September 2004 Archives

Invader ZIM - Horrible Holiday Cheer (Vol. 3): Out in October; preorder for 30% off.

Also, I am SO going shopping. SQUEEEE.

Shawn of the Dead: Hilarious, serious, horrifying, gruesome, funny. Hilariously horryfying, gruesomely funny. It's some of what I expected (a romantic comedy with zombies inserted into the story in the place of things like missed phone calls and mixed messages) and some pretty surprisingly dramatic stuff that I wasn't.

Recommended. See it before middle america says "Huh? I don't get it." too often and it's relegated to booming DVD sales.

According to Universal, the Serenity trailer will premiere on 1/14/2005

I think what I admire most about Sky Captain and the World of the Tomorrow isn't the new application of technology to make a whole movie -- it was scope of the thing. The writer/director made game attempt to include every major type of Pulp action type in the movie... adventuring, G-8 style aeronautic heroes, Lost Worlds, robots, mad scientist experiements, ray guns and rocketships, and of course the plucky reporter. I'm sure there are others I didn't mention, but that's my point.

Speaking to the technology, I'd say there were places it got in the way of the actor's timing a bit, and tended to make some of the deliveries a little stiff, but there was a lot of potentially impressive and exciting stuff there.

Did I like it? I love Pulp stuff... of course I liked it.

Is it fine theatre? It's as much fine theatre as pulp magazines were fine literature; lots of fluff with the occasional diamond hiding in the cruft (to mangle a cliche), but still filled with love of the genre and vaguely glowing and soft-focus, like your own reader's imagination.

Greetings from Joss

Well, sports fans, it's official. The movie is shot. Done. And I couldn't be happier to be through with it. No more of that exciting, vibrant set, that warm camaraderie, that creative stimulus, free donuts... Excuse me. I have something in my eye... free donuts...

Oh, there's things I'll miss. But there's definitely things I WON'T miss. In no particular order:

1) Fillion. People who are prettier than me are not supposed to be funnier than me. I think it's a guild thing. And that whole 'gracious and professional' thing got old on day ONE, you know what I mean?

2) Cinematographer Jack Green. This guy lights stuff ALL THE TIME. Seriously, like eighty-three percent of the shots had light in them. He totally didn't get my "Just Like Radio" concept for the film.

3) The incessant meddling of the studio: where was it? We waited and waited, what, are they all too busy and important to take the time to ruin my little film? This is Hollywood, people. Learn our ways and customs while you're here. Sheesh.

Just a taste of the Hell I've been through. And being surrounded by beautiful women, and, let's face it, beautiful men, all of whom get along, work hard and play their characters with such ease and nuance it's clear they were born for the roles -- who needs that?

But no matter how much I suffer for my art, it's worth it. [...] The editing started this week, and after just a first cut I can safely say this will be the greatest film since whatever film comes out right before it. And I'm not backing down from that.

[...]

Be well. Good things are coming.

[...]

-joss.

April 22nd, 2005. I need a count-down script for the sidebar.

Last weekend, I handed Jackie a couple of books full of stories I thought she'd probably like: great sense of humor, a touch of sarcasm, a strong lead female character, well-drawn interactions and secondaries.

I wasn't wrong -- Jackie laughed, snerked, smiled, and "ohmygodI'vesaidexactlythat"ed all the way through the first book, moved right into the second book with no prompting from me, and asked after the upcoming third book as soon as she was done.

Not that remarkable, all in all -- I've picked out books to loan Jackie before and been right.

Except, these were Courtney Crumrin books, ladies and gents; specifically this one and this one.

Graphic novels. Finally.

Took me ten years, but finally.

Part of me immediately wants to ride the "well, you've already read that, so try this one" bandwagon in with things like Midnight Nation and Strangers in Paradise, but I recognize that it's important not to make any loud noises or sudden movements -- they're easy to spook at this stage.

Gilmore Girls has the highest words-per-minute ratio of any show on broadcast or cable television. Factoid.

In the last 24 hours, I've watched all but one episode of the entire third season.

My brain feels like one of those little pellets you drop in a cup and watch explode into a lame pink foam dinosaur... except, made out of words... and my skull is the cup, and the cup is too small.

Great show.

Angel, No Limits - Virtual Season 6 -- kinda cool. A "virtual" season 6 of Angel.

I was surprised at the level of writing in the first episode; at least in the first half or so (as far as I've read), the characters and story are well-written with a good feel for speech patterns and character motivation.

What sets this apart from typical is (IMO) that it's actually been organized, with a team of writers who plot story arcs in advance and work with each other (they even have a "spoiler"' site, which is deeply funny to me), almost as though the show was actually being filmed. (And the first writer, at least, has quite a bit of talent.)

Anyhow, I have no clue how well it will continue to shape up, and i've never been much of a fan-fic fan, but this might be worth checking out from time to time.

Also via Randy (as was the Casshern link), this surreal thing called Immortel, which seems to be a foreign film, done in english and then subtitled?

Or something?

Wild, though -- Fifth Element for grown-ups.

Not as though I needed more convincing, but here's a new Casshern trailer. Absolutely kick-ass.

Jewel Staite writes a letter to Browncoats everywhere From Firefly Fans.net -- included here in its entirety simply because I'm having problems getting to FFN and suppose some of the rest of you will to.

Just wanted to say thank-you to everyone who made Dragon*Con such an absolute blast. All three of us had an excellent time, and we were floored by the support and the love from the fans out there. The little Firefly that could, right? How is it that this could have happened? I can't explain it. All I can do is feel grateful.

As for how much we need to make our first couple of weekends in order to carry on with our fantastic trilogy: All studios ever want to do is make their money back. That constitutes a huge hit for them. So as long as that budget comes back to them, which is $40 mil as we all know, then they will be happy as clams. Whoever made the comment ( I was snooping) that the second weekend is almost as important as the first weekend is absolutely correct: the interest has to carry through a little bit. A big drop in ticket sales after opening weekend is never a good thing. So if you do plan on seeing it twice, do so once the first weekend, and once the second weekend. Now, if you're a TRUE fan (like me), then you'll see it five times the first weekend and five times the second!! I for one am seeing it at least twice the day it opens, and I'm taking all of my family and all of my friends...

This is very exciting for all of us. We feel the anticipation and the enthusiasm building for this project, and after working so hard and loving it so much, it feels really redeaming. (think I spelled that wrong but who cares). To those of you I met at the con who expressed that enthusiasm to me personally, I LOVE you truly. I can promise you that this film will give you goosebumps, as it did to me, and you will walk away satisfied. There may be things you will love and there may be things you don't, but I trust Joss's storytelling ability whole-heartedly, and I can say that he is a very brilliant man who knows how to work an audience!

Thank you again for everything you've done for us. I'm glad we're your "big damn heroes", and I feel proud. This is the best fan base there ever was for the best show that ever was. Here's to upcoming successes! You're awesome!

I won't say how many time I'll be going to this -- I probably won't see it the first two weekends any more than I've seen... Our Mrs. Reynolds. How's that?

Nathan Fillion is providing the voice of Vigilante in Justice League Unlimited.

Box Office Prophets lists Serenity as it's pick of the day.

The problem Whedon faced was that Firefly was auctioned off to a group of people who lacked the rudimentary skills to decipher the show's strengths. Fox Network wanted a replacement for the recently completed X-Files or at least its passionate fanbase, and eventually its ratings. What they got was an ideological successor to The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.

In layman's terms, this is the equivalent of asking Santa Claus for a computer only to discover thousands of dollars of jewelry in your stocking. The fact that one could be bartered off for the other was lost on the organization, so the diamonds were thrown down the garbage disposal.

Fortune has smiled upon the zealous Firefly fanbase, though, as Universal Pictures has boldly stuck its hand down the drain and snatched out the elusive gem. Serenity, the Firefly movie, is a go.

That sound you hear is Joss Whedon having the last laugh.

Man, if Fox ever needs help kicking itself, I hereby volunteer my feet.