Xander: Well, uh, maybe I’ll see you around… maybe at school… since we… both… go there.
Buffy: Great! It was nice to meet you.
Xander: We both go to school. Very suave. Very not pathetic.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 1: Episode 1 – “Welcome to the Hellmouth”
Xander: Willow! You’re so very much the person that I wanted to see!
Willow: Oh, really?
Xander: Yeah. You know, I kinda had a problem with the math.
Willow: Uh, which part?
Xander: The math. Can you help me out tonight, pleeeease, be my study buddy?
Willow: Well, what’s in it for me?
Xander: A shiny nickel!
Willow: Okay. Do you have ‘Theories in Trig’? You should check it out.
Xander: Check it out?
Willow: From the library? Where the books live.
Xander: Right, I’m there! See, I wanna change…
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 1: Episode 1 – “Welcome to the Hellmouth”
I suppose this review should actually be titled “Review: Lee Daniels’ The Butler”, because of a silly dispute with Warner Bros. which required them to turn the simplistic title of The Butler into something that sounds vaguely ridiculous. But title disagreements aside, The Butler is an interesting amalgam of a film, which works as a whole even when some parts don’t hold up as well as they should. It’s one part biopic, one part fiction, with a healthy serving of Forrest Gump along with a good deal of racial politics. It has an immensely impressive cast and a solid balance between the family drama at the heart of the film and the somewhat gimmicky side of the story. Plus, it’s one that’s destined to tug at the heartstrings.
The Butler tells the story of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), who began life as a boy picking cotton on a Georgia plantation in the 1920s and ends up as a butler in the White House. Continue reading
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 4: Episode 8 – “Pangs”
Spike: A bear! You made a bear!
Buffy: I didn’t mean to!
Spike: Undo it! Undo it!
I had every intention of writing an article exploring Joss Whedon’s treatment of sex in his various works, and then I started doing some research online. When I write articles like the one I was envisioning, I worry about unintentionally copying someone else’s ideas, so do a bit of searching to make sure that I still have something new to say. Sometimes I find that someone else has put out an essay that says exactly what I wanted, only better, and I’ll simply abandon my idea. Other times, I’ll find an article arguing the opposite of what I want to say, but in a way that allows me to write my opinions as a rebuttal (this worked really well for my Star Wars prequel analysis). It’s important to read a variety of opinions, because challenging ourselves is the best way to grow, both as a writer/blogger and as a person.
But something different happened to me when I started searching for articles about Joss Whedon and sex. I still have a lot to say, and maybe I’ll write that analysis soon, but for the moment I’m giving up on it. Continue reading
(This was movie #4 of my 4 movie marathon day.)
How do I become friends with Joss Whedon? If this is how he spends his vacations, filming Shakespeare adaptations at his absolutely stunning house with a troupe of enormously talented actors and friends, then sign me up. Much Ado About Nothing is damn near perfect, the melding of two brilliant minds across 400 years. It’s clear that both Joss and his cast have a deep understanding both of the subject matter and the Shakespearean dialogue, and I hope we get to see a lot more of this sort of thing from him, once The Avengers 2 is done filming.
Much Ado About Nothing tells the story of two romances that take place as a prince comes to stay with a local governor. Continue reading
It seems a bit silly for me to review a film that came out over a year ago, just because I finally got around to watching it. So instead of a traditional review, I’m instead going to offer up some disorganized thoughts about The Cabin in the Woods. (For the record, I give the film an A.) I didn’t see it in the theaters mostly because we generally don’t go see horror films, both out of personal taste and a general lack of quality. I’ve never been one for the sort of “jump out and get you” scares, but prefer more cerebral horror. Give me Hitchcock or The Exorcist over Saw any day. (We also don’t see a lot of comedy in the theater, but that’s a story for another time.)
Obviously I should have known better, considering the script was by Joss Whedon and one of his frequent collaborators, but the trailers didn’t help the situation. They presented it as a standard “cabin in the woods” type thriller with a sci-fi/conspiracy twist. That sort of thing has been done before. So after it was released I read the plot on wikipedia and it seemed more creative than I had originally supposed, but still not enough to get me to go see it. However, I recently read the script online out of curiosity which changed my mind, and I finally rented The Cabin in the Woods. Here are my thoughts: Continue reading
Just in case you needed another reason that Patrick Stewart is awesome, there’s this video, which has been making the rounds lately. Many people tend to criticize celebrities who speak out in support of or in opposition to an issue, a cause, or a politician, though most only seem to criticize when the celebrity supports a position they themselves are opposed to and have no problem when a celebrity supports their side. Aside from the fact that celebrities have the same right to voice their opinions as any other person, they also are in a special position given their fame. And in no way is violence against women or empowering women a “political” issue, no matter what some people may try to say. Take a look (Click here to read more from the woman who asked the question on her blog):
Are Patrick Stewart’s opinion and views more important than yours or mine? No, of course not. However, they are in a special position because of who he is. Celebrities can reach a much wider audience than the average Love Pirate with a blog. Continue reading
Update: So a new S.H.I.E.L.D. trailer is out, this one giving us a much better glimpse at the new series (which will be airing on ABC this fall at 8PM on Tuesday nights). Take a look and read on for my updated thoughts (you can see the previous trailer here):
Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies, since I’ve always found them to be endlessly fascinating.
(Update: A new trailer has been released and you can read my thoughts on it here.) Yes, I realize that Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is not a movie and that this is not technically a trailer. But too bad, because I could not be more excited about S.H.I.E.L.D., the expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe which continues the story from The Avengers and is being overseen by the incomparable Joss Whedon. Take a look: Continue reading
The Love Pirate 