Hack Master...

(Yes, it is time, once again, to comment on my favorite writing/directing/producing hack)

Joss Whedon-ites live in a bubble.  They feed off of each other and have built up his body of work, in their social circles, to be some of the best entertainment ever created.  Relying solely on the success of “Buffy”, Mr. Whedon has somehow networked with the right people in Hollywood to keep himself in business. 

 I recently read an article about what Sci-Fi sequels should be made and, sure enough, Firefly/Serenity was listed near the top.  One person posting in the comments added that it was one of the few on the list that had a fan base to support a movie sequel.  This comment is so inaccurate that it’s laughable.  Let’s look at the facts:

The television series, Firefly, did not pull the ratings in for Fox to even run all 13 produced episodes.  The show was CANCELED due to lack of viewership.  Yes, it may have had 3 million viewers, but that doesn’t cut it on network TV.  Then, somehow, Whedon was given a budget to make a motion picture, Serenity.  $39 million is getting off cheap for a feature and yet it failed to make its money back over its WORLDWIDE theatrical run, making it a box office flop.  My question, where is this fan base?  They’re probably at home watching "Xena" reruns.  It is a niche franchise and is not sustainable in the mass media.

Whedon’s follow up TV series, Dollhouse, suffered the same ratings fate and could not stay afloat on network television, despite all of the eye candy.  Again, fan base anyone?

The Avengers is poised to be the make or break moment in Whedon’s career.  He has taken on writing and directing duties that Marvel execs have graciously bestowed upon him based almost solely on his fan boy appeal.  They should take note of "Scott Pilgrim’s" failure to perform at the box office.  Its small but vocal audience just couldn’t fill up the theaters.  If The Avengers does not make some major cash, Mr. Whedon may have to go back to riding his brothers’ coat tails as he did on "Dr. Horrible" (the songs, by his brothers, and acting made that good, not the writing).  To its advantage, The Avengers has star power and character recognition, plus lead-in movies to help get it off the ground.  My fear is that the movie WILL be a box office success and help perpetuate the career of one of Hollywood's all-time hacks (Ronald Moore not withstanding, but that's another story)!

Quick Review: "Death at a Funeral"

Just expanding briefly on the Twitter post:

Most of the funny scenes were shown in the movie trailers.  James Marsden was a surprise comedic addition.  The cast was good and there were a few extra funny moments.  Okay for a rental and I'm glad they kept it to 90 minutes.  I haven't seen the 2007 version directed by Frank Oz.  May have to check it out sometime to compare....

Four Hours at Gen Con

(The following is best read in the voice of a 40's film noir detective)


I picked up my passengers and grabbed a donut at 8AM.  Traffic was light on Interstate 74 to Indianapolis.  A wrong exit put me 15 minutes behind schedule and I had to park somewhere just shy of the center of the Earth.  A short hike later, we were badged and ready for the exhibit hall by 10:20.  I thought I might catch the presentation “I’m Wil Wheaton, and I’m a Gamer” but the line was crazy long.  Sorry, Wil, maybe next time.

Back at the exhibit hall things were starting to pick up.  The costumed attendees sporting the standard backpack survival gear with bags of dice, rulebooks and the smuggled-in Mountain Dews were gathering around the various vendor booths.  You could smell the money smoldering in their pockets.

That’s when I spotted Matt.  He’d ditched the others and was ready to do a sweep of the room when he decided to bring me along for photo support.  We talked to vendors, drank orange root beer, took pictures and drank more orange root beer, Root Jack I think it was. With Vitamin C.  Sold by Pirates who claimed it would “fight scurvy”.

Stopping by Exile Game Studio’s Hollow Earth Expedition booth, I asked about the long delayed Mars book.  “Not Yet, but soon” was the response.  They directed me to check out All For One by Triple Ace Games.  It uses their Ubiquity rules system and it’s Musketeers vs. Monsters in 17^th Century France.  I didn’t know what to say to that, except “Thanks”.

Next, we came upon the Nexus Games booth.  Typically distributed by Fantasy Flight, they had 3 soon-to-be-released board games with demonstrations going on.  Magestorm, Dakota and Letters From Whitechapel all look excellent.  I’ll keep an eye out for them this fall.

Moving on, we came across a booth that I recognized by the merchandise as Margaret Weis Productions and I said as much to Matt.  Then I looked up.  Margaret Weis was standing there smiling at me.  We asked for a picture, which she graciously allowed us to take, and she asked Matt if he was part of the preferred retailer program.  She directed us to her business manager and we proceeded to get more information.

After this encounter we picked up the pace.  We went past the White Wolf booth but something was wrong.  No merchandise or demonstrations.  Their booth could only be described as a “Goth Lounge”.  The only sign of a game tie-in was a banner with the words The Grand Masquerade, September 23-26.  We puzzled over this but kept going.

We visited the booths for Mayfair Games, Fantasy Flight, Privateer Press, Wizards of the Coast and Paizo among many others.  Matt greeted several acquaintances along the way and introduced me.  I just kept smiling and taking pictures.

Finally, we reached the end.  Independent game developers, authors and artists inhabited this area.  From what we could see, there is potential for many good things on the horizon.  Suddenly, a growl sounded nearby.  We looked around but could not find its source.  Then I realized it was my stomach.  It was 2PM and I hadn’t had anything but that single donut and orange root beer all day.  We rallied the troops and made our way to a local diner where we swapped stories of our encounters.  Once we were finished, we launched the expedition to find my car and head back.  It was 3PM and I had a 5:30 deadline to meet.

See you next year Gen Con.

Quick Review Roundup

I've been lazy... For the past couple of months I have been firing off "Quick Reviews" on Twitter.  Sooo, here is a compilation of the unedited (mostly) reviews in 140 characters or less...

Cadillac Records -A bit disjointed trying to cover 30 years of Blues recording at Chess Records.  Acting and cast good.

Inception -Intelligent story that is remarkably complex for so little detail.  Many things are "assumed".  Cast is excellent.

 Regarding The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, "a script clearly written on 50 index cards and shuffled at random", via Scifi Wire (now blastr).  Website

Max Payne not too payneful.  A-List actors meet B-List story and Director.  Small shades of Punisher and Blade Runner mixed.

 



Devils Due is hands-down THE best 80's "Big Hair" cover band in Cincinnati.  The look, the sound, the attitude! Website


  Shutter Island -Psychological Thriller that's about 45 minutes too long.  Story OK, acting good, editing VERY ANNOYING.  Zzzzzz.

Shutter Island (continued) Predictable!  Crappy editing draws you into the "psychosis" or Scorsese full of crap?  You decide.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief  -More fun than the last 2 'Potter' movies but similar in theme.  Good cast.  Story pacing seemed rushed.

Land of the Lost -Better than I thought it would be.  Laughed out loud a few times.  Effects are decent.  Anna Friel is purdy.




The Book of Eli - Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman are great as usual in this post-apocalyptic, thinking-man's Mad Max.

Alice in Wonderland - Visually striking with interesting angle on the story.  Great cast and voices.  Burton's best in a while.

Whiteout ,with Kate Beckinsale, defies logic and is too long.  Story is weak and good acting can't save bad dialogue.

There you have it.  More to come my minions....