Here’s my take on 2008’s best movies and TV shows

Okay, I confess. I haven’t been the most dedicated cinephile this year.

Although I watched an amazing number of childhood classics, action movies, comedies, dramas and foreign films, I acknowledge a few major holes in my viewing habits in 2008.

I missed “Rachel Getting Married.” I’ve yet to see “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “Changeling” or “Slumdog Millionaire,” and Martin Scorsese’s supposedly brilliant Rolling Stones documentary, “Shine A Light,” is waiting patiently in my Netflix queue.

Meanwhile, I’ve got a few Oscar contenders to tackle — “Doubt” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” in particular. I might get some breathing room this weekend, as most of those serious, depressing dramas — such as “Frost/Nixon,” “The Wrestler” and “Revolution Road” — have yet to reach my home town here on California’s sunny Central Coast.

So here’s an incomplete list of the movies that made me gasp, chuckle or cry over the course of 2008. I promise to catch up soon.

BEST OF THE BIG SCREEN

“The Dark Knight”: Universally praised and feverishly anticipated, “The Dark Knight” was the movie that got everyone talking. Awesome special effects combined with a decidedly dark storyline and strong performances from Christopher Nolan, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart — heck, just about the entire cast.

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”: Mathieu Amalric (”Quantum of Solace”) wowed as a real-life Vogue editor whose perfect world is ripped asunder when he’s paralyzed in an auto accident. I dare you not to cry.

“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”: Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro delivered another fun romp replete with mythical beasts, fantastic battles and the occasional Barry Manilow sing-along.

“In Bruges”: There may be hope for Colin Farrell yet. He provided the surprisingly sweet, sorrowful center in this dark comedy about two hitmen (Farrell and Brendan Gleason) vacationing in “the most boring city in Belgium.”

“Iron Man”: If “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” paved the way for brooding comic book dramas, director Jon Favreau’s smart, slick “Iron Man” made the world safe for more mainstream superhero flicks. Tons of fun.

“Man on Wire”: In 1974, French tightrope walker Philippe Petit took a stroll between the World Trade Center towers in New York City. This well-crafted documentary told audiences how he did it and — more importantly — why.

(A side note: 2008 was a solid year for documentaries. We also welcomed Werner Herzog’s “Encounters at the End of the World,” Alex Gibney’s “Taxi to the Dark Side” and the Hurricane Katrina doc “Trouble the Water.”)

“Milk”: Operatic yet intimate, Gus Van Sant’s “Milk” featured yet another stunning performance by Sean Penn as gay rights activist Harvey Milk.

“Persepolis”: Mainstream audiences might have been intimidated by this film’s subject matter (life during the Islamic Revolution in Iran) or its style (black-and-white animation), but why? “Persepolis,” based on the graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, was oh-so-poignant.

“WALL-E”: Who knew 2008’s most memorable character would turn out to be a cute little robot with a fondness for “Hello Dolly”?

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BEST OF THE TUBE

“30 Rock” (NBC): Liz Lemon, the smart, single and hilariously screwy producer of a late-night sketch comedy show, cemented her reign this season as America’s sweetheart.

“Battlestar Galactica” (SciFi): Few science-fiction shows are this well-written, this compelling and this addictive. Riveting television at its best. (The rest of the fourth season kicks off Jan. 16.)

“Flight of the Conchords” (HBO): Oddball characters and ridiculous music videos made this comedy an offbeat charmer.

“Mad Men” (AMC): Chain-smoking, cocktail-swilling advertising execs with sordid personal lives? Tell me more!

“True Blood” (HBO): This steamy drama about Louisiana vampires and the humans who love them is as fun, sassy and delightfully trashy as any episode of “The Jerry Springer Show.”

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BEST ONLINE SENSATION

“Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”: Fans of that famously musical “Buffy” episode, “Once More, With Feeling,” gave thanks this summer for “Dr. Horrible.” The three-part show proved, once again, why Neil Patrick Harris rocks, why supervillains deserve our love and why creator Joss Whedon is a geek’s best friend.

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BEST GUILTY PLEASURES

“Rock of Love” franchise: The appeal of Bret Michaels’ eternal search for true love stems from two factors: the trashy, nasty women who compete for his heart, and Michaels himself. How could anyone possibly find the vain, Botoxed former lead singer of Poison attractive? Spin-offs include “Rock of Love: Charm School,” “Trophy Wife,” “Daisy of Love” and “I Love Money,” which includes contestants from VH1 sister show “Flavor of Love.”

“Speed Racer”: How did the Wachowski siblings adapt this beloved Japanese cartoon for the big screen? With screamingly bright neon, adorable lead actors and quick-moving, CGI-heavy action, of course! “Speed Racer” cheerfully assaulted the senses.

“Wanted”: Yes, that’s right. I said “Wanted.” Although many of the plot points — such as curving bullets and flipping cars — would drive any physicist crazy, this gleefully ridiculous action flick provided 110 minutes of solid fun.

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MOST DISAPPOINTING BLOCKBUSTERS

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”: Everyone knows that Indy, the whip-cracking treasure hunter with the crooked grin, is at his best when he’s fighting Nazis and searching for religious relics. Why mess with a winning formula?

“The Day the Earth Stood Still”: Speaking of formulas, Hollywood should have checked its math before making this overblown blockbuster. Keanu Reeves + science fiction classic = disaster.

“Pineapple Express”: What looked like a surefire summer comedy turned out to be a dull, meddled mess. Although there were a few funny moments, the movie’s main saving grace was James Franco, playing a comically clueless pot dealer with unusual zest.

“Sex and the City: The Movie”: What happened to the sexy, sassy goddesses we watched on HBO? The women in this big-screen version were disappointingly tedious, trite and shallow.

“Star Wars: The Clone Wars”: George Lucas continued his campaign to tarnish our collective memories of “Star Wars” with a clunky, poorly animated flop. Ugh.

I could go on and on, but I’ll just list some other films that — while often entertaining — fell short of expectations: “The Happening,” “Hancock,” “Quantum of Solace,” “W.” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”

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Photos courtesy of MovieWeb.com.

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“Flight of the Conchords” is back; so is John Malkovich

Are you ready to laugh your butt off? FunnyOrDie.com has your “Flight of the Conchords” fix.

Watch the Season 2 premiere right here, right now.

The episode premieres on HBO.com today but doesn’t hit the airwaves until Jan. 18 (!), so this is the perfect chance to spend some quality time with Brett and Jemaine.

For those who don’t watch the show, “Flight of the Conchords” follows the American misadventures of two quirky New Zealand musicians who break into song at the slightest provocation. They’re clueless, comical and wonderfully nerdy. Seriously. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be watching this.

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The science fiction fanatics over at io9.com have produced some sweet content in recent days.

First up are the 10 worst science fiction remakes in recent movie history, just in time for Keanu Reeve’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” The post explains “what when wrong” with each project, noting that even usually reliable directors like Tim Burton (”Planet of the Apes”) and Frank Oz (”Stepford Wives”) have produced some stinky sci-fi garbage.

As luck would have it, Frank Miller has apparently signed on to direct “Buck Rogers.” And James Cameron is eying “Forbidden Planet.”

All of this begs the question: Will a tanking economy and international turmoil diminish filmgoers’ taste for bleak Hollywood epics?

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Meanwhile, do you have enough John Malkovich in your life?

NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” scored a hit recently with “La Rivista Della Televisione con Vinny Vedecci” — starring Bill Heder as a sexy, chain-smoking Italian talk show host.

In this hilarious clip, he interviews actor John Malkovich in nonsense Italian, promotes his “sex movie” and coddles his overgrown youngster.

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“Klaatu barata boring”

There are really only a few good reasons to make a remake.

Let’s say the original film lacked the cash or cast to make it truly great. Maybe the basic plot — a solid story mired in too much exposition or explosions — needed reworking. Or perhaps the subject, dull and outdated, deserved a modern makeover that resonated with today’s audiences.

None of these reasons appear to be the motivation behind remaking 1951’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still.“

The 2008 version, directed by Scott Derrickson, has better special effects, a holiday blockbuster budget and a sexier cast. Yet despite its glitz, the new “Day” suffers in comparison to its original.

When a giant shimmering sphere lands in New York’s Central Park, the U.S. government summons top research scientist Helen Benson (Jennifer Connolly) and her colleagues to the scene.

As the alien spaceship opens, arousing panic from an army of police officers and soldiers, a passenger emerges. His name is Klaatu. And he’s on an extremely important mission.

“Are you here to save us?” Helen asks hopefully. Klaatu replies, “I’m here to save Earth.”

Where the original “Day” focused on man’s cruelty to man — something Klaatu’s alien race witnessed through centuries of bloodshed — the remake puts humanity on trial for its sins against the environment. Mankind’s lust for power and technological might has led to the destruction of the planet.

In Klaatu’s words, “If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives.”

Klaatu’s presence, presumably, is to carry out the death sentence. And the instrument of said destruction? That would be Gort.

Gort, the monocular machine who became a science fiction icon after his first appearance in 1951, acts here as a sort of “Holy Hand Grenade.” He is a fathomless threat, a strangely rubbery robot with the ability to stop bullets, heal bodies and knock out patrol cars with massive electromagnetic pulses. When Gort transforms from his familiar form to a swarm of destructive nano-bugs, the remake’s credibility seriously suffers.

Klaatu, played with Buddha-like calm by Keanu “Whoa” Reeves, is likewise a blend of old and new. While the original Klaatu (Michael Rennie) betrayed some touches of sympathy toward us pathetic Earthlings, this version is a passionless, humorless drone.

Yet, as the imperturbable alien spends more time on Earth, he finds himself moved by mankind’s compassion as much as its cruelty. As Connelly’s character argues, maybe this misguided race truly is willing to change.

Yeah right. Give me a break.

Such sappiness is, sadly, not uncommon in “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” and it drowns out any message of hope or change that the filmmakers are trying to send. In fact, changing the “cause du jour” from nuclear armament to green living cheapens both issues.

“Day” also fails to deliver on the other hallmark of science fiction: awesome high-tech firefights.

The film ends, not with a bang or even a stern sermon, but with a pathetic, pointless whimper. It’s about as thrilling as a roll of two-ply toilet paper.

So why did we need a “The Day the Earth Stood Still” remake?

Oh yeah. We didn’t.

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Photo courtesy of Weta Workshop and MovieWeb.com.

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So yeah, I’m way late on this. But what’re you gonna do? Read on down past the photo, I hope.

A few years ago there was an interesting experiment called “Savage: Battle for Newerth,” which mixed an online team-based first-person shooter with real-time strategy elements.

Most players on a given team select a warrior class and a weapon and would run around shooting each other, while one player on each team has an overall view of the battlefield and the ability to issue orders to the other players — help build this structure, attack this target, defend this location. This overseer can’t directly enforce their rule over the team, but they can deny a loose cannon the powerful weapon upgrades and higher-level classes that are the fruits of a team’s labor.

A while ago the developer, S2 Games, made it available for free. A while after that, they released a sequel, “Savage 2: A Tortured Soul.” And now, that game is free as well.

I haven’t played the second one, but the first one was pretty cool. And it can hardly get cheaper than free, can it? Both games are rated for Teens.

(Image from S2games.com)

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Geek identity, more than any dress code or profession, stems from what you like.

If you’re a “Firefly” fan, you dedicate your life to educating the world about Browncoats, Reavers and the Alliance. If you’re a “Battlestar Galactica” geek, you puzzle over plot twists, gawk at Cylon babes and wait, oh so patiently, for the end of Season Four. The same goes for the faithful who follow “Babylon Five,” “Farscape,” “The 4400,” “Heroes” and “Lost.”

A geek’s true loyalty, however, falls into two camps: “Star Wars” and “Star Trek.”

As far as science fiction classics are concerned, “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” have a lot in common.

Both started out as awesome shows with impressive, if slightly cheesy, special effects, fun plots and compelling characters. Both launched multi-title series that started out strong (”The Empire Strikes Back and “Return of the Jedi,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine) and finished weak (”The Phantom Menace,” “Enterprise”).

One’s a space opera with foundations in myth, magic and Akira Kurosawa. The other’s an egghead approach to science and space exploration revolving around Star Fleet and the U.S.S. Enterprise.

So which is better?

YouTube poster D.M. Phoenix puts that question to the test with “Star Wars vs. Star Trek,” which pits the crew of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” against Darth Vader and the Empire.

How does Jean-Luc Picard’s impenetrable cool and rich British accent stack up to Darth Vader’s masked menace? Do phaser beams trump the Force?

You’ll have to watch to find out.

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In related news, Jon Stewart may very well be the biggest geek in the talk news universe.

On a recent episode of “The Daily Show,” he bragged about his Black Friday purchases: a C3-PO Bobblehead and the Lego Millinium Falcon. Way to geek out, Jon!

Thanks to Gizmodo Australia for the heads-up.

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This week’s treats include a winter sports documentary, “Ghost Busters” and “Bad Santa”

Hit the slopes with “Warren Miller’s Children of Winter,” playing tonight at the Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo.

Winter sports filmmaker Warren Miller built a reputation over 50 years for annual ski and snowboard movies known for their stunning cinematography, humor and showcases of top talent, including Olympic athletes. Miller has officially retired, but his legacy lives on in the form of Warren Miller Entertainment.

Their latest title, “Children of Winter,” follows world-class athletes as they tackle the snowy mountain peaks of Japan, Austria, British Columbia, Alaska and Iceland. Get ready for a wild ride.

“Warren Miller’s Children of Winter” will be screened at 7 p.m. at the PAC. Tickets cost $15 for adults and $12 for students, and include a lift pass for Sierra Summit Mountain Resort.

Proceeds benefit Youth Outreach for the Performing Arts Center.

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I’m personally looking forward to “Ghostbusters,” which also plays tonight.

When a trio of wisecracking scientists get booted from their paranormal research program, the guys (Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray) go into business for themselves — as the Ghostbusters.

After tackling their first real challenge, a glowing green ghost nicknamed Slimer, the Ghostbusters get a call from Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), a sexy concert cellist who’s just witnessed spooky phenomena in Central Park apartment. Sounds like a normal haunting, right? Wrong.

All hell is literally about to break loose.

“Ghostbusters” earns its “classic” status with a light-hearted, fantasy-tinged plot, terrific chemistry between its leads (who are real-life pals), and hilariously off-beat, endlessly quotable lines. (”Back off, man! I’m a scientist!”) Could there be a better comedy?

Don’t miss “Ghostbusters” tonight at the Fremont theater, 1025 Monterey Street in San Luis Obispo. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. following a half-hour of trivia and prizes.

Tickets are $7.50.

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Christmas gets nasty with “Bad Santa,” Wednesday at The Palm Theatre.

Billy Bob Thornton stars as Willie, a bitter, boozing loser who dons the red and white Santa Claus suit every year to spread holiday cheer. But this is no jolly old elf. Willie and his “Little Helper” Marcus (Tony ) are actually cussing con men with a plan to rob their department store on Christmas Eve.

Will Willie ever learn? Or can a pudgy pre-teen, nicknamed The Kid, and a bartender (Lauren Graham of “Gilmore Girls”) with a soft spot for Santa to teach him the true meaning of Christmas?

“Bad Santa” screens at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. Tickets are $7.50.

(The Palm Wednesday series returns in January 2009.)

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Meanwhile, a local celebrity returns home this weekend for that holiday favorite, “The Nutcracker.”

Paso Robles native Jesus “Chuy” Solorio was a Top 20 finalist on the hit Fox reality show “So You Think You Can Dance.”

He’ll dance the role of the Prince in “The Nutcracker,” presented by Class Act Dance of Paso Robles and the North County Dance and Performing Arts Foundation. Solorio appeared as the Cavalier last year alongside fellow finalist Jimmy Arguello.

“The Nutcracker” runs Thursday through Sunday, as well as Dec. 12 and 13, at the Templeton Performing Arts Center, 1200 Main St. in Templeton. Tickets are $20 for general admission, $15 for children and seniors.

For more information, call 239-3668 or 835-1915.

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Want to know more about Wes Anderson? Stanley Kubrick? The Coen Brothers?

“The Films of”, a YouTube series created by Barringer82, is the perfect movie primer for novices and experts alike.

Barringer82 — nom de reality Paul Proulx — presents clips of each filmmaker’s most famous flicks in music video format, setting bits of David Fincher’s disturbing, darkly comic movies to The Dust Brothers and Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man.” “Fight Club,” “Se7en,” “Zodiac,” even a split second of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” — they’re all there.

In his homage to Quentin Taratino’s five feature films, Paul pairs the obvious (gunplay and bloodshed) with the subtle (a terrific sequence of bare feet. Just feet). Clever moments like that are a trademark of his films.

Other videos pay paean to Michael Mann, Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton, David Lynch and Kubrick, identified by our host as “the greatest filmmaker of all time.”

Each video features dialog and songs from a myriad of films. In fact, half the fun is linking each clip to its respective masterpiece.

Now that you’ve wet your whistle, try the Cinefiles series, also available on YouTube.

Hosted by former contestants of IFC’s “The Ultimate Film Fanatic,” The Cinefiles review both genres (UK crime dramas, Bond movies) and individual filmmakers (Mel Brooks, Peter Jackson).

They offer insightful, in-depth commentary about movies (sans video clips, unfortunately), much like our very own “Take Two” radio hosts.

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Thanks to loyal reader I Love A Magician for the tip.

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The best gift of all? A full wallet

Today is Black Friday*.

For most of the nation, the day after Thanksgiving is a chance to hit the mall in search of super-sales, to barge down store aisles stocking carts with the best bargains and sweetest deals. For a smaller segment of the population, however, today is also Buy Nothing Day.

My plan is to buy nothing today.

No gadgets. No toys. Not even a pack of gum.

Not to spite struggling retailers or to skimp on my Christmas list, but to take a stand against the rampant consumerism that has gripped our nation in its vulture-like talons.

That’s not to say that I won’t be getting in a little Christmas shopping this weekend. And I certainly might take advantage of some of those so-called “deals” — without spending more than I planned to, of course.

But the majority of my money will stay where it is. In my wallet.

Recognize our economic crisis. Acknowledge the vicious cycle of credit cards, international profiteering and national debt. Celebrate Buy Nothing Day.

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If you simply can’t resist the siren song of eager retailers on Saturday and Sunday, there are a few tips that can make your shopping experience more pleasant.

Gizmodo offers “Best of Black Friday Deals” guide for high tech fanatics. Gamers can check out the coolest titles for Wii, XBox 360 and Playstation 3 over at Kotaku.com. And there are bargains aplenty at Amazon.com, BestBuy.com and the last stalwart souls at CircuitCity.com.

If you’re looking to improve your DVD collection, here are a handful of recent released titles that caught my eye:

“A Man Named Pearl”: The inspiring story of self-taught topiary artist Pearl Fryar, this inspiring documentary shows how one man can transform himself and his community.

“Futurama: Bender’s Game”: When “Futurama” — Matt Groening’s hilarious scifi show — kicked the bucket in 2003, fans everywhere breathed a huge sigh of disappointment. Those fans will be happy to hear the direct-to-DVD “Futurama” films (essentially four sequential episodes back-to-back) are just as sharp and funny as the original animated series.

“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”: Awesome special effects, wisecracking humor and fantastic new worlds make for an amazing ride. If you liked “Hellboy,” you’ll love the sequel. If you haven’t seen either, you’re in for a major treat.

“Monty Python’s Holy Trinity”: What could be better than one awesome movie starring the British comedy troupe? How ’bout three?! This collection features the films known by fans as “Holy Grail,” “Life of Brian” and “Meaning of Life.”

“Project Runway: The Complete Fourth Season”: I can’t get enough of this reality show about future fashion superstars and their vicious catfights. My only request: More fashion, less Heidi Klum.

“Sukiyaki Western Django”: Spaghetti westerns and samurai epics collide in Takashi Miike’s interesting, if uneven, paean to “Yojimbo.” Although the cast and setting are Japanese, Quentin Tarantino shows up for entirely no reason.

“Tropic Thunder”: Offensive at some points and laugh-out-loud funny at others, “Tropic Thunder” is a ludicrous comedy with serious bite. Five words: “Robert Downey Jr. in blackface.”

“Wall-E”: You’ll be utterly charmed by this sweet, beautifully animated family film about a lonely robot looking for love and friendship. One of Pixar’s best.

My advice? Buy only what you originally wanted, keep track of receipts and put those credit cards AWAY.

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* There’s a movie called “Black Friday” — but it’s about the series of bombings that rocked Bombay in 1993, not crazed shoppers hunting for holiday scores. For that, you can watch “Jingle All the Way.”

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Above image courtesy of Adbusters.org.

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Tonight, aliens blow up the White House

“Independence Day” seems like an odd choice for a November movie screening.

As a holiday and a film, “Independence Day” is tied pretty closely to the fight for “liberty, justice and the American way.” It’s stirring, patriotic and action-packed. It’s got fighter pilots going against aliens mano a mano.
After all, the mega-popular flick did open in theaters July 3, 1996.

When an alien invasion wipes out Washington D.C., Los Angeles and New York City, a forlorn group of survivors led by President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) meet in the Nevada desert to launch a desperate counter-attack. Their only hope lies in the plan hatched by a cocky Marine pilot (Will Smith), a computer whiz (Jeff Goldblum) and a goofy Kansas crop-duster (Randy Quaid).

“Independence Day,” which won an Oscar for its stunning visual effects, ushered in a whole crop of alien invasion and disaster flicks like “Armageddon” and “Dante’s Peak.”

It also launched the grand tradition of the Will Smith Summer Blockbuster — ensuring that Smith would churn out a best-selling blockbuster every summer ad infinitum. He’s delivered on that promise with “Men in Black,” “Bad Boys II” and “I, Robot,” following up this July with the lukewarm “Hancock.”

(”Hancock,” about a hard-living superhero, pulled in $62.6 million when it hit theaters. In contrast, “Independence Day” grossed $50 million — in 1996 dollars! — during its opening weekend and has raked in $817.4 million in worldwide box office receipts so far.)

“Independence Day” screens tonight at 7 p.m. at the Fremont theater, 1025 Monterey St. in San Luis Obispo. Show up a half-hour early for trivia and prizes.

Tickets are $7.50.

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Image courtesy of this blog. Thanks, Dr. Richard Parent at the University of Vermont!

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When it comes to major movie events, I like to play it cool.

I stay away from fan sites. I avert my eyes from teasers, television specials and Variety articles. And I avoid spoilers — oh, those dreaded spoilers — at all possible costs.

The reason is simple: The higher the hype, the higher the potential for crushing disappointment. Sure, my strategy has worked better in some cases (”The Dark Knight”) than others (”Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”). But it generally does work.

That makes avoiding a movie like “Watchmen” all the harder.

Based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, “Watchmen” appears to be one of those rare Hollywood beasts — a lovingly crafted, meticulous researched epic with all the elements of a science-fiction classic. The film, set to open in theaters in March 2009, boasts “300″ director Zack Snyder, spookily good special effects and an extremely talented (not to mention good-looking) cast including Billy Crudup, Carla Gugino, Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley.

Beautiful characters. Beautiful sets. A dynamite plot. All based on the one of the best graphic novels — heck, one of the best novels, period — of the 20th century. How could I resist?

Science fiction hub i09.com has been following “Watchmen” from the beginning, releasing tasty tidbits such as set photos, costumes and  footage of Nite Owl’s awesome Owlship. Heck, it even snagged a snapshot of the comic’s original team of crime-fighters, The Minutemen.

One of my favorite featurettes so far has been “Girls Kick Ass,” a look at the lovely ladies of “Watchmen.” Carla Giguno and Malik Akerman star as Sally Jupiter (aka Silk Spectre) and her daughter Laurie, respectively, and man, do they look good.

Warner Brothers deserves part of the credit for the beautiful posters, photos and other promotional material they’ve created for “Watchmen.” As with “The Dark Knight,” the studio is doing a great job of teasing and titillating moviegoers.

Is it any wonder I’ve grown a bit obsessed?

I have to resist. I have to avoid the hype.  But in the case of “Watchmen,” I really really want to believe it.

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