F

Flavorwire

Watchmen

Comics

What Your Favorite Comic Says About You

By Emily Temple on

Yesterday, at long last, the paperback edition of The Complete Calvin and Hobbes hit stores. As far as we can tell, there is a certain kind of person who really goes gaga for Calvin and Hobbes — the person who as a kid loved to tromp through the forest all day and come home to read on the couch with a fat hot chocolate at night, who maybe saw things a little differently than those pesky grownups — and that got us to thinking. While being into comics already gets you into the first stage of nerdery, the stories the form brings us range from the serious to the goofball, the superhero to the realist, so there’s no real way to lump comic fans all together. So what does your favorite comic (or graphic novel, just to be inclusive) say about you? Find out after the jump — and let us know if we’ve hit the nail on the head or if you’re plotting our demise in the comments. … Read More

Film

10 ‘Unfilmable’ Books That Made It to the Big Screen

By Emily Temple on

Some books, critics say, are simply unfilmable. And it’s true — until, of course, they get filmed. This year, we feel like we can’t turn around without running into a new film adaptation of a book that has, until now, been generally agreed to be too stylistically complex, too structurally strange, too epic in proportion for the big screen. While we’re still waiting on Pale Fire and 100 Years of Solitude, we’re getting two in the next two weeks alone: Cloud Atlas and Midnight’s Children. Inspired by this turn of events, we’ve put together a list of a few supposedly unfilmable books that have been adapted into films against all odds — some with great success, and others with, well, less success. Read our list after the jump, and add your own unfilmable favorites in the comments! … Read More

Film

The Best Dylan Cues in Movie History

By Jason Bailey on

So Bob Dyan’s got a new album out today, and while your film editor usually sticks to the movie beat, it’s not like Dylan is just a music figure, or even that vaguest of descriptions, a “pop culture icon.” He’s also an ever-present force in film and television, with his songs (as either writer or performer) appearing in nearly 400 movies and TV shows (according to IMDb). And while at least half of those are lazy filmmakers using the opening riff of Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower” cover to convey the turbulence of the sixties, that’s still quite a lot of Zimmy on film — he’s been much more free with his licensing than, say, the Beatles, whose best cinematic cues we ran down a couple of months back. In honor of Dylan’s new record (always a cause for celebration), we do the same for him below — with the same rules, i.e., no covers, no straight-up performances, but scenes where the music of Mr. Dylan is spotlighted, and in turn furthers the action and mood. Our ten favorites are after the jump. … Read More

Comics

Alan Moore Outraged Over DC Comics’ ‘Watchmen’ Prequels

By Caroline Stanley on

In a move that Alan Moore calls “completely shameless,” DC Comics has announced plans to publish Before Watchmen, a prequel franchise that will expand on the back stories of the characters introduced in Watchmen, which is the best-selling graphic novel of all time. “I tend to take this latest development as a kind of eager… Read More

Celebrity

When Real Political Figures Cameo in Comic Books

By Sam Schlinkert on

It was announced yesterday that a forthcoming issue of Archie will feature President Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. In Archie #616: Campaign Pain Part 1, which will be released this December, Obama and Palin become involved in an “out of control” campaign for student government between Archie and Reggie. And yes, a second part comes out a month later in which Riverdale becomes “the center of a national crisis” that somehow involves the Secret Service. Of course this isn’t the first time a politician has made a cameo in a comic book. Click through for more examples, including an earlier appearance by President Obama. … Read More

Film

Rate-a-Trailer: Tron Legacy

By Andrew Hwang on

Following last year’s teaser, the second trailer for Tron Legacy is more plot-oriented, with the father-son narrative fleshed out. Though the introduction into the computer-generated Tron world and the lead channeling Chris Pine in Star Trek are a little preposterous, the awesome light cycle trails and a taste of the Daft Punk score are anything but. In fact, it plays a lot like the Watchmen trailer did, with slowly crescendoing dystopian music that leads into slow-mo action sequences, new character quick pans, and a zoom in on the pivotal character (Oscar winner Jeff Bridges). … Read More

Design

Fun with Pop Culture Propaganda Posters

By Andrew Hwang on

“Strength Through Unity, Unity Through Faith.” This V for Vendetta slogan echoed the dystopia of George Orwell’s 1984 — and what better way to embrace it than through vintage-inspired propaganda posters that cite pop-culture influences? Why, they’re even sneakier than those Illuminati pop stars. After the jump, peruse some of our favorite propaganda parodies, featuring everyone from Captain America to Kermit the Frog. But before you look, be warned: You might just walk away brainwashed, ready to start a revolution. On Planet Melmac. … Read More

Web

The Morning’s Top 5 Cultural Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Avenue Q has announced that it’s closing on September 13th. [via The Awl]
2. A director’s cut of Watchmen (which if you’ll remember, didn’t do so hot the first time around) will hit theaters the weekend before the film’s July 21 DVD release. [via Reuters]
3. No-name actors are ruling… Read More

Web

This Morning’s Top 5 Cultural Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Five J.J. Abrams surprises you might have missed in Star Trek [via MTV]

2. Lily Allen gets church giggles performing censored lyrics on the BBC [via Daily Mirror]

3. The Hollywood madam who “makes Heidi Fleiss look like Mary Poppins” [via NYDN]

4. Warner Home Video wants to help you find… Read More

Film

Required Viewing: The First 5 Minutes of Watchmen

By Caroline Stanley on

When I came across this artfully-done Philips ad on Videogum it reminded me a lot of the sweeping opening sequence of Watchmen — which bare with me, but I just got around to seeing over the weekend because I made myself finish Alan Moore’s graphic novel first. (After reading Alex Carnevale’s review on This Recording, I didn’t want to go in and get confused.) … Read More