New York Times Bites My Watchmen Rhyme, CNN Bites Something Else

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen is definitely a visionary comic. But is Watchmen director Zack Snyder a visionary filmmaker, just because he’s adaptating the seminal graphic novel for the screen? I asked as much for Wired back in December, recalling my experience interviewing the director while he was making 300 and planning Watchmen back in 2007. Yesterday, the New York Times bit my rhyme.

Here’s my spiel for Wired:

Is Watchmen Director Zack Snyder Really ‘Visionary’?
The Watchmen movie trailers we’ve seen so far offer eye-catching insight into how Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ canonical comic will make the jump to popcorn mall fare. But they also come somewhat overloaded with marketing hype, most notably by calling Zack Snyder a “visionary” director. That may be going a bit far to sell a movie that needs little selling. MORE @ WIRED

Here is the shorty from Brooks Barnes of the New York Times

A Director of Two Films Is Suddenly a ‘Visionary’ by His Third
People have been debating the “visionary” label online since December, when Warner Brothers used the adjective in a trailer. Wired magazine called “such hyperbole” a sign “that ‘Watchmen’ may not have the goods.” Comments on sites like I Watch Stuff have been even less kind. A Warner Brothers spokeswoman declined to comment.

First, I’m honored that the NYT would not only bite my rhyme, but also cite it too. The same can’t be said of CNN, which sucked off my Wired chat with the Heath Ledger fanboys at The Ultimate Joker. Here’s that interview:

Heath Ledger Fans Call for Joker’s Retirement From Film
Heath Ledger’s flawless acting, and tragic passing, immortalized his portrayal of the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight. But should Ledger’s killer clown be the last Joker to grace the big screen? That’s what the fanboys over at a new site called The Ultimate Joker are arguing. They’ve launched a petition calling for studios to withdraw the character for good from any future Batman movies, a somewhat strange request given all the actors who have stepped into the Joker’s murderous shoes on screens large and small. MORE @ WIRED

Meanwhile, here’s what the jokers at CNN published days after the piece posted. Without giving me any love at all.

Ledger fans demand the Joker retired from film
A group of Heath Ledger fans have taken their reverence for the late “The Dark Knight” star to a whole new level. Heath Ledger fans at Web site, The Ultimate Joker, launched a petition calling for studios to remove The Joker from future Batman movies. Followers of the actor, who electrified audiences with his chilling reinvention of the Joker in the second Batman blockbuster, are calling for the character to be retired from the movies permanently.

Now, I’m not one to complain, mainstream media. OK, I am, but that’s not the point. The point is that I get paid to complain. You get paid way more to do way less, so you should even out that injustice by at least citing me if you’re going to bite me. By the way, CNN, bite me.

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[SEE ALSO]
300 director Zack Snyder may be a friend to CGI, but he knows when to leave it alone. Our interview explains: MORE