Watchmen

[Babycakes]

HBO is bringing their own take to the controversial movie and comic book. And this certainly isn't for kids. It's more grounded in reality than a Marvel movie, but still features costumed villains and heroes. The story follows an alternate timeline with some truly bizarre deviations on history, to say the least. That's the best I can do for a blurb. The's some NSFW language in the trailer.

Episode one was excellent, and had some truly astounding moments. Regina King is everything. Every. Single. Thing. I could watch a camera just tracking her walk for an hour. She is AMAZING in this. The opening scene recounting the Tulsa race riots of 1921 were heartbreaking and beautifully shot. Overall, the entire episode was just beautiful to behold. Barely any plot secrets were revealed, but it teased enough to get me hooked. After the episode ended, I immediately went back to watch it a second time. I hope it doesn't let me down in the end *coughGOTcough*. This show has real potential. Speculation ahead but I'll spoiler it just in case

SPOILER: Click to show

I think Don Johnson's sheriff character is up to his eyeballs in the racist club. Something about him just gave off hints that something wasn't right.

Here are a few reviews so far, some might be spoilerish:

AV Club
Daily Beast
Esquire
I09

[prisma]

I watched about half of it last night but had to go to bed. Will finish tonight. I am not a comic person but Tom of TLo recommended it in their last podcast. He is a serious comic nerd and knows the source graphic novel backwards and forwards and doubted it could be brought to the screen successfully, but he said he was impressed. He’s going to recap it, so I am looking forward to watching and then reading his commentary.

[kostgard]

I watched it too, but I think I need to rewatch it when I'm not also looking at my phone. But it seems they are exploring a lot of different stuff here - like the AV Club review pointed out, it's got Blue Lives Matter stuff, the white supremacy nonsense we've got going on right now, and all sorts of other stuff. If they continue to do it well, they could explore these things in a really interesting way. We are living in a world where the Emmett Till memorial finally had to be made bullet-proof because monsters kept coming by and shooting it. And a world where a recently retired prosecutor said of Till this year "Fella who came down here and got into trouble - overstepped his bounds to a degree some folks thought. And they cured him of his problems."

Regina King was fantastic. I love her "Sister Night" outfit. I hope she gets all sorts of Emmys for this and the academy isn't put off because it's a "comic book" show.

And I did not expect them to open up with the Tulsa massacre. I had heard about it, but didn't know just how bad it was and didn't know that they were dropping bombs from friggin' planes!

[Babycakes]

Oct 21, 2019 14:31:53 GMT -4 kostgard said:

I watched it too, but I think I need to rewatch it when I'm not also looking at my phone. But it seems they are exploring a lot of different stuff here - like the AV Club review pointed out, it's got Blue Lives Matter stuff, the white supremacy nonsense we've got going on right now, and all sorts of other stuff. If they continue to do it well, they could explore these things in a really interesting way. We are living in a world where the Emmett Till memorial finally had to be made bullet-proof because monsters kept coming by and shooting it. And a world where a recently retired prosecutor said of Till this year "Fella who came down here and got into trouble - overstepped his bounds to a degree some folks thought. And they cured him of his problems."

Regina King was fantastic. I love her "Sister Night" outfit. I hope she gets all sorts of Emmys for this and the academy isn't put off because it's a "comic book" show.

And I did not expect them to open up with the Tulsa massacre. I had heard about it, but didn't know just how bad it was and didn't know that they were dropping bombs from friggin' planes!

Wow. I hadn't heard that quote from that prosecutor. Jesus Christ. The South shall rise again.

I had only heard bits and pieces about the Tulsa massacre. I too had no idea it involved planes fire bombing that area. It's too much to even comprehend. It's the only part of the continental U.S. to ever be fire bombed from above. All because of envy, and racism. And the people there never recovered, and no one was ever brought to justice. I can't wait to see how that will be worked into the story. I don't think it was just there for dramatic effect. I'm sure we'll see more of Lou Gossett's character's journey.

And I seriously can't wait to see all of the cosplayers out there for Sister Night. She's such a badass.

[Ladybug]

Oct 21, 2019 13:25:33 GMT -4 prisma said:

I watched about half of it last night but had to go to bed. Will finish tonight. I am not a comic person but Tom of TLo recommended it in their last podcast. He is a serious comic nerd and knows the source graphic novel backwards and forwards and doubted it could be brought to the screen successfully, but he said he was impressed. He’s going to recap it, so I am looking forward to watching and then reading his commentary.

This is exactly why I watched it, TLo gave it high marks. I am totally unfamiliar with the comic, so all of the characters and the story line is new to me. It takes some getting used to because it's rooted in reality just enough for me to go, "why is that guy wearing a panda head?" I find the alternate history intriguing, like how Regina King's character said she was born in Vietnam "before it became a state." What the what now? I am looking forward to more of that.

If you want to know more about Tulsa and Black Wall Street, there's a podcast. It's depressing that this is not taught in our schools.

[kostgard]

Oct 22, 2019 10:49:25 GMT -4 Ladybug said:

If you want to know more about Tulsa and Black Wall Street, there's a podcast. It's depressing that this is not taught in our schools.

Sort of a side note, but...yes. It is unbelievable that this doesn't even get mentioned in most high school history classes and it was a major event. So even though this is an alternative history, it could prove interesting/educational.

I also learned about Japanese internment camps not in school, but from...The Karate Kid. The way we whitewash our own history is truly stunning.

[Ladybug]

Oct 22, 2019 12:02:17 GMT -4 kostgard said:

Oct 22, 2019 10:49:25 GMT -4 Ladybug said:

If you want to know more about Tulsa and Black Wall Street, there's a podcast. It's depressing that this is not taught in our schools.

Sort of a side note, but...yes. It is unbelievable that this doesn't even get mentioned in most high school history classes and it was a major event. So even though this is an alternative history, it could prove interesting/educational.

I also learned about Japanese internment camps not in school, but from...The Karate Kid. The way we whitewash our own history is truly stunning.

See also - the Osage murders. I just finished reading Killers of the Flower Moon, and I had never heard about this, but it was a major national news event in the 1920s. It's remarkable the stuff that gets left out. And it's not just history class, but the collective historical consciousness. Think of the monuments, the memorials, celebrations, documentaries, etc. that we just end up knowing about or the sensational stories that people never seem to lose interest in the like Lizzie Borden, or the Lindbergh baby or Amelia Earhart or the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. And these other major events get left out.

[petitesuite]

Just watched it last night and thought it was really well done. Wheelchair guy is O.B., right? And/or is he a reference to the comic that I'm missing? I only read the graphic novel once, more than a decade ago so I think I'm missing pretty much all of the references (I noticed: the Veidt newspaper headline, the owl...plane...thing, and of course the Rorschach business). Curious to see how the Jeremy Irons + his robot servants business will intersect with the Tulsa action.

[Wol]

I read an interview with Damon Lindelof about Watchmen. He said the comic was the Old Testament and the HBO series is the New Testament. So he’s writing the Bible. Ego much?

Someone on Deadline Hollywood posted the following as comment on an article and I love it so much: “And somewhere in a castle in England, Alan Moore sits on his throne, twists his rings, and cackles.”

[petitesuite]

Is anyone else still watching? I thought this most recent episode was REALLY good. The Seventh Kavalry guy was set up by Keene, right? So he could look like a hero? Also I want Laurie and Angela to just go ahead and team up already!! One thing I really appreciate about this show is how seamlessly Calvin and Angela are gender-flipped--until this last episode I don't think we ever saw him outside the home, he waits for her to actively protect him, and I think he looks younger then she does (although not hotter). Also not sure what Veidt is trying to accomplish with his project-robots--create a new Dr. Manhattan?