Thanks, Jenna, for bringing the apocalypse to my attention.
Fran Rubel Kuzui is a complete idiot. There has been talk of a Buffy movie since the series went off the air in 2003. Alternating rumors that it was in development or that it would never happen made fans like myself appear bi-polar to outside observers. You'd think we would all be thrilled now that Kuzui, the rights holder to the franchise, is actively pursuing a Buffy feature film. You'd be wrong.
The reason we fans have been clamoring for a film, is that we are invested in the lives of the characters from the TV show. We want to know what happens to them after Sunnydale is leveled. Luckily, Joss Whedon's Season Eight comics have done that, to an extent, but I'd really like to see a movie with all of the characters from the Buffyverse with a little bit more closure on some of the main storylines (who does Buffy end up with, or does she not end up with anyone?, does Angel get to become human?, why was Angel brought back from hell?).
However, this feature film, spearheaded by Kuzui isn't going to be a sequel or continuation of the television show. Instead, in the wake of the Twilight frenzy, it's going to be a complete reboot, ignoring both the TV show, and the 1992 movie, and trying to gain a whole new generation of fans. Seems like a good idea, right?
Problem #1: The only reason the Buffy franchise is so successful is because of the insanely rabid fans. There aren't very many casual Buffy-watchers. People either never watched enough to get hooked, or they are completely nuts about it. Those are the only two options. By rebooting the franchise, and ignoring the characters that the fanbase cares about, the feature film may appeal to a new generation, but it will completely alienate the existing fans. And without the existing fans on board, I doubt the movie will do very well.
Problem #2: Joss Whedon has not even been approached about being involved. So, this pretty much guarantees that the movie will suck. You can't do Buffy without Joss in complete control. They took control away from Joss for the 1992 movie, and look what happened. Plus, now, the rapid fans of the TV show aren't just going to ignore the movie, they will actively work to undermine it. Speaking as a rabid fan, I promise you, this will happen. Check out the article and accompanying poll at EW.com. If there are riots, I will totally go.
Problem #3: We are flooded with vampire related TV shows and movies right now. The CW just picked up a show based on L.J. Smith's "The Vampire Diaries" starring Ian Somerhalder (Boone from Lost), and some other people that I don't care about. Plus the Twilight books and movies, True Blood, etc. I can't think of others right now, but it just seems like it is everywhere. A reboot of Buffy right now would just fall in with the vampire frenzy and probably wouldn't stand out at all. If it were a sequel to the series, it would work, because the aforementioned rabid fans would make it stand out. But if it's just going to be a from scratch movie, what makes it different from all the other vampire stuff. I realize that the fact that vampires are "so hot right now" is a reason to make the film now. Kuzui practically says as much in the Hollywood Reporter article, but fads change so quickly. By the time the movie is made and comes out, vampires might be "so over."
Problem #4: I hate the idea. And we all know how much pull I have with my highpowered blog.
Read more!
Showing posts with label Joss whedon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joss whedon. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Just watched our DVD of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. To be fair, this doesn't really fit into the categories for this blog, since it was an internet show, but I'm including it because it is awesome. And when you watch it on DVD, it's kind of like a short movie, or a stand alone TV show.
Anyway, I know this blog has been dominated by American Idol and Joss Whedon fawning for the last few days, but I am pretty sure that I warned you that I would complain and rave about the same things over and over, so you should just accept it. I'll talk about something else sometime.
So, I think anyone who likes Dr. Horrible should also watch Buffy. If this wasn't inspired by the nerd villains in season 6 of Buffy, I would be extremely shocked. The similarities are pretty major (one similarity is that they are both awesome). Anyway, I like auteurs, and I like when they consistently use the same troup of actors, or when there are callbacks to other works. It rewards the watcher for loyalty to the creator, and since I have watched everything Joss has ever done, I get huge rewards for continuing to watch everything he does. So, the story is, you should be loyal to creators, because it's a different way of experiencing media. I'm the same with books and graphic novels, and - to some extent - movies.
Now we are watching the musical commentary. It's pretty funny so far. I'm a huge fan of self-reflective stuff, and I don't think there has ever been anything as self-reflective as this. I mean, the musical itself is self-reflective, then a commentary is always self-reflective, and then this musical commentary is just like an explosion of self-reflectivity (that's a word, I've decided).
Right now, Nathan Fillion (AKA Captain Hammer) is singing a song in the commentary called "I'm Better than Neil" - all about how he's better than Neil Patrick Harris (AKA Dr. Horrible). It is amazing. It might be my favorite song from the commentary, I'll let you know.
Felicia Day is now singing about her previous web series - The Guild, and about her acting process, and her shoes. She is super cute. She claims to have "baker's dozens" of fans. They come in thirteens.
So, now they are singing about how they bonded over playing a game called Ninja Ropes.
If I ever have to sing for an audition for anything ever again, I'm going to sing something from this commentary. Probably the song going on right now, which is about the ensemble singers. Joss needs to write and produce a Broadway musical. He's on an internet kick right now, but I hope he eventually does the Broadway thing. We'd totally fly to see that.
Sorry this is a little babbly and stream of consciousness. I just really wanted to write about this, but I didn't want to wait.
Now a poor girl is singing about how Asians aren't in movies or on TV. It's pretty true. There was that Margaret Cho show, but really, it's not common. Totally justified complaint. But also really funny.
Joss is singing his song about why commentaries are bizarre. I saw him perform this on This American Life. It's probably the most self-reflective of all the self-reflective stuff in this commentary.
Finally, Neil Patrick Harris has a song. It's the most Sondheim-esqe of Joss's songs, which are all Sondheim-esque. There was actually something about that, in an earlier song, about how the meter of the songs change unexpectedly, but I forgot to mention it at the time.
Now they called us all effing nerds for watching the entire musical commentary. I feel awesome. Not only did I watch the whole commentary, but I blogged about it while it was happening. I think that makes me a strataspheric nerd. That's also a word.
So, I think that's enough. I'm feeling insecure about my cool factor, so I have to stop this. If you haven't seen it yet, watch Dr. Horrible. Read more!
Anyway, I know this blog has been dominated by American Idol and Joss Whedon fawning for the last few days, but I am pretty sure that I warned you that I would complain and rave about the same things over and over, so you should just accept it. I'll talk about something else sometime.
So, I think anyone who likes Dr. Horrible should also watch Buffy. If this wasn't inspired by the nerd villains in season 6 of Buffy, I would be extremely shocked. The similarities are pretty major (one similarity is that they are both awesome). Anyway, I like auteurs, and I like when they consistently use the same troup of actors, or when there are callbacks to other works. It rewards the watcher for loyalty to the creator, and since I have watched everything Joss has ever done, I get huge rewards for continuing to watch everything he does. So, the story is, you should be loyal to creators, because it's a different way of experiencing media. I'm the same with books and graphic novels, and - to some extent - movies.
Now we are watching the musical commentary. It's pretty funny so far. I'm a huge fan of self-reflective stuff, and I don't think there has ever been anything as self-reflective as this. I mean, the musical itself is self-reflective, then a commentary is always self-reflective, and then this musical commentary is just like an explosion of self-reflectivity (that's a word, I've decided).
Right now, Nathan Fillion (AKA Captain Hammer) is singing a song in the commentary called "I'm Better than Neil" - all about how he's better than Neil Patrick Harris (AKA Dr. Horrible). It is amazing. It might be my favorite song from the commentary, I'll let you know.
Felicia Day is now singing about her previous web series - The Guild, and about her acting process, and her shoes. She is super cute. She claims to have "baker's dozens" of fans. They come in thirteens.
So, now they are singing about how they bonded over playing a game called Ninja Ropes.
If I ever have to sing for an audition for anything ever again, I'm going to sing something from this commentary. Probably the song going on right now, which is about the ensemble singers. Joss needs to write and produce a Broadway musical. He's on an internet kick right now, but I hope he eventually does the Broadway thing. We'd totally fly to see that.
Sorry this is a little babbly and stream of consciousness. I just really wanted to write about this, but I didn't want to wait.
Now a poor girl is singing about how Asians aren't in movies or on TV. It's pretty true. There was that Margaret Cho show, but really, it's not common. Totally justified complaint. But also really funny.
Joss is singing his song about why commentaries are bizarre. I saw him perform this on This American Life. It's probably the most self-reflective of all the self-reflective stuff in this commentary.
Finally, Neil Patrick Harris has a song. It's the most Sondheim-esqe of Joss's songs, which are all Sondheim-esque. There was actually something about that, in an earlier song, about how the meter of the songs change unexpectedly, but I forgot to mention it at the time.
Now they called us all effing nerds for watching the entire musical commentary. I feel awesome. Not only did I watch the whole commentary, but I blogged about it while it was happening. I think that makes me a strataspheric nerd. That's also a word.
So, I think that's enough. I'm feeling insecure about my cool factor, so I have to stop this. If you haven't seen it yet, watch Dr. Horrible. Read more!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
