Day Two Hundred and Ninety-three - Slither, "Watch out, Mal!"

James Gunn is hit or miss with me.

While I can really get behind his Troma work, as rough as it is, some of his mainstream stuff (like Super or his short for Movie 43) doesn't really appeal. That said, I really enjoyed Slither for the terrible movie that it was. It's a cheesy 80's monster flick with millennial trappings and actors.

With famous faces like Elizabeth Banks, Nathan Fillion, and Jenna Fischer, you'd kind of expect more moolah attached to this project, but this was made fairly early in their careers before they became bankable movie and television stars (Firefly notwithstanding).

Set in a small town whose biggest celebration seems to be the annual kickoff to deer season, Slither tells the story of an extraterrestrial encounter with a parasite that takes over or consumes every living thing it encounters. The organism happens upon a controlling husband (Michael Rooker) and implants itself within his brain, gaining his memories in addition to its already overriding urge to procreate and decimate the local ecosystem.

That's not to say it is totally remorseless in its march to domination, as he/it cannot seem to find the will to infect his/its wife (Elizabeth Banks), Starla, and instead turns to a local floozy to spawn its tiny, mind-controlling slugs. This all comes to the attention of the smitten local sheriff (Nathan Fillion), who hasn't gotten over his childhood crush on Starla... but who is certainly out of his depth when it comes to alien parasites.

It's definitely a cheesy monster flick that I could easily see being made as a drive-in double feature in the 50's or 60's. The powercreep steadily advances until all but a lucky few avoid the squiggly hordes of brainslugs, only for said survivors to conveniently deduce and thwart the mother-(or, in this case, father)-brain. It's even got the cliche deus ex device in the form of a young teen who has a brush with the hivemind, but gets away with precious knowledge on how to defeat the menace.

Still, cheese aside, it's actually a pretty fun little movie.

It doesn't go overboard on special effects, but what they do have doesn't seem to look too out of place. The prosthetics are used sparingly, but are decent and they blend fairly well with the CGI. Sure, it's not as good as, say, WETA did at the same time with LOTR, but with the budget they had (15 million), I think Gunn and company did a good job. What could've devolved into a SyFy movie of the week (a la Sharknado) actually turned out all right.

I especially liked Gregg Henry as the foul-mouthed mayor and, well, Nathan Fillion can charm his way through anything. I kind of felt bad for Jenna Fischer, as her role didn't have anything to it, really, but everyone's gotta start somewhere... and while Elizabeth Banks was okay, she didn't really thrill, either. C'est la vie.

Overall, Slither is a great popcorn flick that is best watched with friends. You don't need to riff it, as it stands well enough on its own, but it wouldn't hurt it that much to add a few one-liners of your own. In the end, it's definitely fun Halloween Spooktacular fare.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Fifty-four - Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, "The Hammer is My Penis."

During the Writer's Strike of '07/'08, an event which forced the shutdown of just about everything entertainment related and, notably, caused the destruction of the very promising comic book television series, Heroes, Joss Whedon and company had the idea to put on a small musical comedy that was inexpensive to produce and would appeal to their particular geek fanbase.

The result was Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

Filmed over several days in Los Angeles and featuring a cast of geek notables such as Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day, and Simon Helberg, Dr. Horrible tells the story of tragic anti-hero Billy, who dreams of taking over the world and getting together with his secret crush only to be foiled time and time again by his nemesis, Captain Hammer (Fillion).

I think that Dr. Horrible was a convergence of all the right nerd elements to produce the perfect viral musical. Joss, et al., had already cut their teeth on musicals in Buffy the Vampire Slayer with "Once More, With Feeling," so they had that, but there was also the great cast to go with it. NPH is perfect to play the lonely, disaffected nerd thanks to his work on Doogie Howser and Nathan Fillion was no stranger to the overblown characters that Joss has been known to write, having worked with him on both Buffy and Firefly.

The wildcard for me was Felicia Day. Sure, she had a small role on Buffy, but most her work, while popular on the net, hadn't really broken her out. I think her sweet performance as Penny really did wonders for her geek cred and made her the darling of conventions for years to come.

As a musical, it's amazing how intricate the lyrics can get in terms of meter, rhythm, and rhyme. There's a lot of modern Broadway that's present here and to great effect. Sure, some of the instrumentation is rudimentary, relying a bit too much on the synthesizer, but it's quick and painless for the most part and relays a certain naivete inherent to Billy's character. Standout's for me were "Brand New Day," "Slipping," and "Everything You Ever," which is so hauntingly sweet and depressing at the same time.

The production quality is rough, but extremely forgivable considering the shoestring budget that they were working with... plus it sort of adds to the charm in its own way, lending a bit of subtle surreality necessary for a universe where villains like Bad Horse and Moist coexist with self-righteous heroes like Johnny Snow and Captain Hammer... a sort of vapid, modern-day dystopia.

I also want to give a quick shoutout to the background action during "My Eyes." Seeing Billy show up as a disgruntled Soup Nazi late in the song made me laugh so hard and long that I had to rewind the episode to catch what I'd missed while ROFLing.

Dr. Horrible is a great bit of comic book tomfoolery with a terrific cast and fun songs. My only regret is that there's no sequel as of yet (though speculation and teases from Joss and company have been running rampant for years). It's definitely worth the watch and is one of those films that you can come back to over and over again really rather easily... and, as such, will remain in my queue for easy access until the sad day when it get's pulled... IF it gets pulled.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and One - Firefly: Episode 14, Objects In Space, "Well, Here I Am."

Still needing the comfort of the familiar and pleasing, but not quite so desperate that I can't handle a little heartbreak and longing, today's entry was easy to decide on... being the last episode of Joss Whedon's ill-fated and much beloved Firefly.

There's so much to love about this universe. It's a Western, but Science Fiction. It isn't bothered by its space-faring trappings and strictures, instead using them to great effect when necessary and, the grand majority of the time, not even bothering... choosing to tell quiet, human stories of grit and perseverance.

Objects In Space doesn't spend a lot of time with the actual crew, a rarity for final episodes, instead spending most of its effort on the guest character, Jubal Early (Richard Brooks whom most folks would probably recognize from his work in the early seasons of Law & Order).

I like Jubal... he's an interesting foil.

Obviously a psychopath, Jubal has a calm, mellow charm that is offset both by his odd questions/musings and his stark shifts from friendly to threatening.

Most psychopaths portrayed on television are done so severely, showing their threatening nature with heavy violence and tense soundtracks. Jubal is much more interesting due to his systematic and rational takedowns of the crew and subsequent negotiations with River/Serenity.

For me, all the joy and interest in the character comes from his thought process. I mean, honestly, the "Am I a Lion?" scene with Simon is pure brilliance in its awkwardness... and the only rough parts come from the quick madness cuts while River dresses Jubal down over the comm system.

Objects In Space is also great thanks to all the callbacks to previous episodes. Whether it's the assault on Niska's Skyplex or Jayne getting slashed, it's always good to have a show that doesn't live on stand alone episodes, like Star Trek does for the most part as an example. Rich, organic, self-referencing continuity makes for often tremendous television.

It's sad to see a favorite series end, even though I've been here with Firefly many times before... and even though it does continue with the film Serenity... I just mourn for all the grand potential the series had yet to explore and never rightly got to, even with the movie and the comics. Hell, especially because of the movie, since many compromises had to be made to give the film enough oomph worthy of both a feature and a sendoff.

If you haven't yet become a Browncoat, I definitely recommend the series. It was one of the greatest scifi shows to air in recent years and was cut tragically short by the network.

But the dream lives on in all of us Browncoats out here, subsisting on Netflix and DVDs and Blu-rays.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Sixty-three - Firefly: Episode 13, Heart of Gold, "Poor, poor Inara."

There is a reason that Firefly has become the go-to series for the internet and its geeks (of which I am one).

For one thing, it has tremendously simple, yet deviously charismatic and witty dialogue. For another? It's just so damn fun.

I had personally given up on the Space Western in the 80's when Ice Pirates and Battle Beyond the Stars hit, the (only) Star Wars Trilogy having been wrapped up rather neatly and Scifi as a genre banking more on grand, sweeping visions of the future where the trials and tribulations of man are all alien based instead of centered on more human stories.

When I heard Joss Whedon, creator of my favorite camp horror show of the late 90's/early millenium, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was making a new series on FOX, I was on board... and avidly supported the show as best I could, watching it (out of order and with episodes missing) and posting to the forums as often as I could.

The inevitable happened and, like most of my favorite shows, it was cancelled.

But... you're on the internet. Odds are you know this story. Odds are, you're probably a Firefly fan. Even if you're not, I'm still going to assume you are for the rest of this article because, unlike many of the other series I've watched for the blog, I'm going to skip ahead to the penultimate episode of the series.

Not the pilot. Not three or four in. No, I'm going for the gold... the Heart of Gold, as it were: episode 13... where Mal gets laid for the first time we've rightly seen and Inara? Well, poor Inara puts on a brave face, but it's a conundrum of her own design.

On the surface, Heart of Gold is your typical Western tale where the salt of the earth types hire gunman to protect their meager assets, but when you dig a bit deeper, the episode is more about Inara and Mal and the inevitable conclusion of their mating dance.

Having been hinted at passive-aggressively and with stolen, sleepy kisses in the past, Heart of Gold brings things to a head when Inara brokers Mal and the crew of the Serenity to help an old former Companion friend of hers. Seems an easy to hate villain wants to force his patrimony and misogyny on a Bunny Ranch that won't truck his control. In the process, Mal & Co. are hired as bodyguards and Inara all but thrusts Mal into the arms of her lusty friend. Not ever getting a kind word from Inara, Mal allows himself to be reluctantly seduced... and it all ends in tears for Inara.

I love this episode for that simple fact... it forces a confrontation of feelings for both characters, perhaps moreso for Inara, but you can't tell me that Mal isn't constantly reminded of just how much he desires and cares for his passenger, only to be rebuffed by her time and time again.

It's weird to me how much viewing pleasure I get from Inara's breakdown. I'm not happy that she's hurt (other than glad to see her admit, even in private, to her real feelings), it's just that there is such a surge of emotion inspired in me because of it. To see her so distraught when she is normally so prim and composed creates that extra emotional oomph that is a delight to see, no matter how sad I am because of it.

Aside from that juicy bit of drama, there are plenty of other cast interactions to please: Kaylee needles Simon about their own unresolved chemistry, River acts wise and naive in her delightfully quirky way, Jayne gets lucky (keeping him happy), Wash and Zoe argue over babymaking, and the Shepard... oh, his look when several girls relay how the last preacher to visit their whorehouse acted is just priceless.

The actual plot is weak and one-dimensional, which is disappointing when you consider the episode just before it (The Message) was very strong... but the dialogue and crew drama for the episode are just divine. It ranks very highly in my book, in spite of its weaknesses... but the whole series pretty much does that.

If you haven't watched Firefly yet, DO IT. Don't mince, don't dally or dither or some other d-word (like "delay," for instance). It's well worth it... and is one of my acid tests for "mah kind'o'people."

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Fifty-eight - Justice League: Doom, or "Ze Voices... Zey do nutzing!"

I wanted to like JL:DOOM... I really did.

It had pretty much exactly what I wanted from DC in terms of casting... Tim Daly, Kevin Conroy, Susan Eisenburg, Michael Rosenbaum and Carl Lumbly all reprise their JL era roles and that's great! What's even better? Nathan-freaking-Fillion comes on as Hal Jordan continuing his tenure from Emerald Knights! Add to that Claudia Black, whose sultry voice never fails to send chills up my spine, and I'm sold.

Then the movie actually starts.

Now, don't get me wrong, it's not terribad. As far as recent entries go into the DC Animated Universe, it's actually decently high on the list considering the misses that were Superman vs. The Elite and Batman/Superman: Apocalypse, but it definitely wasn't as good as New Frontier which really, really grooved on the retro vibe even if it didn't have the regular cast.

There's just something about the art direction that seriously bugs the heck out of me. It's so far removed from my expectations concerning Bruce Timm's era of Bruce, Clark, and the rest that hearing Kevin and Tim, et al's, voices coming out of these alien faces ruins my suspension of disbelief right quick.

Then there's the story. Loosely based on the Tower of Babel storyline, it tells the tale of Vandal Savage's attempts (instead of Ra's al Ghul's in the orignal) to rule the world by having the Justice League be taken out using Batman's own plans against them.

Let me say that I would've much preferred to see the War Games storyline with the same thing happening in Gotham without the JLA than I would Tower of Babel. Especially since several of the plans are utterly ridiculous.

I mean, dosing Wonder Woman with nanites to make her attack everything on sight? Especially since it's obvious what is happening from the get go as she can HEAR what the fake-Cheetah's are saying and it's not threatening at all. Why on earth would she attack? Diana is no fool. And trying to sap GL's will by putting him in a no-win scenario? On the off chance a sorta-lookalike for his lost love, Carol Ferris (who has become the villain, Star Sapphire), dying would drive him insane? I might have bought it if they had laid ANY groundwork earlier for the Scarecrow fear toxin working its mojo on him, but that little tidbit shows up only AFTER Bats reappears to save the day. Total Deus Ex and annoying as all get out.

I do like Cyborg's inclusion, but it feels out of place considering the casting choice implies we're operating in the DCAU where there should be plenty of heroes in the continuity. Their absence makes things all weird for me, especially in the conclusion where it feels like, due to this one adventure, Cyborg is added to the Core Seven... er, excuse me, SIX (since Aquaman is conspicuously absent) while Batman is being kicked out. I preferred the JLU way of Bats bowing out to become a part-timer as opposed to this.

I want to give this feature more credit, due to the fact that it was written by the late Dwayne McDuffie, who died shortly after finishing the script... but the art style and, unfortunately, sloppy writing bug me to no end.

It doesn't meet the standards set by the Justice League series that I've come to expect save for casting... and that makes me a bit sad.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~