the nite owl is blackozymandias is gayrorschach dies in the first episode
― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 14:33 (seven years ago) link
none of the characters are superheroes, it's a workplace comedy set in a watchmaker's workshop
their boss is naked and painted blue but no-one ever comments on it
― total eclipse of the beefheart (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 14:35 (seven years ago) link
for good or for ill, watchmen is a considerably better-known place to start from which imo doesn't offer much scope for expansion beyond what's already there
I don't agree with this premise at all
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 15:08 (seven years ago) link
Can u let us know again that iyo lindelof is now one of the infallible greats despite a CV of absolute steaming shite, including spraying his cum over several probably worthwhile besides projects
― quet inn tarnation (darraghmac), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 15:13 (seven years ago) link
Heh hostility there for lindelof not you tbh
― quet inn tarnation (darraghmac), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 15:23 (seven years ago) link
should have him develop Speed Racer for HBO insteadadapted by blockbuster auteurs less than a decade agoconcerns a super hero without any actual super powers, just a sweet ride and a crazy familyalso: chim chim
― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 15:25 (seven years ago) link
I get that he has a spotty as hell CV and inspires loathing/suspicion and I get that. I just wish more detractors had actually watched, y'know, his last major project for the company that will be producing this (if it even happens, again, I'm skeptical).
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 15:27 (seven years ago) link
what would you like to see an hbo series do with the characters beyond the original story? moore and gibbons' piece is, to borrow a metaphor from the book itself, like an intricate mechanical watch, with every piece meticulously placed and designed to play a specific part in the overall structure
taking some of those components to, i dunno, make a toy car or whatever just seems pointless to me, but i'm genuinely interested in what you see the potential for this is beyond lindelof having recently hit his stride with the leftovers
― total eclipse of the beefheart (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 15:32 (seven years ago) link
if I knew what I wanted out of things I'd be writing TV shows. there's a whole set of movies devoted to giving comics nerds exactly what they want and they're boring as shit to me
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 15:39 (seven years ago) link
also I like the book and all but y'all talk about it like it's some sacred text
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 15:41 (seven years ago) link
tbh i think it's a bit airless and po-faced, and its influence on superhero comics has been largely utterly woeful
however, it is one of the few superhero-adjacent series which tells a complete, satisfying, self-contained story and it does it with a impressive unity of form and purpose
― total eclipse of the beefheart (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 15:48 (seven years ago) link
a lot of what works about The Leftovers is that it's *not* very contained, not in any way a "closed loop". it's purposely messy and elliptical, and cares more about theme and tone than anything else. that could be a good starting point for divergence. I think comics fans would probably be happier with someone like Vince Gilligan, a strong stylist with a masterful conception of plot mechanics and momentum - his shows run like, well, clockwork. lindelof seems to have a very different set of interests that runs counter to what you might expect someone taking this on would have and I think that's cool!
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:00 (seven years ago) link
a longer adaptation isn't the answer because a big part of what makes the comic special is that the content is inextricably bound up with the form
this is all that needs to be said tbh. I guess it needs to be said repeatedly and loudly though.
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:02 (seven years ago) link
I think Mark S has a point about Moore. At this point Watchmen is such trodden-over-territory, I would distrust *anyone* who wanted to adapt it - great book, but it's not a very interesting choice for adaptation, y'know? I'd feel the same about someone who wanted to adapt 100 Yrs of Solitude, or Captain Corelli's Mandolin or whatnot.
― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:07 (seven years ago) link
fuck this, where is the Camelot 3000 adaptation
― a butt groove but for feet (DJP), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:11 (seven years ago) link
would watch
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:21 (seven years ago) link
could see the racial and gender stuff providing some good content in current climate
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:22 (seven years ago) link
I'm really surprised there's never been a Top 10 series adaptation, "cop show in superhero town" sells itself.
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:29 (seven years ago) link
certainly a better, more open-ended premise than Watchmen.
can't imagine Moore being ok with option-ing it though
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:31 (seven years ago) link
bizarro once again preemptively voiced my exact response, re: Simon's 'sacred text' post.
My feelings about The Leftovers basically mirror those I might have about an ex-friend who I'm glad to hear is doing well now but who I think I'm going to still keep at arm's length after that thing he did that one time before he cleaned up his act. I'm still paying off the damages and apologizing to the neighbors.
― I Love It When They Call Me Big Pharma (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:33 (seven years ago) link
after the stunning non-success of powers I doubt anyone will be in a hurry to adapt it, although I agree it has a lot of potential as a TV show
― total eclipse of the beefheart (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:36 (seven years ago) link
I've said it before, but Sandman Mystery Theatre would be my number one choice for a comics-to-TV adaptation.
― I Love It When They Call Me Big Pharma (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:36 (seven years ago) link
people are mostly mad at Lost because of the last season, two seasons at most, right? cause the only reason people are *still* mad about all that is because there were quite a few good bits before that, which is maybe worth noting. (and, I daresay, some good stuff even amidst the muck.)
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:39 (seven years ago) link
It's easy to blame the last season, but the entire series was a con and the last season was just us marks slowly realizing what we'd bought as the con men made their way to the next town.
― I Love It When They Call Me Big Pharma (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:43 (seven years ago) link
lol I guess that's one way to watch TV
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:49 (seven years ago) link
I've said it before, but /Sandman Mystery Theatre/ would be my number one choice for a comics-to-TV adaptation.
an hbo judge dredd with a game of thrones budget would be mine
― total eclipse of the beefheart (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:52 (seven years ago) link
I could've rolled with it if they were honest about the shaggy dog nature of the show rather than insisting at every opportunity that they DEFINITELY knew what they were doing, and OH MAN you won't believe how this all ties together, prepare to have your mind BLOWED.
― I Love It When They Call Me Big Pharma (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:53 (seven years ago) link
bizarro! Had you not heard? There's a Mega City One show in development, possibly at Netflix, possibly with Karl Urban reprising his role as Dredd! You're welcome.
― I Love It When They Call Me Big Pharma (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:55 (seven years ago) link
*choke*
old lunch i love u
― total eclipse of the beefheart (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 17:01 (seven years ago) link
okay that could rule (only Netflix's extremely lax quality control has me concerned)
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 17:05 (seven years ago) link
yeah not sure why people would assume this would be bad. the movie wasn't too hot. there is more in the comic than comfortably fits in 2 1/2 hours; the movie was both overstuffed and felt overly long and turgid while still not covering all the ground of the comic. a 10 hour pace would suit this just great.
― akm, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 17:21 (seven years ago) link
Not so much 'this will be bad' as 'just...why?'.
― I Love It When They Call Me Big Pharma (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 17:27 (seven years ago) link
(I mean besides that whole 'making $$$ for a bunch of people excepting the dudes who actually created it' thing.)
― I Love It When They Call Me Big Pharma (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 17:29 (seven years ago) link
enh, i'll throw my hat in the ring and predict this will be bad
― total eclipse of the beefheart (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 17:29 (seven years ago) link
I guess I feel slightly more optimistic about this than when it was rumored to be a Zack Snyder project, but it's really just the difference between being anesthetized before having all of your teeth removed vs. having someone smash them out with a length of pipe. The end result is still gonna be sucky and toothless.
― I Love It When They Call Me Big Pharma (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 17:39 (seven years ago) link
mainly i'm just psyched to find out what superheroes would be like if they existed in the real world
makes u think
― total eclipse of the beefheart (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 17:42 (seven years ago) link
"Not so much 'this will be bad' as 'just...why?'."
because the movie was boring and the story could make a good visual experience?
― akm, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 17:47 (seven years ago) link
if it won't be bad... why not
Obv there should be a moratorium on cape stuff & I won't watch this
― more like matthew badlose (wins), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 17:49 (seven years ago) link
"Not so much 'this will be bad' as 'just...why?'."because the movie was boring and the story could make a good visual experience?
it made a good visual experience in 1986 and still does today tbf
― total eclipse of the beefheart (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 17:54 (seven years ago) link
but what if the pictures... moved
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 17:58 (seven years ago) link
Is there something more objectionable about this being adapted than an ordinary novel?
― jmm, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 17:59 (seven years ago) link
I am interested in the "lindelof is good now" narrative, so many people I trust are raving about the leftovers
tbf i basically took the "lindelof is bad" narrative on faith because afaik I haven't seen anything he's written except for Prometheus (which is v v bad for sure)
― more like matthew badlose (wins), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 18:01 (seven years ago) link
yes as bizarro and others have detailed repeatedly
xp
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 18:01 (seven years ago) link
the novel-analogy would have to draw correspondences to a novel about novels, that also takes advantage of the unique physical properties of books and structured, written narratives (first paragraph would have to be identical to the last paragraph etc.)
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 18:02 (seven years ago) link
feel like metafiction has been adapted to other media before
― more like matthew badlose (wins), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 18:04 (seven years ago) link
also adaptations have maybe been good without doing the exact same thing the original did
Cloud Atlas (the film) sucked btw
has anyone ever filmed Hopscotch
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 18:05 (seven years ago) link
best ex I can think of is Cronenberg's "Naked Lunch", which is more like a biopic of a specific period in Burroughs life overlaid w fantasy sequences than an adaptation of the book
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 18:06 (seven years ago) link
somewhat similarly: The Orchid Thief -> Adaptation
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 21 June 2017 18:08 (seven years ago) link
anyway my main point was that Watchmen is not equivalent to "an ordinary novel" and thus presents a different set of problems re: adaptation (which I, obviously, don't think can be fully overcome)
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 18:10 (seven years ago) link