Parting Shot: ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ Comic Writer Fred Van Lente Live-Tweets First Viewing of the Movie

It's no secret that Cowboys & Aliens, the 2011 big budget film from Iron Man director Jon Favreau, was a bit of a flop. Despite a cast that included Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, and a well-publicized debut at last year's San Diego Comic-Con, the movie failed both commercially and critically. Originally an OGN, the concept was created by Platinum Studios head Scott Rosenberg, with the sole intent of selling it to a movie studio. As such, he hired a few comics pros, including Fred Van Lente, to create a story based on what was essentially nothing more than a working title.

Apparently, Van Lente either wasn't invited to a screening or found a better use of his time, because he recently watched the film, for the first time, on HBO. And fortunately for his Twitter followers, he decided to live tweet the entire movie. That is, until he realized it's incredibly boring.

Van Lente starts off enthusiastic enough, which even prompts his Cowboys & Aliens co-writer Andrew Foley to join in. But about 30 minutes into the film, he comes to the somber realization that it isn't even worth the effort to mock it, and instead chooses to watch in silence.

In other news, I'm gonna watch Cowboys & Aliens for the 1st time tonight. I'll Tweet if anything interesting strikes me. Or funny. Or mean.
- Fred Van Lente (@fredvanlente) November 13, 2012

So I did an OGN w/@theandrewfoley & @denniscalero & other pals & it got made into a movie... Let's watch #Cowboys&Aliens together, shall we?
- Fred Van Lente (@fredvanlente) November 14, 2012

Ooh, the music is by the same guy who did ANTZ #CowboysandAliens
- Fred Van Lente (@fredvanlente) November 14, 2012

There are _eight_ credited writers. Always a good sign #CowboysandAliens
- Fred Van Lente (@fredvanlente) November 14, 2012

Oh snap, Animated Two-Face totally got the drop on James Bond #CowboysandAliens
- Fred Van Lente (@fredvanlente) November 14, 2012

@fredvanlente Let's not forget the writers who weren't credited w/ any writing. & can we also forget the creator who didn't do any creating?
- Andrew Foley (@TheAndrewFoley) November 14, 2012

15 min in: 1st cowboys sighting; 16 min in: 1st aliens sighting #CowboysandAliens
- Fred Van Lente (@fredvanlente) November 14, 2012

30 min in & this isn't even really interesting enough to write snarky Tweets about; radio silence 'til end #CowboysandAliens
- Fred Van Lente (@fredvanlente) November 14, 2012

@zenbubble DUDE SPOILERS!!! Actually, wait. Nah, I don't care
- Fred Van Lente (@fredvanlente) November 14, 2012

You always know when the aliens are gonna attack: It's whenever they can't figure out how to end a scene #CowboysandAliens
- Fred Van Lente (@fredvanlente) November 14, 2012

@onegeeknation It's amazing they managed to make such a dull, self-important movie with the title "Cowboys & Aliens"
- Fred Van Lente (@fredvanlente) November 14, 2012

It's actually kind of amusing that all the shit I took out in 2001...aliens need gold, they're HR Geiger ripoffs...they put right back in...
- Fred Van Lente (@fredvanlente) November 14, 2012

Well, that was sad. Hey, I know my brand of "fun" comics aren't everybody's cup of tea...
- Fred Van Lente (@fredvanlente) November 14, 2012

...but it's hard to believe somebody made such a dull, humorless movie from something called "#CowboysandAliens"
- Fred Van Lente (@fredvanlente) November 14, 2012

Fortunately, Van Lente does find a bit of a silver lining:

Not gonna lie: Pretty cool to freeze-frame HBO on my name in the credits, tho. ;) #CowboysandAliens
- Fred Van Lente (@fredvanlente) November 14, 2012

And if nothing else, the experience did lead to what was hopefully an entertaining evening: