Who Watches The Watchmen? I did.

Watchmen
Director: Zack Synder
Starring: Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffery Dean Morgan & Patrick Wilson
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-fi
Rated: R
Tag line: It's the End of the Superhero As We Know It.
My rating: 4 stars

Plot: After the murder of Edward Blake, a.k.a. The Comedian, masked vigilante Rorschach begins to investigate the death of his old friend. Paranoid that a "mask" killer is out targeting his former partners, he digs deeper into the conspiracy. As the dots begin to connect, mapping what he feared, something more devious is revealed: The plot to kill millions of innocent people.

Review: I'm not going to lie to you: Like every nerd out there in the world who read Watchmen, I was afraid that an adaptation of the movie would fail and ruin the concept of the highly acclaimed graphic novel. Zack Snyder isn't known for his masterpieces - at least in my opinion - as he pretty much destroyed the concept of Dawn of the Dead when he remade it. However, direction of the movie (and the screenplay as well as actors) was more than I anticipated. The movie, in sum, was awesome.

What was known as the unfilmable comic book does not displease those who loved the original concept. Approximately three hours long, the movie isn't for those who have the misguided information that this is in fact a superhero movie. It isn't. Much like the graphic novel, the movie digs deep into the psychologies and philosophies of each independent superhero the film revolves around. From the powerlessness of Dan Dreiberg who never let go of his alter ego, Nite Owl, to the god that closed his eyes concept of Dr. Manhattan. Each actor gives his and her own interpretation to each of the characters, never straying from their true meaning.

I should now take a small side step to let those of you who are planning to take your children to see the movie: Dr. Manhattan is completely naked throughout most of the movie and you get to see him ENTIRELY.

The movie leaves you with the question: What if Superheroes were real? Would they resemble the ones we fictionalized in our comics, or would they be more inclined to be like the ones presented in Watchmen?

Soundtrack
Watchmen OST
Artist: Various
Amazon rating: 4 out of 5 stars
My rating: 4 stars

Even with the shitty My Chemical Romance remake of a classic Bob Dylan song aside, the soundtrack to Watchmen is nothing less than stellar. Featuring artists that have left their mark in the music hall of fame - MCR, aside of course - the music takes you back to a yesteryear when music was good and had significance.

The Watchmen Score is also worth listening to.

The Strangers (2008)

The Strangers
Director: Byran Bertino
Starring: Liv Tylor & Scott Speedman
Genre: Horror, Suspense Thriller
Rated: R (Theatrical version) Unrated (DVD)
Tag line: We tell ourselves there's nothing to fear - but sometimes, we're wrong.
Amazon Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
My Rating: 4 stars

Plot: While staying at a vacation house in the middle of nowhere, a young couple are terrorized by masked assailants.

Review: With the raves for psychological horror movies, I'm sure that The Strangers will be horribly overlooked and insulted by the masses. The feel of the movie alone won't live up to the hype of the neo-slasher flick fans whose canon is made up of Saw, Hostel, and the remakes of Halloween and the soon to be released Friday the 13th.

However, the look at feel of the film is genuine - something out of a 1970's B-horror movie such as The Last House on the Left. The movie starts off immediately, little is left for character development. You never learn the identities of the masked assailants, nor do you get to know you're victims before the torture starts.

The acting is brilliant, as is the direction of the movie. What really gets me, however, is the fact that the killers are of a few words. There isn't a ton of dialogue to build fear in the victims. The fact that they are quiet rather than tormentors of speech makes the movie even more realistic.

Trivia: While the film is marketed as inspired on true events, the movie is completely fictitious. Bryan Bertino does note, however, that the film's inspiration is greatly due to the Manson family murders (true crime book Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murdersby Vincent Bugliosi & Curt Gentry).