Much Ado About Joss Whedon

After hearing a few very good comments about it, I decided there was just no escaping it: I had to see Much Ado About Nothing. I had mixed feelings about it going in, since I'm a huge Joss Whedon fan, but I never really learned to appreciate Shakespeare... *ducks and covers as assorted rotten fruits and veggies fly in close proximity to my face*

Maybe I just have a thing for black and white modern films. I still love The Artist in all of its wonderful and lightly humorous beauty. Much Ado was similar to this, with its roller coaster of emotions and unexpected moments of hilarity.

Basically, the play is about two couples who go about admitting their love in two very different ways; while one couple is set to marry in a few days' time with only a few... minor... setbacks, the other pair profusely denies their love for one another, bickering and providing most of the comedic relief while avoiding the topic of love when they're clearly falling head over heels for each other (sometimes literally).

Being a Joss Whedon film, I have to comment on the actors first. If you've watched any of the other TV shows Joss Whedon has produced/directed/written (seriously, any), you'll notice right away that he basically took a couple actors from each of his shows and dumped them into this one. Once I got over the fact that Wes was finally going for Fred (Angel) and Topher actually grasped the concept of love (Dollhouse), it was easier, but it's still a little disorienting. Truth be told, I completely support Joss's casting since he really knows these actors. The characters did remind me of previous roles they've played, but only because they played those roles so damn well. Reaching out for new actors would've been tricky, especially on a budget of... well, so low I can't find it, since Joss Whedon apparently said, "Whatever you're thinking, it's less." Respect.

Many aspects of the film took a while adjusting to, but it's mostly because of the nature of the film itself. It's in black and white, it's in Shakespearean, it's freaking WES and FRED... But I assure you, I was able to eventually slip into a more relaxed viewing state, not trying to rearrange every sentence to make sense of it. It's like travelling to a foreign country and learning the language by just immersing yourself in the culture, only in about ten minutes. Or five if you actually read Shakespeare and don't cling to your Sparknotes. *somersaults into bomb shelter to avoid the fury of the gods of English literature*

The overall setting was very well done, especially considering it was apparently filmed at someone's house... This may sound easy, but for those professional-looking shots, it takes more than a camera and a house to film. They worked with this aspect very well. As for the setting in terms of story, Joss Whedon does a very nice job mingling time periods and cultural differences. Don't believe me? Watch five minutes of Firefly.

I actually have a gazillion other things to do right now. I swear I planned on a relaxing, stress-free summer, but I've finally proven that it's impossible for me. Point is, I'll talk about one more thing before going back to procrastinating. Which is probably why I'm stressed. No matter.

Unlike this blog, that movie had comedic timing and stunt work that was incredible, especially considering the time spent (twelve days to be exact). It goes to show how mind-blowingly awesome a group of actors is when they spit Shakespeare's lines like they came out of the womb talking like that (albeit there were a few monotone lines toward the beginning), and how the timing was perfect. I literally have nothing to equate it to. I always find some awkward spot in comedic timing in a movie, where someone stands with a blank stare on his face for a millisecond too long, but Much Ado had no time for that (terrible pun intended). There was such a familiarity in those awkward fumblings of Dogberry and Verges, as well as the over-the-top comedy of Beatrice and Benedick that gave me a newfound appreciation for Elizabethan comedy and a renewed appreciation for all things Joss Whedon. I even made the terrible decision last night of going back and watching one of the only Angel episodes where Fred and Wes are together... I won't name names, but I will say that if I watch this particular episode we'll call "A Schmole in the Schworld', my tear ducts will shrivel up and fall out of my eye sockets.

Wait, what? It was a terrible decision because I watched it at 3:00 in the morning, not because of the episode itself! Shame on you... It's never a terrible decision to watch anything by Joss Whedon.

Man of Steel!!

You know it's summer and you're a lazy bum when you wake up so late you can't decide whether to eat breakfast or lunch. I just ate so many bowls of cereal.

Last night, I went to see Man of Steel, and it's a good thing I don't do a vlog, because I would be talking so loudly; my ears have been sufficiently blasted. I can't tell if it's just the movie or if the dude controlling the volume at the theater was on drugs or what, because that movie was SO. LOUD... Are there still people who control volume at the theater? I should know these things.

Anyway, before the movie started, there was plenty of time to discuss it and dash all of my hopes and dreams. First of all, I just don't want to hear about Rotten Tomatoes ever again, because Man of Steel got a 59% rating (supposedly it was 55% last night) and even Now You See Me got a measly 48%! And America worries about grade inflation... The second thing was that my friend and I had noticed that the trailer had been very blue. When I say blue, I actually mean the color blue, not the mood. Movies sometimes have theme colors (The Matrix = green, Sweeney Todd = ketchup red), and it would just be a bummer if any movie had blue as a theme color when it's about aliens and superheroes and not very blue things.

The movie was not blue. Sure, there was plenty of it, but not enough to make it the theme color of the movie, so thank goodness. What it was, however, was action-packed. The rhythm of the movie as a whole was nicely done; the first half was a series of flashbacks and random acts of heroics which somehow made sense despite the crazy time jumps. If it hadn't made sense I would be very upset. There are basically five stages of Superman: infant, elementary schoolboy, adolescent, Henry Cavill without the beard, Henry Cavill with the beard.

To a certain extent, I have to agree with some of the critics. I feel terrible, I know, but that dialogue... I tried paying attention to the cinematography, but writing is my first love so it was hard to ignore the quality of writing in this script. There are just... so many lines that should never be used. It also would've been nice to see dialogue in parts where they just had shots of characters' faces. What were they thinking? I have no clue, because all I see are vaguely smiling faces. Or was that a wince? A smirk? I'm lost.

Here's one thing that I noticed A LOT of... Being a huge Joss Whedon fan, I couldn't help but notice all of the actors who had been in Whedon's shows. Amy Adams did show up in a Buffy episode as Tara's cousin, Harry Lennix was in Dollhouse, Tahmoh Penikett was also in Dollhouse, aaand awkward that's it. It probably felt like there were more because of the fact that it was fairly late at night and because Michael Kelly looks like Jeff Ricketts who played the second man with "hands of blue" in Firefly. You don't see the resemblance? I'm not crazy, I swear.

What I did notice right off the bat was how the flying scenes were shot. Joss Whedon did this whole spiel about how when he was making Firefly, he wanted the shots of Serenity to be slightly chaotic, with random zooms and pans that made the whole experience more chaotic. This is exactly what happens in Man of Steel. Every time something was flying, I wanted to lean over to a friend and say "OH MY GOD JOSS WHEDON DID YOU NOT SEE THAT" but of course no one would've heard me over the power of Hans Zimmer.

Speaking of music, one of the friends I sat next to is a HUGE fan of Hans Zimmer, and explained some pretty cool stuff about the technicalities in his music. I didn't understand 90% of it (no offense, it was very interesting anyway) other than "OH MY GOD THOSE TRI TONES" and the difference between Hans Zimmer and John Williams. If you don't know these two real-life superheroes, just know:

Hans Zimmer = Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, Batman (the newer trilogy), Inception.

John Williams = Jaws, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Superman.

The main difference between them is that you probably have one of John Williams's theme songs stuck in your head right now, whereas when you think of the movies that Hans Zimmer has done, you think intense atmospheric music but wait what was that melody?... I personally like John Williams because I do like having that melody, but Hans Zimmer did a spectacular job with this movie. A spectacular job blowing my ears off, that is. With awesomeness.

Overall, I do recommend you see this movie.

Aaaand that's all I have to say about that because I'm about to go edit a music video that I shot for a friend today!! Hoorah!!! I'll have a link at the ready when it's all done and on YouTube, but for now if you want to check out the musician, April has a YouTube channel here.

P.S. Little did I expect I would actually get a comment on my last post! But I did, so I will be watching and reviewing Dead Poets Society soon. Keep those comments coming if you want more reviews or any other topics covered... Within a range of comfort. I will probably never talk about certain things. Let's keep this PG-13, people.

Just finish it!!

The world has a chronic case of cancellations of cool cinema. There, how's that for alliteration? But seriously, the world of television is leaving me on the edge of my seat and biting my nails only to tell me... SHOW CANCELLED??? NO.

Here's one more list for y'all:
Kyle XY
Ringer
Dollhouse
Firefly

The longest-running show among these is Kyle XY, which cranked out a grand total of three seasons before ending it with THE BIGGEST REVELATION YET... Only to have it cancelled. Not ok, ABC Family. I must admit, the show had some awkward acting moments and drawn out episodes, but the plot? The entire concept as a whole? Me likey. Unfortunately, the only thing to "satisfy" my curiosity about what would've come in the fourth season is a little "wrap-up" titled "Kyle XY: Future Revealed," which would've been ok had it not been so... Incredibly... Vague. "Oh yeah, we were thinking of developing this character here- would've been fun to see how that played out in the fourth season!" LADY THERE IS NO FOURTH SEASON YER KILLIN' ME. (Not an actual quote, just me imitating her) And no worries, Julie Plec definitely redeemed herself by starting up The Vampire Diaries.

Don't worry I'm not usually this ranty.

Next up: Ringer. Thank you, Sarah Michelle Gellar, for showing your face on television again. The acting in that show was superb (and I really never say superb) and I think that may have been one of the main reasons this show was awesome. Maybe that was one of the reasons it didn't really last long... At least the cliffhanger at the end was much more of an actual ending than in Kyle XY.

I think I've watched Dollhouse way too many times. And yet, it's just as awesome every single time, especially the "Epitaph" episodes. I seriously do not cry for many movies which sometimes makes me feel like a heartless soulless person (LIKE THE SLENDER MAN), but nevertheless, I cried during the last episode of the second season. God I love the characters in that show. *SPOILER ALERT* I just get chills every time I see Topher break down in "Epitaph One." Apparently Joss would've made the relationship between Dewitt and Topher more interesting in upcoming seasons (in a motherly/son kind of way you sickos), and that is probably one of the main reasons I get all sad whenever I see no number 3 when selecting the season on Netflix.

I think the least painful (only in some senses) was the cancellation of Firefly. Eeeeeveryone gets upset over it, but I won't, because Serenity was made to save the day, and Joss Whedon should get major props for bringing the whole team back together again. As a mini-amateur-kind-of-filmmaker, it's hard enough getting a few people together for just a freakin' scene, so for a whole movie? If you've watched the bloopers I guess I can see why they would come back. All they do is goof around, I swear.

I guess it's ok that it got cancelled since it was so darn expensive to make... Just kidding, it will never be ok. It is so obvious that everyone is pissed at Fox... I love it.

If you're lazy, go from 2:00, but that's just lame

I actually started this post because I was frustrated that Marble Hornets is not actually done yet. I get distracted easily.

Procrastination nation

I'm a big fan of TV shows. There's an odd mix of them, but enough to make most people think I have way too much free time on my hands. Wrong- it's just a very good use of time while procrastinating.

A little above my head to the left, there are two sheets of paper taped to my wall. Posters were too mainstream (har har). On these pieces of plain white paper are ten tips from my hero Joss Whedon, describing what to do or what not to do in order to be a successful screenwriter. In other words, common sense is taped to my wall. For any of you fellow writers out there, here's a link: http://dannystack.blogspot.com/2009/01/joss-whedons-top-10-writing-tips.html

Back to procrastination. Here's a list: Firefly, Dollhouse, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Bones, The Vampire Diaries. There. My six obsessions in life (among many other non-film things don't worry). Before we start getting judgey on the whole vampire thing, don't worry- Twilight didn't make my top 1,000 movies. I don't think I've watched 1,000 movies in my life. But I unfortunately (or fortunately) have been caught in the frenzy for vampires on television. Allow me to explain: I'm weird. All done.

Looking at more and more movies, I have come to realize why TV shows are so much more awesome in my mind. Movies, according to critics and film buffs, are an art form, where different images come together to make one quick story filled with emotion brought about in whatever wacky way possible. TV shows on the other hand are about the storyline, character development... And other stuff I'd much rather obsess over. Don't get me wrong, movies are awesome (although Un Chien Andalou made my mind explode), but it's like being asked the question, "Which is your favorite? Red M&Ms or yellow M&Ms?" Unless you've got some wacky problem with the color yellow. I digress yet again.

Please watch these clips of bloopers. They make me so happy and you don't even need to know what's going on! Though if you're at all confused, I have the perfect solution: watch the show.

His face...

If nothing else, watch starting at 1:23. Please.

I can too don't you worry