Blake Wrote:Do you spend a lot of time on Whedon message boards or something?
Well, yah, I used to. :o
Not so much now. The ones I most commonly perused back in the day were THE BRONZE, THE ALTERNATIVE BRONZE, WHEDONESQUE.COM, and FIREFLY.COM.
Blake Wrote:I wasn't expecting the next "Blade Runner" or "Star Wars".
Considering the following, I found it hard not to:
"A hipper, funnier, action-packed throwback to the original Star Wars." - James Verniere, Boston Herald
"Serenity flies with sass and spirit, qualities that have been in palpably short supply in that Star Wars series since, well, Star Wars." - Jan Stuart, Newsday
"Like watching the original Star Wars for the first time, or better yet, watching The Empire Strikes Back... Mal is a guy who would shoot Greedo first." - Fred Topel, About.com
"A lot more sweaty fun than the last three overhyped, sterile, for-dorks-only Star Wars cartoons." - Connie Ogle, Miami Herald
And I got these from a site that had over 130 professional "positive" quotes.
Blake Wrote:I've never heard that one before, though I do know they changed the tone of the movie from his intent quite a bit. The series is far better than the movie was, though I thought the movie was entertaining in its own way. (Paul Reubens has one of the funniest death scenes ever.)
It goes without saying the tv series is much better than the original movie. Also, because the movie always stuck in his craw, Whedon published a comic book miniseries which apparently much more closely reflected the original Buffy movie script (much more so than the movie itself apparently did)...my original point was just that this situation was the first of many that Whedon publicly and vociferously attacked as a blight on his integrity as a scriptwriter and budding filmmaker. He could have said nothing at all, but instead, with his head full of Buffy fan praise, he spoke his mind, and obviously didn't hide his disdain for the actor Donald Sutherland, the Director of BTVS the movie, the writers and director of A Toy Story, the French Director of Alien Resurrection, etc. etc. etc. And it wasn't like they had to train a parabolic mic on him (aka the mumblings of a former american silver medalist skater). He obviously felt encouraged by the good will displayed by his interviewers...
Blake Wrote:I've never heard that one before, either, but I remember reading his script, and my recollection is that it was better (again IMO). The ending got completely changed from his original. My understanding, though, is that much (all?) of the earlier parts of the movie are still Whedon's, and I think it's not one of his better efforts.
Joss was quoted in more than one interview that he shed a tear shortly into viewing ALIEN RESURRECTION. And this was usually preferenced by statements about how his suggestions were ignored in terms of what was happening on set during the shooting of BTVS the Movie.
Look. My point is simply that the guy very publicly and aggressively has attacked others for ruining his precious gems, obviously "implying" that if he and he alone were in the control seat, that all would be well, i.e., a movie based on one of his scripts would be "great."
And SERENITY, while a good sci-fi film, was anything BUT brilliant, great, or wonderful.
Blake Wrote:We were?!? Look, I loved Buffy, I thought Angel was mostly so-so, and I've generally enjoyed Whedon's work. But "a movie beyond compare"? I think you were let down by your own high expectations. - Blake
Perhaps.
What I assuredly am, however, is obviously hyper-aware of what this movie represents in regard to its original hype, and Joss Whedon's self-motivated and personally-supported cult of personality (fan clubs, websites, etc. that he actively visits, talks to, etc.)
And to answer the unspoken question that I can feel in the air, no, I don't think this whole Whedon scenario reflects, in any manner, FPW's public comments about the horrible Michael Mann Directed screen adaption of his excellent novel THE KEEP. That psychedelic mind-f**k was a singular incident in Paul's life that deserved to be attacked. The entirety of Whedon's writing career up to the Production and Release of SERENITY should have spoken for itself, and not have been used as fodder for this successful TV Producer to tout his own brilliance and cover his reputation (*ss) in face of "the majority" of his screenwriting efforts' failures (A Toy Story being the lone exception).
Just my two cents.
Mike out