Watchmen

SPOILERS FOLLOW.

Hitler is wrong.

There's no getting around the denseness of the 'Watchmen' graphic novel: it utilized not only conventional comic book storytelling, but also, reports, journals, extracts and interviews. Its 12 issues assembled a large cast of characters each with their own backstory and hangers-on, covered a timeline of over 50 years of an alternate history of earth, used flashbacks, various narrators, dealt with BIG issues, had equal parts full-on action and quiet character moments... It is in my opinion the greatest comic book you'll ever read.

So I was utterly amazed at what was put on the screen. Watchmen the movie is a fantastic example of taking a work from one medium and translating it into another. Yes, Watchmen the film is not, nor can not ever be, 'Watchmen' the most lauded comic book of all time. It's got a few hours to tell the story as a film. But even if 'Watchmen' had been adapted as a 12 part TV series, as some rabid fanboy in some backwater of the net frothed that is should have been, would it really be any better? I don't think so. Yes, more minutiae might have been thrown up on the screen, more subplots could have been told, more characters given more time. Basically there could have been more, more, more from the original medium translated with equal weighting to the new medium, which is most important when making an adaption, don't you know?

But why restrict this fictional series to 12 episodes just because the comic has 12 issues. Let's have 18 (because its 12 + 1/2 of 12, an equation I pulled from the same ass that 12 comes from) and devote an episode to 'The Black Freighter' subplot, an episode to the denizens of the ill-fated New York street corner, an episode to Hollis Mason's 'Under the Hood', an episode to the island where the squid was made... Hmmm, maybe we'd better up that episode count to 24, because that's 12 x 2, and thus the adaption can maintain authenticity by claiming some nebulous numerical connection to original.

Or here's a thought. How about devoting the screen time to putting as much as possible from the graphic novel up on to that aforementioned screen, in a way that best utilizes the medium of film. And that is the triumph of Watchmen. So much of the denseness of the graphic novel is packed into the movie's 160 minutes by adapting it to film. Two examples are the many voice overs which for once aren't annoying but purposeful, and the tableaux that in a well-used few seconds hint at unexplored story avenues. These don't distract from the main storyline of the film, but add a depth to the cinematic world. For the astute viewer coming to the story for the first time they provide a verisimilitude to a fantasy world that I haven't seen since the Lord of the Rings movies, and for the veteran readers of 'Watchman' they show that it's mostly all there if you take the trouble to look. Just open your eyes and ears to Watchmen and you'll see that Zach Snyder gets 'Watchmen' real good.

But there's no squid! Well, yes, that's right. There is no squid. Get over it. As many others around the net have already said, in the context of the movie, it works. I found it to be an elegant solution to streamline the story while keeping the same result. And after all though 'Watchmen' is a great work of art, it's not without it's faults. For me the squid was one of them. It's a plot point that really doesn't bear looking at too much. Over looking is more what's required. That dead squid is going to be the most rigorously tested genetic material on the planet. How long would the deception really hold up that its not of Earth origin? But rather than trying to strengthen the case for Watchmen's Dr. Manhattan frame-up by weakening the case for 'Watchmen''s squid frame-up, I'll instead say that the Dr. Manhattan frame-up is at least as weak or as strong (your pick) a plotting as an other dimensional squid. YMMV.

And kudos for the sex and violence. I haven't had to worry about being turned away from a movie for being underage for quite some time, so I never took any notice of Watchmen's rating. This meant that I was pleasantly surprised by the retention of the comic's sex and violence. If you're not into seeing bodies blown up, limbs broken, a meat cleaver in the head nor consenting (and non-consenting) adults doing what they do, then you'd best close your eyes. Quite often. But I was glad that Watchmen retained that visceral aspect, when I expect conventional marketing wisdom would dictate that a lower rating opens the film to a wider audience, and thus bigger profits. Die Hard 4.0 certainly thought so, and it did very good box office indeed. However to me it was just another way that Watchmen tried to be as faithful as it could to the source material.

In case you think I was left in total awe of Watchmen I'll mention two points I didn't think worked well. The first was the delivery of one of my favorite lines of all time, "I did it 35 minutes ago." It just didn't have the gravitas I'd always imagined in my head. The second, again with Ozymandias, was the bullet catching. It was weakly foreshadowed, and then seemed rushed, muddled, or just not framed right (too close up?). I don't know what exactly, so I'd better stop crying about it. So there you go, some complaints.

I gave Watchmen 9 out 10 on the IMDB. It might well have got 10 if "I did it 35 minutes ago" had had better delivery.

Beck

Last night we saw Beck at NHK Hall in Shibuya. NHK hall is like Townsville Civic Theater's great big sumo brother. It was a very different vibe to the other concerts I've seen in the last few years, which were at Saitama Super Areana or the Budokan, both much larger spaces. But the audience was very appreciative of Beck, and even though it was concert hall type seating, within a few minutes everyone was standing, handclapping, and generally flailing about. You'd never do that at either of the other venues for fear of plummeting to your death. At the Super Arena you might never hit bottom.

It was the first time I'd ever seen a concert that was opened by a magician. Cameron, the magician, came out for about 10 minutes and did some tricks. He was ably assisted by the gimp from Pulp Fiction. The gimp was stripped to the waist and he and Cameron looked like the were cavorting around between tricks in some kind of S&M inspired body-rubbing dance. Those up close were appreciative of it, but there were no large screen TVs so anyone further back than the first 10 rows (us) saw very little. Sleight of hand just ain't the same when the hands aren't visible. Still it passed some time until Beck, and the S&M dancing was entertaining.

Beck and the four others in the band put on a show that covered his whole career, but about half of it came from the last two albums, which was fine by me as I've had them on high-rotation since buying the tickets. About 2/3 in they changed pace and did some acoustic numbers, including the old Korgis' song 'Everyone's Gotta Learn Sometime'. They also left their instruments behind and came to front stage with what looked like Nintendo Dses to do some scratching, rapping and electronic stuff. This was really cool as the keyboardist jumped down and "played" (screen touched) from within the audience. There was also a shaved head pro-wrestler looking security guy walking around with a video camera that was projecting to a black & white array of lights behind the band that was acting as a low resolution screen. There was much cheering from the audience as they could see themselves up big on the "screen".

My only complaint was that it was a tad short. Beck would have come on around 7:30 PM, and we were well on our way back to Shibuya station by 9 PM. Still, rating the night on quality over quantity, it was fantastic. Plus they played 'Chem Trails', so I was happy. And Mari stayed awake the whole time, so it must have been good.

Noooooo!

Today being March 12th, was the day that new Downloadable Content was to be available for Midnight Club: Los Angeles. Having left the game a month ago at 98% complete (and 69% of Trophies achieved) I was pretty much looking forward to something new for it. The map was to be expanded by 1/3, there was to be something like 26 new vehicles, 2 new vehicle classes, a whole bunch of new races, missions and Trophies.

I tried looking for the DLC this morning on the PlayStation Store, thinking that as it'll probably be slow to download because every other virtual petrolhead would be downloading it too, I'd leave it doing so while I was away at work. Couldn't find it. Oh well, maybe it will be there when I get home.

Same story then, too. A check of Rockstar's official site to see what the problem was had the same info as every other time I visited to fawn over the video of some lowriders cruising around South Central. Available 12th of March. Another visit to the PlayStation store, but still no joy. America must be awake by now, where was my DLC?

So then a google later and I found out the awful truth on some other game site. South Central has, without explanation, been delayed 1 week. Why oh why Rockstar, didn't you update your site with that info?

Well I suppose I can keep playing LittleBigPlanet 1 more week.

U2 3D

I'd thought that I'd missed U2 3D, or that it had passed Japan by. But last week Pixie and I were talking about bands and the conversation got around to U2 and whatever happened to that 3D movie of theirs. A google later and to our surprise we found out it was starting on the weekend. Five of us went on Sunday afternoon.

It was an experience that left me moved. For one thing the 3D lent the show an almost tangibility. There were times I felt like reaching out to see if I really could touch someone, or swaying back as Adam Clayton's bass scythed the air just in front of my eyes, or even a jarring feeling when the blackness beyond the edge of the screen made me realize the audience members holding up their hands in front of me weren't sitting in the theatre, but in a stadium in Brazil.

And for a change the use of 3D was sublime rather than the typical "axes being thrown at the camera". Band members faded in and out seamlessly at different depths, the use of CG and other out of camera tricks was fairly minimal, and when used was mostly to show some other part of the show that was currently out of the lens. Kudos to the directors for their restraint.

Finally, having seen the same show as part of the Japan leg of the "Vertigo" tour, it gave me a completely different perspective of the show. "Vertigo" had been the best concert I'd ever seen, but I'd seen it from about as high and as far away as one could be in the Saitama Super Arena, and still be in Saitama. This time I was floating right before, next to, above, and on the stage. It felt like being right up there live with the band. I was so wrapped up in the experience that "Where the Streets have No Name" left me with tears in my eyes.

If you have a chance to see U2 3D on the big screen and in 3D, cancel any other plans you've made. Sorry Quantum of Solace, as much as I still love you, this is without a doubt the best film I've seen this year.

3G Whiz

For more than 6 months my phone company have been informing me that next year my phone service will discontinue, and so I'll have to upgrade my phone to one that is compatible with the new service. They've been sending me discount vouchers for a new phone and what not, and fortunately I've been ignoring them. I say fortunately because their latest campaign is giving away iPhones. I was hesitant to believe it, but after checking into it, it seems true. I'll know for sure when I get the first bill.

The new phone did mean having to sign up for a slightly more expensive package, but only slightly more. And that may well balance out with most of the people I ever talk to by phone (I rarely make calls. Who would I call?) now being free of charge, or at about half the previous rate.

The phone seems cool enough to drive, but will take a while for me to work out how to get it out of first gear. Battery life seems pretty weak, though. But I'm anal-retentive enough that I charge my phone daily anyway. All in all a good deal.

The downside was that I wasn't able to port my old address book over. The friendly but overly explanatory shop assistant assured me that I'd be able to download my old address book from a website that they'd uploaded it to. The website informed me I'd have one chance with one phone to do so. As usual the technological vision of plug and play refused to work, and so I'm left with manually typing in my old address book. This will probably see a culling of many names of unknowns, people who I've met once socially long ago or former workplaces mates who I've never talked to again since my escape. While this well make my new address book much easier to read, navigate and know just who is who, it will also put into stark reality the sad shape of my network of friends.

So in a desperate plea for acknowledgment my phone's new address is:
winstoninabox at i dot softbank dot jp

The 2 people who still bother to come here, please clap your hands loudly to stop winston from fading away.

Wolverine vs. Japan

The last movie I saw that was as funny as Baz Luhrmann's Australia was George Lucas' Revenge of the Sith.