And now our Watchmen has ended.
In its final three episodes, the first and perhaps only season of the groundbreaking HBO series has brought itself to an apocalyptic close, not merely unafraid to break the precious dinnerware (and also some eggs) but full-on setting the kitchen ablaze.
Following the impossible to follow sixth hour “This Extraordinary Being,” a high point of television storytelling, the final burst of episodes form a trilogy which ups the narrative momentum and leaves viewers with many questions to ponder as the final credits roll.
Lady Trieu
The enigmatic Lady Trieu is revealed, not surprisingly, as…
(Note: this article consists of details taken directly from the television series whether they be explicitly stated or clarified in context; from canonical ancillary materials; and from statements provided by the show’s writers and creators. Any instances of ambiguity, implication, or speculation are specifically noted).
The Island, Jacob, & the Man in Black
The island is the source of an anomalous form of electromagnetic energy, which by certain definitions defies understood science and could be considered magic. This energy distorts time and space, possesses advanced healing properties, and acts as a gateway to whatever spiritual forces exist beyond our world…
In 2017, Showtime aired a revival of Twin Peaks, the landmark television show created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The eighth hour of that limited series pushed the medium into a largely unexplored no man’s land, located somewhere between the realms of TV, film, and art experiment, employing abstract imagery and mythic storytelling to detail the birth of the Twin Peaks cosmology.
It’s an astonishing effort, considered to be some of Lynch’s best work as well as a high point of modern television in general.
“This Extraordinary Being” — the long-awaited origin story for Will Reeves and Hooded Justice—…
In spring of 2009, the highly anticipated big screen adaptation of Watchmen, a seminal and medium-changing graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, was finally released in theaters.
That this film even happened was a minor thermodynamic miracle: after years of development hell and could-have-been’s, and then a last minute legal dispute between Warner Bros and 20th Century Fox just weeks before its premiere, the Zack Snyder-directed opus hit pop culture like a mutant squid suddenly dropped into downtown Manhattan.
Reactions fell all over the board. The general consensus, measured in terms of box office, seemed to be indifference…
As a writer and critic, I have to admit a bias: Watchmen is one of my favorite stories of all time. Though I’m not especially immersed in the world of superheroes or the comic book medium in general, something about Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore’s graphic novel completely enthralled me, and to this day it remains a significant creative touchstone in my life.
Therefore, it’s difficult to poke holes in something so personal. Similar to the notion of altering the past, why challenge an experience if the end result is fundamentally positive? …
Sometimes, a first episode tells the audience exactly what to anticipate going forward. It will establish the tonal range of the storytelling, and we can count on the show to stay largely within those parameters: expect this much drama, a heavy dose of comedy, a dash of sci-fi.
Other times, a new series refuses to tip its hand, leaving viewers in the dark about where this is headed or even what the rules are.
By turns funnier and darker, weirder and more serious than the premiere, if this second episode is any indication, Watchmen falls squarely into the latter camp.
…
This Sunday saw the premiere of HBO’s Watchmen, a limited nine-episode series. Overseen by Damon Lindelof — a vocally devout fan of everything Watchmen, its influence quite apparent in some of Lindelof’s other work such as Lost and Prometheus — the show serves as a follow-up to the iconic DC graphic novel from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
Published in the mid-80s, Watchmen was famous in part for tackling various social issues of the day. Lindelof and his team of writers have seen fit to continue that tradition, using their new series to offer commentary on the problems currently gripping…
Part III: fairy tales and fare-thee-wells
Film is an illusion, as is nostalgia itself. The Hollywood recreated in Tarantino’s film is at once an accurate simulation and a product of fantasy, a depiction of a world which may or may not have existed but which we feel was real.
David Lynch has touched upon this as well, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire exploring Hollywood as a place of dreams, not only in terms of hopes of fame and fortune, but also as a place where dreams are manufactured through the art of making movies. …
Part II: I will follow him
(Note: This article reveals the ending of the 2017 Twin Peaks revival)
The zeitgeist of the 60's is certainly no stranger to the idea of a dark side to masculinity. Such is the subject of Kenneth Anger’s landmark experimental short film, Scorpio Rising, a piece which appears prophetic in retrospect.
Scored exclusively with pop songs and containing no dialogue, Scorpio opens with a series of seemingly innocuous scenes of motorcycle enthusiasts preparing for a night out on the town. They fetishistically tend to their bikes and their looks, a winking, mild homoeroticism accentuating their…
Part I: history, his story, and her story
Quentin Tarantino’s work maintains a complex relationship with the past, both in terms of pop culture and actual historical events. At times, he waxes nostalgic. On other occasions, the nostalgia is accompanied by a dose of intentionally absurd sarcasm, or even insightful satire. And in a few instances he rewrites history completely.
His latest film, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, manages the feat of balancing all three, swapping one out for another at crucial moments to keep the audience on their toes. Most explicitly, the movie presents a surprisingly nuanced…
