Crave

(Credit: HalloweenCostumes.com)

Last year, my friend Matt Hastings predicted that the coming Halloween would see a flood of people in unfortunate Joker costumes, inspired by "The Dark Knight." He was, of course, right. I'm hereby predicting that every un-creative person in the world will try being Rorschach from "Watchmen" this year. Mark my words.

(Credit: HalloweenCostumes.com)

These new officially licensed Watchmen movie costumes might make that easier. There are versions of all the major players in the film. A couple of them look pretty good, but the Nite Owl requires some imagination on the viewer's part.

The Silk Spectre II looks great. If I find a girl at a Halloween party wearing one I wouldn't make fun of her. I'd probably ask her to marry me.

The Comedian's treatment is good, but I can't figure out why it has fake bare arms. That's odd.

And of course there's Rorschach, which doesn't look bad, but you could really make your own getup cheaper by raiding Grandpa's closet and staining a piece of cloth. I mean, when I saw the movie last week there were people in their own homemade Rorschach costumes. I thought they were going to get into a fight, but I saved them the trouble by beating both of them up and yelling, "Neeeeerrrrrrrrds!" like Ogre from "Revenge of the Nerds."

If you can't get enough of Watchmen: Justice is Coming, you'll find in this massive multiplayer online game an ambitious attempt to play against anyone else connected to the Net from your iPhone or iPod Touch. You get to create a character with gender, skin color, and even personality based on what you see in the character Rorschach ink blot.

Meanwhile, whether you're just trying to get your feet wet in a world where Nixon remained president well into 1985 or whether you're quoting the comic back at the screen, the "Watchmen" app might appeal to you as it rounds up movie trailers, previews of motion comics--rudimentary animation applied to panels from the comic, behind-the-scenes featurettes, screensavers, Web links, and a nifty clock mini-app.

Dan Ackerman joins us on today's show to talk about his not-critically-acclaimed album "Tales Out of Night School" and the technology world in general. Be sure to check out his podcast Digital City on iTunes. Also, he give his opinion on digital-music distribution and makes fun of our game of marry/boff/kill with Ms. Natali Del Conte.

On today's show, we talk about the release of the new "Watchmen" movie. The first reviews are mixed. Justin is still holding out hope that the film will be watchable. In other movie and television news, Showtime, a sister company of CNET, is releasing Emmy screeners on iPods. Amazon finally gets the sense to pull a video game featuring rape simulation. The cast of "Seinfeld" rejoins on "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Hopefully, Michael Richard won't drop any bombs on the show. Justin is disappointed that a sheriff in Cook County is finally starting to crack down on prostitution on Craigslist. And Matel releases a Barbie doll in China with a tattoo.

You might not be able to tell from this picture, but there was lots of excitement in the line to see Thursday night's midnight IMAX showing of "Watchmen."

(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)

I've now seen "Watchmen" twice. After my first viewing, I did not know what to think. I've been reading the original graphic novel since about 1990, and I've always wanted to see a movie based on a work that had such a powerful impact on me.

So yes, as I left the theater, I did not know what to think. What had I just seen? There was so much changed from the GN, yet so much that was translated verbatim. There were scenes I felt didn't work as well as they did in the GN; conversely, there were scenes that were executed so well, they put the novel to shame.

I did not know what to think, but I knew what I was feeling--that I'd just had a very powerful experience. A day after that first viewing, I could not wait to see it again. Last night, I finally (after three days) got my chance.

This time everything just clicked. Scenes that felt compressed during my first viewing were pitch perfect the second go-round. The first time the movie felt like a collection of scenes in (mostly) sequential order. On my second viewing I saw, plain as day, the narrative structure of the film.

And it works, on so many levels. Some levels I'm not even aware of. What I am aware of is that as an action movie, as a drama, and as a character study (of many characters) the movie just works.

(Credit: Last Legion Games)

A couple days ago I posted a blog on the "Watchmen" iPhone game known as Watchmen: Justice is Coming. The game releases March 6, same as the "Watchmen" movie.

I sat down with game designer Jeff Morgan from Last Legion Games to get a few more details on the game. And by "sat down" I mean e-mailed Warner Premiere, had them forward my questions to Jeff, who then graciously sent them back to Warner, who then sent them to me. Thanks to Warner Premiere and Last Legion Games for sending, replying to and forwarding those e-mails.

BTW, this is Jeff Morgan. Not to be confused with Jeffrey Dean Morgan of "Watchmen" fame. Hmmm, or maybe it is him!

Crave: Since this is an MMO, in what ways can players improve their characters? New items/weapons/clothes/vehicles?

Jeff Morgan: The initial roll-out will be an advanced release where players can upgrade their fighting abilities, change their appearance, gain experience points, socialize with other players, and keep record of their achievements.

Once the world becomes populated we'll do continuous server-side play balancing and evaluate what the players would like to see in future updates of the game.

(Credit: Last Legion Games)

Need something to do while you're waiting hours in line to get decent seats for you and 12 other people for "Watchmen" this Friday? Obviously I do. Thankfully, on March 6, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution will release "Watchmen: Justice is Coming" for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

This is a massively multiplayer online game based on the movie, according to developer Last Legion Games. You can create your own character and customize its appearance. Although how detailed you can get is not yet known.

If I ever dreamed about a "Watchmen" MMO, I did not envision it being fully realized on the iPhone. Honestly though, I don't know how I feel about this. On some level it just feels wrong to have a "Watchmen" game, period. I guess there are those purists out there who feel the same about the existence of a "Watchmen" movie though.

I'll try it out this week and report back as soon as I can on whether it's worth getting.

Half the 'Watchmen' cast and Dave Gibbons.

(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)

I'm not gonna front. This is what I came to WonderCon to see. Warner Bros. had already shown the first 22 minutes of the "Watchmen" movie two weeks ago at the New York Comicon, but this was the Bay Area's first chance to see the footage, and it does not disappoint.

*HEAVY SPOILER ALERT*
Director Zack Snyder was on hand to introduce the footage, which by now you've probably already read a play by play of. If not, check here. What I'll do here is just give my impressions of what I saw.

The footage consists of Edward Blake's--aka the Comedian--fight in his apartment with an unknown assailant. This fight is brutal and the impact of hits, blocks, and parries were accentuated by the very loud sound system set up at WonderCon. I mean, when these two guys fight you feel every hit, cut (I think there was a cut), and crunch of bone.

One thing I liked was the juxtaposition of Blake's "brawly" fighting style and his assailant's more Eastern, martial arts style. Blake puts up a hell of a fight, but his assailant is just too fast. Did I mention it was brutal? When Blake's head went through a marble countertop, I heard the entire auditorium cringe.

Following the fight is one of the most brilliant and well done opening credit sequences I've ever seen. It's basically a three- or four-minute montage of key events in the last 45 years of the Watchmen universe. It's all presented in slow motion to Bob Dylan's "The Times Are A Changin'" with fades to black between each segment. That gives the whole thing a very dream-like quality.

It works so incredibly well. I can't say for sure, but "Watchmen" newbs should have no problem understanding exactly what they're getting into after watching this sequence. Hard-core fans get plenty of Easter eggs if they pay close attention. The crowd at WonderCon burst into applause several times, basically for anything related to Rorschach.

Speaking of Rorschach, the last sequence takes place with him in prison. It's the lunch line scene, and if you know the comic you know the scene. Again, brutal and not for the faint of heart. I loved the way Jackie Earl Haley moved in the scene. Very efficiently and purposefully. The line he delivers at the end of the scene nearly brought the house down and I have no problem admitting I had goosebumps and a giant smile on my face.

I can't wait to see it again, which should be Monday night when I get to see the entire movie! Jealous? You should be, but don't be.

Fun fact: apparently a man might survive on less than a pint of salt water a day.

(Credit: MTV.com)

If you've never read the Watchmen graphic novel, stop reading this and do so right now.

Done? OK, stop lying, I know you didn't, so you're mostly likely unaware that within the panels of the novel lies another story. In short, throughout most of the story, one of the characters from the Watchmen universe is reading a comic book, and we get to see most of what he's reading.

The comic book--called Tales of the Black Freighter-- is a pirate story that somewhat parallels events taking place in the Watchmen universe.

For the movie adaptation of Watchmen, The Black Freighter has been cut from the theatrical release for purposes of runtime. However, Watchmen director Zack Snyder and Warner Bros. have come up with an excellent compromise.

Few places, outside of perhaps CES and E3, illustrate the overlapping Venn diagram of technology, video games, and popular culture better than the New York Comic Con (or the much larger, but unrelated San Diego Comic-Con). Not just for comic book geeks any more, the show is a catch-all of video games (new and vintage), comics, toys and collectibles, movies, and, of course, incessant marketing toward the mostly male, mostly young adult audience.

It's interesting to note that much of the floor space was given over to hosting video game demos and showcases from companies such as EA, Atari, and Activision. While not quite recession-proof, game companies are perhaps the last holdout that can afford massive amounts of expensive convention center floor space. Also big--the comic/video game/movie pop-culture full-court press called Watchmen.

We braved the nerdy waters of this annual show--held at NYC's Jacob Javitz convention center--to bring you this photo gallery, as well as a few video highlights, shot with a Creative Vado HD camera. Click on to see it all.

Scenes from New York Comic Con 2009