Much to Do About Nothing 2012 8 out of 10

Much to Do About Nothing    2012  8 out of 10

It is a modern retelling of Shakespeare Joss Whedon style.  The movie was stylishly shot in black and white and features actors from many of Whedon's  other shows.   The film had a great look and feel to it.  The adaptation is fun, quirky and very witty.  The Whedonverse cast does and excellent job at bringing a freshness and sense of fun to  Shakespeare's words and it was great to see these recognizable Whedon actors in completely different roles.  I enjoyed watching the juxtaposition of the bard's words in a modern setting.  It is crazy that this movie was shot in 12 days at Whedon's house while on a break from filming The Avengers.  It seems very polished and is a delight for any fans of Whedon or Shakespeare.

At this point I'm convinced that Whedon can do no wrong.   Dr. Horrible, Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse and now  even making me like  Shakespeare.    

Top 25 Sci-Fi TV Shows Countdown: # 4 Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Number 4   Buffy the Vampire Slayer  1997-2003

A great cast and a great series.  This Joss Whedon creation  brought wit and humor to killing vampires and demons on a weekly basis.  This is the 4th Whedon show to make my countdown and my personal favorite.  The adventures of Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Xander, Willow and Giles saving Sunnydale each week was a true treat.  Whedon crafted a great mythology which eventually spun off 2 of its characters into the also excellent  Angel  starring (David Boreanaz and Charisma Carpenter).  Buffy did what a lot of other good mythology shows didn't,  it paid off on everything it teased.  Whedon created story arcs and then delivered on those arcs on a regular basis, unlike X-Files and LOST which just kept stringing the viewers along with tease after tease in their mythologies.  As far as I'm concerned Buffy is a perfect example of how a sci-fi mythology should be done and I'll be there for any Whedon show in the future.   The writing was witty and creative and you ended up liking and enjoying both heroes and villains alike.  The character of Spike went from being a villain to a good guy and that is a testament to the great writing the show had.  

Trailer of the week: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D from Joss Whedon coming this fall

I can't wait until this  show comes out.    It looks like Fringe with Superheroes  and Joss Whedon's style humor.   Amazing!.....

Top 25 Sci-Fi TV Shows Countdown: # 9 Firefly

Number 9 Firefly  2002-2003

Fox didn't know what they had.   Part western,  part Sci-Fi --the show was never properly promoted or show regularly in its time slot and died and early and unfortunate death.    The fans knew what they had though an amazing, cool sci-fi gem with a deep mythology that we never got to fully explore created by Joss Whedon.  The story follows a crew of travlers, each with their own secrets aboard the spaceship Serenity.  Traveling from frontier planet to frontier planet in search of earning a wage and avoiding entanglements with the authorities.

 It features a great cast starring Nathan Fillion (of Castle)  and excellent writing lead to a loyal fan base that eventually lead to a motion picture based on a TV show that only had about 9 episodes that aired on TV.  Serenity was a really good movie that delivered its loyal fans with some of the answers  that we would have eventually explored had the show itself lasted longer---but left us wanting more.   If this show had lasted longer it may have been one of my favorites of all-time.  

Top 25 Sci-Fi TV Shows Countdown: # 10 Dollhouse

Number 10   Dollhouse   2009-2010

The second of four  Joss Whedon creations on my favorite list.   Dollhouse starring  Eliza Dushku (Faith on Buffy another Whedon show).  It followed the story of a girl that was part of a futuristic lab that used their agents or "Dolls" for different highly paid assignments  be implanting different memories or skills in them by clearing their memories after each task. The premise was excellent.   The writing on the show was terrific both comedic and interesting.   The concept lead to cool stories  each week while slowing unfolding the main mythology of the main storyline about the Dollhouse.   It has a great cast starting with Eliza in the main role.   Fran Kranz as the main tech was great for comic relief and Tahmoh Penikett (of Battlestar fame) as the detective that is trying to figure the Dollhouse out was great as well.   The show was solid from start to finish and unfortunately ended to soon. Like all of Whedon's work I was left entertained and satisfied with the teases and pay offs of the shows stories.  

Top 25 Sci-Fi TV Shows Countdown: # 13 Angel

Number #13  Angel 1999-2004

Angel was a spin off series from Buffy The Vampire Slayer featuring  characters established in Buffy of Angel (played by David Boreanaz) and Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter).  It follows Angel's move to Los Angeles where he becomes a detective in the Los Angeles underground dealing with supernatural cases and protecting the innocent. The show was basically about Angel (the Vampire with a soul) doing good to make up for all the bad he had done before as a form of redemption. 

 Angel was quailty show with some  really great episodes once it found its groove.   The mythology like the mythology on Buffy was strong and the show always paid off on the story arcs that it teased.    

The Avengers 2012 10 out of 10

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The Avengers was everything a superhero movie should be.  Exciting, thrilling and action packed.  The perfect mix of comedy and action.  The movie had a clever and witty script.  The movies verbal fights were  just as good as the physical fights.  This movie was a perfect example of  the sum of its parts being more than the parts themselves.  None of the these characters on their own were this good.   The original Hulk movie was a disaster.....Iron Man was surprisingly good as was Captain Americam but not at this level....Thor was a dud ( at least when he was on earth).   I would never go and see a Hawkeye movie or Nick Fury or Black Widow, but somehow put them all together and it makes the best superhero sandwich to ever hit the screen.  I don't consider myself a comic book fan....but I'm a devoted follower of the director of The Avengers.   I love everything he has put on the small screen.  Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dr, Horrible and Dollhouse were all great.  Whedon took everything he learned from making those shows concerning the group dynamics of those shows characters and blended it somehow just right,  Flawed good guys that can be bad at times, fighting each other and then banding together for a common goal.

The Avengers success is all about balance...it was all about the right mix of ingredients that make the recipe for success just right.  Someone in Hollywood got it right in hiring Whedon to shepherd this movie.   Just like the people that put the trust in the Lord of the Rings movies in the hands of the guy that made Dead Alive and Bad Taste.  Whoever decided to give this group of superheroes in the capable hands of the guy that made Buffy was a genius

 After seeing The Avengers I can't imagine them going back to doing solo movies again.  The scope and scale of The Avengers was well beyond the other solo films

Cabin in the Woods 9 out of 10: Welcome to the Whedonverse!

The Cabin in the Woods fits perfectly into the Whedonverse.    It skewers the horror genre and its conventions in  a clever and laugh filled fashion.  Like a really fun episode of Buffy or Angel that goes places that the show couldn’t.   It  plays with the classic horror movie genre with a mysterious   quality straight out of the movie The Cube….  but with Buffy style laughs.   It basically serves as a way of explaining all of the horror movies that we have seen over the years…..All of the unexplained decisions that the characters of those horror movies make.  It is like if the Scooby Gang went to a spooky cabin in the woods and left Scooby at home.   Shaggy is definitely there in the form of Fran Kranz (previously from the Dollhouse)  playing the geeky stoner  Marty.   As a fan of  Buffy and Angel I got exactly what I wanted out of this movie going experience.  It meet all of my expectations by creating creepy settings and scary moments and then having great moments of laughter and fun in place of scares.  It captured the horror that it is skewering and then cooked the kabobs and added a little extra sauce.

 The big supposed twist of the movie is technically revealed in the first few minutes of the movie and that really doesn’t matter.   It isn’t a movie that solely relies on a twist at the end like the so-so films of  M Knight.   The twist  is just a fun original idea  that allows us to look at the horror genre in a different way.    The thing I like about Joss Whedon’s stuff is that he teases you and teases you and then pays it off in the end.   On Buffy there would be a season long arch ---a mystery behind the season that you would get a hint of –and then another hint and at the end of the season there would be a payoff and the story would move forward to something else.     Other shows like Twin Peaks ,  X-Files and LOST were masters of the tease (and great at times in their run)  but they all failed in the big payoff.   You need to eventually payoff the audience.   Whedon does and this movie does as well.   They could have easily ended the movie and left it open for dozens of sequels with different scenarios ---but instead the movie has a big payoff at the end.   And I appreciate it.  

Trailer of the week: Cabin in the Woods:

It had me at  Executive Producer Joss Whedon.   It looks like a cross between Evil Dead and The Cube.....I can't wait for this movie to come out.  Seriously the plot looks bizarre and if it is anything like Buffy, Angel, Firefly or Dollhouse --I will love it.