Saturday, February 27, 2010

Amber Benson's 'Cat's Claw'

Amber Benson just released the next installment of her Calliope Reaper-Jones series entitled, Cat's Claw, and hey, a blurb from Bitsy's review of Death's Daughter is on the back cover!

“An exciting new universe you’ll be chomping at the bit to dive back into time and again.” -BUFFYFEST


If you're in town, Miss Benson will be around our way in snowy NYC today signing copies of the book. Deets below:

Midtown Comics
Saturday
Feb 27, 2010
3-5pm

Midtown Comics Times Square
200 W 40th Street (Corner of 7th Avenue)
New York, NY 10018
Tel: 1.800.411.3341

Friday, February 26, 2010

Eliza May Star in Ghostbusters 3; Upcoming 'Kickass' Joss Whedon Film


2 pieces of info hit the internets today courtesy of Hollywood Life and Eliza Dushku's mouth itself. She *may* be appearing in the *rumored* upcoming sequel to the Ghostbusters series, Ghostbusters 3. Dan Aykroyd apparently wants her in it and hey, they are old friends. Actually, I remember this coming up before. That's right, it was almost a year ago that Aykroyd was quoted as wanting both Dushku and Alyssa Milano in the third film as they had recently done voice over for the GB video game. I feel like this is almost certainly going to happen. I wonder how Bitsy will feel about all this, since it's one of his favorite film franchises of all time.

Even bigger news was Eliza also said she and Joss have been thinking about working on a film for a few years. It's unclear if this was a Gouda Pizza-type-situation (there has to be drugs in that stuff or something) but she seems quite confident they'd be working on the feature very soon. Here's the quote:

“I would say that we would [be working on something new very soon]!” she confided to us. “I think we’re going to work on a kickass feature together that we’ve been thinking about for a few years.”


"Kickass" huh? Oh boy, let the speculation commence!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Super Whedonite Family Wins Jayne Hat Contest

So a while back we did an impromptu contest based around Jayne Cobb's mother's now infamous hand knitted hat and Mom/Son duo Kaaren and Jacob are the winners! Who can resist a Browncoat household? We certainly can't!

Plus, hello, added bonus of posing in front of the Whedonverse Swapped Ornament covered tree and in Whedon shirts! I can't take it!


Kaaren and Jacob have won a Buffyfest gift box and the glory of rocking the hell out of that fuzzy orange wonder. Thanks for your awesome entry and congrats!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Top 10 Reasons Why Buffy's a Super Duper Hero

There's a list that came out a few days ago citing the Top 10 Whedon Heroes. This list was surprisingly void of many names that come to mind when I think of the word "hero"in the Whedonverse. An argument can be made for Anya, Illyria, Jayne and, dare I say, Andrew to be considered heroes, but to put those names above characters like Doyle, Cordelia, Faith, Xander, Gunn, Willow and, I can't believe I'm typing this, Buffy?

Buffy's pretty much the hero above all the heroes in the verse. And I'm not just talking about hero because of super powers, it's really Buffy's heart that makes her the Top Dog in the Whedonverse. Everyone's got there own opinion, and we've got ours too, so we've decided to give you the Top Ten Reasons why Buffy is super duper Whedon hero above all the rest!

10. She graduated high school even though she got about three hours of sleep a night because she was fighting evil doers. Most of us barely graduated on eight hours!

9. She made sure everyone else graduated high school, too, instead of getting eaten by a giant snake.

8. She was determined that her friends would have a good prom night, even though she wouldn't.

7. She wouldn't sacrifice Ben, a human, even though he was Glory. Yes, Ben is Glory and Glory is Ben.

6. She fought against the Watcher's Council, a group that's been around for a lifetime, because she knew what was right and important.

5. She gave those she cared about the benefit of the doubt even when it wasn't a popular decision because she saw the potential and didn't believe in giving up on them (see: Angel in Season 2/3, Faith in Season 3, Willow in Season 6/7, Spike in Season 7).

4. She was 16 and didn't wanna die, but she faced The Master anyway.

3. She killed the man she loved to save the world.

2. She sacrificed herself to save her sister and the world.

1. She inspired almost every single character in Sunnydale and L.A. to be who they would eventually become. Some of those people include Willow, Angel, Xander, Cordelia, Wesley, Spike, Oz, Anne/Chanterelle/Lilly, Riley, every potential and Robin Wood.

fanvid sunday: Serenity/Doctor Who edition

This fanvid sunday might be for serious nerds only. I got the hankering for a little Doctor Who meets cast of Serenity and I came up with gold. I'm going to include two videos, one that's a little more Firefly and the other is... well, it's basically all DW all the time. Without further ado, let's get on with the show. First the crossover:



The second is a really interesting opening for Doctor Who's End of Time Part 2 using the theme from Firefly. It's kind of awesome. PPeep it out:




aaaaand that's all for now. Hope that scratched both your Whedon and your RTD itch for the weekend. Happy Sunday, everybody!


Thursday, February 18, 2010

Michelle Trachtenberg Nasty Rapping in Jersey

That headline is not a metaphor! Ha! The Dawson Leary addition just makes it all the more random. WTF?



Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Holy Frakking Awesome!

I know I'm late to the game, but I just finished Battlestar Galactica and it was amazing! To me, nothing topped the friendship of Adama and Tigh - I was blown away by just about every scene they were in together - and Tahmoh Penikett was much more interesting to watch on this show (sorry). What else? Oh, I hated Starbuck, a lot, but it was the kind of hate that only comes from a show with good enough writing to make you so passionate about your hatred. I am feeling the sadness now that it's over, but it was worth every minute and here's to hoping Caprica can fill the void. So say we all. Love it!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day Weekend (Sorta)!

Buffy: Oh, Valentine's Day is just a cheap gimmick to sell cards and chocolate.
Amy: Bad breakup, huh?
Buffy:
Believe me when I say "uh-huh."
Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered

It's really hard to write a positive post in honor of Valentine's Day because, let's face it, there isn't so much of the happy when it comes to love in the Whedonverse. A few months back we tried writing about the happy moments of the verse, but as you'll see it kinda backfired. Of course, it was funny and fun to write, so it's a win anyway. This time around, let's take it from another angle, tragedy, which seems to be the only way Joss knows how to write love. In honor of Valentine's Day Weekend we give you Wired's Top 10 Tragic Love Stories in Geek Fiction and, not surprisingly, two of our couples made the list.





Friday, February 12, 2010

Is Eliza Dushku's Career Over? Or Just About To Soar?

When the news broke yesterday that Eliza Dushku's first post-Dollhouse project would be a cheesy horror film stuffed with 90's has-beens (sorry!) James Van Der Beek and Freddie Prinze, Jr. a.k.a Mr. Sarah Michelle Gellar, I was so befuddled I didn't even want to post the news. I didn't want to add fuel to Michelle's hate or Bitsy's rants. Maybe they haven't looked on the internet today" I hoped. Please, these guys have every Whedonverse news sources known to the 'nets on their feed readers, so that thought was probably in vain. And the worst side effect was I couldn't stop comparing future on set rumors of a scandal between Eliza and Freddie, with Faith-as-Buffy having sex with Riley in Season 4's "Who Are You?" Blagh.

I don't even know why I was protecting Eliza so much. I came around to Dollhouse in the end, but I do think it took a lot of time away from our boy. She's beautiful, but I've yet to see a stellar acting performance. She's cool, but tends to announce it way too often, rendering her uncool in the process. Maybe the reason I cared was because she actually did an amazing thing with Dollhouse. She had a production deal with FOX that she actually made good on, no matter how it ended. A lot of people get production deals, but a lot of people can't woo Mr. Joss Whedon with Gouda Pizza. As Executive Producer, she probably called more shots than any of us realize over at the Dollhouse. And she took control of her career, which many 90's actors have been struggling to do. I'm looking at you Sarah Michelle Gellar, not that it's your fault.

So why the lame-ass horror movie? Maybe because there is no horror movie. AfterEllen blew the whole thing wide open today and it really made me question, was this just a vicious rumor? Evidence shows that Eliza and her Boston Divas Productions (I will say nothing about that) purchased the rights to the film almost a year ago. Eliza cast her brother Nate as the lead, playing photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. And as AfterEllen also pointed out, Eliza just tweeted yesterday that things were moving along with the project. Eliza speaks about it in this clip:

Something is definitely rotten in Denmark. We'll keep you posted.

Watch Eliza talk about the Mapplethorpe project back in October of 2009. in the clip below (around the 30 second mark.)

UPDATE: Thank goodness this rumor has been debunked by Eliza herself on Twitter.


Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Sarah Michelle Gellar's Last Two Films Finally Hit Shelves

Since 2006's The Return, Sarah Michelle Gellar's last 5 project's have gone straight to DVD or haven't seen the light of day at all (voice-over work notwithstanding.) Now, 2 of those projects will finally be released, but sadly also straight to DVD. It's been a while, so let's recap:

Possession is a suspense/thriller that has been shelved for more than 2 years. According to the IMDB:

"due to Yari Film Group (the film's distributor) filing a Chapter 11 protection, its release has been pushed back close to a dozen times."

The gist is, Smidge's hubbie and his brother, played by Lee Pace (of Pushing Daises excellence), are in a car accident. When Pace awakes from his coma, he's been taken over by the soul of Smidge's husband....or has he? Dun dun DUN! Possesion is said be released on March 9th.



In Veronika Decides to Die, which has the cover of an 80's John Hughes film, Smidge's character seems to have it all but still decides to kill herself. She fails, a teen heartthrob learns the value of a geek, wackiness ensues.

Based on the international best-selling novel by Paulo Coelho, this film will be available on DVD on April 27th.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Fanvid Sunday: The Twilight Takeover Edition (Spoilers)

That's right, today will be a very special edition because I'm taking over Fanvid Sunday! Why you ask? Mostly I want to steal Bitsy's thunder. Just kidding (not really.)

Warning: Major Spoilers for Buffy S.8 and the Twilight Reveal below:

The actual reason I've jacked Fanvid Sunday is because ever since Twilightgate (tm) rocked this fandom, we've been wondering if a fanvid exists using the shocking subject matter of Twilight's now known true spoiler-ish identity. Bits hasn't been able to find any in the 'verse for a month now...so I secretly approached friends of Buffyfest and Lady Gaga fanvid creators - Juniper and Justin - to make a custom one just for Buffyfest! Oh yeah! I know, I know, some might say this will be the best Fanvid Sunday ever. Some might just be right.



Love it! Now we're not usually in the business of making vids. Aside from Bitsy's Vlogs and the occasional massive international hit single, we stay away from such fare. So we needed an expert to collabo with. Thanks so much guys! Check out Juniper and Justin's fabulous Gaga inspired film shorts at www.youtube.com/user/juniperjacobs1.

And like Bitsy says: Happy Sunday everybody!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Newsies: Randomness Edition


CBR has started a new monthly column called "Behind Buffy Season 8". This month, it's Super Scott Allie discussing #31 "Turbulence" and the first issue of the "Twilight" arc, #32.





BONES celebrated their 100th episode, directed by David Boreano, with a cake and champagne celebration on the 20th Century Fox lot. See more pics from the bash here. I'm feeling a twinge of jealousy that Angel only went on a bit longer, and that Bones will soon surpass that number.



Not only has Julie Benz's stint on Desperate Housewives been extended, but she'll also be starring in a Hallmark Channel movie about a stressed out woman who finds relaxation in wine country called Uncorked. I really wish Bits was around today to comment on that last part. There is also an interview with her over at AfterEllen.




Emma Caulfield's movie TiMER, about a clock that is implanted into a person's wrist and counts down to the moment you will meet your soul mate and find true love, will open the 34th Cleveland International Film Festival! The film 'fest starts on March 18th.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

The Hannigan-Denisof Family Shop for a New Home

Satyana! She's so ginger! Check out these super cute photos of Alyson Hannigan, Alexis Denisof and baby Satyana shopping for new digs in LA. Here's to a happy home!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Buffy S8: Twilight Arc - Let the Shit Storm* Begin (Major Spoilers)

(Warning: Spoilers for the Twilight reveal) This week marks the beginning of the "Twilight" arc in Buffy Season 8 and all that comes with it. We've already talked about why the Twilight reveal is awesome, but I think what most of us have come to realize is that even though we got this one answer, there are still so many more questions. Here are a few mysteries yet to be revealed and beware, there's a lot of question marks in this post.

What's the deal with Future Willow? We know she told Fray that if she didn't kill Buffy, her world would end and told Harth the complete opposite. Fray says Buffy will "end the world." Whose world? In the end, the Fray world didn't disappear, but Fray says "I failed again." Was she supposed to end her time in order to avoid something worse? We also know that Future Willow wanted Buffy to kill her, but why and what's with the cryptic, "...The most important thing about death isn't who dies, it's who kills them." Help!!!!!

Continuing with the Fray story, we know that Twilight's mission of destroying all magic was eventually fulfilled in Fray's time, but from the picture to the right, we can assume that this might have been Buffy's plan as well. It seems like an alliance between Buffy and Twilight might be in the cards. Also, is that picture the set up for Season 9 - are we going to see Buffy in another hellish dimension fighting to get back to earth?

What is Twilight? Scott Allie has recently hinted that the Twilight symbol will have relevance as the season progresses. Is this symbol somehow controlling Angel? Is it an organization? In "Time of Your Life" Part I, Skinless Warren states that he doesn't "Have your (Twilight) cute little sunset symbol carved in it (his skin). I'm in this for myself...." Clearly, those that do wear the Twilight symbol are in it for a bigger cause. Since Twilight wants to end magic and banish demons from this dimension, is this a force of good using bad means?

Who's the mole? If it's not Riley there seems to be someone else working on the inside. My guess is Giles. Like Angel, he's a big picture guy and it would seem likely that he'd side with the "enemy" in order to "avert disaster." I also really like the idea of these two teaming up. It would make worlds of hurt for Buffy which we all know is what Joss seems to want on a regular basis. Quick sidebar: Referring back to "Time of Your Life" again, Buffy says Fray has to look at the big picture on more than one occasion. Has she turned to the Angel/Giles way of thinking? From some of her actions in Season 7, it wouldn't be so hard to believe.

In "Anywhere but Here", Buffy is told by Robin to "rescue the prince". Throughout Season 8, Buffy's been called the Queen, so who is the logical Prince? Xander, maybe. He is her right hand, but what does Xander need saving from? What about Angel? We still don't know why he's causing all this chaos. Maybe Buffy needs to save him from himself or from some entity that's controlling him. Either way, I did some research and a Prince can either be the husband of a Queen or the son of a King and Queen. It's something interesting to ponder and directly leads me to...

......This picture of future events sighting a betrayal by "the closest and most unexpected." It's possible that Buffy just got a beat down by Twangel so he's most likely the betrayer but what's more curious to me is that floating egg and the possible symbolism which I've already talked about here. If this cracked egg is a symbol for a life/lives being destroyed, is it the slayer line that's represented here or is this a connection to saving the Prince?

Why does Buffy have super superpowers and why are they the same as Twilight's super superpowers? I can't help but think that this is exactly what Twilight wants from Buffy. If Twangel is from the future or knows something about the future, he could be leading Buffy down a path he needs her to go in order to "avert" this disaster. Also remember when Angel went away after Buffy died? It was Tibet that he goes to for 3 months to mourn her, so either Joss is going to show us some amazing continuity by telling us that Angel learned some tricks while he was there or I'm just desperate for answers (I'm leaning toward the latter right now).

I warned you that there are more questions here than answers, but that's why I'm so looking forward to this arc. I have a feeling Joss is going to take Buffy and Buffy in an entirely new direction. Some will love it, some will hate it, but one thing's clear - the Twilight reveal is only the tip of the conflict iceberg that's heading toward Ms. Summers. Let the shit storm begin*!

*TM mbatz