Something About Nothing

I finally got to see Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing. I give it a solid B+.

It's difficult for me to not being hyper-critical when one of my favorite creators is tackling my favorite Shakespearean play. Especially when I've both read it and seen other versions so many times.

For one, it's just difficult to judge due to this version being about an hour shorter than the original is intended. The reason I adore the play so much is that it's so playful and witty with language. That is also one of the things that I love about Whedon. But so much gets cut to make it a reasonable length for a film, that it's a shame.

It has been pointed out that this version is one of the best film versions for being able to understand what the hell the characters are saying. And that is very true. But it still struggles at some points and some of the actors seem to still be unsure of what they're saying, but it's not nearly as bad as most Shakespeare adaptations.

It also deserves props for actually taking advantage of the film medium and showing some backstory about Benedick and Beatrice, rather than leaving it all to Beatrice's speech about their past. One of my favorite things about watching Much Ado adaptations is watching it and going, "Okay, what does this version think happened between Benedick and Beatrice in the past?"

Also, Whedon does his thing of giving familiar actors new role types that they don't usually end up in. Fran Kranz as Claudio? AMAZING! Reed Diamond as a nice person? Refreshing! Sean Maher as Don John? Fantastic! Not to mention the genius twist of having a woman, Rikki Lindehome of Garfunkel & Oates no less, as Conrade- adding a new dimension to Don John's scenes and making it impossible to confuse Conrade and Borachio.

And, finally, there's also the fact that this was all done in a matter of twelve days. Not a lot of pre-production could be put into things and it's impressively slick, considering.

However... Whedon still couldn't make Acts 4 and 5 of the play make sense in a modern context, as it ruins the character of Claudio and then pretends that he did nothing wrong. While this ending is fine in a pre-women's rights world where Hero really would have little choice other than the ridiculous solution her father cooks up. But, in a modern context? Why would anyone- especially Hero- be okay with that ending after what Claudio does? And Beatrice finds herself torn between sorrow for Hero and joy for proclaimed love from Benedick- which causes a mixture of drama and comedy back-to-back that is difficult to find balance between while keeping the characters grounded.  The resolution seems even weirder in the more understated and realistic version of the story being presented in this version. Whedon chose to leave it as basic and true to the original as possible with little-to-none subtext, which left it... bizarre and kind of flat.

I think it was a bold choice but ultimately fell short. That ending really has to play like a Blake Edwards scene or a sit-com final act to work usually.

It doesn't help that the most recent production that I saw a couple years before this film was the Catherine Tate and David Tennant stage production. In which so many gags and reactions were inserted between the text that you just end up believing that the characters are crazy, that Benedick and Beatrice are treating their relationship almost like a dare, and that it's all okay.

Tennant & Tate's versions are disgusted at each other's love letters.

Acker & Denisof's versions are besotted at each other's love letters.

Killing the Fishtank- S.H.I.E.L.D. "0-8-4"

Episode 2 was a grand improvement, with the help of Angel alum writer/producer Jeffery Bell. Yay!

It's nice to know the writers were aware that the first episode was a bit of a clusterfuck and addressed it head-on immediately. And finishing it with a weird hissy-fit from Director Fury was kind of awesome.

Also, two thoughts on Coulson:

1) I think he's actually a robot.
2) I sort of feel like he's being written as a non-villain version of the Mayor from BtVS.

Final note: this is basically the only new show I'm bothering to follow at this point this year. TV time is very rare for me at the moment.

On the Subject of One Alexander LaVelle Harris

I recently watched Graduation Day Part 2, the season 3 finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It has probably been about three years since I last watched it- and before then I probably hadn't watched it since 2004.

For the years 1998 through 2002, BtVS was a giant obsession of mine. By the time the show had ended in 2003, I had experienced way too many emotions towards the show. I bought the commercial VHS tape 6 episode set series for the first three seasons, the dvds for the first three seasons, and a ridiculous amount of tie-in books that I could devour 3 a day without even trying.

That is to say: I liked/loved the show. But by 2004, I had kind of over-dosed on it.

Now, ten years after the show ended, I've changed a decent amount. I no longer believe that Joss Whedon can do no wrong- but I do still like him a lot and am thrilled that he's now a bigshot. So, I guess I'm looking at these episodes with different eyes.

And I still love Graduation Day... but I also see a few more flaws that I remembered. I always thought of the show as flawed and that being part of the charm- making the beauty more beautiful in direct contrast.

So, now, I have to say it: Xander's a dick.

I never really felt that before. Sure, I thought it was pretty terrible when he didn't tell Buffy that Willow was trying to restore Angel's soul in Becoming Part 2- but his motive was understandable. I never really understood all the fanfics that felt the need to re-hash that moment and "punish" Xander for his actions in that episode.

And, for the most part, I can understand his stupid comments to Angel most of the time in season three. It's part lingering jealous, part anger about what Angel became, and also just that feeling of having to witness your best friend be in a terrible relationship that can't end well.

But they really should've nipped his snide comments in the butt when it comes to Cordelia after Lovers Walk. Or had Buffy slap him. The girl almost died because of his stupid hormones and jealousy issues. She was skewered through her abdomen because she fell through a flight of stairs after trying to run away in shock after discovering her boyfriend kissing another girl. Yeah, maybe he did redeem himself a bit by paying for Cordelia's prom dress, but I can't sit through them sniping at each other over Wesley and think that Xander has any right to talk to her like that.

However, I am still on the side of feeling that Xander's character was slowly and painfully assassinated over the stretch of seasons 4 through 7, and the first of the characters to be whittled down to a 2-D parody of himself. My stomach still turns to think of the terrible wedding episode. Part of the issue was that Xander was at times basically the "token boy" where most other shows would have a "token girl" in a male dominated cast who was just there to be girl-y. His second biggest character trait (after wise-cracking) was "male"- for all the wonderful fleshed out characters on the show, Xander never really got the same treatment. Xander-centric episodes involved him getting possessed or having a "wacky" encounter with the supernatural. The season five episode, The Replacement, being the one big exception. But, also, it took FIVE SEASONS to get that episode- and then it seemed like the writers didn't really know what to do with him later on other than relationship stuff.

And, by season seven, he was mostly reduced to being kind of a pervert- something that was more excusable when he was a high school kid. But on a 20-something? Gross.

My point stands, however: Xander was kind of a dick. It's amazing he didn't get hurt more than he did.