TIME Magazine: 'Watchmen' EXISTS.

Those who listen to our show know that I at least pray Zack Snyder's adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's Watchmen will be a good, faithful adaptation. Co-host Mike in the other hand, is not even that hopeful. And while one could rightfully accuse him of wanting to spear this film without giving it a chance, he has every right to do so.

Mike grew up with the Watchmen. He read the book at the public library in his teens and considers it not only one of the greatest comic books ever made, but one of the greatest literary works as well. I love Watchmen, I think it's a fantastic read, but my history and devotion to the book doesn't rival Mike's by even half. I read the book in my 20's, not my teens. Plus I've only read it twice - nowhere near the number of times Mike has.

That said,Time Magazine writer Matt Selman ran an interesting piece on his 'Nerd Blog' describing his experience as he watched the film during a special critic's screening. Because of a press embargo, he was prohibited from 'reviewing' the film in any way. Instead, he related the "experience of seeing a piece of literature with which I have an intense personal connection LITERALLY COME TO LIFE."

Selman adds:

Sitting in that screening room and watching the visual world of the Watchmen movie unfold was one of the most powerful experiences I've ever had. Not film experiences. Just EXPERIENCES. I don't think I realized how close I was to the original book until I saw such a loving, detail-rich, almost obsessive recreation of that universe. It had my heart pounding and head swimming.

Like Mike, Selman is a long-term Watchmen fan. He first read the book in his teens, and re-read it many times after that. So his expectations for Snyder's movie were very high. Knowing this, combined with the praise Selman has for the film - not as a movie, but as an 'experience' - has certainly elevated my hopes.

What will Mike think of the film? Time will only tell.

You can read the rest of Sellman's piece here.

In other news, I recently began to read Watchmen for a third time, this being the last time I will be able to read this seminal work purely without the nagging comparisons - both good or bad - to the film. Moore and Gibbons did such a great job of making such a complex, moving, and character-driven story seem so effortless, that if Snyder's movie does in fact suck, I'll probably be depressed until June.

We've got a few special Watchmen-related features coming in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned.