Serenity was reviewed on BBC 4 last night - a film review show presented by Stuart Maconie (NME, Q, etc). They got a professor in from some Uni, who specialised in Sci-Fi. The guy wasn't raving about it, but did recommend the DVD. They spent quite a bit of time on it.

Re: (The) Word, I'm a subscriber. Got my copy but haven't read it yet. (Glancing through it, are you sure it's the March issue, I can't find the Joss profile?)

Caroline | February 26, 16:48 CET

Yes it's the issue with KT Tunstall on the cover. Joss' profile starts on page 70.

Simon | February 26, 17:38 CET

I was unable to locate the interview...

The problem is that, because of my configuration, I have to read the source of the page to locate the stream and then play it through mplayer. I found a stream called "uan_sun" which should be that, but I couldn't find the interview in it.

Can you quickly sum up the "new tidbits", Simon?

Le Comité | February 26, 17:46 CET

Oh god, sorry to the person who posted this last night - I said it was a dupe, as it sounded like the interview the other day (Spike Lee and all).

gossi | February 26, 17:53 CET

Oh, listen before Joss appears on air - somebody rings up and rants how the English actors in Buffy couldn't sing, but Alyson Hannigan could. And then the presenter says Alyson Hannigan should be ashamed of herself for appearing in Date Movie.

Oh dear.

A summary for those without RealPlayer

- Sci-fi passed on picking the series back up for being too sci-fi. Go figure.

- Serenity took literally 3 years out of Joss Whedon's life. Joss is willing to make another movie/series/whatever, but doesn't plan to fight for it in the same manner as before. Which, I totally understand. I got into the entirely obsessive mode with that flick for a full 8 or so months, and quite literally did nothing really except try to get people to watch it. I found that draining beyond believe. I'm not entirely sure why I did it. And if I felt like that, I'm willing to bet it was 100 times worse for Joss -- and he was actually answerable to Universal, with his motion picture career gambled on it too (if it had turned into a horrible bomb or been a badly reviewed movie.. well, that's some pressure).

[ edited by gossi on 2006-02-26 16:26 ]

gossi | February 26, 18:10 CET

Tidbits:

After Firefly got cancelled, Joss thought about TV movies or a tiny low budget independent film with the standing sets. And then obviously Universal stepped in.

The studio flirted with the idea of getting a big name to play the villain and then decided it wasn't worth the money.

Simon | February 26, 18:22 CET

I'm actually pretty glad that they didn't go with a big name for the villain. I think it would have taken more away from the movie than it would have added to have some a-list actor steal every scene they were in just because they are who they are.

The only real benefit i could see for that would be that it might possibly have drawn in a few extra people to see the film if they were a dedicated fan of said actor. I know that i've watched a lot of really bad movies due to being a big Bruce Willis fan.

Not that i'm saying Serenity was a bad movie ... Serenity was an excellent movie ... oh, you know what i mean ... ;)

Buffysmglover | February 26, 18:37 CET

I think that's the right stream Le Comite, the Joss portion appears about 1hr 20mins into the programme (or about 02:20 on the clock as Simon mentions above).

I couldn't get it to work with the embedded mplayer plugin for Firefox and ended up having to boot into Windows and use Internet Explorer. So it goes ;).



Clearly it didn't have enough ghost hunting in it. Maybe if he'd pitched it as 'Emanuelle in Space' they'd have picked it up. That seems to be shown about every 3 hours on Sci-Fi UK.

Saje | February 26, 18:43 CET

The embedded real player on Opera didn't have a timer so I had to scoot all over the show to find it. It is in fact quite short and didn't have a lot that was new, although I did like Joss saying that he wouldn't fight for another movie as he did this one as it took 3 years of his life to do it. Literally. He figures he has 3 years less in his life as a result!

Lioness | February 26, 19:06 CET

Joss was on T4 (CH4 UK) before Stargate and will be on again after it

garda39 | February 26, 19:24 CET

I wouldn't mind knowing more about how a small independent Firefly film would have worked. It has a stage play feel vibe to it. Maybe it could be adapted for theatre. Who knows?

Simon | February 26, 19:34 CET

Knowing the studio, they wouldn't release stage rights to Firefly (see also, Buffy musical). It'd certainly be fun, though.

I remember somebody pitching an episode of Firefly here which revolved around all the characters being trapped in a shuttle for the entire episode or some such. As in, they just talk. And there's heart ache and love and all that good stuff. Would be fun to see in the theatre.

gossi | February 26, 19:53 CET

Serenity was reviewed on BBC 4 last night - a film review show presented by Stuart Maconie (NME, Q, etc).

The DigiGuide listing for that programme includes the following abomination: "Plus the new DVD release of adolescent space adventure Serenity..."!!!

tichtich | February 26, 20:21 CET

Yes, clearly raping cannibals is the new in thing with 9 year olds. I'm so out of touch.

gossi | February 26, 20:22 CET

What happened to the thread about Joss on T4.

Derf | February 26, 21:22 CET

It got removed.. It's not really 'web news' without clips. I'd say Whedonesque.org is probably a better venue for the discussion, or here.

gossi | February 26, 21:25 CET

Wow, It's my day for having copies of deleted threads LOL

garda39 | February 26, 21:38 CET

There was very little to discuss about Joss on T4 anyway. With the quality of interview he got there was never going to be anything substantial to talk about.

Buffysmglover | February 26, 21:45 CET

Dear god that 'interview' was awful! I felt so sorry for him to be stuck infront of that braying women who babbled on about Enterprise like she was 3 year old. What a waste of an oppertunity!

Thank god that slot is coming to an end.

[ edited by sueworld2003 on 2006-02-26 20:50 ]

sueworld2003 | February 26, 22:49 CET

Joss is willing to make another movie/series/whatever, but doesn't plan to fight for it in the same manner as before.

It will be interesting to see the camps Browncoats fall into over this, because I fully expect it, as it circulates, to create a lot of irritation.

But, for me, I've been saying for awhile now that I don't particularly see anything new in terms of television or film for the Verse until after Joss has made WW and Goners at the earliest.

And, frankly, I am becoming very excited about seeing just what Goners is, and am fully prepared to take a totally new ride into Joss's brain.

[ edited by theonetruebix on 2006-02-26 22:11 ]

The One True b!X | February 27, 00:11 CET

Do you think? I would have thought if it was going to be an issue, it would have already been by now.
Who can blame the guy for wanting to not continually have to fight for it. Also, after WW is a success, and more people love him, he maybe in a better position to push for it a little, that is if he wants too. Which, I kinda suspect he may by that time.

nixygirl | February 27, 01:14 CET

Do you think? I would have thought if it was going to be an issue, it would have already been by now.

He hasn't been that overt in that particular message, about not fighting as hard for it now. I'm quite sure there a many fans who think that he's just itching to do more and will go out of his way to make sure it happens.

Now, I've never believed that. But he hasn't come outright and said anything on that score previously.

The One True b!X | February 27, 01:15 CET

theonetruebix, I have not read or heard any rumblings like this on the OB or elsewhere. I think in general fans are pretty realistic that Joss is focusing on Wonder Woman and Goners at this point. Joss' consistent message seems to be that if Universal (or anyone else) wants more Serenity, he will be there. That's enough for most folks.

TamaraC | February 27, 02:08 CET

Part of the reason why this interview hasn't done the rounds yet is the format - it's not easy to copy and paste across LiveJournal for people to freak out over.

There are some absolutely die hard Browncoats out there who seem to think Joss is out burning cars and stealing to fund a new movie (how does burning cars help? I don't know. Too much news). I know I'm not doing that. The reality -- which I think a majority of people understand -- is that Serenity didn't explode (in terms of profit - not in Jayne terms), so it'll be a property with sits around for a couple of years at least. After that time, somebody might look at Microsoft Excel and go 'Hey, we actually made a fair bit of money from that overall - lets do another'. They might not. I do know this - the ending of the live action story, potentially, isn't Jubal Early spinning in space. It's a speech about love, it's Mal fixed, fighting and believing, it's the ship sailing away into the sky. It's a lot more dignified.

gossi | February 27, 02:10 CET

Oh, there'll always be another Microsoft Excel. Ah, wait, nevermind.

(I don't blame Joss at all for not wanting to shorten his life by yet another 3 years - more Serenity would be be great, better than great even, but then so would more Whedon of any kind)

Saje | February 27, 05:53 CET

I have not read or heard any rumblings like this on the OB or elsewhere. I think in general fans are pretty realistic

One, you haven't heard nay rumblings because this just hit and the relevant bit is buried in a comment here. Wait for it to get picked up and spread around.

Two, while I would agree that "in general fans are pretty realistic" I also agree that there are many fans who aren't, and they are very loud when they aren't.

The One True b!X | February 27, 06:33 CET

But since I don't go to the gossi boards, I guess I won't hear them. Just kidding.

Kinda.

TamaraC | February 27, 06:47 CET