james_nicoll: My good act for the day

james_nicoll (

james_nicoll) wrote,
@ 2008-07-20 23:22:00

My good act for the day
I didn't watch any of Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog and so my voice will not be among the legions complaining about whatever tragic and fatal flaw it turned out to have.

(Post a new comment)

	lovecraftienne 2008-07-21 03:26 am UTC (link)
	I've not seen any either. Not sure why, it just didn't really appeal to me, based on the tropes they chose to use in their advertising. An interesting idea, but it didn't grab me, and I'm not feeling all that regretful, either, which is to say not at all. (Reply to this)

	montoya 2008-07-21 03:35 am UTC (link)
	I think I can safely say you would have hated it. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	james_nicoll 2008-07-21 03:53 am UTC (link)
	The sad thing is that I know that but I also kind of like to keep track of superhero stuff outside of comics. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) -

montoya, 2008-07-21 03:55 am UTC (Expand)

You say that like it's a bad thing. - (Anonymous), 2008-07-21 11:02 am UTC (Expand)

Re: You say that like it's a bad thing. -

james_nicoll, 2008-07-21 12:12 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: You say that like it's a bad thing. - (Anonymous), 2008-07-21 05:59 pm UTC (Expand)

	fajrdrako 2008-07-21 03:37 am UTC (link)
	I think I'm missing some nuance of your comment here - I'm not sure what you mean. Most of my fannish friends are crazy over it, and think it's very clever. It's not really my kind of thing, but I watched and enjoyed it. Is your comment an editorialization on Whedon's work, or is it the nature of fandom you're commenting on? (Reply to this) (Thread)

james_nicoll
2008-07-21 03:50 am UTC (link)

I know from having watched other JW shows that there would have come a moment when I shook my fist angrily at the screen over some easily avoidable bad decision by JW, whether it was the use of a painfully stereotyped enthnic character, impossible stupid plotting, inept worldbuilding or a cheap death to suck the watchers in. I chose not to bang my thumb in this way.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) -

dragovianknight, 2008-07-21 05:51 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

bibliofile, 2008-07-21 06:29 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

gareth_wilson, 2008-07-21 07:11 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

fridgepunk, 2008-07-21 02:14 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

fajrdrako, 2008-07-21 12:47 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

schizmatic, 2008-07-21 05:49 pm UTC (Expand)

	scarlettina 2008-07-21 03:58 am UTC (link)
	A lot of the folks on my f-list (and me, too) aren't crazy over it, and are in fact frustrated with the potential it shows and fails so spectacularly to achieve. Maybe it runs in circles of associates, but mine are distinctly dissatisfied with it. You can find my comments, and theirs, here if you're curious about teh different reaction. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) -

fajrdrako, 2008-07-21 12:48 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

roseembolism, 2008-07-21 05:35 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

fajrdrako, 2008-07-21 05:59 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

roseembolism, 2008-07-22 04:44 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

fajrdrako, 2008-07-22 05:08 pm UTC (Expand)

	jamiam 2008-07-21 04:00 am UTC (link)
	YAY! (Reply to this)

	mayaknife 2008-07-21 04:21 am UTC (link)
	I quite enjoyed it. Watched it twice. It does have (at least) one of the flaws that you listed, but arguably it was necessary to the story. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	summers_place 2008-07-21 04:25 am UTC (link)
	I don't really think it was necessary... there were at least two other ways the same thing could have been achieved. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) -

mishalak, 2008-07-21 05:41 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

brownkitty, 2008-07-21 11:35 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

james_nicoll, 2008-07-21 02:11 pm UTC (Expand)

	summers_place 2008-07-21 04:25 am UTC (link)
	I loved it right up until... yeah, "spectacularly bad decision on JW's part" about sums it up. Then I was irritated, with a side of "meh". (Reply to this)

	mjlayman 2008-07-21 04:39 am UTC (link)
	My friends appear to hate the ending. In fact, some friends of akirlu's made new endings. I didn't watch it -- didn't seem like something I'd like. (Reply to this) (Thread)(Expand)

	serenejournal 2008-07-21 04:46 am UTC (link)
	I liked the ending. It made me say, "Joss Whedon is a bastard. A very talented bastard." (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) -

neonchameleon, 2008-07-21 09:16 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

mishalak, 2008-07-21 05:39 am UTC (Expand)

	serenejournal 2008-07-21 04:46 am UTC (link)
	Eh. I liked it. Not "huge love must buy it now now now", but I really liked it, and a few of the songs were, I thought, genuinely good, as was most of the singing and quite a bit of the acting. Not half bad for a free serial on teh intarwebz. (Reply to this)

	talheres 2008-07-21 05:50 am UTC (link)
	Dr. whom? (Reply to this)

	ross_teneyck 2008-07-21 07:14 am UTC (link)
	I watched the first act, and couldn't muster up enough interest to watch the other two. And I mostly like Whedon's stuff. (Reply to this)

	tavella 2008-07-21 07:45 am UTC (link)
	I was vaguely considering downloading it, and then I got spoiled on the end and was glad I did not, as I despise female characters with no agency, plus I was bored with Whedon's bag of repetitive tricks way back in Buffy. (Reply to this) (Thread)(Expand)

	True about the agency (Anonymous) 2008-07-21 11:07 am UTC (link)
	but: it's a musical. For whatever reason, that's a medium with a strong tradition of no-agency female characters. Someone already mentioned Audrey in LSoH; I'd throw in pretty much every female love interest in a traditional musical drama, from what's-her-name in "Les Miserables" to what's-her-name in "Sweeney Todd". Doug M. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

Re: True about the agency -

brownkitty, 2008-07-21 11:36 am UTC (Expand)

Re: True about the agency -

oneironaut, 2008-07-21 12:06 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: True about the agency -

puritybrown, 2008-07-21 01:40 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: True about the agency - (Anonymous), 2008-07-21 06:01 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: True about the agency -

fridgepunk, 2008-07-21 02:20 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: True about the agency -

james_nicoll, 2008-07-21 02:33 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: True about the agency -

jimtbari, 2008-07-21 02:41 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: True about the agency -

fridgepunk, 2008-07-21 03:35 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: True about the agency -

james_nicoll, 2008-07-21 03:50 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: True about the agency -

alexx_kay, 2008-07-21 05:19 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: True about the agency -

james_nicoll, 2008-07-21 05:34 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

mindstalk, 2008-07-21 02:50 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

fridgepunk, 2008-07-21 05:02 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

hattifattener, 2008-07-21 05:37 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

martinl_00, 2008-07-21 03:17 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

tavella, 2008-07-21 05:14 pm UTC (Expand)

	woodrunner 2008-07-21 10:08 am UTC (link)
	I didn't watch it because it wasn't closed captioned. Oh, woe. However, because it's a musical I'm probably better off. Not a fan of those. (Reply to this)

Three things you missed
(Anonymous)
2008-07-21 11:15 am UTC (link)

I won't say it's great, but I liked it. It contains one of the flaws you mention. I liked it anyway. There's a lot of cool little stuff.

-- a mad scientist with a vlog. (I found this strangely plausible.)

-- a really above-average performance by Doogie Howser as said mad scientist. (No, not kidding.)

-- the fans. Yes, they only get about a minute, and yes, fandom is a whale-sized target. But it was spot on. There's a line ("...the weird stuff") that made me lol, and I do that very very rarely.

Also, it's really true to its comic-book roots. In a good way.

But chaque a son gout. I read most of Stephen Brust's output up to 2004 or so, and now I'm not reading any more probably ever, so I know where you're coming from.

Doug M.

(Reply to this) (Thread)(Expand)

	Re: Three things you missed james_nicoll 2008-07-21 12:17 pm UTC (link)
	Which Brust came out in 2004? Sethra Lavode? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

Re: Three things you missed - (Anonymous), 2008-07-21 06:27 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Three things you missed -

alexx_kay, 2008-07-21 05:21 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Three things you missed -

paraleipsis, 2008-07-22 03:10 am UTC (Expand)

	quicktongue 2008-07-21 11:52 am UTC (link)
	Think FASS, but with a bit more of a budget. You missed nothing important, but it was funny. (Reply to this) (Thread)

james_nicoll
2008-07-21 02:14 pm UTC (link)

That was my - I'd like to say that I don't always get to pick what I watch - Meet the Spartans, which was a bit like a lesser FASS show with an inexplicably large budget and a revocation of the Little Baby Crib Death rule.

I do admire their daring when casting doubles for famous people. Many production companies would have got for actors who looked like the people they were making fun of.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) -

quicktongue, 2008-07-21 02:23 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

james_nicoll, 2008-07-21 02:29 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

psci260, 2008-07-21 02:46 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

james_nicoll, 2008-07-21 02:49 pm UTC (Expand)

	xinef 2008-07-21 12:52 pm UTC (link)
	I wanted to watch but had a REALLY busy weekend, so didn't find the time. Urk. (Reply to this)

	pameladean 2008-07-21 04:53 pm UTC (link)
	I was going to emulate your position, but was persuaded that I should give it a try. It was after midnight on Sunday by then, but I said, "Midnight in which time zone?" and sure enough, it was still up. I found it very, very funny, which surprised me; but I certainly did have issues with the ending. P. (Reply to this)

malada
2008-07-21 05:12 pm UTC (link)

I viewed it not a a "Joss Whedon Production" but as "one-of-those-cheap and silly-videos available on the IntarTubes." I thought it was a hoot.

Except for the (relatively) high production work - i.e. the post-production, decent camera work, etc. - it had all the earmarks of a well rehearsed and well backed home video. Sort of like the fan version of "Star Trek" with better singing.

It was silly and as deep as a shot glass.

-m

(Reply to this) (Thread)

roseembolism
2008-07-21 05:48 pm UTC (link)

That was my position as well- yay, something amusing on the intarwebs!.

I mean sure, the fate of various people was telegraphed a mile away, and the chara terizations were paper-thin. But come on, this is the origin of a villain here, and comic book superheroes we're talking about. If you want in-depth characterization and sensible motivations, you're probably looking at the wrong genre.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

spacecrab
2008-07-21 06:28 pm UTC (link)

If you had watched it, you might have wondered whether the script had been informed by a reading of "Soon I Will Be Invincible." (I did.) The best feature of it is the musical production. It looks to me like Joss Whedon was very taken with classic Jacques Demy films in his youth. He adapts/extends Demy's split-screen tricks to create some interesting multi-part counterpoint in the songs.

(Reply to this)

	kip_w 2008-07-22 09:53 pm UTC (link)
	I didn't know it was going to go over to pay-per-view (NOW with ADDED DRM!) if I didn't watch it within a few hours of part III being posted, so I missed it, and I'm damned if I will ever buy anything from iTunes (or to be more correct, rent from iTunes). So I've seen 2/3 of it. (Reply to this)

	j_larson 2008-07-23 01:12 am UTC (link)
	To me the least impressive bit was the credits. If you have pros and a big crew (2nd Assistant Director? Assistant Set Decorator? seven Production Assistants) you ought to do better than putting the superhero in a T-shirt and motorcycle gloves. Amateurs should have been able to pull this off. As pros they should hang their heads in shame. (Reply to this)

Username:		Create an Account Forgot your login or password? Login w/ OpenID
Password:
	Remember Me
	English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…

About

Help

Get Involved

Legal

Store

LJ Labs