"My God...it's full of stars!"

Apple.com has just posted the first League of Extraordinary Gentlemen trailer - and it's very disappointing. The movie is based, loosely, on Alan Moore's excellent graphic novel, but with a completely different story, and several new (Tom Sawyer, Dorian Gray) and altered (Mina Harker is quite obviously a full-fledged vampire in the movie) characters. None of the changes appear to be for the better, and what's up with that car?

I'd hoped Hollywood had learned their lessons from the success of good comic-book adaptations like X-Men, Spider-Man, and Daredevil; that the audience is appreciative (and, most importantly, pays up) when the filmmakers stay true to the source, and that there's a good reason why the books were successful in the first place: That they had good stories and characters. 'LXG' (a horrible acronym) seems to be heading in the complete opposite direction, and Alan Moore is again screwed with a bad movie adaptation of a brilliant comic (case in point: From Hell). Still, I'll remain cautiously optimistic until the reviews start coming in. The trailer may be horribly cut, but the movie might still be good.

By the way, check out these promotional stills from Van Helsing - a movie I'm really looking forward to. I love the mood and tone of these images, and I hope the movie follows through on that mood. I love the classic movie monsters, and if Stephen Sommers can deliver without going outrageously camp (like he did with the Mummy movies), I think we're in for a real treat.  ¶ 12:54