watchmen - io9

posts about #watchmen more →
The Greatest Nerdy Gift Books In The Galaxy
Top 10 Science Fiction Disappointments Of The Past Decade
15 Toys That Will Help You Survive The Holidays
For Display
Page-To-Screen Fail: The Worst Live-Action Versions Of Book Characters
5 US Presidents Best Equipped To Handle An Alien Invasion
#5: Richard Nixon
#4: Ulysses S. Grant
#3: Andrew Jackson
#2: Teddy Roosevelt

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

Platypus Man
12/16/09

In reply to The Greatest Nerdy Gift Books In The Galaxy
For the deluxe editions, I would also include the leatherbound deluxe edition of The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which not only contains all 5 books, but looks awesome. I call it the bible-edition, which is even funnier considering the series and Mr. Adams.

[search.barnesandnoble.com]
Reply

Edited by Platypus Man at 12/16/09 8:11 AM Platypus Man was starred Platypus Man was unstarred

Dunc
12/16/09

In reply to The Greatest Nerdy Gift Books In The Galaxy
Good luck finding The Complete Vader: The book had printing issues and has been pushed back to 2011, though a few people who preordered received copies.
Reply

Charlie Jane Anders promoted this comment Dunc was starred Dunc was unstarred

Zenuflecked
12/16/09

In reply to The Greatest Nerdy Gift Books In The Galaxy
I'm sort of shocked that the latest edition of this: [www.spectrumfantasticart.com] wasn't listed. I've always considered it a yearly must have for a great view of sci-fi fantasy art for the year. Of course based on the latest news from their website if you don't have your copy already, it is not a given that you can get one.
Reply

Charlie Jane Anders promoted this comment Zenuflecked was starred Zenuflecked was unstarred

goldfarb
12/15/09

In reply to The Greatest Nerdy Gift Books In The Galaxy
I really like it someone bought this book for me:
[www.taschen.com]

:)
Reply

Edited by goldfarb at 12/15/09 9:51 PM goldfarb was starred goldfarb was unstarred

Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
12/15/09

In reply to The Greatest Nerdy Gift Books In The Galaxy
Ooooo, shiiiiny!

Thanks also for the non-gallery versions!
Reply

Ruthless, If you let me
12/15/09

@Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.: On all galleries, if you take out ".../gallery" from the URL, BAM! non-gallery shiiiiny versions. ;)
Reply

Charlie Jane Anders
12/15/09

@Ruthless, If you let me: That is true. However, sometimes if you do that, the text and the images run together weirdly. When I include the "click here for galleries" thing, that partly means that I've gone thru and added a bit of extra formatting so it'll look okay in non-gallery format. :)
Reply

Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
12/15/09

@Ruthless, If you let me: I've been using the "delete /gallery" trick for a while but it doesn't always work right, so I was thanking Charlie for doing the extra formatting so the text matches up correctly.
Reply

Ruthless, If you let me
12/16/09

@Charlie Jane Anders: Huh. I'd never noticed before. I prefer the gallery view anyway. :)
Reply

Facebones
12/15/09

In reply to The Greatest Nerdy Gift Books In The Galaxy
I would add the expensive but beautiful Taschen art book "Magic; 1400-1950." Co-authored by pre-eminent magic historians Ricky Jay and Jim Steinmeyer. Not exactly SF, but I am sure there is an audience for it here.
Reply

Ruthless, If you let me promoted this comment Facebones was starred Facebones was unstarred

Pittsburghmuggle
12/15/09

In reply to The Greatest Nerdy Gift Books In The Galaxy
I never read Pride and Prejudice. Would I enjoy the zombie mashup still?
Reply

Pittsburghmuggle was starred Pittsburghmuggle was unstarred

Facebones
12/15/09

@Pittsburghmuggle: Well, there are zombies. Although like any parody, your enjoyment will increase with a knowledge of the source material. My mom loved P&P&Z largely because she loves Jane Austen.
Reply

Ruthless, If you let me promoted this comment Facebones was starred Facebones was unstarred

Ruthless, If you let me
12/15/09

In reply to The Greatest Nerdy Gift Books In The Galaxy
From personal experience, Voices From The Moon is pretty rad.
Reply

jaredthaja888
12/10/09

In reply to Top 10 Science Fiction Disappointments Of The Past Decade
No mention of Abram's Star Trek, which was basically Superman Returns 2.0, a stale lifeless shell of what it should be. I'd give SR 1 if it wasn't for that I kinda saw it coming. I for one loved Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis, BSG's finale, the Star Wars Prequels, Indy 4, Terminator Salvation and the Matrix sequels, in fact the first Matrix sucked in my opinion, the Sequels saved that franchise. Watchmen was only disappointing if you had unrealistic expectations, I found it better then I expected
Reply

Wookie1972 approved this comment jaredthaja888 was starred jaredthaja888 was unstarred

Wookie1972
12/10/09

@jaredthaja888: Totally opposite opinion on Star Trek, but to each their own.
Reply

Wookie1972 was starred Wookie1972 was unstarred

knyghtryda
12/10/09

@jaredthaja888:
I call flamebait... so I'll just stop right there
Reply

SJ_Edwards promoted this comment knyghtryda was starred knyghtryda was unstarred

Demonbird
12/19/09

@jaredthaja888:
Long time Star Trek fan here.
I wouldn't call it a bad movie, but it had a terrible plot I thought, with holes that SHOULD have been answered in film, not a seperate comic, and some that weren't answered at all.
It was carried by it's cg and action scenes to the masses who wanted a popcorn flick.
Reply

Demonbird was starred Demonbird was unstarred

Eric77J
12/10/09

In reply to Top 10 Science Fiction Disappointments Of The Past Decade
I enjoyed "Superman Returns." Giving Superman a son moved the story forward.
Reply

Wookie1972 approved this comment Eric77J was starred Eric77J was unstarred

Wookie1972
12/10/09

@Eric77J: It moved it forward, but not in a good way at all.
Reply

Wookie1972 was starred Wookie1972 was unstarred

charles.boyer
12/10/09

In reply to Top 10 Science Fiction Disappointments Of The Past Decade
If you want to know why NASA doesn't have a replacement vehicle for the Shuttle system, look in the mirror, people.

They have tried multiple times to get a replacement program off the ground, only to be rebuffed or unfunded by Congress. Various presidents have made promises to deliver a replacement, none have delivered and it looks like Barack Obama will join their long and quite frankly undistinguished ranks.

So why do I say it is OUR fault? Because we as votes have been largely indifferent and complacent when it comes to our space program. It is lauded when it succeeds, but jeered when it rightly delays missions due to safety or performance concerns. And when the worst happens -- as it has twice with the Shuttle -- we want to vilify and blame who-ever is responsible...as though spaceflight is now safe and routine.

Many of us like to talk about privatizing space, but that is pie in the sky until a firm -- any firm, mind you -- can reliably deliver any payload to orbit, much less carry humans. Yes, SpaceX and others are doing promising work. Until they can prove their systems, however, we cannot rely upon them as though they are up and running full steam ahead.

The bottom line is that the Augustine Commission has laid on the President's desk a number or recommendations and proposals. To date, he has done nothing with them. In fact, current rumor is that NASA's budget - already far less than the money it needs to do the jobs of which it asked - will be slashed a further ten percent. If that happens, the only way American astronauts will leave the Earth is if they buy a ticket like so many tycoons have already done.

And we, the people, are ignoring this and letting it happen. Shame on us, and don't whine a minute about it. We did it to ourselves and are getting our just deserts.
Reply

SJ_Edwards approved this comment charles.boyer was starred charles.boyer was unstarred

mack002
12/09/09

In reply to Top 10 Science Fiction Disappointments Of The Past Decade
WTF!!?? Firefly was awesome! You bastards!!!
Reply

Wookie1972 approved this comment mack002 was starred mack002 was unstarred

Wookie1972
12/10/09

@mack002: Read the article. Sigh.
Reply

Wookie1972 was starred Wookie1972 was unstarred

reddingofish
12/09/09

In reply to Top 10 Science Fiction Disappointments Of The Past Decade
"promising Virtuality" ?
That show was lame. I hate shows that kill the most interesting character in the first episode. I want to watch a space travel drama to see them travel through space. Not to fight the Civil War in virtual reality, with a dead guy.
Reply

reddingofish was starred reddingofish was unstarred

Wookie1972
12/09/09

In reply to Top 10 Science Fiction Disappointments Of The Past Decade
I would also add the last two seasons of X-Files. I really felt that Carter lost the plot. literally.
Reply

Wookie1972 was starred Wookie1972 was unstarred

eriktderek
12/09/09

In reply to Top 10 Science Fiction Disappointments Of The Past Decade
Watchmen was STILL great, very thought provoking, deep. Pretty damn good. Maybe not as good as book, but that was near impossible. Ya gotta reward a complex plot and like Watchmen, call T4 or Transformers garbage.
Reply

HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment eriktderek was starred eriktderek was unstarred

HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H.
12/09/09

@eriktderek: I agree with this whole-heartedly. And I actually think the movie's ending worked better.
Reply

KaneBaker
12/09/09

@eriktderek: i think watchmen may not have been a mega commercial blockbuster, but it's precisely because of how true it was to the source material that it couldn't be bigger mainstream. (Funny how it's one of the highest grossing movies ever and still not enough?)
Reply

Wookie1972 promoted this comment KaneBaker was starred KaneBaker was unstarred

Wookie1972
12/09/09

@eriktderek:I don't have to reward Watchmen for anything, because the "complex plot" was simply taken whole hog from the original. Snyder gave no indication of an ability to actually *adapt* the work into another medium rather than just presenting it. It was a major disappointment.
Reply

Wookie1972 was starred Wookie1972 was unstarred

Wookie1972
12/09/09

@KaneBaker: Highest grossing movies ever? Um, no. It's 377 on the top domestic grosses of all time. It's not even one of the top grossing movies of the year.
Reply

Wookie1972 was starred Wookie1972 was unstarred

1Grand_Marquis
12/09/09

@Wookie1972: Yeah, it's no good praising a movie for the things it's aping directly from its source material. It should bring something to the table as well. I thought the film was good. But I expected better.
Reply

Wookie1972 promoted this comment 1Grand_Marquis was starred 1Grand_Marquis was unstarred

KaneBaker
12/09/09

@Wookie1972: you are right, i boradly overstated, what it did have was one of the biggest openings for it's time frame (pre easter). The final gorss is not huge, although i would consider it very successful.

Now the expectations for this were overblown, watchmen is not spiderman or harry potter in terms of attached audience.
Reply

KaneBaker was starred KaneBaker was unstarred

Wookie1972
12/10/09

@1Grand_Marquis: What it reminded me of is the Marvel movie adaptations from the 80s, whose sole purpose was really just to take something away from the movie in the days before home video. In spite of some great art by Al Williamson on the Star Wars ones, they were utterly superfluous.
Reply

Wookie1972 was starred Wookie1972 was unstarred

Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

SUBSCRIBE TO io9

Login

Reset Password

Register

Submit Your Comment