A Trailer Parked by the Cabin

The first trailer for Joss Whedon's upcoming horror flick, The Cabin in the Woods, is now available on the Tube of You. I can say, with only a small risk of spoiling anything for those of you who don't watch the trailer, that the movie appears to be a little more science fiction and a little less fantasy than I was anticipating.

Now, who wants to go see it with me in April?

The Avenging Whedon

I'm inclined toward zero interest in the upcoming Avengers movie. I mean, big team-up films never seem to work, and most of the characters are left without anything important to do. Shoot, that was a problem with many of the Star Trek films, and those weren't even team-ups, except for Generations. Only one thing has me excited about this film, but that one thing has me very excited. That thing is Joss Whedon. This recent interview reminded me why he has me eager to see this film.

The Cabin Comes Out of the Woods

Whodonites in the readership may recall that Joss Whedon's "horror movie to end all horror movies," The Cabin in the Woods, was scheduled to be realeased late in 2009. Then it was rescheduled for early in 2011, so that it could be converted to 3D. Then, it's studio, MGM, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and the film was put on hold. Well, now Lionsgate has acquired the distribution rights, and, once again, TCITW has a release date: April 13, 2012. We'll have to wait almost a year to see if the film actually gets released then.

Firefly Returns to TV

But not the way you've hoped. The original show will be broadcast in the originally intend order, in high definition, and with interstitial "bonus" material on the Science Channel beginning in March. That's good news, I suppose, but my favorite part of this story is when Nathan Fillion tells what he would do if he won the lottery.

MGM Reborn

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has completed restructuring and emerged from bankruptcy. Let us hope that Cabin in the Woods will see the light of day---or of a movie screen---sometime soon.

Short-Run Sci-Fi

Another link from io9: This one is a list of 10 short-lived but entertaining science-fiction series that you could watch in a weekend. Having seen and enjoyed 6 of the entries on this list,* I'm interested in checking out the others.

* Firefly, the Battlestar Galactica mini-series, Torchwood: Children of Earth, Jekyll, Life on Mars, and Cowboy Bebop.

Buffy De-Whedoned

In what can only be described as a travesty in the making, the rumored Whedon-less remake of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is apparently going forward. If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of fanboys, male and female, around the world making whatever sound is the opposite of "Squee!"

Firefly, Generic

Firefly flans may be amused by this comic chronicling a generic episode of the show.

Torchwood. Now with Espenson

It appears that Jane Espenson, a well regarded writer for Buffy and Battlestar, has been added to the writing crew of the new, fourth season of Torchwood, which scheduled to air in 2011 and will feature a stongly serialized storyline like that of Season 3's Children of Earth mini-series.

Whedon Shall be Avenged

After months of rumor, it's official: Joss Whedon has announced he will direct Marvel's upcoming theatrical adaptation of The Avengers comic. From Whedon's comments, it sounds as if he'll be writing, or at least outlining, the film, too. Woo-freakin'-hoo!

Edit: A summary of Whedon's and J. J. Abrams' comments from their Comic-Con panel is here.

Mouth Jewelry

Ah, remember Alyson Hannigan's first on-screen date with Seth Green? Maybe not, because it didn't happen on Buffy. Nope it was in the 1988 film My Stepmother is an Alien, and you can see it here.

Dr Horrible Goes 8-Bit

The second and third acts of the previously mentioned 8-bit-game adaptation of Dr Horrible have been posted.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Game

Nathan Fillion alerted Alison to this hilarious video of an imaginary 8-bit game adaptation of (the first act of) Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog via Twitter. The music is the best part. Enjoy.

Point Dume

The man of a thousand personae, Enver Gjokaj, has taken a page from the book of his Dollhouse castmate, Felicia Day. That's right, he's launched his own web series. The show, Previously on Point Dume, is a parody of soap operas and has a bit of a Twin Peaks feel to it. Check it out.

Whedon Geeks it Up with Spurlock

According to E!, Joss Whedon and Supersize Me director Morgan Spurlock are looking for three geeks---I mean, people---to follow at Comic-Con and during the the months leading up to the convention as part of a Comic-Con documentary they are preparing. This "news" naturally provokes a few questions:

• Is this true?
• Could this be the next project that Whedon recently mentioned he would announce before Dollhouse finished its run?
• What's not to love about the idea of combining the documentary-making talents of Spurlock with the geeky awesomeness of Whedon?
• How can I be one of the lucky three?

The Mikies, Dollhouse Ed

(This post contains enormous spoilers for Dollhouse.)

Having recently seen the series finale of Joss Whedon's programmable-humans-for-rent series, Dollhouse, I believe another edition of The Mikies is due. That's right, it's time for the Michael Awards for Excellence in Whatever He Darn Well Feels Like, Dollhouse Edition.

• Best actor, regular: Enver Gjokaj. Gjokaj showed himself to be the most versatile actor on the show, and thus made Victor the most believable doll on the series. In particular, his portrayal of Victor-imprinted-with-Topher was uncannily accurate.
• Best actor, guest or recurring: Alan Tudyk. Tudyk has an amazing ability to follow creepiness or pathos almost instantly with hilarity. This skill is especially useful in Whedon's projects, which frequently juxtapose drama and comedy. Honorable mention goes to Amy Acker, whose Whiskey would have made a much more multi-faceted and convincing central character than Eliza Dusku's Echo.
• Creepiest villain: Alpha.
• Dollhouse discovery most likely to appear in 50% of Whedon's following projects: Enver Gjokaj.
• Most unexpected death: Bennett Halverson.
• Most surprising escape from seemingly certain death: Mellie.
• Most unexpected revelation of dollhood: November.
• Cheapest and least justified death: November/Mellie/Madeline.
• Funniest character: Topher Brink. Even when imprinted on Victor, Dr Brink had all the best lines.
• Recurring character whose story I would most like to see elaborated upon: Whiskey.
• Most sympathetic client: Joel Mynor.
• Battlestar Galactica cast member whose acting improved the most since Galactica: Tamoh Penikett. Maybe it was just that Karl Agathon was only called on to express one or two emotions, but I never found Helo that interesting. Paul Ballard, however, seemed to be at least a couple-fold more nuanced. Oh, and this category wasn't as much of a cake walk as you might think; 3 other Battlestar alumni also appeared in the show: Jamie Bamber, Michael Hogan, and Mark Sheppard.
• Total number of Whedon alumni in the cast: 8. (I'm counting Amy Acker, Felicia Day, Alexis Denisof, Eliza Dushku, Summer Glau, Mark Sheppard, Maurissa Tancheroen, and Alan Tudyk. Let me know if I missed any.) OK, this isn't an really award, but I thought I should point out that, once you work for Joss Whedon, you likely have a gig for life. (I'm only counting cast here, by the way, there was certainly a lot of re-use of crew as well.)
• Brilliant-but-insane character most like the brilliant-but-insane character played by the same actor in another Whedon series: Bennett Halverson. Between these two roles and Cameron in the Terminator series, I'm really starting to worry that Summer Glau must have a rather severe psychological disorder.
• Actor who has been beaten up by another actor in the cast in the largest number of Whedon series: Alexis Denisof (by Eliza Dushku).
• Best couple: Topher Brink and Bennet Halverson. Nope, I'm not going for the overly sappy choice of Victor and Sierra/Tony and Priya.
• Law offices most closely resembling the Dollhouse, architecturally: Wolfram & Hart.
• Skinniest character who was supposed to be fat: Mellie/November/Madeline. Seriously, she was described as "heavy" in the casting sheets.
• Best episode, aired: "Man on the Street." This was the episode that showed where Whedon and company were going to go with this concept. It was the first episode that really surprised me, and the episode that hooked me on the series.
• Best episode, unaired: "Epitaph One." This ep, tagged on at the end of Season One for contractual reasons, was designed to give the fans some closer in the very likely event that the series would not be renewed. It achieved its goal, and more, by showing how imprinting technology could bring about the thoughtpocalypse. Plus, it introduced Felicia Day to the series. (OK, there were only two unaired eps, this one and the pilot, wo there's no real justification for this category. However, I couldn't decide where I like this episode or MotS better, so I created categories that each of them could win.)
• Most interesting character: Topher Brink. Over the show's two seasons, Topher evolved from childish and amoral, to nascently ethical, to insane and remorseful. Plus, he somehow managed to be funny the whole time.
• Most attractive character: Mellie.

As always, I'm happy to hear your opinions on this extremely important topic. So set aside whatever productive, useful thing you were about to do, and opine in the comments.

Epitaph Two. No, Seriously.

It seems that the series finale of Dollhouse is to be called "Epitaph Two: The Return." It will feature Felicia Day and be written (in part) by the duo who penned "Epitaph One." Based on all that information, I can only assume it will show us the same post-imprinting-apocalypse we glimpsed in Season One's finale. My considered opinion on this news is as follows: squee.

In other D'house news, the show returns from its sweeps-induced hiatus this Friday. Two---count 'em---episodes will be broadcast. Be sure to watch them. There will be a quiz.

Jaaaayyyne!

The dog they call...Jayne!



Pretty cunnin' dontcha think?

D'house End is Nigh

Just days after launching the official website of the Rossum Corporation as a attempt at viral marketing, Fox has announced that they will not be renewing Dollhouse. This move comes as no surprise.

The good news is that the network still plans to air the remaining episodes of Season 2 during December and January. Ep 13 of this season will serve as the series finale. My hope is that, since Episode 11 is being filmed now, Whedon and company will have time to write plenty of closure into the final ep. I also can't help wondering if the finale will take place during the time period of Epitaph One," in which case it really should be called "Epitaph Two."

There's one more nugget of good news for the Whedonites in the audience: Joss apparently already has his next project nearly lined up, since he expects to announce it before Dollhouse's run ends. And don't forget about Cabin in the Woods.

I agree with many that Dollhouse is not Whedon's most entertaining series, but I do think it may be the most challenging and thought-provoking fiction of TV.

Dollhouse Taking a Break, then Back with a Vengence

There's been a lot of scheduling news about Dollhouse lately:

• Joss Whedon's thought-provoking and deliciously creepy but ratings-challenged series will be off the air for the entirety of November's sweeps period. That means tonight's episode examining Sierra's backstory is the last you'll see for a month.
• By contrast, when the show returns in December, beginning with Summer Glau's first show, we'll be presented with two eps each Friday. At that rate, we'll be up to episode 10 by the end of the year, leaving only 3 eps of the 13-show order for 2010.

This news is clearly worrisome for anyone hoping the show will be renewed for a third season, or even that all of the second season will air. If Fox benches the series for a whole month, I wouldn't be surprised if they never put it back on air, despite their earlier claim that they will broadcast the entire season. And, even if Double-Duty December does happen, that scheduling makes it seem like the network is trying to burn through the eps it's already purchased in order to make room for new properties in the coming year. Sigh.