Dr. Horrible

How is there no thread on Dr. Horrible here? Inconceivable. And before Chapel wanders over here and busts my balls, I DID search. Didn't find anything - so if there IS a thread - oh fuck it.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-along blog is easily the best thing I have seen in ages.

It is fucking brilliant.

Neil Patrick Harris is absolutely stunningly awesome as Dr. Horrible. Nathan Fillion is a wonderful oafish Captain Hammer.

God. It is fantastic.

Interesting article in the LA Times .

I for am dying in wait of the "the musical commentary that we’re writing now.” (As in, a sung DVD commentary.)"

It's a musical, man. Strike one, two, three, it's out. Fuck musicals in the mouth.

I don't mind musicals. Whedon can fuck right off though.

Dear lord what is wrong with you people? But it is a musical about a B-grade super villain wannabe. It is brilliant. Pure genius. I can't stop watching it. Over and over again.

I probably need help.

Lots

and

lots

of help.

Did you think Firefly was the shit too?

I refuse to be drawn in to Joss baiting.

And by that I mean "yes."

And Buffy.

Even the movie.

Look he isn't bullet proof - his run on Marvel's Runaways was not good at all.

But even if this WASN'T Joss it is grade A stuff.

Doogie Howser singing!! C'mon man, that is quality.

Seriously, I love the idea, the execution, the way it was shot, yes, the songs, the acting (and over acting) - the length. The ending. It is just great.

I will also vouch for Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. It is a musical, but it's only 45 minutes of musical, not like 3 1/2 hours of Spam-A-Lot.

But I imagine if you already have harsh feelings toward Joss Whedon then this will probably not convince you otherwise.

"Sorry, currently our video library can only be streamed from within the United States"



And who could forget Christopher Lee in The Return of Captain Invincible.

Notahandle wrote:

"Sorry, currently our video library can only be streamed from within the United States"



And who could forget Christopher Lee in The Return of Captain Invincible.

When they would show Rocky Horror on a regular basis around here, that was one of the trailers they would use. One day while I was at the video store, I picked it up.....

Ack.

Granted, it was better than Battlefield Earth....but not by much.

Wow. That was one of the most unfunny things I've ever seen in my life. I felt like I was watching a convention fan video made with about a $10k budget. Of course, like MF13 said, if you didn't like Whedon already...

The whole time I watch any Joss Whedon product I feel like he's sitting there behind me saying "Hey, you're nerd, don't you think that's FUNNY!" Sorry, but I find it neither ironic, nostalgic, nor ingenuous that "Doogie Howser" is in it nor do I find the whole "hey, if we make it a musical it'll be funny" thing...funny. His humor is totally predicated on self-referential post-ironic bullshit and I find that incredibly idiotic.

Watching it I knew two things right off the bat- one, that costumes from this thing will show up at conventions and two, that there are "geek" iPods all over the world that now have those songs on them along with the original cast recording of RENT, any given They Might Be Giants record, and that song from PORTAL.

It's pandering, plain and simple. Whedon panders to his audience with this terrible "nerd" humour.

I _swear_ there was a Lucio Fulci reference on The Simpsons the other night...specifically, CAT IN THE BRAIN.

If you don't like it, you don't like it but I really disagree on two points.

I don't think that there was any pandering to an audience here. C'mon, Michael, a short musical about a b-rate super villain wannabe. Is there some outcry for such things out there? There are people who like musicals, there are people who enjoy super heroes (probably an even smaller number of people who like take-off's of super heroes) and an even smaller number yet who might enjoy the two together. If anything I'd say you could accuse him of self-indulgence - doing what he found amusing.

Also I am utterly bewildered by "Watching it I knew two things right off the bat- one, that costumes from this thing will show up at conventions and two, that there are "geek" iPods all over the world that now have those songs on them along with the original cast recording of RENT, any given They Might Be Giants record, and that song from PORTAL."

- Will costumes show up at conventions well, yes, but seriously man, GWAR is still running around at conventions ferchrissakes. How is that any director or actor's fault? There are always going to be fanatics who go to the nth degree for this or that cult favorite. So what? Should film makers decide to go all nude, that would show up at conventions too (except in Nebraska and void where prohibited by law).

The ipod with Rent and TMBG thing, well you are probably right that there are some as people who like those would indeed likely get a kick out of the music - but so what? Those same people may also have Slayer, Ministry and Barry Mannilow on their ipods too. Good on them I say. While Rent takes itself very seriously, this doesn't. That is part of the joy of it for me. I get a sense of pure fun and enjoyment from it. The sense that actors (and film makers) were having fun with it. To me that comes through. I certainly do not get a sense of forced performances done to give the audience what they want.

Anyhoo, if you don't like that's cool but I think it is fantastic.

**humming**

"A man's got to do what a man's go to do..."

Wait a minute...Van, we're supposed to have a vehement argument here, what's going on? Don't be reasonable and charitable!

Maybe I'd feel different about it if I hadn't been involved with making stuff like this myself in the past...the film production company I worked with did stuff just like this ad nauseum, and I hated to see talent and resources squandered on cheap nerd jokes over and over again. The thing is, they were jokes that were funny to us, not to everybody. That's exactly how this thing made me feel.

It is totally pandering though...Whedon knows who's watching his stuff, and he writes directly to them.

But it WAS better than RENT, I do have to give it at least that...

Well, I think seeing the insides of things definitely gives you a different perspective. I've no clue on how productions companies work, what it looks like when they work well, or don't etc., As for pandering, well, I do see what you are saying. In a way though couldn't you say that of any artist who has a distinct style and is successful to some degree. I guess it just feels like a too easy argument to make. Sort of like the dreaded "sell-out" for musicians. I guess even if he is blatantly pandering (I guess I don't know his motives so maybe he IS) - I think it is still very good. I just don't see the "actors here being squandered on cheap nerd jokes" as the overall point at all. Were there cheap nerd jokes? Sure, but that was almost like the whipped cream and if that is all you got out of it, maybe you missed the pie. There was also the layers of the bad guy not being so bad, the good guy being an idiot, and the innocent girl is duped and ultimately dies. In some respects, it asks the same thing the book (have not seen the play) Wicked does. What is evil?

The fact that people who might like Rent and TMBG's might like it even though it has a silly super villian theme speaks to me of a wider appreciation for it.

I didn't watch it when it first came out, essentially for the very reasons you are arguing - I *assumed* it would just be some Joss goof thing on the web. And it *IS* that to some extent. But I do think it is also fun in the same way operettas can be fun.

*shrug*

mikoyan wrote:
"Ack.
Granted, it was better than Battlefield Earth....but not by much."
I think I've got a soft spot for it as I saw it in the cinema and just kinda liked it for it's weirdness.

What's wrong with writing to your audience? Isn't that kind of the point?