Dark Kaniggit

That scene with , was one of the most original scenes I have ever seen om film. It was heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time.

Green Mile and Shawshank are great movies, but they are also straight-forward stories grounded in reality. So although they are done very well, adapting King's horror and suspense stories are much more of a challenge Definitely The Shining is the best screen adaptation! When Jack Torrance loses it, is truly one the greatest suspenseful chilling moments in cinema. You truly have no idea what horrors he is capable of. I have read numerous stories that Kubrick and King did not see eye to eye as to their interpretation of the story. Kubrick changed the denver croquet mallets, which he thought did not work in the film, to a huge honking axe! In 1997, Warner Bros. produced a TV miniseries version of The Shining starring Steven Weber, as Jack Torrance. King helped write the screen play to this one, and produced it. He kept everything very true to the book the croquet mallets returned, as well as the garden maze coming truly to life. To prove how superior Nicholson is to Webber. When Webber's Jack loses it, he uses make-up and contact lenses, and picks a croquet mallet. When Nicholson loses it, he simply shows a new facial expression and grabs a huge axe! The 1997 Shining was very poorly received. I am sure letting Kubrick adapt his work was hard for him. But, in the end writing is one media, and film is another.

Thursday night I witnessed HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY! Guillermo del Torro has created a successful sequel, but it also stands alone. I believe surpasses the original. As you expect it funny, but it's also got lots of heart. You can now tell this is the same visionary who directed Pan's Labrynth. The movie is grand in scope and there are interesting items and creatures to look at in nearly every frame. Though it is based on Mike Mignola great series, GDT has put his stamp on these great characters. But, he still maintains what makes the comic books work so well, which is the balance that Hellboy represents between light and dark. I saw many good things that I believe bode well for his Hobbit movies.

I hope you do get to see it MH, I know you will enjoy it!

I know we are on this dark knight kick right now which is fun and frustrating, all at the same time. I wish to interrupt it with an opinion. I just witnessed HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY! Guillermo del Torro has created a successful sequel, that I believe surpasses the original. As you expect it funny, but it's also got lots of heart. You can now tell this is the same visionary who directed Pan's Labrynth. The movie is grand in scope and there are interesting items and creatures to look at in nearly every frame. Though it is based on Mike Mignola great series, GDT has put his stamp on these great characters. But, he still maintains what makes the comic books work so well, which is the balance that Hellboy represents between light and dark. I saw many good things that I believe bode well for his Hobbit movies.

Speaking of Metallica Albums... their newest one is due out in the fall. It's called DEATH MAGNETIC I am very eagerly awaiting to hear what Metallica and Rick Rubens have created!

That is so true about the masks. That is so sad we would have done it such justice! I love anything Brad Bird does. The Iron Giant and Incredibles are two of the greatest animated movies of all time. And Ratatouille is truly a ma!sterpiece

I agree it was more of a problem having to with the script. Brad Bird was going to do a Spirit movie! Aw Man! I can practically picture it! Insane action. amazing colors! It probably would have been a true adaptation. Incidentally, IESB.net has posted 12 videos from the Dark Knight. There is one with Batman, Gordon and Dent standing near the bat signal. It is awesome! It's like straight out of a panel from Batman: The Long Halloween. The Dark Knight's viral campaign (I must say the best viral advertising I have ever seen) revealed one more Dark Knight poster it is demented!

As far as the Spirit goes, doesn't it feel like a Sin City movie to you to? The Spirit I read actually had bright vivid colors. Will Eisner's art is hardly as monochromatic as they make it seem.

Mxyzptlk would be awesome! It would make it almost a satire of Superman's powers. My pick would Braniac with some massive machines and weapons. That's an interesting point you bring up. He did not really exert all his strength except for the shuttle scene and the finale. He was very reserved. So yeah, I think we need him to let loose some. I just would not change the look and tone of it. I would even keep the same actors. I know how absurd that is to the continuity of Superman. I just can't bring my self to hate it. He wants to be human.

Man, the rave reviews for Dark Knight keep coming in. It looks like it is going to be epic. The best part, as long as Bale and Nolan are attached no Robin! And Millar is going to remake Superman in another reboot of the franchise? I actually like Bryan Singer's Superman Returns. The story was good the action including the shuttle and jet scene are amazing, I loved that the movie went into the benevolent god who saved the people of earth. Because if Superman did exist he would certainly have a Messiah quality to him. The look that Singer gave it felt like I was watching one of the Fleischer Studios cartoons from the '40's. I love that Metropolis was a city, not substituted as New York like in other movies. It was also great to hear the Williams score on the screen. At times it felt like it was 1979 I was watching Superman on the big screen as new and fresh as it was then. I really like when filmmakers get into the head of comic book characters. Like Ang Lee's Hulk, which I also liked. Raimi's Peter Parker is fully fleshed out conflicted hero. And Nolan's Batman movies storylines and villans all are brought from or affect the mind of Bruce Wayne. I really appreciate when the film gives you a glimpse at what drives these characters. I was looking foward to another Singer Superman film. But, I could see why they would want to reboot Superman. I am sure some thought there was too much drama and not enough action. I think Iron Man, showed a good balance of character development and insane action. I just hope Millar does not scrap all of the drama for nothing but insane action. I am hopeful he will find a good balance, like in his books.

I am just as hyped as anybody here, I am so hyped in fact, that I am trying desperately to not even think about the horrible 17 days I have to wait for it. It is not working at all. Every site I read says: "An Instant Classic" "Ledger owns the screen, and redefines it!" etc... It just sucks that they get to see it, and I have to try avoid reading ALL THE SPOILERS they are posting!

It looks like Punisher may have finally found the right actor, Ray Stevenson he was excellent in HBO's Rome. I think the costume is great too. Everything looks like it striking the right tone. I just wonder if may be too late to excite people about a Punisher movie. The trailer looked interesting, but it did not grab me. Don't get me wrong... it looks much better than the Thomas Jayne one, and don't even get me started on Dolph Lundgren making the Punisher look like a cheap Elvis imitation! I hope to see more from this movie, and hopefully it will get better each time.

Your right I apologize, in one the many appendicies to the books A tall figure is mentioned guarding the Shire at the urging of Gandalf he is called "Strider". Not in the book. The books start blending in my head! I sincerely I apologize. I do think he would be a play a bigger part in second film where he actually meets Gandalf and Guards the Shire. This is from theonering.net Aragorn met Gandalf the Grey in 2956, and they became close friends. At Gandalf's advice he and his followers began to guard a small land known as the Shire, inhabited by the diminutive and agrarian Hobbits, and he became known among the peoples just outside the Shire's borders as Strider. Thats takes place after, again sorry for confusion.

I am not precisely sure where in the book in the book he is, but he is in it. As far as him being too young to be in the Hobbit, He is a member of Dúnadan, the last of a great in a great line of men from the north who are blessed with a very long life. They have been known to live for a many hundreds of years. So he was definitely around for The Hobbit.

Ian MckEllen must be Gandalf! And Viggo must be Strider, he plays a small but significant part in the book. They should try to cast and the original cast for there dual roles in The Hobbit except for Bilbo, he may need to be recast. As far as Bilbo the current rumors I read at the OneRing.net was James McAvoy (Wanted, Atonement) to play Bilbo, which I think would be great casting! Ian Holm might be a little too old. McAvoy denies it, but don't all stars deny the involvement in movies? The first movie will be The Hobbit. From what I read, the second movie is being called in some circles as a "BRIDGE" movie to lead into the events of the Fellowship of the ring, I would imagine it goes more into Army and Man and Elves against Sauran with Isildur and the finding and losing of the rings. All the material is there in the Prologues and the Simirilian, you just have to organize and pick the parts that work on screen. I have full confidence in Jackson, Fran Walsh & Phillipa Boyens, they are masters at translating Tolkien's books. And a visionary director like Guillermo Del Torro, this could be great!

Hulk and Iron Man were excellent! I honestly cannot wait for The Dark Knight, I think it is going to be great! I just read an interview that might make viewing The Dark Knight even better... This is from an interview with Zack Snyder at Collider.com The trailer to WATCHMEN Is supposed to be attached to prints of Dark Knight!

That's also very true, that has always been a complaint with many artists and writers for the big Comic Companies. They are not adequately compensated and recognized for the work they do for the characters and comics. They push the product over the creators unless it might sell some issues. One of the feuds Alan Moore and David Gibbons had with DC was that DC made these happy face Comedian buttons about 10 years ago, and DC did not compensate them for them, they said they "promotional items" not "retail items". I am sure that Marvel and DC dot every i and cross every t to make a profit. Creating for the big companies is a double-edged sword. You get the audience and the great characters to work for, but you are just a cog in a giant machine.

Yes, in Iron Man he is really there, right in Stark's living room. In the hulk I felt him being alluded to with SHIELD's presence in the movie, sorry I was not clear with that. You deffinitely feel the Marvel Universe starting to overlap in a very good way.

Yep, Watchmen had me diving into dictionaries while I was reading it. I agree Alan Moore has an ego he needs a dump truck to carry for him. I understand why he would not support the "Train Wreck" that was League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie. I thought V for Vendetta was handled very well, they even bravely and wisely updated the storyline to make it resonate more with audiences. With the Watchmen it appears he is doing the same thing, not even giving the filmmaker's a try. The photo they released of the original Watchmen gives me hope. When they asked Tolkien how he would adapt his books to film, he said he could not, he would leave it to filmmaker to interpret his work from one media to another. I do not think Moore will ever be satisfied with his adaptations. He is a truly gifted writer, I do not see his ego come out clearly in his books, I see it in his interviews and musing on related topics, and his general behavior.

Great Review Baytor! Here are some my thoughts: Just came back from seeing it loved it! I also like Ang Lee's Hulk his movie movie was more experiemental, Louis Leterrier film is more straight foward, you know the story so let's cut to the chase! When I heard Leterrier was directing I knew the action would be top notch, I was worried it would lose a lot of the small intimate and playful moments that I liked from Ang Lee's version, thankfully I was wrong. Amidst the chaos there is plenty of small intimate and even funny moments. I also loved those Beauty and the Beast moments, demonstates that the invincible Hulk still has a human heart beating beneath the monstrosity. I loved the odes to TV show, using a similar Gamma testing lab, hitchhiking from place to place, and the lonely man theme song, this felt like a continuation of the TV show on steroids! Edward Norton's Bruce Banner is tortured soul, with flashbacks and nightmares of his transformations. This Banner is a worker, he is always working on the solution. He tireless in his pursuits, and incredibly intuitive. After he transforms back to Banner you feel is exaustion and disgust. Liv Tyler does a fine job as Betty Ross, she gives the movie an emotional center, when Betty is in peril or danger the Hulk and audience will know it! Tim Roth great as Emil Blonsky, . The Abomination is a much better villan than Absorbing Man, we finally see Hulk in a knockdown drag-out finale! I was ready to hate William Hurt, 'cause I also agree that Sam Elliot is "Thunderbolt" Ross! Hurt's Ross is a darker a much more desperate character who will do anything to acheive his objective. He is much more calculating, and at the same time sadder. I would be fine with seeing him for the "Avengers" storyline in future. I am just still not sure if who is better Gen. Ross maybe time will tell. I also love that Marvel is making their own movies, and not having studios haggling over different properties at different studios: Spider-Man-Cloumbia, X-Men- Fox. They are finally folding the characters into different movies and creating the Marvel Universe on the Silver Screen. You see Tony Stark, Leader, SHIELD, and allusions to Nick Furry. The future is coming together nicely. If Marvel Studios is going to continue making movies like the top-notch Iron Man and Incredible Hulk, I say bring on Thor, Captain America and the AVENGERS!

When I first read this book in 1989. It blew my doors off!! The heroes were so different and so conflicted. Baytor your criticism is understandable, the long narrative is all about the . Its all about how in the 80's were were always "2 minutes to midnight". The small characters you spoke of are developed for you sympathize with them, Plus when I first read the book the were always a looming threat. It is very hard to read the book today and get that same sense of dread that Moore so perfectly illustrates. It hard to criticize the Watchmen in a post Watchmen world. It changed alot of the rules that we are now using to judge it. I recently reread it getting psyched and a little scared about the movie they are making. You can apply a lot of our current troubles in the world and the saturation of comic book characters into the mainstream of pop culture. To my pleasure and mild surprise alot of the material still resounds today. It truly stands the test of time a true classic, and an essential read!