with flashbacks, back stories and in depth characters that I really want to see this a few more times to absorb everything and so understand it better. I do think people with limited attention spans and small minds will just say "it's shit" because they won't have the intelligence to grasp it all. But film schools and universities will add this to curriculum as a film to study for years to come.
The acting is great, with no massive big names, even though alot of them wanted in (see Trivia section below) - but as Zack said during interivews a couple of months ago "I could have a big name in the film or use the money to give you a bigger, better scene" - I don't think any of these actors are out of their league and it's quite possible this film could make many of them household names. Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach is by far the strongest actor in the film.
The attention to detail is flawless and as Zack only used one camera on the film and shot each of the filmed frames from the graphic novel as a storyboard so the scenes that are shot should have fans creaming themselves with joy and delight.
My one gripe I have about this story that I hope to rectify by reading the graphic novel is the fact that the superheroes are not all good. To me this doesn't make sense. I mean, one of the characters is responsible for the Kennedy assassination and shoots a pregnant woman in the head while another just watches. I think and hope the novel deals more with the complexities of heroes that the viewer/ reader may find difficult to actually like. Because for me, while watching, it was a conundrum - how can superheroes be bad? It could do my head in, seriously!
This is a must see film and the visuals are beyond things you have ever seen before. Worth $13-
DAVID'S THOUGHTS:
Worth $16.50
Review from the angle of having read the graphic novel. No spoilers though.
It’s here everyone.
Watchmen.
Nearly twenty years in the making. Through a host of directors, casts and whatever you could name, even studios... There was a lengthy battle between Fox and Warner over rights to the novel which threatened the release of the picture on the date slated as well as the director Zack Snyder’s final vision of the film…it ending with a settlement and the film is coming as intended.
And how unfortunate it would have been if otherwise.
Zack Snyder has done it folks. Let’s get that out of the way at the start. The film is amazing, just an experience, and if you are a fan of the graphic novel you owe yourself to see this, and if you have never heard of Watchmen this film will amaze you…at least I would hope so, but more on that in a bit.
I had not read the graphic novel until two years ago. I had heard about the film because being the avid filmgoer I am followed Zack Snyder’s career very closely having loved the Dawn of the Dead remake he directed. When he was announced on this thing called the Watchmen I did a little bit of research, and before I knew it had people yelling at me:
“How can you not have read it?”
“You got to read it NOW!”
“It’s the greatest comic book…no wait…story ever!”
And then one that helped me out a bit
“I’ll lend it to you”
I read it in a single sitting and just fell in love with it, when I closed it I read it again. Since this is the fan angle on Salty Popcorn you may know the feeling. It is epic. Incredibly dense and almost overwhelming in it’s brilliance.
Most importantly Alan Moore wrote the thing with the intention of showcasing the comic book medium, highlighting what a comic book could do that a film/ novel could not; hence why he has been so publicly vocal about the film (along with his intense hatred of Hollywood) even going as far as saying he would “spit venom on the film”. I won’t bother commenting further on this besides that if he eventually sees the film he may change his tune. Anyway…
When discussing the making of the film comments on a different site were announced:
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“It’s impossible”
“I’d only see it realistically done as a mini series or a trilogy”
“I am going to boycott the film”
And so on and on, you get the idea, even I myself doubted the idea of the film until I saw the second trailer, but I was always going to go and see it and give it a shot. When that second trailer came out, the buzz went berserk…the fan base went off, with the majority of fans seemingly willing to see the film, and many actually excited.
Well there is not much to say to these people besides: Zack Snyder has done it. You will not be disappointed. It is a film experience to remember because of him.
I will not say much about the actual adaptation but it remains so incredibly close to the source material, in many parts it is identical that it is almost as if you are reading the book. Sure he condenses and changes things here and there, mostly cosmetic ala some costumes and fight scenes added (one thing major is changed drastically, but only the means not the outcome). However all the changes he implements are to make it a better movie than a comic book…and if you have read the book, you will surely have to agree. Ultimately what matters are; that this is The Watchmen. In all it’s glory! Snyder misses nothing from the novel in terms of themes and ideas and characterization. He nails it. And the look of the film is just a thing of pure beauty.
It smashes onto the screen in pure bright assaulting yellow; which gave me chills… with an excellent play on the Warner and D.C comic’s logos, then wham! You are into that world…a world, which Zack Snyder has created so incredibly, so faith fully, that it is just the book coming alive. The cinematography is just unreal. It’s so good that an academy award is just not enough.
The condensing of the novel is necessary to note for the fans of the Graphic Novel. The autobiographical novel within a novel under the hood in particular, amongst the other but less dense after chapter inserts that develop characters are dealt with within the film, through a whole slew of amazing and highly entertaining ways; that none are worth spoiling here.
Under the hood has also been made into a documentary for the DVD/ extended addition. The Tales Of The Black Freighter: the graphic novel within the graphic novel has been made as a short film, which will be edited back into the film for the extended addition. It was taken out for length reasons at the script stage, but you got to give Snyder credit for making it anyway knowing it won’t be in the film but in the extended cut. It’s not really missed actually, and as the story only really serves to add a little more foundation, like the inserts, it can be done without as long as Snyder deals with it in other areas and ways, which I assure you he has done.
It’s also worth noting that Snyder has not tamed the book at all. It is all there in its gory and sexy adult ways, and because it’s real and not just a drawing it is possible that it has even more of a high impact.
Again because it’s worth saying: It’s a perfect adaptation.
Now I am just going to praise it like hell:
The acting is spot on. The great cast captures the characters perfectly. Jackie Earl Haley’s performance as Rorschach is just mind blazingly good. It’s on a Heath Ledger/ Joker level I think. Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan is also excellent. I mention these two characters/ actors firstly because as depicted in the comic they are the two most complex, and the fact that they remain this way in the film is testament to them and Snyder for helping them. Everyone else is brilliant, it’s a flawless cast basically…and as I don’t want to dwell on it much, the CGI is incredible, and is only used to tell the story where practical effects couldn’t be used. Dr. Manhattan is just astonishing in how real he seems...himself amongst other effects such as the glass castle and Mars itself.
The most impressive of all is the set design. The film is just panel after panel of the book beautifully recreated. And for the most part for real. Entire sets. Huge ships. A whole ton of stuff built, much, much more than you would expect in such an epic story. Just spot on…but for the sake of this review heading towards some sort of ending I’ll just leave you with:
It’s conceptually and technically flawless.
It’s just impossible to think fans will be disappointed. The only real worry is the reaction by the people who have not read the book. Will it overwhelm them with its complexity because they are not familiar with the story and its concepts already?
I’ll never know.
All I can say is this:
If you are a fan of the graphic novel you will be blown away. For us it’s not really a film. It’s an experience. Worth the full price of $16.50.
Trivia thanks to IMDB:
1) During early development in the early 1990s, mainly focused around the screenplay by Sam Hamm, early casting rumors included Robin Williams as Rorschach, Jamie Lee Curtis as Silk Spectre, Gary Busey as the Comedian, and both Richard Gere and Kevin Costner considered for the role of NiteOwl. The project underwent numerous rewrites under director Terry Gilliam and his collaborator Charles McKeown, but got eventually shelved by Warner Bros.
2) Darren Aronofsky was going to direct the film but dropped out after scheduling conflicts with The Fountain (2006).
3) In 2004, Paul Greengrass was attached as a director, a script was written and conceptual work had begun when Paramount suddenly decided to put the movie on hold for the time being. A short time after that Greengrass left the project to work on the movie United 93 (2006) instead. After being put into turnaround, the rights were reacquired by Warners in 2006.
4) The first official image from director Zack Snyder - a test shot of Rorshach holding The Comedian's button - was actually hidden in a trailer for Snyder's previous film, 300 (2006). It features that film's associate producer, Wesley Coller, wearing a makeshift mask in front of a composite New York backdrop, and was created as an experiment by Snyder to establish the mood and look of his proposed Watchmen project. Snyder's wife, Deborah Snyder, bet him $100 that no one would discover it, while he was convinced that someone would find it almost immediately. He won.
5) Doug Hutchison had expressed interest in playing the role of Rorschach. An online campaign attracted a great deal of support for this casting choice and approaches were made to the studio by his agents in this regard, resulting in the casting director giving the actor an audition, which was put on tape for director Zack Snyder's consideration.
6) Alan Moore, writer of the original comic book was asked to write a script back in the late 1980s, but declined. The studio then enlisted in the aid of Sam Hamm.
7) Producers Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin tried hard to get Ron Perlman green-lighted to play The Comedian.
8) Sam Hamm wrote an unused screenplay.
9) Terry Gilliam considered directing this film as early as 1989, but after several unsatisfactory drafts of the screenplay, decided the material unfilmable as a feature production. Gilliam had said he would consider directing it as a five hour miniseries at least.
10) Both Tom Cruise and Jude Law expressed interest in the role of Ozymandias.
11) Simon Pegg met with the producers to discuss the role of Rorschach when Paul Greengrass was attached to direct at Paramount, but nothing was agreed for certain before that project went into turnaround.
12) Zack Snyder based his storyboards for the film on the panels of the actual graphic novel. He has stated that in order to be true to the source when adapting a graphic novel to the screen, the original visual art should be respected as much as the written portion.
13) Zack Snyder personally asked Dave Gibbons, the artist who drew the original graphic novel, to design the first teaser poster for the film. Gibbons enthusiastically agreed and designed the poster to have subtle visual clues hinting at the film's plot.
14) Though author Alan Moore preemptively disowned all filmed adaptations of his work, Zack Snyder has said that his ultimate hope is that someday Moore will actually see the film and feel that it is a decent representation of the original graphic novel.
15) When asked in an interview with ReelzChannel.com about original 'Watchmen' writer Alan Moore's dismissal of his movie, Snyder was quoted as saying "Worst case scenario - Alan puts the movie on his DVD player on a cold Sunday in London and watches and says, 'Yeah, that doesn't suck too bad.'" When this was brought up with Moore himself in a later interview in the British Tripwire comics fanzine, the writer commented "That's the worst case scenario? I think he's underestimated what the worst case scenario would be... that's never going to happen in my DVD player in 'London' [Moore very famously lives in Northampton]. I'm never going to watch this fucking thing."
16) The rights to produce this movie were acquired in a deal that originally also included adaptation rights to V for Vendetta (2005), also authored by Alan Moore. "Vendetta"-producer Joel Silver was also going to produce this one when Terry Gilliam was still attached as a director.
17) Warner Bros. initially considered Darren Aronofsky to direct. Aronofsky did express interest in the project, but found the original story dated. Specifically, the director planned to update the story to the contemporary era and replace the Vietnam War references with those of Iraq and terrorism. Uncomfortable with the direction Aronofsky wanted to take, Warner Bros. hired Zack Snyder who had just directed a highly-faithful adaptation of 300 (2006) to great acclaim.
18) At one point John Cusack was rumored to play Nite Owl/Dan Drieberg and Sigourney Weaver was rumored to play the original Silk Spectre/Sally Jupiter.
19) When Paul Greengrass was set to direct, he planned to cast Hilary Swank as Silk Spectre and Joaquin Phoenix as Nite Owl. When Greengrass left the project, Swank and Phoenix did as well.
20) Nathan Fillion was considered for the roles of The Comedian and Nite Owl.
21) Jessica Biel was considered for a role, but passed.
22) The choral and organ music used in the first trailers is the cue "The Grid" from Godfrey Reggio's film Koyaanisqatsi (1982), composed by Philip Glass.
23) Carla Gugino and Malin Akerman play mother and daughter in this film. They have also played love interests of Ben Stiller. Gugino played Rebecca Hutman in Night at the Museum (2006) and Akerman played Lila in The Heartbreak Kid (2007).
24) Carla Gugino plays Sally Jupiter, mother of Laurie Juspeczyk, played by Malin Akerman. In real life, Gugino is only seven years older than Akerman.
25) Zack Snyder wanted to cast his 300 (2006) star Gerard Butler in this film and even promised him a role. When all the roles were cast and Butler didn't have one, Snyder cast him in Tales of the Black Freighter (2009) (V), which is based on the comic-within-a-comic from the Watchmen graphic novel and will be released on DVD around the time Watchmen will be released in theaters.
26) The trailer features the song "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" by Smashing Pumpkins, which was originally a B-Side for the single "The End is the Beginning is the End", the theme from Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin (1997).
27) Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley both starred in Little Children (2006).
28) Simon Pegg turned down the role of Rorschach. When asked why he said, "I didn't want to hear people saying 'Simon Pegg IS Rorschach'."
Watchmen Trailer C (Paramount Pictures Australia) - The funniest bloopers are right here
To get our final score I have averaged mine and Dave's. Our final thoughts would be to "get off your ass and watch it, it is a visionary masterpiece of film". Worth $14.75
REPUBLISHED AS THE WAIT IS OVER - FILM IS RELASING TODAY - 5TH MARCH! YAY
What an amazing journey this film has been for us. Not only did we have the excitement of watching one of the most anticipated films of all time, that could create riots from millions of fans if they are dissatisfied, but this film is being made from the biggest selling graphic novel (comic) of all time that is the only graphic novel to be in Time's Top 100 Books of All Time - this is seriously one of the all time greats. But to put icing on the cake Salty Popcorn was invited to interview Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Comedian) and the ravishing Malin Ackerman (Silk Spectre II). What a treat!!!
I will start with the interview and both our thoughts on the film will follow.
After waiting in an elegant suite at the Intercontinental and after breaking nerves David and I finally got to meet the stunning Malin Ackerman (27 Dresses and Silk Spectre II) and handsomely rugged Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Supernatural, Grey’s Anatomy and The Comedian). We had been told they were doing interviews from about 8 in the morning non stop and had flown into the country the day before. We caught a few glances of Zack Snyder (director) walking about doing interviews but I got to speak to him last time interviews were organised so did not get another chance. We were warned that Malin was handling things a bit better and Jeffrey was getting a bit tired.
It could not have been any better; speaking to them jet lagged was like we had all been out for a few drinks and they were relaxed and said probably too much than they should have
. Malin asked if she said anything stupid or silly could we maybe edit it out. Upon listening back the majority of the interview is probably something I should have edited out. But it was fun and everything was said in jest. This was my second interview with someone famous (Dave’s first) and I have never laughed so hard, they relaxed us and in only ten minutes I thought I was chatting with friends.
Malin is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. Standing at about 6ft wearing comfortable jeans and a white shirt she was stylish, relaxed and without pretension. She looks so much better in real life – if only Silk Spectre had blonde hair they could have utilised her soft features as opposed to the harsh features of the character. Jeffrey Dean Morgan has that Alaskan/ Canadian filming look, like he is straight off the set of Supernatural, three day growth that suits him better than most, dark skin and jeans and suede jacket. He looks a lot younger than he does on film and his junior resemblance to Javier Bardem is uncanny. I can see why he was the instant heartthrob on Grey’s Anatomy, he is/ was the replacement for sexy George Clooney on television.
Reclining in chairs with a backdrop of Sydney behind them I asked if I should just fire into it.
Me: What attracted you guys to want to be a part of The Watchmen?
JDM: Her outfit (this is where the laughter began and pretty much set the tone for a lot of the interview)
Malin: Ummm, I get to do two men in this film (laughs from all of us). Really, I think that anyone who reads the graphic novel would want to be a part of it. I mean, it’s a masterpiece; we get to be a part of film history
JDM: I hadn’t even read the novel and just knew Zack was directing it, and you combine that with The Watchmen and you’re screwed if you want to be a part of it
Malin: And you’re fighting tooth and nail to be in it
David: The graphic novel has this extremely high profile, how did you guys deal with that pressure?
Malin: We just ignored it
JDM: Liquor…….a lot of it
Malin: Meth amphetamines (there was a lot of laughter at this stage)
Me: So is that one of the things you want edited out? (more laughter)
JDM & Malin: Yeah – it’s jet lag talking
Malin: No you zone everything out when you’re filming, you get right into it. We feel more pressure now, going to Comicom etc. It’s likely so, it’s a great novel and it’s hard when it is such a great novel
JDM: They all go a little bit crazy, let’s be honest; it’s a rare and special breed. Fans of this are so incredibly smart and there is no side stepping questions, you can’t run and hide behind anyone for this film for any of us, especially Zack. The pressure on him has got to be fucked up because it seems like a lot on us but we aren’t Zack Snyder. I can blame him – I can say something like “Man I wasn’t going to do it that way…but you know Zack” (more laughter) “I had a different idea that was right but Zack…” (more laughter)
Me: This leads us to the next question, how was it working with Zack?
Malin: Ugh, amazing. I don’t think we could have had a better person for this film. His energy is incredible. In 6 months he was the first one there, the last person to leave……
JDM: Nearly as much as I was
Malin: Yeah a lot of makeup on this guy; don’t look at him actually, he needs make up. Not but it was (lots of laughter as JDM throws the bird to Malin) ….Ummm he was phenomenal, he was so inspiring, he had books and books of illustrations that he made up, he had drawn out every scene that he saw visually and then he would do sound effects. He would go like “pyeow” and then he would go like this (she is moving arms everywhere trying to imitate Zack). He was an excited kid with a new toy, he really got into it. He really got us all going, and you know, in the eighteenth hour of the day and you’re freezing and you’re tired it’s the sixth month and the sixth day of the week and he’s going and we’re like ok we’re still with you, you have to have it and Zack did it for us.
Malin to JDM: Are you with us? (He is staring at a spot on the carpet in a swirl shape)
JDM: You kind of lost me and the carpet is making weird shapes (remember massively jet lagged)… Yeah what she said (more laughter). No she’s right, no-one else could have done this movie. I know there has been a lot of speculation that he was the wrong guy for the job but in seeing this movie no-one else could have done this job. It’s as simple as that no-one else could have pulled this off. The way he kind of united all of us and made this as much our passion as his, ‘cause he started this, he hired all of us from him down to craft service guy. Everyone cared as much about this movie than any other film I have ever been on and that reflects when you see it on the screen. And that’s due to him. I mean, visually it’s just stunning – it’s art.
Malin: He’s a visionary.
JDM: Yeah – he’s a cool dude man.
Malin: Yeah, I loved him, if only he wasn’t married and well, if I wasn’t married – another edit!
David: Ok guys, could you go through a typical day on the set for us?
Malin to JDM: Why don’t you start with your typical day on set?
JDM: In at about 2 in the morning, to start the make up, then everyone shows up about nine… (Malin: Four)…. Hungover … still drinking (lots of laughter here) Umm you know it was a lot of… I aged from about 20 to 69. 20 was the really hard part, I couldn’t shave close enough for that. Umm, there was a lot of that and they really only used one camera (for the entire film) and that was Zacks deal, he didn’t want to shoot on multiple cameras. It probably would have saved us a lot of time but he didn’t want to shoot it that way. And Larry (Larry Fong DOP on this, 300 and episodes of Lost), our DP really wanted to light every shot. It was like the comic book and shooting each frame, probably could have shaved 2 to 3 months off but it paid off. That’s how much care these guys have for it. There’s a lot of time getting ready and then sitting around but then when it’s time to rock and roll we did man. And they were long days, we were filming in Vancouver in the middle of winter and it was cold (Malin: freezing cold). We had 43 days of rain or some shit like that.
Malin: Let me give you a little bit of information about latex. Firslty, it’s not comfortable, it looks great (JDM: It looks GREAT). Whatever temperature it is it magnifies this through the latex (at this stage JDM picks up a cushion from the couch and places it over his crotch and Dave asks if he is covering anything up to which the whole room erupts in laughter – we never did get the answer – Malin just calls him a dirtbag). Anyway it was so so cold and we are standing outside and its night time and it’s raining and it’s freezing and these guys are boiling because they are in foam costumes (JDM: Yeah we were sweating) and I would rather be standing there naked in the cold air. (JDM: That too would have been ok – no one would have said anything). I will keep that in mind for next time. But yeah they were long days but luckily we all came together to get through it and we all had a lot of support for each other. We are all now really good friends and we all got along which is so necessary for a film like this.
JDM: I agree honey
Me: Last one guys, what would you like to say the billion or so fans of The Watchmen for this film?
JDM: (very jokingly and we all pissed ourselves after he said it) Fuck off.
Malin: NO – we hope you like it. You know what; I think you have got to see it. Don’t Ixnay on going to see it. What did I just say?
JDM: You starting speaking pig Latin
Malin: Just go and see it and I personally think you will be pleasantly surprised.
JDM: Get off your butt and go and see it. You will love it. It’s awesome.
At this stage the interview was over and we got up for farewells. JDM is a double hand shaker and very firm and you could tell he had fun and it was nice chatting, they weren’t thinking “I wish this fucking thing was over”. And Malin was so nice I just wanted to hug her goodbye. They were so lovely. The first thing I said to Rob from Network PR was that I wished we could go out and have a few drinks with them as they were so much fun.
On behalf of Dave and myself for Salty Popcorn I would very much like to thank JDM and Malin, Rob and Leslie from Network PR and the wonderful people at Paramount for giving us the pleasure of the interview.
Note to Rove McManus: You totally screwed up your interview buddy, you had them on national TV for a one on one on the most anticipated film of the year and you sit them in a group with your regulars. I normally love Nat Bassingthwaite, but seriously was she on drugs? She needed a muzzle to stop stealing their answers and screen time. We watch you too many times each week Nat, these guys we get one opportunity and you steal every second of camera you can. Sheesh – I was embarrassed for them – they looked uncomfortable on the TV show and you is a pro Rove – Dave and I are amateurs and I am pretty confident they had way more fun with us.
The Review:
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 -- moves closer to midnight.
When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the outlawed 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 disbanded 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? --© Warner Bros
JASON'S THOUGHTS:
Worth $13-
This would have to be one of the most visual films ever made - Zack truly is a visionary, I am nearly speachless at the visuals. I have also not read the book, unlike Dave, and was determinded not to until I saw the film. I really wanted to experience this as a film watcher and I was not disappointed. Zack Snyder is an artist beyond his years and has that Leonardo DaVinci skill to his film art.
This film is so complex and long - it is close to 3hrs in length and I am in two minds as to how it will fare. From what I have read if they shot frame for frame it should have been 12hrs long so will serious fans be upset that there is so much missing and will the general public, who have not read the book, find it too complex and at times hard to follow. I know the film will go down in history as one of the biggest cult films of all time, but will it make lots of money? Really, who cares as long as you enjoy it (oh yeah, the studios). It is quite complex with flashbacks, back stories and in depth characters that I really want to see this a few more times to absorb everything and so understand it better. I do think people with limited attention spans and small minds will just say "it's shit" because they won't have the intelligence to grasp it all. But film schools and universities will add this to curriculum as a film to study for years to come.
The acting is great, with no massive big names, even though alot of them wanted in (see Trivia section below) - but as Zack said during interivews a couple of months ago "I could have a big name in the film or use the money to give you a bigger, better scene" - I don't think any of these actors are out of their league and it's quite possible this film could make many of them household names. Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach is by far the strongest actor in the film.
The attention to detail is flawless and as Zack only used one camera on the film and shot each of the filmed frames from the graphic novel as a storyboard so the scenes that are shot should have fans creaming themselves with joy and delight.
My one gripe I have about this story that I hope to rectify by reading the graphic novel is the fact that the superheroes are not all good. To me this doesn't make sense. I mean, one of the characters is responsible for the Kennedy assassination and shoots a pregnant woman in the head while another just watches. I think and hope the novel deals more with the complexities of heroes that the viewer/ reader may find difficult to actually like. Because for me, while watching, it was a conundrum - how can superheroes be bad? It could do my head in, seriously!
This is a must see film and the visuals are beyond things you have ever seen before. Worth $13-
DAVID'S THOUGHTS:
Worth $16.50
Review from the angle of having read the graphic novel. No spoilers though.
It’s here everyone.
Watchmen.
Nearly twenty years in the making. Through a host of directors, casts and whatever you could name, even studios... There was a lengthy battle between Fox and Warner over rights to the novel which threatened the release of the picture on the date slated as well as the director Zack Snyder’s final vision of the film…it ending with a settlement and the film is coming as intended.
And how unfortunate it would have been if otherwise.
Zack Snyder has done it folks. Let’s get that out of the way at the start. The film is amazing, just an experience, and if you are a fan of the graphic novel you owe yourself to see this, and if you have never heard of Watchmen this film will amaze you…at least I would hope so, but more on that in a bit.
I had not read the graphic novel until two years ago. I had heard about the film because being the avid filmgoer I am followed Zack Snyder’s career very closely having loved the Dawn of the Dead remake he directed. When he was announced on this thing called the Watchmen I did a little bit of research, and before I knew it had people yelling at me:
“How can you not have read it?”
“You got to read it NOW!”
“It’s the greatest comic book…no wait…story ever!”
And then one that helped me out a bit
“I’ll lend it to you”
I read it in a single sitting and just fell in love with it, when I closed it I read it again. Since this is the fan angle on Salty Popcorn you may know the feeling. It is epic. Incredibly dense and almost overwhelming in it’s brilliance.
Most importantly Alan Moore wrote the thing with the intention of showcasing the comic book medium, highlighting what a comic book could do that a film/ novel could not; hence why he has been so publicly vocal about the film (along with his intense hatred of Hollywood) even going as far as saying he would “spit venom on the film”. I won’t bother commenting further on this besides that if he eventually sees the film he may change his tune. Anyway…
When discussing the making of the film comments on a different site were announced:
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“It’s impossible”
“I’d only see it realistically done as a mini series or a trilogy”
“I am going to boycott the film”
And so on and on, you get the idea, even I myself doubted the idea of the film until I saw the second trailer, but I was always going to go and see it and give it a shot. When that second trailer came out, the buzz went berserk…the fan base went off, with the majority of fans seemingly willing to see the film, and many actually excited.
Well there is not much to say to these people besides: Zack Snyder has done it. You will not be disappointed. It is a film experience to remember because of him.
I will not say much about the actual adaptation but it remains so incredibly close to the source material, in many parts it is identical that it is almost as if you are reading the book. Sure he condenses and changes things here and there, mostly cosmetic ala some costumes and fight scenes added (one thing major is changed drastically, but only the means not the outcome). However all the changes he implements are to make it a better movie than a comic book…and if you have read the book, you will surely have to agree. Ultimately what matters are; that this is The Watchmen. In all it’s glory! Snyder misses nothing from the novel in terms of themes and ideas and characterization. He nails it. And the look of the film is just a thing of pure beauty.
It smashes onto the screen in pure bright assaulting yellow; which gave me chills… with an excellent play on the Warner and D.C comic’s logos, then wham! You are into that world…a world, which Zack Snyder has created so incredibly, so faith fully, that it is just the book coming alive. The cinematography is just unreal. It’s so good that an academy award is just not enough.
The condensing of the novel is necessary to note for the fans of the Graphic Novel. The autobiographical novel within a novel under the hood in particular, amongst the other but less dense after chapter inserts that develop characters are dealt with within the film, through a whole slew of amazing and highly entertaining ways; that none are worth spoiling here.
Under the hood has also been made into a documentary for the DVD/ extended addition. The Tales Of The Black Freighter: the graphic novel within the graphic novel has been made as a short film, which will be edited back into the film for the extended addition. It was taken out for length reasons at the script stage, but you got to give Snyder credit for making it anyway knowing it won’t be in the film but in the extended cut. It’s not really missed actually, and as the story only really serves to add a little more foundation, like the inserts, it can be done without as long as Snyder deals with it in other areas and ways, which I assure you he has done.
It’s also worth noting that Snyder has not tamed the book at all. It is all there in its gory and sexy adult ways, and because it’s real and not just a drawing it is possible that it has even more of a high impact.
Again because it’s worth saying: It’s a perfect adaptation.
Now I am just going to praise it like hell:
The acting is spot on. The great cast captures the characters perfectly. Jackie Earl Haley’s performance as Rorschach is just mind blazingly good. It’s on a Heath Ledger/ Joker level I think. Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan is also excellent. I mention these two characters/ actors firstly because as depicted in the comic they are the two most complex, and the fact that they remain this way in the film is testament to them and Snyder for helping them. Everyone else is brilliant, it’s a flawless cast basically…and as I don’t want to dwell on it much, the CGI is incredible, and is only used to tell the story where practical effects couldn’t be used. Dr. Manhattan is just astonishing in how real he seems...himself amongst other effects such as the glass castle and Mars itself.
The most impressive of all is the set design. The film is just panel after panel of the book beautifully recreated. And for the most part for real. Entire sets. Huge ships. A whole ton of stuff built, much, much more than you would expect in such an epic story. Just spot on…but for the sake of this review heading towards some sort of ending I’ll just leave you with:
It’s conceptually and technically flawless.
It’s just impossible to think fans will be disappointed. The only real worry is the reaction by the people who have not read the book. Will it overwhelm them with its complexity because they are not familiar with the story and its concepts already?
I’ll never know.
All I can say is this:
If you are a fan of the graphic novel you will be blown away. For us it’s not really a film. It’s an experience. Worth the full price of $16.50.
Trivia thanks to IMDB:
1) During early development in the early 1990s, mainly focused around the screenplay by Sam Hamm, early casting rumors included Robin Williams as Rorschach, Jamie Lee Curtis as Silk Spectre, Gary Busey as the Comedian, and both Richard Gere and Kevin Costner considered for the role of NiteOwl. The project underwent numerous rewrites under director Terry Gilliam and his collaborator Charles McKeown, but got eventually shelved by Warner Bros.
2) Darren Aronofsky was going to direct the film but dropped out after scheduling conflicts with The Fountain (2006).
3) In 2004, Paul Greengrass was attached as a director, a script was written and conceptual work had begun when Paramount suddenly decided to put the movie on hold for the time being. A short time after that Greengrass left the project to work on the movie United 93 (2006) instead. After being put into turnaround, the rights were reacquired by Warners in 2006.
4) The first official image from director Zack Snyder - a test shot of Rorshach holding The Comedian's button - was actually hidden in a trailer for Snyder's previous film, 300 (2006). It features that film's associate producer, Wesley Coller, wearing a makeshift mask in front of a composite New York backdrop, and was created as an experiment by Snyder to establish the mood and look of his proposed Watchmen project. Snyder's wife, Deborah Snyder, bet him $100 that no one would discover it, while he was convinced that someone would find it almost immediately. He won.
5) Doug Hutchison had expressed interest in playing the role of Rorschach. An online campaign attracted a great deal of support for this casting choice and approaches were made to the studio by his agents in this regard, resulting in the casting director giving the actor an audition, which was put on tape for director Zack Snyder's consideration.
6) Alan Moore, writer of the original comic book was asked to write a script back in the late 1980s, but declined. The studio then enlisted in the aid of Sam Hamm.
7) Producers Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin tried hard to get Ron Perlman green-lighted to play The Comedian.
8) Sam Hamm wrote an unused screenplay.
9) Terry Gilliam considered directing this film as early as 1989, but after several unsatisfactory drafts of the screenplay, decided the material unfilmable as a feature production. Gilliam had said he would consider directing it as a five hour miniseries at least.
10) Both Tom Cruise and Jude Law expressed interest in the role of Ozymandias.
11) Simon Pegg met with the producers to discuss the role of Rorschach when Paul Greengrass was attached to direct at Paramount, but nothing was agreed for certain before that project went into turnaround.
12) Zack Snyder based his storyboards for the film on the panels of the actual graphic novel. He has stated that in order to be true to the source when adapting a graphic novel to the screen, the original visual art should be respected as much as the written portion.
13) Zack Snyder personally asked Dave Gibbons, the artist who drew the original graphic novel, to design the first teaser poster for the film. Gibbons enthusiastically agreed and designed the poster to have subtle visual clues hinting at the film's plot.
14) Though author Alan Moore preemptively disowned all filmed adaptations of his work, Zack Snyder has said that his ultimate hope is that someday Moore will actually see the film and feel that it is a decent representation of the original graphic novel.
15) When asked in an interview with ReelzChannel.com about original 'Watchmen' writer Alan Moore's dismissal of his movie, Snyder was quoted as saying "Worst case scenario - Alan puts the movie on his DVD player on a cold Sunday in London and watches and says, 'Yeah, that doesn't suck too bad.'" When this was brought up with Moore himself in a later interview in the British Tripwire comics fanzine, the writer commented "That's the worst case scenario? I think he's underestimated what the worst case scenario would be... that's never going to happen in my DVD player in 'London' [Moore very famously lives in Northampton]. I'm never going to watch this fucking thing."
16) The rights to produce this movie were acquired in a deal that originally also included adaptation rights to V for Vendetta (2005), also authored by Alan Moore. "Vendetta"-producer Joel Silver was also going to produce this one when Terry Gilliam was still attached as a director.
17) Warner Bros. initially considered Darren Aronofsky to direct. Aronofsky did express interest in the project, but found the original story dated. Specifically, the director planned to update the story to the contemporary era and replace the Vietnam War references with those of Iraq and terrorism. Uncomfortable with the direction Aronofsky wanted to take, Warner Bros. hired Zack Snyder who had just directed a highly-faithful adaptation of 300 (2006) to great acclaim.
18) At one point John Cusack was rumored to play Nite Owl/Dan Drieberg and Sigourney Weaver was rumored to play the original Silk Spectre/Sally Jupiter.
19) When Paul Greengrass was set to direct, he planned to cast Hilary Swank as Silk Spectre and Joaquin Phoenix as Nite Owl. When Greengrass left the project, Swank and Phoenix did as well.
20) Nathan Fillion was considered for the roles of The Comedian and Nite Owl.
21) Jessica Biel was considered for a role, but passed.
22) The choral and organ music used in the first trailers is the cue "The Grid" from Godfrey Reggio's film Koyaanisqatsi (1982), composed by Philip Glass.
23) Carla Gugino and Malin Akerman play mother and daughter in this film. They have also played love interests of Ben Stiller. Gugino played Rebecca Hutman in Night at the Museum (2006) and Akerman played Lila in The Heartbreak Kid (2007).
24) Carla Gugino plays Sally Jupiter, mother of Laurie Juspeczyk, played by Malin Akerman. In real life, Gugino is only seven years older than Akerman.
25) Zack Snyder wanted to cast his 300 (2006) star Gerard Butler in this film and even promised him a role. When all the roles were cast and Butler didn't have one, Snyder cast him in Tales of the Black Freighter (2009) (V), which is based on the comic-within-a-comic from the Watchmen graphic novel and will be released on DVD around the time Watchmen will be released in theaters.
26) The trailer features the song "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" by Smashing Pumpkins, which was originally a B-Side for the single "The End is the Beginning is the End", the theme from Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin (1997).
27) Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley both starred in Little Children (2006).
28) Simon Pegg turned down the role of Rorschach. When asked why he said, "I didn't want to hear people saying 'Simon Pegg IS Rorschach'."
Watchmen Trailer C (Paramount Pictures Australia) - The funniest bloopers are right here
To get our final score I have averaged mine and Dave's. Our final thoughts would be to "get off your ass and watch it, it is a visionary masterpiece of film". Worth $14.75
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Comment by Movie Mall
Movie Catcher
The Invisible Sky
I'm very jealous. Does sound like it was a lot of fun.
Though lucky Ackerman was there to balance it out. Could've been tough without her, just dealing with Morgan.
Read Watchmen for the first time about two years ago and have been waiting patiently for the movie ever since. With a week to go I'm at boiling point.
MM
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Jeffrey was just very tired - it was so funny - it helped make us very relaxed and the interview so casual.
As I have yet to read it I will go with Dave's opininon for a booklover - you will LOVE IT
From my opinion, it is just so visual the time will fly.
Hope u love it!
Comment by Matt D
Comment by Jason King
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But bummer - it's not out until next week - soz!
It will be worth it when you see it.
Comment by Wilson Pon
Health 2 Know
Adventure Toes
Techno Stuffs
boxing sound
Business Rope
Fun Places 2 Travel
My rating: 9.9/10 for this review!
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
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But it was worth it and I have already been invited to do my next interview so fingers crossed.
Thanks
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Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
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Movie Train
Artist Quirk
oh i wish i was there to meet one of my kind! lol
you have put a massive amount of work into this article, i hope it provides you with heaps of long-term traffic from fans of the film eager for more info
Comment by Jason King
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If Malin is not 6ft tall she is close to it - she was way taller than my shortass.
Thanks for the comments Morgan
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I hope the enthusiasm for the review gets people in the cinemas - it's worth the watch!
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