I review it: The Avengers

ZOMGBBQPWNIESoirg;oijadfvj kqrego[iU YIHWEAJ KNSDKNMkjl.  AOPig;jkIUJKN!! ASJLVwvu;qjkln and then jkviouqh.  ;FJKIJOQER 089[Q3 4AJKL.  DKMN;OJoihejkr.  Gwyneth is in it, but other than that, [iohWJNKEBW OIUP. erhiouewJKGBEQfpouhWE BJKNF!!!

Joss Whedon is a god.

INFINITY STARS!!  ALL OF TEH STARS!! out of 5.

Check it out.  Stay until the end.  Sneak back in and see it again.

I review it: Cowboys and Aliens

Indiana Jones and James Bond fighting aliens in the Old West!  How do you *meh* that up?  Cowboys and Aliens isn't a bad movie.  It's just not as fun, surprising, or inventive as it should be.  I mean, it's no Serenity.

I look at it this way: if you removed the science-fiction material, you’d be left with a decent Western that covers pretty familiar territory. If you just focused on the fantastic angle, you’d have a fairly typical alien-invasion yarn. Because neither one of the two ingredients is exceptional in itself, the melding of the genres is uninspired.

Exactly, Leonard Maltin!  Exactly.   And while the film is beautifully shot and cast - yes to Clancy Brown, Sam Rockwell, Keith Carradine, and Adam Beach - I never really felt invested in any of the characters.  Especially Olivia Wilde.  I could have cared less about Olivia Wilde.

This about sums it up.

2 leather chaps out of 5.

The movie would have been better served to ditch the aliens (keep the dog) and just have Daniel Craig roam the New Mexico badlands, glare into the middle distance ...

drink whisky, and beat the crap out of people.  That's 2 hours of entertainment!

source

He could also occasionally stop to adjust his hat.

source

So, in conclusion: You're doing it right.

You're doing it better

I'll be in my bunk ...

British Friday - National Library Week edition

As a general rule, librarians are a kick in the pants socially, often full of good humor, progressive, and naturally, well read.  They tend to be generalists who know so much about so many things that they are quite the opposite of the boring old poops they have been made out to be. Most of them are full of life, some even full of the devil.

-- Bill Hall, editorial page editor, Lewiston (Idaho) Tribune, Sept. 9, 2001.

#Musicmonday: Maurissa and Jed "Remains"

*sigh*  I miss Dollhouse.

Was Topher always that buff?



GODDAMN YOU FOX!  DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!



via io9

Geek girls represent!

EMBED-Geek and Gamer Girls Song - Watch more free videos

via Neatorama

#Musicmonday: Double Rainbow

All the way, yeah.  An autotune two-fer.



via @NathanFillion

#Musicmonday: Broken Bells "The Ghost Inside"

Yosaffbridge, our Mrs. Reynolds



via io9

You can't take my keys from me

Jellus?

Now available from Quantum Mechanix.  Why yes, I did pre order mine in February.  Why do you ask?

On the road: Houston

I was in Houston over the weekend for the annual crawfish boil held at the towering glass and steel monument to tee-vee that is Tubular world headquarters. But first, there was nerd business to attend to ...

  

No, not the high caliber gun show.

Comicpalooza!


I was hanging out with BabySteps Nicki, spreading the 29-95 gospel.

We were right next to the 501st booth - SQUEE!!  We could not have had a better position.  Well, maybe if we were over by the "celebrity" area.   Fair play to Nicholas Brendon for making the show, given the recent unpleasantness.  Dude was looking good.  Hot.  Season 3 Xander hot.  I do not actually have evidence to present in support of his hotness, because I was not willing to pony up the $25 necessary for a photo op. 

Friday was sparsely attended, but there were a few people who costumed up for the event.  Here we have a Ghostbuster, a Jedi, Boba Fett, and Ash from Evil Dead 2.  So we were pretty well covered in the event of a Dark Side, zombie, or ghost outbreak.

From there it was on to the main event.  Bring on the mud bugs!!!

Your Monday morning moment of nerditry, part of the second

Friday's wake up call to the Space Shuttle Endeavor.  As if there was any doubt that NASA is full of browncoats.



via io9

I'm A Snowflake On The Wind

Joel Watson / HijiNKS Ensue

Totally geektastic gift ideas for the fanboy or nerdgirl in your life

Vampire Taxonomy by io9 associate editor Meredith Woerner. Because nothing says wonderful counselor quite like a pop culture guide book to the blood sucking undead.

Turn your yard into a wretched hive of scum and villainy with the Garden Jawa ... or there'll be hell to pay.

Presented without comment, because what can be said? Except maybe YES! TO! THIS!!

Back in the day when MTV played videos and I was walking 20 miles to school in the snow, they also featured some very cool animation. The Maxx: The Complete Series is now available for pre order at Amazon, and according to the site, will be released on the 17th.










These are a little pricey, but you know your lady deserves to announce to the world that she's a Wonder Woman.

My, what a cunning hat!

With this tattoo (print t-shirt), I thee wed.

And finally, the gift that keeps on giving with cold sweats, nightmares, and the feeling that you'll never be able to claw your way out of the uncanny valley.

For a mere $223,000 US - or 20.1 million yen - you can say goodbye to your mental well being, and hello to your creepy robotic doppelganger. Orders will be accepted between January 1 and 3, and only two will be made. For now ...

Of course there's nothing wrong with the tried and true Starbucks gift card. IT'S A FRAP!

No, we can't let it go. We're browncoats.

Well played, Castle. Mission accomplished. I might just have to start watching you.

I'm not going to lie. There may have been some squeeing during the first 30 seconds. The man is strapping on the holsters. I'm not made of stone.

UPDATE! According to the Captain himself, there's another piece of meta hiding in this scene:

@NathanFillion Look closely, when Mal comes out the door- under the gun, under the boat, just to the right. It's a nothin' part, till ya need one.



And for those of you in the not-Hulu enabled world. No one should be deprived of Nathan Fillion getting his Mal Reynolds on.



SWEET MOTHER OF GOD HE'S WEARING A LEATHER KILT!!!

Season Two: Dollhouse Returns!

Dollhouse returns tomorrow night, YAY! For a show that was touch and go before it ever even premiered, Season 2 comes as a welcome, happy surprise.

And to kick things off, a BSG reunion!

"Vows"

Picking up a few months after the Season 1 finale, Echo is the new bride of a charismatic businessman (guest star Jamie Bamber), who is tied to an old FBI case that Paul was unable to close. Meanwhile, Dr. Saunders struggles with her discovery that she is a Doll and targets Topher. Written and directed by Joss Whedon.

Mo Ryan at the Chicago Tribune has the scoop, including episode summaries and video interviews with Joss, Helo, and Eliza.

What do we have to look forward to?

The relationships inside the Dollhouse are what Whedon and his writers will be taking advantage of in Season 2 ... Though he didn't rule out doing self-contained episodes, the show would move away from an "engagement of the week" for Echo and move more toward the conspiracy-flavored character drama we saw in the last few episodes of Season 1.

"This year we're going to see the results of everything she [Echo] went through last year -- particularly the event [in the finale] with Alpha, where she was downloaded with all the personalities -- we're going to see the effect that's had on her and we're going to find her to be a great deal less passive and a great deal more directed in what she wants, and that of course is going to make her life a lot harder," Whedon noted

The Watcher: Joss Whedon, Eliza Dushku talk 'Dollhouse' Season 2

The Watcher: Getting 'Dollhouse' in order: What's coming in Season 2

If that's not enough spoilery goodness for you, io9 has the inside intel on the roles Summer "River Tam / Cameron" Glau and Ray "Nobody plays the devil with as much glee as me" Wise will play.

Summer Glau and Ray Wise Live In Joss Whedon's Bizarro Dollhouse - Dollhouse - io9

For another take on where the show might be headed, check out my recap of Epitaph One over at Tubular.

#Supernatural Season 5: Apocalinks now!

There's been a ton of coverage the last few weeks about Supernatural's upcoming season, which is fantastic. I'm all for the show finally getting a little love. Season 4 definitely took the show in a different direction, but it was a hell of a ride, and I can't wait to see where Kripke and Co. take us this year.


Here's a round up of recent articles and links to keep you busy until Thursday's season premiere.  Unless noted, assume they're spoilery in some fashion:

• Eric Kripke talks to EW about the possibility of a 6th season.

• Then he talks to the New York Post about tying up the Heaven and Hell storyline.

• I LURVE the 'O Death' promo, and immediately scoured the interwebs for info on the singer, Jen Titus.  I came up dry, and now I know why.  She's not a professional singer - she's a CW on-air promotions executive.  That's right - she's a suit!  This article explains how it all happened.

• Matt Roush at TV Guide drinks the kool-aid and jumps on board the Hell Wagon.

• The Innsmouth Free Press is taking a pause from worshipping the Old Ones to devote this entire week to Supernatural coverage.  It's fantastically comprehensive!  They're examining monsters, mythology, and Mythos, reviewing the season DVDs, and have interviews with Jules Wilkinson from Super-wiki, Anteka of Plastic!Winchester Theater, and the SPN Guerilla Marketing Team among others.

• For a complete round up of articles from various sources, check out Super-wiki's Season 5 interviews.  They're helpfully broken down by spoilery and non.

From the EW interview:   

"I did set out [to] tell a five-season storyline,” [Kripke] maintains. “Quite frankly, I never expected [the show] to make it to five years. But now that we’re in our fifth year, I have every intention of ending the story with a bang and not drawing it out or watering it down.”

"That having been said,” Kripke continues, “I’m looking at this season as the last chapter in this particular story. That doesn’t mean there can’t be a new story. Buffy did it. The X-Files did it. You close a chapter on a big mythology storyline and then you begin a new one."

I'm not going to lie - invoking Buffy makes me a little nervous.  Now,  Buffy and the Scoobies did face a new apocalypse every year.  I think by Season 3 they were even joking about it - didn't they just save the world?  They have to do it again?  The stories made sense though, because it was a new and different evil every time, serving as a back drop for what the characters were experiencing as individuals.  Supernatural could certainly do that; however, where do you go, and who do you fight after you've gone toe-to-toe with Heaven and Hell?  I would worry that any other big bad would be a let down.  

I feel like they would be forced to step far outside of Christian theology and mythology in order to make it work ... but where?  The Mayans believed the world is going to end in 2012, but how does that fit with the whole midwestern/blue collar ethos of the show?  I vote they take on the Norse gods and Ragnorok.  They've already established the Trickster as a character.  I could totally see Dean hanging out with Thor.

The biggest element for me - and what concerns me most about comparisons to Buffy - is Kripke's continued direct involvement in the show.  There's a wonderful, talented, seasoned core of writers, producers, and directors working on Supernatural ... but it's Eric Kripke's baby.  It's his vision.   Seasons 6 and 7 of Buffy completely went off the rails for me, and I think it's because Joss was no longer day to day.   His attentions were focused on Firefly, and I think Buffy suffered for it.

The best case scenario for Season 6 is if they have stories that everyone involved - Kripke especially - is excited to tell.  In that case, bring it on!


Exclusive: 'Supernatural' to 'end with a bang' in 2010 (but there's a catch) | Ausiello | EW.com

New York Post: Supernatural - A 'natural' death

'Death' Becomes CW Promo Maven | The Wrap

TV Guide Magazine | The Daily Review | My Supernatural Summer

Innsmouth Free Press: Supernatural Week

Season 5 Interviews - Super-wiki

Guide to 2009 Fall TV: @TubularTV has you covered

It's Labor Day, friends. While summer may be drawing to a close, the TV networks* are preparing to offer up their fall slate of programming.

Welcoming a new show into your personal lineup can be a big commitment.  Fortunately, Therese at Tubular has prepared a comprehensive guide to help you navigate your options.

I'm completely in the bag for V - nostalgia, Juliet from Lost, and Inara from Firefly - and Flash Forward - this season's hoped for Lost redux.

I'm also going to give Glee a try after catching the repeat of the pilot this weekend.  However, you're on notice Fox.  Pop up Video called.  They want their concept back.  Knock it off with the onscreen Twitter feed.  It's annoying and distracting and Glee is so much better than that.  How about you just let a show stand on its own for once and breath a little?  Hmm?  Sweetie?

I'm perplexed by the existence of two new medical dramas on NBC - Mercy and Trauma.  I enjoyed those shows the first time they aired, when they were called ER and First Watch.  

Do be sure to join me over at Tubular once the season gets into full swing.  I'll be recapping Supernatural and Dollhouse again, as well as The Vampire Diaries.  Sparkle Boone!

Choose well grasshoppers ...

* Sorry international readers, you're on your own.  Stay alive!  TV will find you!

photo credit (above): Flickr (A3R) angelrravelor (A3R)

And you know this scene never, ever gets old.  This is half of the reason I'm even watching the new V.  OMG!  TWINS!

Tune In Guide to the 2009 Fall Television Season | Tubular | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

In my next life, I want to be a set decorator for a genre show

Amy Wells has one of the coolest jobs EVER.

She's the set decorator for Mad Men (Season 3 premieres tonight on AMC).  It's her job to make sure the background details are true and authentic, from the upholstery and appliances to the gum under the desks.

The detail that people went through in those days was just so well worth it. I mean, when I look at it, I just - I really appreciate it ... I think it's those details in life that make life more interesting. It seems like everything is so homogenized and bland compared to how it used to be.

I don't envy her production schedule, or the resulting stress, but the idea of spending my days scouring thrift stores or pouring over old catalogs for inspiration?  Sign me up!

A Mad Dash To Decorate 'Mad Men' : NPR

First you get the money. Then you get the women. Then you get the Firefly.

io9 - What It Would Take For New Firefly?

Not much really.  T:TSCC is sadly no more, which frees up Summer.  Next, we let loose the hounds with bees in their mouths on Castle and Chuck.  Mal and Jayne; check and check.

The rest will soon follow ...

It's not funny because it's true

Joel Watson's Hijinks Ensue via io9

I would like to see this please

Too bad he'll never be cast, and this particular version will never be made.

*sad trombone*

io9 - For Your Consideration: Nathan Fillion As The Green Lantern - green lantern