Exclusive: First Look at Joss Whedon's "Dr. Horrible"

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Monday, August 25, 2008

One of my favorite movies ever gets the most perfect sequel!
Current mood:

ecstatic
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

first, a bit of backstory.

I'm a DVD nut, most of you know that. Being a dvd nerd I regularly visit certain websites pertaining to upcoming dvd releases, One day, I think it was in 2006, I logged on to one of my favorite dvd news websites, dvdactive.com. The site features announcements and details about upcoming dvds, Now on that day i noticed that on thier list of upcoming dvd's is one movie called "Paris, Je T'aime"; which, translated is Paris, i Love You. Now I'm a sucker for any film set in Paris, as it is my version of the a dream city, so naturally I was intrigued and checked it out...

As it turns out Paris, Je T'Aime is less a full-on movie and more of a collection of short films by various directors weaved together, all of which are themed to love in the city Paris. Sounds pretty nifty right? it gets better. The directors of these short stories? let me shoot you some names: The Coen, Alfonso Cuaron, Wes Craven, Gus Van Sant, Alexander Payne and Christopher Doyle to name a few. Not to mention big name actors both from France and the rest of the world like ELijah Wood, Natalie Portman, Maggie Gylenhaal, Nick Nolte, Steve Buscemi, Catalina Sandina Moreno, Emily Mortimer, Gerard Depardieu among others. So you can see the caliber of the little shorts all of which ranging in different styles with their own unique interpretations and quirks. (Yes Cuaron does the whole awesome one-shot thing again). So in a nutshell, it's 18 stories about love in Paris, so naturally I went nuts for it.

Now fast forward to 2008, the Beijing Olympics just ended and I decided to check out a movie news site. Lo and behold lookie what I found:

"New York I love you" Teaser
Uploaded by Mollyryan

yes, ladies and gentlemen, from the producers of Paris, Je t'Aime, comes "New York, I Love You" Pretty much the same set up, but with New York. Now I believe Paris and New York are the two greatest cities in the world, in fact, I see them almost like couple since they always seem to be linked to one another. Where Paris is an elegant and feminine city, New York is this strong and masculine metropolis. They're pretty much a perfect match for each other, heck it's as if the two Statues of Liberty on both cities are like each other's wedding bands. So you can imagine my sheer glee when I found out that they're making another 'Paris, Je T'Aime' but with Paris' husband, New York. Oh boy i'm so excited, February '09 couldn't come fast enough.

and for those of you still interested in the first one, the dvd is available in stores. and here's a quick clip:

Paris Je T&039;aime Trailer
Uploaded by jeremyfox

sorry I just ahd to get that out of my chest...^_^

Currently watching:
Before Sunrise/Before Sunset
Release date: 2004-11-09

9:05 AM

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Friday, August 22, 2008

Songs I’m Reminding Myself to Get in the future
Current mood:

awake
Category: Music

Emerson Hart - Cigarettes and Gasoline.
-Joe, this is you from Aug 21st 2008, I'm telling you to make sure to find a way to get this dude's whole album. You remember during drawing the clothed model and we had a field trip to Barne's and Noble and you "wandered" into the music section? This was the guy you really really really wanted to buy but had no money for. Anyway, I'm telling you now...you, me, we are regretting that decision. I know it's tempting to cheat the law but this guy deserves all the money you, I, we will give him when we finally buy his CD...that is if you still buy CD's by the time you read this again. Anyway, by now, you will probably already have "If You're Gonna Leave" which pretty awesome a song. So you know how awesome he is.

Jon McLaughlin - "Beating My Heart"
-This may or may not be the song you heard at the Hallmark Store earlier today. But either way it's a pretty song, so download it at least.

Sam Phillips - Martinis and Bikinis
-Joe, by this time you probably already live in San Francisco and are regularly browsing through those kooky music stores that Frankw as raving all about. Now is the time to remind you to find this awesome as heck album by Sam freaking Phillips (Go ahead, look for her husband's stuff too) in case you don;t remember, this is the record that has "Strawberry Road" and "I Need Love", two of your most favorite songs ever!

Cosima DeVito - "When The War Is Over"
-Being you from the past, you should know by now that right after this blog I'm gonna attempt the Herculean task of looking for this song on limewire. In case I fail, please, promise me you'll give it another shot. Oh and you have to find the studio version damnit! ooh Katie just texted me, oh cool! my phone automatically converts smileys into really for real smileys!

oh and before I go, seeing as you're in the future, I'm reminding you of how much you loved the following artists and how you must look for anything new they came out with:

Marit Larsen (she should've at least crossed over by now)
The Frames (they should be big by now)
Damien Leith (there should be a new record out)
Natalie Gauci (She should have her own album by now)
Grant Lee-Phillips ('nuff said)
Amberly Thiessen (remember how you used to listen to that one minute clip over and over and over again? She should be the new Sokyrka)
Matt Nathanson (there has to be something after the awesomeness of 'Some Mad Hope' which i am hoping you're not sick of yet)
Kelly Clarkson (do I really need to remind you of this?)
Carly Smithson (all you gotta do is look at the play count on 'Here You Come Again'...oh that voice!)

that's it for now, I'm gonna attempt and pirate some of these off of the evil computer...wish me luck

Currently listening:
Cigarettes & Gasoline
By Emerson Hart
Release date: 2007-07-17

7:50 AM

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Monday, June 30, 2008

A Blog about a Blog that’s coming soon...

Exclusive: First Look at Joss Whedon's "Dr. Horrible"

Neil Patrick Harris in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along screen grab courtesy Mutant Enemy Productions

Two of my favorite things in all of show business- musical comedy and Joss Whedon - combine in the funniest, freshest TV special of the summer, which happens to be available only on your computer starting in mid-July.

I had the great good fortune late last week to get a sneak peek at all 42 minutes of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Whedon's stylishly scrappy, lovably cheesy and insanely tuneful return to the form for which he showed such incredible aptitude in the classic "Once More, With Feeling" episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Dr. Horrible, written during the writers' strike and filmed in six days this spring "on favors and waivers" by a crew of longtime Whedon loyalists, will be streamed for free in what Whedon cheerfully calls an "Internet miniseries event" on the show's official website (www.drhorrible.com) in three chapters. Part 1 will be available Tuesday, July 15, with the following segments (each roughly 14 minutes) available July 17 and 19. All three parts will stay up only through July 20, but deals are currently underway to make it available for downloading shortly thereafter.

The ultimate goal: a DVD, at which time perhaps enough profit can be made "to pay the people who were doing us favors," says Whedon. In a chat following my nearly private screening (attended only by Whedon, a few of his New York-based agents and me), Whedon confided, "We're already working on some of the DVD extras, which are going to be the finest in all the land. We're actually going to do, in addition to the commentary, what we refer to as 'commentary with an exclamation point'! A musical commentary that is a completely original musical, that is all commentary songs, and we're writing that now." As I gasped at that audacious notion, he continued: "We're just piling it on. We're like, we're going to make more fun of the idea of extras than anything else."

All in keeping with the sweetly satirical tone of Dr. Horrible itself, which reminded me at various times of Little Shop of Horrors and, in its more bombastic moments, Sweeney Todd (a Whedon favorite, and mine as well).

[Some mild spoilers follow.] In the title role, and starring with adorable panache: How I Met Your Mother's Neil Patrick Harris, whose musical-theater chops Whedon discovered when attending the 2004 Broadway revival of his idol Stephen Sondheim's Assassins. First seen perfecting his cackling laugh in hopes of being taken seriously by the Evil League of Evil, and reading snarky e-mails from his skeptical online following, Harris plays a wannabe mad scientist - "The world's a mess, and I just need to rule it" - who's perfecting a "freeze ray" with which he can stop time and, according to one lyric, "stop the pain."

Because, you see, Dr. Horrible - real name "Billy" - does have a heart, and it belongs to winsome do-gooder and Laundromat buddy Penny (Felicia Day, one of the "potential" slayers in Buffy's final season). Some of Harris's best work, when he isn't singing arias of evil and comically mugging, is in his bashful, stammering pining for Penny - who naturally falls for Dr. Horrible's arch-nemesis Captain Hammer, a buffoonish cad of a narcissistic superhero ("I don't go to the gym. I'm just naturally like this") played with hilariously villainous cartoon relish by Firefly vet Nathan Fillion.

Everyone in this tortured triangle gets big numbers, from lyrical ballads to soaring (and usually very funny) anthems. Quite a lot of music, written by Whedon with his brother Jed, is crammed into this mini-movie, and if you're like me, you'll want to hear it again and again.

So how did we get lucky enough to get a new Whedon musical at this point in time? Let's just say it's one of the few positive things to come out of the writers' strike.

"I was really sick of not doing things. I'd been writing movies nobody was making. I got tired of that. And even though I had this series (Fox's Dollhouse) coming up, we were on strike-and well, I thought we were going to hold out a little bit longer-but it just felt right," Whedon says. Looking back on the Buffy musical episode, he says: "I never wanted to leave that musical place. I thought about doing this as a podcast just so I could write songs, like a radio show. And then when the strike happened, everything was about making online content. But everything was very overblown. Or underblown. It was either me and my video camera in my backyard or let's partner up and get millions of dollars. Neither of these things was gonna fit the paradigm that will make me a musical, so I finally decided to do it myself."

The idea, he says, "was to show that you can do this [original Internet content] on a very different scale than people are thinking about. I felt like we stretched our dollars just as far as they will go. It's a pretty extraordinary piece even at the price tag it would cost to normally produce it if you couldn't call in any favors." (He won't go on record to discuss the budget, which was much less than the usual hour of TV production, but jokes that it cost "twice as much as Once.")

"Also, we were able to just completely bypass the system-not in a sense of giving the finger to the majors, because we'll probably end up partnering for distribution with somebody if they're interested-and some of the reason this came out the way it did was because people who are employed by the big guys could afford to do this. And we got the Universal backlot for a song because of our relationships there, and people were very sweet. I mean, during the strike there was a certain amount of justifiable bile, but my relationships with the people who actually produce the things, I like to think of as very strong."

Many relationships, personal and professional, came into play in making Dr. Horrible. His brothers Jed and Zack helped him write it, along with Jed's fiance Maurissa Tancharoen. Jed appears as part of a recurring Evil League of Evil chorus and Tancharoen can be seen as one of Captain Hammer's fawning groupies. Whedon cohorts Marti Noxon and David Fury, who both did cameos in "Once More With Feeling," return as snarky newscasters. And then of course there's Fillion, a part of Whedon's repertory company since Buffy and Firefly. "I'd heard him sing, but I just knew that even if he couldn't, he could sell it. He's Nathan, and he was great."

As for casting Neil Patrick Harris, all it took was a phone call. "We all agreed there was really nobody else that should play Dr. Horrible. I didn't even get the sentence out before he said yes. And then I sort of got defensive (Whedon lapses into fanboy-speak): 'No no no, it's really going to be good,' and Neil's like, 'I said yes.' And I said, 'No no no, I mean, but I mean the point is, is mean I mean' … I couldn't handle it."

The strike ended before filming started, so they postponed the shoot until a break in How I Met Your Mother production in March (wrapping around the same time as the Paley Fest's Buffy reunion which I moderated).

How did this affect Whedon's work on the Dollhouse pilot? "I told Fox going in that I'm making this, it's going to take six days of shooting, and during those six days you'll get bupkis. They're like it doesn't matter, you're still filming your pilot-that you haven't broken yet-in two months." He sighs. "It's been quite a time."

Which begs the question: Could there ever be a musical Dollhouse episode? "Well, Eliza (Dushku) has a lovely voice. But first I have to make a normal Dollhouse, which is hard enough." So how's it going? "There's still tweaks. Birth pangs. It's never simple, but it's going well."

As for Whedon's Internet future, while there has already been talk of Dr. Horrible sequels, for now Whedon is waiting to see how this experiment plays out. "Whether this has any impact on the Internet is unclear to me. It will be something that hasn't been done. And although some people came up with a plan on how to monetize this right away, our first priority was to put this out. We do it for the fans, we do it as an advertisement for itself and for just this culture, this idea of people who are doing something smaller scale but hopefully in such a way they can reach a lot of people. And maybe then it can make us an eleven-ty kadillion dollars. Or maybe it won't."

If there's any justice, Dr. Horrible will eventually make a bundle. Far from horrible, it's terrific.

Currently reading:
The Planets
By Dava Sobel

11:25 AM

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Saturday, June 28, 2008

The Stolen Earth
Current mood:

surprised

to those who've been following Doctor Who with me...this is the single biggest mindf%^ck of an episode ever!

Currently listening:
New Release
By Carly Smithson

10:41 PM

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Thursday, June 26, 2008

Kung Fu Panda Opening Animation
Current mood:

aroused
Category: Art and Photography

KUNG FU PANDA animated opening sequence

looky what I found, the most awesomest opening sequence of them all! Anyway, comment if you disagree, but I firmly believe that Kung Fu Panda is one of the best animated features of the year, and quite frankly it's probably my personal favorite movie for 2008.

I've recently learned that Dreamworks Animation has been hella busy this past couple of weeks, hammering out a story for the Kung Fu Panda sequel, which if it's anything like the Shrek sequel, will be frakkin awesome. Also, I've learned that animation boards and light tables have found their way back into the Dreamworks Campus, at least for the time being, as they are currently working on a 2d animated Kung Fu Panda short that is rumoured to be around 20 minutes long (yippee!). It is alledgedly going to be included in the movie's DVD release, which, granted the release patterns of DVD's of late, will probably drop on shelves by the year's 4th quarter. Oh, and uh, here's the aniamted opening sequence from the movie, enjoy it, love it, worship it...Oh adn just so you know....it's not flash (I know I was shocked when I found out too)

CLICK ME FOR THE VIDEO

Currently reading:
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 4: Unstoppable
By Joss Whedon

12:23 AM

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Thursday, June 05, 2008

The Frames Tour Dates

i'm not blogging anything special, just using this as a special sort of semi-public inbox

From: The Frames
Date: Jun 4, 2008 4:37 PM

here is some presale info

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Calexico
Date: Jun 4, 2008 2:28 PM

FOR THESE SEPTEMBER US SHOWS WE HAVE A SPECIAL 2 day PRESALE, BEGINNING 10AM JUNE 4 local time in each city, lasting until 10pm June 5.

PreSale Password is 'dust'

Public On Sale is June 6* (*Fillmore Public On - Sale June 8).

September 24 - Webster Hall - New York, NY (w/ Oakley Hall)

http://www. ticketmaster. com/event/000040A69815581B?artistid=795538&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1

September 25 - World Music Festival - Chicago, IL *FREE SHOW* (w.

Mariachi Luz de Luna and Salvador Duran)

September 26 - The Moore Theatre - Seattle, WA (w/ The Cave Singers)

http://www. ticketmaster. com/event/0F0040BCF1B37AD9?artistid=795538&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1

September 27 - Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR (w/ The Cave Singers)

http://www. ticketmaster. com/event/0F0040BEA2305381?artistid=795538&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1

September 28 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA (w/ The Cave Singers)

http://www. ticketmaster. com/event/1C0040BCA5AD38E1?artistid=795538&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1

September 29 - The Fonda - Los Angeles, CA (w/ the Cave Singers)

http://www. ticketmaster. com/event/090040BBE03F738E?artistid=795538&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1

5:21 AM

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Saturday, February 16, 2008

Website Reminders List

http://www.agroovysite.com/tv-series/the-amazing-race
sidereel.com
tudou.com
great places to see videos...

https://eetime1.adp.com/s58e.logon
your e-time site, mr. 71067

dvdspot.com
for your dvd's

random go-to sites
survivorsucks.yuku.com
dvdactive
dvdtalk
aintitcool
animated-news
animationpodcast
blueskydisney.blogspot.com

http://kevan.org/johari?view=Speed+Demon

remind yourself about Johari.....

11:19 PM

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Sunday, October 21, 2007

McCravings....
Category: Blogging

I am HUNGRY!!! I dunno why, I was recently (like, 5 minutes ago) regional offerings from Mickey-D's when i suddenly realized, damn I'm craving a good amount of them. Specifically the following:

McSpaghetti
I know for sure it's available in the Philippines, it used to be my go-to McMenu item. I miss it dearly.

well, I couldn't find a decent picture of the thing but this was cute and accurately represented how much i liked it so...

McRib

I first tried it earlier this year and then I recently found out that it was on its "farewell tour" when i did, damnit! I hardly knew ye, McRib, like a great hooker, you were good while you lasted.

Shamrock Shake

where do I start with this, oh yeah, It's Green! oh my heck, it looksawesome! too bad I've never tried it but I soooo want to,

and now, just for kicks, here's Jason Alexander dressed up like Don Johnson and stepping it up for the all new (circa-early 90's) McDLT:

6:33 AM

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Thursday, June 07, 2007

Stuff I wish to own before I bite it...

Alias - The Complete Collection (Seasons 1-5 + Rambaldi artifact box)
-Sydney Bristow is an international spy recruited out of college and trained for espionage and self-defense.(my life story?) When she told her fiance about her super secret identity, her boss had him killed. That's when she found ut that she wasn't working for teh CIA after all and that she was actually a terrorist Now she must work for the real CIA as a double agent against the organization that betrayed her. Oh and she's working with her father...plus her mother isn't realy dead, she just wants to rule the world. only 40,000 of these will ever exist and damnit I really really really want one. So if you love me, or even just remotely enamored by me, you'll get me this for Christmas.or even chanukka.

The Complete Invincible Library Volume 1 - Collecting the Invincible Ultimate Collection Volumes 1-2 into one massive volume just in time for Christmas! Almost 800 pages of pure Invincible goodness. This is a can't-miss for any Invincible fan and a perfect addition to any reinforced, sturdy bookshelf.

Astro Boy - The Complete Series (2004) - I luv me some kid robots in shiny metal underwear. Anyway, the 2004 Astroboy, for me, was amazingly animated, one of the few post-2000 animes that I adore and even though the american dub sucks, it has totally awesome packaging, which is its only saving race, besides, teh original dubs aren't really available here anyway so i have no choice but to want this.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, II: Attack of the Clones, III: Revenge of the Sith - ok, I know it's a general concensus that the prequels sucked. but hey, for completions sake, and for the love of the dearly departed darth maul, i must own these...so all you cheapskates out there...wink wink...

Discovery Atlas 4 DVD Set
Discover the global event that promises to inspire viewers through captivating photography, the highest quality production values, the latest in high-definition technology and compelling stories that epitomize the heart of a country and its people Plus that lady racecar driver from italy was kinda hot. watch ut for tis year's batch that includes france and mexico.

Lilo and Stitch: Special Edition 2-Disc DVD - this one, none of you normal folk have the power to get me...yet. This is the uber special edition of the movie that features all the awesome bonus features that the creators amde but was enver included in the region 1 dvd. If you really love me, you'll somehow get me this...in region 1 form. Get this is if you are seriously head over heels over me...which i know is a physical impossibility but hey, one can dream...

Currently reading:
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
By Christopher Moore
Release date: 04 February, 2003

12:34 PM

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