Relaxed Focus: Watchmen opening weekend roundup.

25 million the first day. Very cool odds and ends from around the 'net.

Patton Oswalt speaks wise - MySpace.com Blogs - NO, I HAVEN'T SEEN THE WATCHMEN... - Patton Oswalt MySpace Blog:

"You're all going to go see it, you resentful nerd mafiosi. And you'll walk in rolling your eyes and you'll walk out whistling sadly through your teeth because the fuel of the Nerd Mafia is disappointment and exclusion.

Tell you what -- before you go and see THE WATCHMEN, plunk down and watch CATWOMAN, GHOST RIDER and DAREDEVIL. And use those seven hours (and don't pretend like you don't have seven free hours in your day) to get out all of your disgust and the-world-owes-me-my-daydreams-made-real attitude you strut around with.

Because Zack Snyder STEPPED UP, motherfuckers. THE WATCHMEN was going to get made, one way or another. And instead of bleating on his Facebook status updates or Tweeting about how shitty the upcoming adaptation's going to be, he TOOK THE BULLET and tried to do it right. Yes, THE WATCHMEN should be a limited series on HBO and blah blah blah IT WAS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN THAT WAY. Zack delivered a 2 1/2 hour, honest attempt, and broke his ass cranking out tons of free extras. Hell, he even animated The Tales of The Black Freighter for you chumps. Plus, he gave you a kick-ass DAWN OF THE DEAD remake, plus 300, plus whatever else he's got coming down the pike. He's the best friend the Nerd Mafia's had since Joss Whedon and Brian Michael Bendis, so everyone please crack the tab on a frosty can of Go Fuck Yourself and go see the movie version of THE WATCHMEN."

Filming the Unfilmable: Behind the Scenes of the Watchmen Movie:

"John Hodgman
Author, More Information Than You Require

'The movie can be good as long as it appreciates that it has no reason to exist. And yet I think Watchmen deserves an homage, and I'm hopeful because Zack Snyder is making it.'"

Joss Whedon
Creator, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse

'It's a comic book about pop culture as viewed through a comic book, so I didn't see the point of making a movie. But I saw the trailer, and it looked phenomenal.'"

Comic Book Resources > Lying In The Gutters - 3-2-2009:

"...I was expecting something laborious, dull in places and a bit too worthy. And I was feeling rather down. I don't think I actually wanted to be there. But I got an intriguing, absorbing, multi-layered, political drama with a forgivable touch of cosplay. Something as enjoyable as “The Wire' or “State Of Play,' but, you know, with bones sticking through arms... I thought it was consistently wonderful throughout. It's not the comic, but it does a remarkable impression of certain aspects. It's a film to fall in love with. I was transported."

"An episode of late night UK current affairs review World In Focus aired in October 1985, in which photo-journalist Alain Guillon and author Hal Eisner discuss the emerging geopolitical crisis with presenter Jeremy Miller.

The recording purports to have originated from the Veidt Industries video archive. It details its source as 'KARNAK' the significance of which is unclear."

Classic cartoon intro ripped from an old VHS, enjoy!!

Watching Watchmen: Zack Snyder's morally complex—and faithful—adaptation of the graphic novel - Reason Magazine:

"It's 2002 at a Turkish restaurant in Manhattan, and I hear professional manga salesman Ali Kokmen celebrate the first birthday of his daughter by reciting from Watchmen—the moving passage in which Dr. Manhattan sees that there is value in every individual life, each an amazing and improbable happenstance. Yet Dr. Manhattan will end up complicit in murder—and audiences will be left genuinely perplexed about how to balance cold, utilitarian calculations with the kind of old-fashioned, pugnacious, even deranged adherence to basic right and wrong that keeps Rorschach fighting, enabling him to unravel the schemes of lowlifes and utopian planners alike.

This degree of moral complexity is rare enough in 'serious' films, let alone ones with men in owl costumes fighting crime and a man with blue skin living on Mars. We should be grateful for these layers and for this ornate, clockwork-like film."

Hitler finds out about new Watchmen ending.

BeaucoupKevin(dot)com | "By Veidt — Betrayed?!?":

"The mighty Stan Lee continues to make the world of Watchmen his own in this latest excerpt from the star-studded megaseries that allows the Mighty Maven of Marvel-Land to wreak writerly havoc on that most hallowed of graphic novels.