Survivor: Samoa - Weeks 4 - 7

A Much Needed Merge

Don’t worry! You may have thought I had abandoned my favorite show, but be certain I haven’t! It’s an excuse, but Whitney and I have been super busy. With the combination of taking care of a house, my new job, and being out of town several weekends, we fell a bit behind with all the episodes. I’m not going to even attempt to try to recap each episode, but I want to give you my quick thoughts about the season and then I’m going to summarize about both the players that got the boot and those left in the game. I haven’t watched last night’s episode, so keep that in mind if you email me comments.

To be honest, this hasn’t been my favorite season. It started out strong, but the show has been plagued with a tribe that never wins, and it’s just not as fun to watch. Foa Foa’s losing streak combined with the down weather has provided players who are both physically worn out to strategize and those way too comfortable to strategize (Galu). I’m so glad that this merge is coming up because like last season, I can easily see Galu unraveling. Especially with Russell S. gone, I think Galu will run amuck with new strategy just because they are bored. I think there are a lot of wild cards on that tribe, so we’ll see what happens.

I never say this, but this is season that I think really could have benefited from mixing up the tribes half way. It was pretty clear that Foa Foa was never really going to catch a lucky win streak. Also, this has been one of those seasons whose conditions have been so bad, I’ve actually pondered myself if I could’ve stuck with it like they have. The rain has been miserable and the shots of the casts’ hands and toes would almost (and I stress the word almost) make me not want to go on the show.

So my quick thoughts on those departed...

Yasmin - Probably a mistake at the time to vote her off because of what she brought to challenges, but now we see that it really didn’t matter. From a viewer standpoint, I would have loved to see her stick around just for entertainment sake, but when you are super annoying in this game, you’ll be voted out quick.

Ashley - I really thought she would have gone further. I thought she would have strategized more than she did. I don’t blame the tribe for voting her out, especially when Liz did so well in that challenge.

Russell S. - He provided one of the scariest moments on Survivor history. It wasn’t as frightful the first time he fainted, but seeing his eyes glaze over when he sat up that second time, it showed how brutal this game was. I felt bad for him because you could tell he loved playing this game. I think he would’ve gone far, but he lacked the strategizing skills that you need when the merge comes. I hated to see him go out like that, and I usually don’t say that when people are removed from the game involuntarily.

Elizabeth - She was just the casualty of being on a bad tribe. She was smart and strong in challenges, and I don’t blame Foa Foa for voting her out. Going into the merge, I think Jaison would be more loyal than Liz would’ve been. That’s not a knock on her character, I’m just saying that she could’ve done some damage later on in the game.

And my thoughts on those remaining...

Russell H. - I can’t wait to see what he does in the merge. Like every other Survivor villain, I’m growing to love him, especially because he brings so much entertainment to the game. I think Russell could easily go the final two, but I just think that somebody will finally expose his evil ways. It’ll catch up to him... but I kinda hope it doesn’t.

Natalie - She seems to be smarter than she appears. I bet she plays a really good social game and watch for her bonding with Laura, Monica and Kelly on Galu.

Jaison - It’s not just because he’s my pick, but I’ve been disappointed in Jaison. He has the intelligence and the strength to win this game, but he is holding back. He’ll be gone early just because he’ll be seen as a threat in individual immunity.

Mick - He’s been boring and will just follow Russell along until the cord is cut. Another guy whose heart just isn’t in it anymore. He’s been no sort of leader for Foa Foa.

Erik - I could see Erik easily winning the game if he doesn’t get blindsided. He has the immunity idol, he’s strong and strategic... My pick to win at this moment.

Dave - Really smart, but he’ll be his own worst enemy. I can’t wait to see Russell and him on the same tribe, they are going to HATE each other. He really annoys me, but I could see him going far too.

John - I would never have guessed he would have made it this far. I’m still not sure what to think of him, but I think he’s going to be more a follower than a leader when it comes to winning the game. I don’t see him winning.

Brett - The same thing goes for Brett as John. Maybe they are both flying under the radar on purpose, but both could be a threat to win individual immunity. I don’t see Brett straying far from his alliance at all.

Laura - I could easily see her getting the group of girls together to dominate (accept for Shambo). She’s smart enough to see that she’s at the bottom of the Galu food chain, so I could see her leading the way to help the Foa Foa members get back into the game. Russell was very smart to talk to her on this past episode.

Kelly - Also another girl who seems smarter than she seems. I can’t really say much about her because they haven’t shown much of her.

Monica - She may fly under the radar for a long time, but she’s already been on the chopping block twice, so I really can’t see how she could win.

Shambo - What a wild card Shambo is. Even if she got to the end, I don’t see many jury members giving her the money. She’ll stay true to the four Galu guys if they put enough trust in her, but Foa Foa sure does like her and vice versa. She’ll probably make a stupid move that actually makes her win the game. Who knows with her...

So that’s it! Sorry for the late email and I’ll try to be more disciplined in my writing. I know I may not hear much response because many of you probably watched last night’s episode, but let me know if you are still reading!

Yahoo for the merge!

Survivor: Samoa - Week 3

The Racist is Gone

Obviously the editors at Survivor don’t read my emails because once again Galu got no coverage this episode. While watching this episode, Whitney commented, “I don’t like that tribe.” As soon as she said it, we talked about why that might be and we decided it is because we haven’t spent any time with them. Even though they keep on winning, the way the show has been edited makes Foa Foa the underdogs (even though they have dug their own grave) and Galu as the bad guys, even though there seems to be some very nice people on that tribe. If Foa Foa keeps losing, expect a shake up between tribes very soon. I want to see this just to see how Evil Russell reacts to this.

You know a tribe is dysfunctional when as soon as tribal council is over, they are talking about who is going next. It’s as if that they are already expecting to lose in the challenge. This is when strategy takes over the game too much and you just need to focus on your tribe winning. As it played out the whole episode, Ashley and Ben were on the chopping block from the get go. Ben because he’s, well, Ben... and Ashley because Evil Russell is intimidated by smart girls.

I don’t know if you will agree with me on this, but I am beginning to think that Evil Russell is a lot smarter than what he even displays. Yes, it’s obvious that he loves the spotlight and I think he gives himself way too much credit, but he definitely can get people to trust him. The gullible and to me, boring, Mick is like a King who lets his advisor make all the decisions for him. I keep telling myself that people are going to catch on to Evil Russ, but maybe his seed analogy is true. The reason I am giving him this credit is because of how he backed away from his strategy to get Ashley off. I saw a switch go off in his head that usually happens with great players. Great players know how to be aggressive, yet know when to back off a bit. We’ll see if he stays in this category, because he could easily get bit by the cockiness bug that takes down players (Kenny from Gabon comes to my mind).

For some reason the immunity challenge didn’t click with me this time. I know it was another physical one, but I couldn’t quite grasp the strategy of the players to keep others out of the “block zone.” Also, I don’t like it how some of the players on Foa Foa sat out even though they were down in numbers. I think it was ok for that first challenge because it was just for reward and it started things off, but I think if all possible, everybody should compete. Seeing Mr. Rebel completely miss a tackle was all worth it though.

Following the challenge, we finally got to see some drama at Galu’s tribe besides Shambo’s disgust. Good Russell, as the tribe’s leader, chose comfort over functionality. No matter what he chose, somebody was going to be mad. I wouldn’t have chosen the same way, but that’s not the reason I thought this was a bad move. It was because his explanation to his tribemates about taking care of his women was completely displaying his strategy in this game. He clearly is going to try to make alliances with the women in his tribe, which is smart, but I do think it’s dumb that he declared it out loud like he did. If I were the other guys on the tribe, this would have been a huge red flag for me.

We then saw Shambo throw her tribe under the bus as she became the most amazing person ever in the eyes of Foa Foa. Yasmin, take notes... If Shambo was smart, she would try to mend fences better at Galu, but regardless, she has put herself in a great spot if a merge was to occur. She showed exactly what you need to do if you spend time at another tribe’s camp.

Now to the ousting of Ben... He needed to go and I’m proud of Jaison for standing up like he did. Now, from a game perspective, I don’t know about his threat of leaving the game if Ben stuck around, from a personal perspective, I commend him. I think mentally Jaison is going to check out of Survivor. This pains me to say because he’s my pick for this season, but I think he’s a very smart and athletic guy who could win this game, but other personalities may become the death of him. He’s almost to that point of being so smart the he’s going to put life in perspective and wonder why the heck he is interacting with these wild personalities. Maybe with Ben gone, that will change, but who knows?

It was good to get rid of Ben just from a tribe dynamic position. He was annoying, not really great at challenges, and we really didn’t get to see how much he actually did at camp except just chop one piece of wood over and over and over again. That was one of the most personal tribal councils I’ve seen and I was with Jaison all the way. I thought that Jaison eloquently stated his position well and Ben just was way too prideful to admit that he made a mistake. I don’t remember exactly how he put it, but when he said, “Ok Ben, even if you think Yasmin is ghetto trash, at least admit you weren’t being sensitive to the history of African Americans,” and Ben still wouldn’t back down. That “Southern pride” that just makes me sick. I think it’s one thing to cast controversial people for this show, but I think the producers went too far in casting Ben. Being the way he was in front of everybody, they had to know about his racial tendencies from all the profiling they do for contestants before a show airs. If he had stuck around more, who knows what could have happened between Ben and Jaison, or even Ben and Yasmin, and I think that would definitely had crossed that line of good television versus bad taste. Good riddance to Ben and I hope he gets as little limelight as possible shined on him. I didn’t even love to hate Ben, I just was disgusted by him.

On that cheerful note, what did you think? Am I giving Evil Russell too much credit? What would you have chosen, comfort or functionality? Did Good Russell make the right decision? What did you think of Jaison’s way of getting Ben voted out? What did you think of Ben and do you think the producers went too far in casting somebody like Ben?
Week 3:
The Racist is Gone


Obviously the editors at Survivor don’t read my emails because once again Galu got no coverage this episode. While watching this episode, Whitney commented, “I don’t like that tribe.” As soon as she said it, we talked about why that might be and we decided it is because we haven’t spent any time with them. Even though they keep on winning, the way the show has been edited makes Foa Foa the underdogs (even though they have dug their own grave) and Galu as the bad guys, even though there seems to be some very nice people on that tribe. If Foa Foa keeps losing, expect a shake up between tribes very soon. I want to see this just to see how Evil Russell reacts to this.

You know a tribe is dysfunctional when as soon as tribal council is over, they are talking about who is going next. It’s as if that they are already expecting to lose in the challenge. This is when strategy takes over the game too much and you just need to focus on your tribe winning. As it played out the whole episode, Ashley and Ben were on the chopping block from the get go. Ben because he’s, well, Ben... and Ashley because Evil Russell is intimidated by smart girls.

I don’t know if you will agree with me on this, but I am beginning to think that Evil Russell is a lot smarter than what he even displays. Yes, it’s obvious that he loves the spotlight and I think he gives himself way too much credit, but he definitely can get people to trust him. The gullible and to me, boring, Mick is like a King who lets his advisor make all the decisions for him. I keep telling myself that people are going to catch on to Evil Russ, but maybe his seed analogy is true. The reason I am giving him this credit is because of how he backed away from his strategy to get Ashley off. I saw a switch go off in his head that usually happens with great players. Great players know how to be aggressive, yet know when to back off a bit. We’ll see if he stays in this category, because he could easily get bit by the cockiness bug that takes down players (Kenny from Gabon comes to my mind).

For some reason the immunity challenge didn’t click with me this time. I know it was another physical one, but I couldn’t quite grasp the strategy of the players to keep others out of the “block zone.” Also, I don’t like it how some of the players on Foa Foa sat out even though they were down in numbers. I think it was ok for that first challenge because it was just for reward and it started things off, but I think if all possible, everybody should compete. Seeing Mr. Rebel completely miss a tackle was all worth it though.

Following the challenge, we finally got to see some drama at Galu’s tribe besides Shambo’s disgust. Good Russell, as the tribe’s leader, chose comfort over functionality. No matter what he chose, somebody was going to be mad. I wouldn’t have chosen the same way, but that’s not the reason I thought this was a bad move. It was because his explanation to his tribemates about taking care of his women was completely displaying his strategy in this game. He clearly is going to try to make alliances with the women in his tribe, which is smart, but I do think it’s dumb that he declared it out loud like he did. If I were the other guys on the tribe, this would have been a huge red flag for me.

We then saw Shambo throw her tribe under the bus as she became the most amazing person ever in the eyes of Foa Foa. Yasmin, take notes... If Shambo was smart, she would try to mend fences better at Galu, but regardless, she has put herself in a great spot if a merge was to occur. She showed exactly what you need to do if you spend time at another tribe’s camp.

Now to the ousting of Ben... He needed to go and I’m proud of Jaison for standing up like he did. Now, from a game perspective, I don’t know about his threat of leaving the game if Ben stuck around, from a personal perspective, I commend him. I think mentally Jaison is going to check out of Survivor. This pains me to say because he’s my pick for this season, but I think he’s a very smart and athletic guy who could win this game, but other personalities may become the death of him. He’s almost to that point of being so smart the he’s going to put life in perspective and wonder why the heck he is interacting with these wild personalities. Maybe with Ben gone, that will change, but who knows?

It was good to get rid of Ben just from a tribe dynamic position. He was annoying, not really great at challenges, and we really didn’t get to see how much he actually did at camp except just chop one piece of wood over and over and over again. That was one of the most personal tribal councils I’ve seen and I was with Jaison all the way. I thought that Jaison eloquently stated his position well and Ben just was way too prideful to admit that he made a mistake. I don’t remember exactly how he put it, but when he said, “Ok Ben, even if you think Yasmin is ghetto trash, at least admit you weren’t being sensitive to the history of African Americans,” and Ben still wouldn’t back down. That “Southern pride” that just makes me sick. I think it’s one thing to cast controversial people for this show, but I think the producers went too far in casting Ben. Being the way he was in front of everybody, they had to know about his racial tendencies from all the profiling they do for contestants before a show airs. If he had stuck around more, who knows what could have happened between Ben and Jaison, or even Ben and Yasmin, and I think that would definitely had crossed that line of good television versus bad taste. Good riddance to Ben and I hope he gets as little limelight as possible shined on him. I didn’t even love to hate Ben, I just was disgusted by him.

On that cheerful note, what did you think? Am I giving Evil Russell too much credit? What would you have chosen, comfort or functionality? Did Good Russell make the right decision? What did you think of Jaison’s way of getting Ben voted out? What did you think of Ben and do you think the producers went too far in casting somebody like Ben?

Survivor: Samoa - Week 2

The Woods Ain’t The Hood

Ladies and gentlemen... Survivor Samoa will now be called Survivor Foa Foa. All I really know about the other tribe is that their color is purple and that Shambo’s antics, although highly entertaining, may cause a good character to be booted early. Despite the fact that all the focus has been on Foa Foa, I though that this was a great second episode. Usually the early episodes are forgettable, but like Fans Vs. Favorites, this episode had plenty of memorable moments.

The episode quickly started off with Betsy’s weariness of Russell, so we knew either of them was probably going to go. Then all of a sudden, the villain of the season with the awful strategy actually showed some intellect as he quickly found the hidden immunity idol before any clues had been dispersed. You have to give him some credit here. He was thinking way ahead of everybody, including the producers. How crazy is it that he found it in pure daylight in front of everybody? The producers had to be throwing their hands up in excitement knowing that the “love to hate” character of the season may be sticking around for a bit longer. Now, I don’t know how smart of a move it was to show Jaison the idol. I think he was brilliant for making a true ally in Jaison because they are such an unlikely pair, but we will see if that lasts (according to the sneak peak for the next episode).

As an audience we were then privy too watching probably the most physical Survivor challenge ever. I’m going to sound like an old fart, but they are going to have to tame these ones down a bit. Each season it grows more brutal, which I think is due to contestants trying to raise the stakes each season. The fact that they had girls and guys in that pit at the same time was pretty crazy to me. Regardless of all of that, I think they made too big of a deal of Probst pulling Ben. I had the privilege of watching this episode with Whitney and both of my parents, and we enjoyed the debate of whether Ben should’ve been kicked out. I was in the position that yes he was because he could’ve broken Russell S.’s leg with his trip, but Whitney’s argued that there was just as much choking going on. I’m sure Ben wasn’t intentionally trying to hurt somebody, so I understand that he was trying everything to help his team win. I think it’s an interesting debate.

So Foa Foa lost the fight and Mike left pretty banged up and had to leave the game. You had to see it coming and the fact that they voted out Marisa before him might come back to haunt them. Because the show started off with 20 contestants, you knew at some point there would be two people gone on one episode, so this gave the producers a perfect opportunity to use Mike’s departure to dwindle the number down a bit. This was unfortunate for Betsy because I thought she could’ve really made an impact on the game. I think with a little more time she could’ve really recruited some of the young ones to her side, but despite Ben’s annoying and cocky behavior, I don’t blame them for voting her out. They really have to win challenges at this point being three members down.

Going back a little bit... How big of a win for the episode was the fact that Yasmin came over to Foa Foa’s camp? Out of all the people Russell S. could choose, he chose her. When she went over to that camp and just started down-talking everybody, it blew my mind. I can’t see how any of those rants could benefit her in this game. What a perfect opportunity missed to maybe make some friends when a merge occurs. Her and Ben’s fight was like watching our two political parties duke it out in Washington D.C. You just knew it wasn’t going to go anywhere. But boy was it entertaining to watch.

Ben amazes me with his no-apologies personality. I personally can’t stand arrogant people like him, but if he keeps up his antics there is now way he can win this game. He isn’t even playing mean smart, and when somebody like Russell starts having disrespect for you, you know he has to be pretty bad.

What are your thoughts on everything? Are you giving Russell H. more respect knowing that he found the idol early? Do you think his alliance with Jaison will have legs? Was the challenge too physical and do you think Ben should’ve been kicked out? Do you wish the focus on both tribes would be a little bit more equal? Were you sad to see Mike and Betsy go? Could Yasmin be the next spokesperson for Micro Machines?

A lot of questions... I look forward to hearing what you think!

And remember... never lose the fishing gear! (How does that seem to happen every season?)

Survivor: Samoa - Week 1

Where Did My Socks Go?

First impressions... I think this season is going to be a good one. The cast already seemed more appealing to me than I had seen during the interviews. This is probably due to the fine editors of the show, but it looks like a group that fall in two categories: Really fun people to be around or very vocal and opinionated people.

Right off the bat, I liked how they did the first impressions this time. Instead of calling out the people who are leased liked, they decided to elect leaders of the tribe, which started this season on a positive note. It was also nice to see two challenges instead of one, and I thought the device of picking out particular people to participate was ingenious. I thought it was interesting to see the difference between how the two elected leaders approached their new positions. Russell S. embraced it with full arms knowing that by being one of the older ones, being catapulted into this position was a great way for him to stay in the game longer. Mick on the other hand never seemed comfortable with it and that attitude definitely carried into the camp. With such outgoing personalities like Ben and Russell H. on his tribe, Mick is going to have a tough time being the leader. I think the tribes seem to be very well divided, so hopefully that’ll prove to be true when it comes to the challenges. It just makes the show more interesting when the victories go back and forth.

I suppose the big standout already is the pure evil nature of Russell H. I honestly don’t see how his strategy will carry him to the end. This is Survivor, so I may be proven wrong, but his charade will eventually have to crumble. I really don’t understand the strategy, and although it may take a scapegoat to reveal his evil ways (cough, cough, Betsy, cough, cough), I can’t see him making it very far into a merge. What will keep him around is his contribution to the challenges. The girls will certainly turn on him, but we’ll see what the guys do. Him and Ben could join forces and reek havoc worse than three Johnny Fairplays combined. Russell’s antics might be shocking and entertaining at first, but I think his presence will get tiresome quick. Pouring out water and burning socks??? There’s a difference between manipulating somebody and endangering somebody’s health.

It’s always hard to write a summary for the first episode because there is so much to see and dissect. You had to feel bad for Marisa because if it wasn’t for Russell, she had potential to go far (think of Erinn from last season), but she made the mistake of not talking to others about Russell before he did the same thing about her. I think it kind of stinks for females like Marisa and Ashley who are confident and outspoken in this game. They always seem to be the first to go, but if you are a guy and have the same qualities, it seems redeemable because a guy may swim faster. That said, this show seemed to focus on certain people more than others for sure (Shambo, Russell H.), but I don’t know if that means that their exit will be fast approaching or if they will be around for awhile. Time will tell...

So... do you think there is any redeemable quality to Russell H.? Did you like the beginning as much as I did (voting leaders in, the first challenge)? Do you feel like this season seems promising?

And on one more note... if you haven’t had a chance to see this show on HD, try to as soon as possible. The crew shoots this show so well and the quality puts live NFL games to shame.

Until next time...

The Reader (2008)

This film has Oscar bait written all over it. From the music, to the subject material, it screams to be noticed as important. Sure enough, it worked, because it earned a Best Picture nomination and a Best Actress win for Kate Winslet’s performance. My curiosity coming in was if it was deserving of all these nods.

Without giving too much away, The Reader is a little strange to watch because it centers on an affair between 15-year old Michael Berg (David Kross and later, Ralph Fiennes) and a mid-30’s bus-ticket puncher, Hanna Schmitz (Winslet). What starts as seemingly just a sexual adventure blossoms into a relationship that ends suddenly for both characters. The way the two meet again is not as much surprising as a moralistic decision that no person would want to take on.

The Reader takes a little time to get into. I didn’t know if it’s because of the uneasiness of the main relationship at first, but once the plot arrives at the turning point, my interest was set in. Kate Winslet is very good here giving a sympathetic feel to at the very least, a faulted character. I would usually go more in depth about both the plot and setting, but trust me, the less you know about the story going, the more you will get out of it at the end.


I wasn’t blown away by the total package of the film, but the moral dilemma forces you to invest, which made for a movie that is very much worth seeing, but won’t stay in my subconscious for a long while.

I give The Reader 3.5 out of 5 tape recorders.

#92: GoodFellas (1990)

Oscar Winner: Best Supporting Actor (Joe Pesci)

When I think of the best directors in movie history, Martin Scorsese is always at the top of that list. He’s had some so-so films here and there, but it’s not from a lack of talent. As an avid film lover and historian, you know his heart is poured out into every film, so you always forgive his missteps and wait for his new one to release. He always seems to be at his best when it comes to gangster films and GoodFellas is no exception. It acts as the pinnacle of Scorsese’s style, preciseness and vision.

GoodFellas is the classic rise-and-fall story of the real-life gangster, Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta. The movie follows him and his two pals, Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) and Tommy De Vito (Joe Pesci) as they climb the ranks of the New York mafia ladder in the 60’s and 70’s. As their fame and prestige grow, so do the murders, as they continue to adapt to the ever-changing climate of their trade.

Like other gangster films before it, GoodFellas gives you an in-depth look at how the mob operates. What makes it different is that its fast pace perfectly reflects the graphic violence and whirlwind nature of the lifestyle. Every scene and moment moves with a quick pulse, yet each one is truly memorable and builds upon the next. Having the knowledge that everything is based on a true story (Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi) adds to the shock of it all, but like no other film, you feel like you are getting an insiders peak that not even a documentary film could cover. Scorsese is the master of being innovative with his camera movement, use of soundtrack, and editing technique. With every swoop and cut, more and more depth is added to the characters.

Along with being a perfect movie technically, the acting is super. Joe Pesci has always been great at playing characters with a ferocious short-man syndrome, but here he plays a character so out of control that you get nervous anytime he appears in a scene. Robert De Niro’s character isn’t as up front as you would expect, but his acting chops shine through in his subtle nature of knowing that he’s not the main character in the film. Also, I think it’s a shame that Ray Liotta doesn’t get more credit for his role here. He’s likable and charming, yet provides the dangerous qualities that is needed for his tragic nature. In particular, I marveled at how well he did the voice-over narration, which is wound throughout the film so much, that with one bad inflection, it could’ve derailed the film.

I could go on and on about how well made the film is, but at the heart of it all is that it’s just flat out entertaining. It’s funny, suspenseful, dramatic… all the elements that make up a great movie. It’s crazy that at the time, Scorsese didn’t win the Oscar for directing or for best picture. Dances With Wolves pretty much stole everything that year, but Scorsese was finally awarded the statues for The Departed, which is great as well, but not nearly as good as this film. Perhaps the Academy was making up for past mistakes.

GoodFellas has always been a favorite of mine that I can watch over and over and not get tired of it. In short, it’s a perfect film. I give it 5 out of 5 pistol whips.

Watchmen (2009)

Who watches the Watchmen? I’m not sure, but I know you shouldn’t.

Although my wife teased me about it, I wanted to read the film’s original source that landed on Time’s All Time 100 Novels list. True devotees of the graphic novel should be enamored by the fact that the movie is a very, very true representation of the film. Unfortunately, the comic book dialogue and staging did not translate to the screen at all.

The film is set in a reimagined world where Nixon is serving his third term and America has won the Vietnam War. With America on the brink of nuclear war with Russia, a now banned group of superheroes, The Watchmen, come together once again after one of their own has violently been murdered.

I’ll get the compliment out of the way… Zack Synder knows how to appeal to the visual senses. Watchmen is a beautiful film to look at, but it’s too bad that Synder is way too in love with his style. Everything moves in slow motion… the dialogue, the action, the transitions, the story… to a point that the run time of 2 hours and 40 minutes feels like 3 hours and 40 minutes.

Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach brings the only redeemable acting to the film, but the rest do a terrible job, especially Patrick Wilson and Malin Akerman (who I call the second coming of Cameron Diaz). I feel sorry for anybody who hasn’t read the source material, because I can’t imagine going into this film without any background on the story line. Synder completely forgets to intertwine the themes that made the graphic novel so adored.

I sat there feeling sorry for the people who watched this who weren’t “fan boys.” I myself felt lost and just not caring about anybody, so I really don’t see how anyone else could. Watchmen is a sloppy film that drags on just to showcase how innovative Synder can be with his camera.

I give it 2 out of 5 doomsday clocks.