Who watches the Watchmen?

Published the same year as Miller's Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen was a year long, twelve part, epic graphic novel published from 1986 to 1987. It tells the story of an alternate earth, where although the year is 1985, Richard Nixon is still the President of the United States of America, a country locked in a bitter cold war with the amassing power of the Soviet Union, and there are masked heroes running about fighting crime. The times are bleak and the future is looking even worse as these two giants stare each other down with tremendous nuclear weapons on either side.

It is in the midst of these dark times that Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) discovers that the recent murder of one of his comrades (otherwise known as Watchmen) isn’t as simple as it seems to be. Rorschach discovers that somebody is out to kill the remaining Watchmen, Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman), Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), and Nite Owl II (Dan Dreiberg).

The idea of adapting Watchmen started in the early 90s and there were many casting rumors attached to it. These included Robin Williams as Rorschach, Jamie Lee Curtis as Silk Spectre, Gary Busey as the Comedian, and both Richard Gere and Kevin Costner considered for the role of Nite Owl. The project underwent numerous rewrites under director Terry Gilliam but it was eventually shelved. Gilliam declared that the project was unfilmable as a feature production and instead was interested to direct it as a five hour miniseries.

However, as time went on, another director, Darren Aronofsky was attached to the project. Aronofsky did express interest in the project, but found the original story dated. He opted to adapt the story to recent times and make changes accordingly. But the studio was uncomfortable with the direction Aronofsky wanted to take so Zack Snyder was hired to helm the project instead.

Snyder is known for his faithful adaptations, he has done it twice before, with Miller’s 300 and with George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. Both movies reflect their original works and yet at the same time have enough originality in them to make them stand on their own. Snyder’s attention to detail and commitment to the source material has made him a hit with the fans: and with the Watchmen it was no different.

Production began with casting in July 2007 for look-alikes of the era's famous names for the film – all of whom appear in the graphic novel – including Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Annie Leibovitz, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Fidel Castro, Albert Einstein, Norman Rockwell, John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy and Andy Warhol to name a few.

But these are all background characters, to give audiences a feel of the times and the era. It is however, the main characters, that drive the story and in the case of Watchmen, the title characters are as colorful as they can get.

Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) can best be described as Detective Columbo on drugs and with every single psychological problem you can imagine. Dressed in a fedora, trench coat and pin striped trousers; this masked vigilante leaves no stone unturned and no criminal unpunished. To him, every iota of society has become degenerated and desolate.

Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson) can best be described as the domesticated Batman. Though as eager as Batman to fight crime, somewhere along the line, Nite Owl or Dan Dreiberg, he quit. Wilson described Dreiberg as a soldier who had returned home after a war, unable to fit in society again.

Adrian Veidt or Ozymandias (Matthew Goode) was believed to be the most intelligent man alive. He retired as a superhero and set up a business empire worth billions of dollars. Veidt’s demeanor – completely nonchalant to the happenings around him –surprises many of his teammates.

The Comedian (Jeffery Dean Morgan) is one of the most important characters in the movie. He is the only one who realizes who the real mastermind is but is unable to tell his comrades in time. He is cruel, harsh and sometimes downright sadistic; a sight which is interesting to see considering Morgan’s claim to acting fame has been TV series such as Supernatural and Grey’s Anatomy.

Silk Spectre II or Laurie Juspeczyk (Malin Åkerman) is a second generation super heroine, and the only female in the group of super powered heroes. The love triangle between Laurie and Dan and Jon, reflects the choice of Laurie between the man she used to love and the man she could have loved. Her relationship with her mother, the original Sill Spectre (Carla Gugino) is volatile especially when Laurie discovers a dark secret.

Dr Manhattan or Jon Osterman (Billy Crudup) is the only proper superpowers in the group. Transformed into an almost omnipotent being by an experiment gone wrong, his teammates often feel that the Osterman the man slowly gave up his humanity and became more of an almost alien like being by becoming Dr Manhattan. His relationship with Laurie (Malin Åkerman) – like many of his past relationships – is slowly crumbling as he becomes less and less human.

At almost 162 minutes, watching the Watchmen can prove to be a tedious experience for some cinemagoers, considering most of the movie is actually told through intricate and inter-twining flashbacks which often end up being quite confusing if you haven’t read the original graphic novel.

There will be obvious comparisons to last year’s The Dark Knight, although to be fair, both movies have their edges. The Dark Knight had Heath Ledger’s memorable last performance in a motion picture. A feat only overshadowed by his unfortunate demise, a drum that Warner Brothers – the studio that produced the movie – regrettably continues to beat. Watchmen has tremendous visual effects and an impeccable soundtrack to go with it. Every moment on screen is carefully in sync with music from

Nat King Cole, The Times They Are A-Changin’, Simon & Garfunkel, Janis Joplin, KC & The Sunshine Band, Philip Glass, Leonard Cohen, Jimi Hendrix and Nina Simone.

The Watchmen is truly an incredible piece of cinema that will surely be remembered for time to come. For now, though, its fate lies with audiences that continue to go to the cinemas to watch it and thanks to them it has already earned over $80 million dollars worldwide since its opening. Proving that there are people out there who are watching the Watchmen.

Everything that Glitters isn't worthy of Oscar Gold

Every year, the Oscar buzz hits Tinsel Town, and Hollywood celebrates the best of the year's movies.

Though we hear of the best, what about the worst? That's the same question John Wilson asked himself and in 1981 he created the Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies), an annual ceremony dedicated to celebrate the worst in Hollywood. It is intended to counterpoint the Academy Awards by honoring (or dishonoring) the worst acting, screenwriting, songwriting, directing, and films that the film industry had to offer.

Bill Cosby, Tom Selleck, Paul Verhoeven, Tom Green, Ben Affleck, and Halle Berry are just some of the stars who have come up to accept the awards in person, and nearly all of them have done so with much vigor and enthusiasm unlike many of their fellow thespians, writers and directors, who totally ignore even the existence of the awards.

But the Razzies are persistent. Each year, they host the awards in a modest ceremony, attended by people of the press mostly. And this year was no different, while we saw Slumdog Millionaire sweep aside The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at the 81^st Annual Academy Awards, at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre just a day before the Oscars, the 29^th Annual Golden Raspberry Awards were handed out. And this year, it was The Love Guru that was the worst of them all.

Worst Picture: The Love Guru

There's no doubt about it, Mike Myers attempt to create another character after Austin Powers falls flat on its face.

Worst Actor: Mike Myers in The Love Guru

Although Mike Myers has established himself as a sort of character actor, this Razzie will surely prove otherwise.

Worst Actress: Paris Hilton in The Hottie and the Nottie

Socialite Paris Hilton is clearly better at doing nothing than acting.

Worst Supporting Actor: Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia!

If you've seen the movie, then you realize that Brosnan clearly made a mistake. Though he had enough of being a spy, becoming the co-star in a musical based on ABBA was clearly not a good idea.

Worst Supporting Actress: Paris Hilton in Repo! The Genetic Opera

Two Razzies for Paris have clearly sealed her fate as a proper actress, but knowing Hollywood, we haven't seen the last of Miss Hilton yet.

Worst Screen Couple: Paris Hilton and either Christine Lakin or Joel David Moore in The Hottie and the Nottie

Just goes to show that either coupling wasn't good enough to save this movie.

Worst Director: Uwe Boll for 1968 Tunnel Rats, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, and Postal

Uwe Boll is a director from Germany who is notorious for making movies about videogames. Actually, to put it more clearly, he is notorious for making BAD movies about videogames.

Worst Screenplay: The Love Guru written by Mike Myers & Graham Gordy

Though Myers is an alumni writer from Saturday Night Live, and the Austen Powers movies, his flare for writing is clearly fading away.

Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

There can be no doubt that Indy's last outing left a bad taste with everyone who saw it. Granted it was filled with adventure, but watching a geriatric archeologist's computer generated body double jump around from place to place, didn't bode well with cinema goers.

Worst Career Achievement: Uwe Boll ("Germany's answer to Ed Wood")

Uwe Boll is such a bad director that he has been honored with a prestigious award for Worst Career Achievement and being ranked right up (or down?) there with Ed Wood as one of the worst directors of our time.

The Razzies are a refreshing award show, clearly showing us that not everything that glitters on the silver screen is worthy of Oscar gold.

Murder by Starlight

As the curtains parted and the spotlight came on, it was obvious that Starlight was going to be an interesting experience.

The first play for Stage Fright Productions, written by Mariam Viriani, and co-directed by Virani and Ali Junejo, Starlight is set in the early 19th century and is a murder mystery. The tagline of the play states, "They all had the motive but only one had the drive to kill." So who is that one?

Starlight starts off with the basics. We discover the premise; Starlight is a club owned by Jaselle Castillo (Fatima Hasan) who also sings at the club regularly. Jaselle is also the murder victim and the suspects are all connected to her in one way or another. The stake being not only the Club itself but also a vast fortune that Jaselle recently inherited. A special aspect of her character is that although she dies in the first act, we get to see Jaselle in flashbacks with regards to the suspects. And it is in these flashbacks that Fatima explores the complexities of her character's relations with the others.

Enter the suspects.

The club is managed by Victor Lemur (Nadir Siddiqui), who is clearly uptight and displays an almost rude attitude towards everyone—except for Jaselle. But that doesn't mean he didn't have a motive to kill her. Nadir is at ease in this role, though at times it seems his character has nothing to do, but when he does do something the moment is hardly dull.

Ronald Wong (Chaudry Talat Mazhar) plays the bartender of Starlight. Quirky yet shady, Wong is likable from the start thanks to Mazhar's unique approach to the character. Whereas others would have gone with an "over the top" approach, Mazhar balances his acting with both zany and lucid aspects. To the shock of the audience, we discover the shocking connection between his character and Jaselle, a connection that indicates an apparent motive and instability of Ronald.

Cornelius Farriera (Adeel Azim Siddiqui) is a regular customer at Starlight, all because of his undying love for Jaselle. It is because of that same love that he surrenders all of his wealth to Jaselle and ultimate gets into trouble with his wife, Vivian Farriera (Sania Jamal). The chemistry between Cornelius and Vivian (Adeel and Sania) is quite clear, though at times quite straining, nevertheless quite entertaining. Cornelius is torn between his love for Jaselle and his wife Vivian, and Adeel's expressions of angst and heartache come through perfectly. Vivian is a character that could have been explored much more as simply the wife of Cornelius. Her moments at the bar, especially her interactions with its other visitors are a delight to watch.

Brute Piero (Osama Tahir) is a known thug and gang member who has made his desire to own Starlight no secret. Although Osama fits the role well with his costume, his character could have had more vocal opportunities throughout the play instead of looking angry around the stage.

Detective Vincent (Ali Junejo) and his assistant Harold (Raza Virani) are hot on the trail of the murder that occurs right before their eyes at the Starlight club. Being the lead character, Vincent carries the play through seamlessly through his narration before each act. His monologues fill in audience with the story and even – through a clever flashback sequence – backstory of the murder and Jaselle. Ali's hard work has paid off as the lead, but it is Harold and Raza that often steal the show. Through Vincent and Harold, we discover the motives of each of the suspects and their connections to the deceased.

Though this was murder mystery, thanks to characters like Harold and Ronald the audience wasn't bored for a moment. And it shows a clear balance on the part of Mariam Virani, the first time writer and co-director of the play. Though the first few acts seemed to drag on for a bit, once the murder occurs there's no stopping the ball from rolling.

Speaking about her inspiration for the play she said, "I was always inspired by Agatha Christie stories and that's how I wrote this." For Mariam, whose previous association with plays was only helping out backstage, her efforts and her inspirations have paid off. And already she's working towards her next project. "I'm working on my next play now, and it'll come out hopefully in later in the year."

Co-director and lead Ali Junejo is no stranger to plays. Having participated in 5 previous Mythos productions, he spoke of co-directing the play with Mariam. "It was an awesome experience, and I think it's important that we were on the same wavelength as far as this play was concerned, which took it forward."

And all of this culminated in a special twist at the end. Though all the suspects had the intentions and motives to kill Jaselle, none of them did. We learn that Vincent has been playing the role of the detective and as well as the unreliable narrator. And the audience erupted with applause as it is revealed that it was him and Jaselle that had orchestrated such an event at Starlight. So technically, there was never a murder in the first place.

Starlight proved to be an interesting and thoughtful play with minor faults, overlookable considering the big twist and payoff in the end.