News on Shuffle would like to send a Happy Birthday shout-out to Summer Glau. Whedonites such as myself will know her best as River Tam from Firefly/Serenity. She also had a recurring role on Dollhouse as Bennett and was a guest star on an episode of Angel. The birthday nugget for today is a clip of River. Just one of the many examples to show why we loved her so.
Tag: dollhouse
Happy Birthday, Fran Kranz
News on Shuffle would like to send a very happy birthday shout-out to Fran Kranz. Kranz has been in a number of things, but was most recently Topher on Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse”. This was the first thing I had seen him in (or so I thought), but he was apparently also in the movie “The Village” – looks like I’m going to have to go back and watch it again.
As a little birthday present to both him and his fans, here is a video of some of Topher’s best lines.
Fran Kranz can next be seen in the movie “The Cabins in the Woods” – also written by Joss Whedon. I guess all things really do lead to Joss…
Happy Birthday, Felicia Day
News on Shuffle would like to wish Felicia Day a very happy birthday. The actress has been involved with a number of our favorite things, many of which were created by this Joss Whedon character you keep hearing about. Besides guest appearance on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse, she has also made an appearance on our new favorite show: Lie to Me. Oh, and she is the star of two of the best thing the internets have given us: Dr. Horrible (another Whedon gem) and The Guild (which she not only created, but also somehow roped Wil Wheaton into being the most awesome character EVER. Geeks everywhere unite, for The Guild is something we can all get behind. If you follow Miss Day on Twitter, you know that S4 of The Guild has finished production and will be available for viewing soon. And if you’ve never seen this little geek-tastic wonder before, well what are you waiting for?! Follow the link down the rabbit hole and enjoy. Each episode is pretty short so even though there are 3 seasons it shouldn’t take too long to get through them all. And as a little birthday present for everyone (b/c 3 seasons of The Guild wasn’t enough) here is my favorite scene from Dr Horrible, starring the birthday girl herself.
Happy Birthday, Joss Whedon
News on Shuffle would like to send a very happy birthday shout-out to the man, the myth, the legend – Joss Whedon. He is the writers of some of your humble blogger’s favorite shows, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly (and the subsequent movie, Serenity), and Dollhouse. He also is the person you can thank for the internet cult classic Dr. Horrible. Most of my favorite actors I discovered on his shows, and they played some of my favorite characters in television history. It was recently announced that he would write and direct the new Avengers movie that is due out May 2012. he also will be working on the screenplay for the Captain America movie coming out July 2011. This gives Whedonites everywhere something to get excited about. Also worth checking out might be Cabin in the Wood, which Joss wrote and stars a pretty awesome cast (including Bradley Whitford, Fran Kranz, and Amy Acker – the latter two which were on previous Whedon shows). To mark the occasion, here is a video I recently found that made me smile (courtesy of Whedonesque). It includes clips from all of Whedon’s shows.
Blockbuster vs Netflix
I track this blog daily, and I know some of you find me via Twitter, which just adds to my ever-growing love for the thing. If any of you follow Whedonesque, you will likely recognize this post from them today.
The Thursday Quote – Topher:”I’m obsolete. This must be what old people feel like.. and Blockbuster. “
After which you probably laughed and thought “It’s funny cause it’s true.” And in my case decided it warranted a blog post about how Netflix changed the movie rental business. You see, Blockbuster was great for its time, but I find more and more people are using Netflix now. The one good thing I can say about Blockbuster was you could rent as many movies as you wanted at one time and my family shared one card. If you want to rent enough movies at once to have an all-night marathon, then Netflix might not be for you. That is not normal consumption though. Normally you want to rent one or two movies at once, which works with Netflix. And if you want to do this process frequently enough, paying a monthly fee becomes a lot cheaper than renting all those movies individually. Add the “instant watching” feature and you have got yourself a great deal. That last point especially made my switch to Netflix money well-spent. I realize Blockbuster also has an online component now, but I compared the two and still found Netflix to be better. Sorry Blockbuster, but Topher was right – you are obsolete.
Tucker & Dale vs Evil
The first time I heard of the movie “Tucker & Dale” it was because one of my favorite actors (Alan Tudyk) was in it. Tudyk was in Firefly and made a few guest appearances on Dollhouse, so if I see he is in something new I always want to check it out. After reading about the movie and watching the trailer, I fell in love with the whole idea.
“Tucker & Dale” is a twist on every horror movie you’ve ever seen. Geoff Carter even called it America’s answer to “Shaun of the Dead” – which is an extremely well done spoof/homage to the genre. “Tucker & Dale” has been making the festival circuit and has some buzz from the international market, but America has not signed on yet. It would be a shame if it didn’t get picked up here, simply because there is obvious potential for a cult following here.
So, how do we make this happen? Spread the word! Whether it is posting the trailer online or just telling your friends about it. The more people who show interest in this, the better chance they have of finding someone who is interested. You can also follow “Tucker & Dale” on Facebook and Twitter.
Summer Glau sets her sights for The Cape
Summer Glau never seems to be able to stay on one show for too long. She has been all over since we first met her on Serenity in Joss Whedon’s series “Firefly”. She has since made appearances as a guest on “Big Bang Theory” and “Dollhouse” (another Joss Whedon series). All of these shows only a geek could love. Coming this fall she will be able to add “The Cape” to that list. The superhero-themed show will be one of the new series on NBC.
Joss Whedon to direct episode of Glee
Joss Whedon, the guy who gave us Buffy: the Musical (one of the most popular episodes of the series) and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, is going to dip his toes in the musical pool again. This time he will be directing an episode of the musical comedy, Glee. The show has always given me the same musical campy feeling that Whedon’s work has for me, so this seems like a good move in my book. In fact, I hope he directs more future episodes as well. This isn’t to say that the show isn’t good as is, far from it actually. I just think that once in awhile Whedon could add a little something to the mix that would be quite welcome by viewers. This will also attract new viewers who may not be paying attention to the show yet, but would be hooked after following this one directed by their god of television (yes, I do believe there are people who worship him enough to watch just for this alone). It will be interesting to watch the ratings before and after this episode airs (whenever that might be). Presumably he won’t start working on this until he has a break from Dollhouse, which is his latest attempt at making fantasy television viewers squee with delight. The fact that it is currently in its second season means it is already doing better than Firefly, which has a cult following but never did well enough in the ratings to stay alive very long. Personally, I am behind in my Dollhouse viewing (just about to finish DVD of first season), but what I have seen so far I have thoroughly enjoyed. I hope it has staying power equal to his previous hits of Buffy or Angel. As with most things, only time will tell.