This Fantasy Ain’t So Final, Is It?
Jun 6th
Today I was introduced to Final Fantasy. Okay, I wasn’t introduced to it; I was aware of its existence. But I had never played any of the games or involved myself in its related media. Nor was I aware really of its storyline or general concept, other than the fact that it is a fantasy (duh) and there is fighting involved. But today I had my first exposure to it, watching Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, a CGI film based on one of the games… the seventh one I presume. Surprisingly I quote enjoyed it, despite not understanding much of the background story (and the fact that most non-Pixar and non-Dreamwork
s CGI films–to put it simply–suck).
And then I discovered there are currently 14 different Final Fantasies. That’s quite a lot, even though it’s fifty less than Mario 64 (somewhere out there, a nerd is crying at my ignorance). This made me wonder why the franchise is called Final Fantasy. The trustworthy encyclopedia says the original game was being made when the developer Square went bankrupt. Therefore the director said he wanted his “final” game to be a “fantasy”. And thus the title was born. Not very creative, if you ask me. Nonetheless, it’s an understandable reason.
However, Final Fantasy proved to not be his last game. They came out with Final Fantasy 2, Final Fantasy 3, Final Fantasy Pi, Final Fantasy 4, and so on… I don’t understand why they kept calling them Final Fantasy if each game was clearly not the final one. I suppose they could get away with it at the beginning, perhaps thinking that the sequel they were currently developing was in fact the final game they would make. But at this point in time it’s a huge franchise, and they must realize they’ll keep making new games. Thus they are completely aware it is not the final fantasy.
More appropriate names would have been something like…
Final Fantasy II: Electric Boogaloo
Final Fantasy III: This Time We Mean It
Final Fantasy IV: Fourth Time’s the Charm
Final Fantasy V: Now We’re Done
Fantasy VI: Never Mind, It’s Not Final
Fantasy VII: Return of the Jedi
Fantasy VIII: It Never Ends
etc….
Minoring in Wumbology
May 25th
I don’t know about you, but I’ve really been in the mood to wumbo lately. What, you’re not familiar with wumbo? You know! I wumbo. You wumbo. He/she/me wumbo. Wumboed. Wumboing. “We’ll have thee wumbo.” Wumborama? Wumbology, the study of wumbo? It’s first grade!
No? Still nothing? Perhaps these guys can reiterate it better than I can:
I’m honestly surprised that Chapman University (that place where I chill at) doesn’t offer a major or minor in Wumbology, considering how important a study it is to modern society. Luckily, Chapman offers self-designed majors and minors for the “undecisive” or “picky” as you may call them. To create my own minor, I have to create a program with at least 21 credits, 12 minimum upper-level classes. So if I were to propose my study program in Wumbology based on Chapman’s current course catalog, it would look something like this:
PHYS 101 – General Physics I (4 credits)
PHYS 102 – General Physics II (4 credits)
To general understand the concepts of physics, especially applied to wumbo.
MATH 110 – Single Variable Calculus I (3 credits)
Apparently it’s a prerequisite for the above classes. But I’m sure I’ll learn lots of practical things from this course that I can use in day to day life.
ENG 271 – Introduction to Linguistics (3 credits)
As difficult as wumbology is by itself, the term wumbo is also often incorrectly used in sentences. This class will help grasp a better sense of how to use it grammatically correctly.
PHYS 331 – Physics of Remote Sensing (3 credits)
Can one sense a wumboed object better than a non-wumboed object? I’ll find out!
PHIL 325 – Albert Schweitzer: His Life and Thought (3 credits)
This course explores Schweitzer’s contributions to philosophy, theology, medicine, music, peace, philanthropy, voluntary service, and wumbo.
SOC 305 – Social Theory (3 credits)
How has wumbo affected society and in what ways? Theoretically of course…
(This requires a SOC 101 prerequisite, but the minor should override that.)
PHYS 499 – Individual Study (3 credits)
Time to apply my knowledge of wumbo to the real world in a complex wumboful project.
I think that is a pretty exciting course of action. It’s a shame I couldn’t find any course in the catalog directly on the topic of wumbology. Hopefully this will do. Until then, I’m going to go wumbo me some pizza.
What I’ve Gathered about Lost Without Watching It
May 13th
The series finale of Lost premieres next week. To be honest, I don’t care. I’ve never watched the show, and I probably never would… except for the fact that wherever I ago, people talk about it nonstop. So I’ve promised myself I’ll start watching, but I must wait until after the show ends (similarly to what I did with Friends; the first episode I saw was the finale, and then I watched the rest for the few years it was syndicated on every TV channel known to man). Luckily with finals next week and a full month at home before I work at summer camp, looks like I’ll have my opportunity.
The trustworthy encyclopedia says that amongst the six seasons, there are a total of 121 episodes. Assuming each episode is approximately 44 minutes, that’s 5324 total minutes of Lost I have to watch. For the mathematically challenged (or those who are too lazy to convert that in Google) that is about 3.7 days. And that’s without the 15 to 30 second commercials that Hulu likes to provide. So at some point this summer I’m going to take 4 days out of schedule to watch Lost without stopping. Yeah, right…
Despite never seeing a single episode of this show, I’ve picked up a lot about this show just be hearing conversations about it. And based on what I”ve heard, no wonder it’s such a hit a show. Let me just clarify if I have the general synopsis correctly.
Lost is the main character of his show. His first name is Jacob, but he doesn’t like being called Jacob Lost. He is stuck on an island with a millionaire, his wife, a movie star, the professor and Mary Ann, and the only reason they cannot get off the island is because they would cancel the show. Lost spends his time on the island solving unnecessarily complicated medical mysteries to the chagrin of his companions. Meanwhile he has to battle a severe case of obsessive-compulsion disorder which developed after his wife (who herself suffered from dissociative identity disorder and transformed into one of her “alters” when stressed) mysteriously died. He wants to get back home so he can see his daughter, who attends a high school where everyone sings and throws Slurpees at unpopular kids, as well as her boyfriend, who is both a vampire and a secret CIA agent. Lost would swim back but he fears of something that lives in a pineapple under the sea. Apparently Lost also quantum leaps into multiple universes, one in which he has superpowers, and another where he writes for a sketch comedy show at NBC. He is famous for his catchphrase: “You’re fired.” The show is also known for its framing device in which it portrays all the events in real-time, and a ticking clock helps the audience keep track of what time of day it is.
Tell me if I got the gist of it correctly?
Micro-Yam #1: Grammer
May 4th
Have you ever posted a story online and someone tells you to check your spelling and grammer? Yeah…
Dibs on Catcher in the Rye Film
Feb 27th
T
hey say those who like The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger do not like The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. And then they say those who like The Great Gatsby do not like The Catcher in the Rye. I don’t know who actually says that. I say it. But for almost everyone I know, it’s true: you either like one or the other.
I’m a Catcher fan. What lacks in conflict makes up for an excellent character study. There’s a little Holden Caulfield in every teenager. And ever since I first read the book in my junior year of English, I knew it could translate into a great film. Every classic piece of literature has been turned into a film (many of which have then been turned into novelizations of said films, but that’s a story for another day). So what’s been stopping this one from hitting the silver screen since it was published about 60 years ago?
The answer is simple: the author said NO. Trustworthy source Wikipedia says:
Early in his career, J. D. Salinger expressed a willingness to have his work adapted for the screen. However, in 1949, a critically panned film version of his short story “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut” was released; renamed My Foolish Heart and taking great liberties with Salinger’s plot, the film is widely considered to be among the reasons that Salinger refused to allow any subsequent movie adaptations of his work. The enduring popularity of The Catcher in the Rye, however, has resulted in repeated attempts to secure the novel’s screen rights.
Everyone from Sam Goldwyn to Jack Nicholson to Steven Spielberg has tried to get the rights to the story. But all bids were denied. However about one month ago, the world was unfortunate to hear about the passing away of J.D. Salinger. It is unfortunate that the great writer became so secluded in his later years because who knows what other words of wisdom (or creepiness) he had to share with the world.
Now the reason I bring this up is because I did some snooping in the copyright office to figure out when Catcher would enter the public domain. It appears Mr. Salinger first published the book in the 1951, so it seems the book’s copyright would expire 95 years after its original publication. Do the math. It’s 2046, pronounced “twenty-forty-six” not “two-thousand-and-forty-six” (although this webpage claims it’s 2044, though I’m not sure how).
Why is this so significant? Unless the Salinger estate leases movie rights beforehand, filmmakers will have to wait until 2046 to make a Catcher in the Rye adaptation. And I call dibs on it. That’s right, Spielberg. Catcher is mine. Hopefully by then I’ll be an established filmmaker with a library of classics such as Super Ninja Cop Extravaganza and N-word Jim Goes to Auschwitz.
Dibs. Fivesies. Shotty. Whatever you call it, it’s mine.
And in case I haven’t made myself clear, I have my claim in writing.
As you can see, I wrote this on a piece of scrap paper with my Razzle Dazzle Rose crayon from a 96-pack of Crayolas. It was the first writing utensil I could find.
Hmm… I wonder what 2040s teen sensation I could cast as Holden Caulfield…
2009: Year of the Car
Jan 26th
2009 was the year of the car. At least my car. Let me elaborate.
POINT OF ORDER.
I’m proud to announce this is my first post of the new decade. And that’s not all. This is the first post on the all new DannyZeff.com. The entire website has been completely redesigned so that it is no longer a random website with further random “subsites” but rather a true showcase of everything Danny Zeff. That includes Yamblings, which now sits along the top of the website among my other writings and videos. (Of course if you are one of my Facebook readers, then none of this affects you. However I do recommend checking out the website.)
END POINT.
I received my driver’s license in fall 2008. And in summer 2009, I officially received my dad’s white 1998 Honda Civic. Meanwhile he bought a new Honda Insight, which is a new hybrid from Honda that from the outside looks exactly like the Prius. As far as I am aware, only two have sold in the Sacramento area. Guess who has the better car now?
I thought having my own car would be amazing. I could finally set the radio presets the way I wanted, pimp it with whatever bumper stickers I wanted, and join a mob since I could hide corpses in the trunk. Little did I know how much trouble I would have with my silly little Honda Civic. So instead of describing the ups and down of the year like I did for 2008, I want to yamble on about what my car has put me through. Here we go.
June 2009. I was visiting Santa Rosa on what I consider my first road trip. Unfortunately the road and I weren’t working so well hand-in-hand. I probably made at least 10 illegal moves over that weekend (hopefully cops don’t read this). Well, some point that weekend my friend and I were blasting some Frank Zappa while I drove through one of those Santa Rosan suburbs. My friend told me that I missed a stop sign a few yards back. I refused to believe it, but just to check, I turned my head–still in rhythm with “Dancin’ Fool”–just to prove there was no stop si–
Posing with my car
THUD! The car came to a loud stop. I was scared shitless that I crashed the whole front of the car into something awful. Quickly I stepped out of the car. No damage to the car itself… I just hit the curb very fast and very harshly. The only problem? I punctured one of the front tires. Huge gaping hole just laughing at me.
Well that was embarrassing, but luckily this happened in the middle of a residential neighborhood and not down the busy freeway of Interstate 5. My friend’s dad came by and helped me lift the car using a jack, take off the poor tire, and put on a spare (which I didn’t even know existed in my car!). Unfortunately even then, the spare tire was a bit flat. So I had to call up AAA so someone could come by and give the spare tire some air. The AAA-rep said it would take maybe 20 minutes. I’m pretty sure we waited an hour, if not two, just so we could get that air. The next morning I brought the car to Les Schwab, where they put in some new tires. And that was that. From that point on, I was a lot more careful when driving. Especially if I had friends in the car.
I thought that would be the end of my car trouble, but noooooooooooo. It was just beginning. Skip to approximately a month later. I had driven across California to go work at Camp Ramah for my 10th year associated with the camp. The drive down was smooth. It was once I got there that was the problem. For those not familiar with the camp, let me explain the terrain. The entire camp is built on a hill. The bunks–where the youngest kids sleep, fight, and pick their noses–are on the top of this hill. The staff parking lot–where staff members smoke, eat In N Out, and pick their noises–is way beyond the bottom of the hill where it all flattens out. So that bunk counselors don’t have to shlep their luggage from the parking lot to the bunks, they temporarily park their cars at the top of the hill to move their stuff. As long as the cars are in the parking lot before the campers arrive, this is not a problem.
For those having troubles conceptualizing this
And of course, this was the problem. On the morning before all the campers were to arrive, I needed to move my car to the parking lot. I checked the cubby where I put my keys… except… wait… where were my keys? I searched frantically. I could not find them anywhere! But they had to be around. I knew I needed to find them quickly; rule of thumb is once something is lost at summer camp, it never turns up again (something I dealt with at least once each of those 10 years). I had no time to patiently search for them. I called up AAA again and asked if they could tow my car to the parking lot while meanwhile I’d wait for a spare car key to be sent from home. They said they do not cover that; the car can only be towed home or to a repair shop.
POINT OF ORDER.
Think of the fridge logic here. For free, AAA could tow my car to my house–a seven-hour drive give or take. However driving it approximately half a mile would cost me. Does anyone else see the flaw in the system?
END POINT.
AAA’s initial solution was to send in car locksmith, who could come in a few hours and create a new usable key for $150ish. Trying to hold onto my money like any good Jewish teen boy would (not to mention the kids would arrive in a few hours), I asked if there was any faster, cheaper alternative. Luckily there was: a third-party could tow it for about half the price. Good enough solution for me. The car was moved and I got to greet my amazing campers (even you, Aaron F) stress-free.
Sure enough, the next morning I found my keys hidden between two t-shirts. Considering there were a bunch of kids in the same room as me, I tried to curse as quietly as possible.
That was the end of my car trouble for the summer. Unfortunately it was not the end of my car trouble in 2009. Just wait until you read about what happened once I got to CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY. But we’ll save it for next time on Yamblings. Zeff out.
Neil Patrick Harris Needs No Explanation (and here’s proof)
Dec 27th
For some reason, the other night Neil Patrick Harris popped into my mind. And with absolutely no reason, I decided to update my Facebook status with those three simple words: Neil Patrick Harris. I had a good feeling that several people would respond to this status, and sure enough I was right. Take a look below.
However I quite surprised to see exactly what the comments were. I thought surely someone would comment “Yeah, what about him?” But no! Every poster not only agreed with me, but finished the statement on my behalf. And no, Ari, he’d be my boyfriend if I was gay. Speaking of which, the holy NPH is the Gay of the Week. Imagine that.
Well good job, Neil! Looks like my experiment was successful. You are truly a man that needs no explanation to exist as a Facebook status. Next I must see if more people will start following me if I tweet your name on Twitter.
In the mean time, I’m suddenly in the mood to watch a Harold & Kumar flick…
Do a Mitzvah This December (and Happy Chanukah!)
Dec 11th
This month’s NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month, and yes, every month is national blog posting month) theme is MITZVAH. For all you non-Jews out there, MITZVAH is not an acronym for My Intense Testicles Zap Very Accurately Here. Often we translate mitzvah as “commandment” as in the 613 commandments of the Torah, although “commandment” isn’t the most appropriate word either”). But the term mitzvah is also used to express an act of human kindness, or even a “good deed” is you want to go that far.
It’s no coincidence that they chose mitzvah for December. Remember all those holidays coming up? Maybe you haven’t watched that annoying GAP commercial with the screaming children enough (“I love my comfy sweater… I love my comfy sweater….”). This is the time to be kind to one another and share the love. Need a secret Santa gift? In this economy, the best thing is not a $50 Best Buy giftcard but something more personal… why not just hang out for an entire day with a friend you haven’t spent much time with lately? I know I can’t wait to go home and see my family and friends (especially our upcoming epic IKEA adventure!).
On that note, NaBloPoMo offered the challenge of giving someone something every day of this month. That’s something we ought to do every day of the year. And even though it is too late for me to start posting every day this month, it is never too late for me to start giving. So here is what I’m giving my friends. If there is anything you want or anything I can do for you, please give me a call and I’ll help you out (within reason of course… I’m not changing your cat’s litter box again).
On a different yet related note, I was speaking to a stranger on Omegle who claimed to be female, but knowing this is Omegle she could have downright been male. Anyways, I discovered this person also a member of the tribe. Somewhere during our conversation I brought up how Chanukah (the correct spelling) is a minor holiday and only gets so much attention because it happens around Christmastime. My stranger friend was a tad offended; she loves Chanukah because it is a huge family bonding time for her and one of the only Jewish practices they follow. Most people would shrug this off, but this really made me think. Often I take for granted how much I’m into my Judaism and the fact that I celebrate every festival and observe–or at least am aware–of most of the laws and customs. But I forget that most Jews are not like me, and perhaps go to synagogue once a year for Yom Kippur. For them, I can see why Chanukah is a special time.
Here is what I have concluded. Chanukah is a minor festival in terms of halacha (Jewish law). But the story of Chanukah is just as important as any moment in Jewish history, and people have the right to be as festive (but not Festivus) as they desire to be.
To my Jews and non-Jews, have a legit Chanukah. May your chanukiahs (menorahs) hold long candles… because you know what they say about chanukiahs with long candles…
Strange Conversations with Strangers
Nov 20th
Today I discovered Omegle, a website that pairs you with a stranger for a 1-on-1 chat. There are no age restrictions, no censors, no profiles, no log-ins. It can be completely anonymous unless you reveal information to one another. Sounds sketchy? Of course it does. But I’ve long mastered the skill of the internet chatroom: Way back when I was a young preteen chatting with people while playing Yahoo! Games to my times now when I pimp my avatar in IMVU. But Omegle is definitely the most interesting one I’ve come across. I spent about 3 hours just chatting with people to see what kinds of conversations I would have. At times I played the straight man, while other times I was the strange one. And when I LOLed out loud (LOLOLed), I made sure to save the chat. Here’s some snippets of those chats:
You’re now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
Stranger: horny?
You: not as much as you are
Your conversational partner has disconnected.
*********
You: what are you up to?
Stranger: playing PC game
You: what game?
Stranger: game in china
You: anything more specific?
Stranger: this game is made in china
Stranger: and if you want play that you must in china
You: ok got it
Stranger: yes
Stranger: not as wow is global game
*********
You’re now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
Stranger: sexy girl?
You: you feeling lucky?
Stranger: maybe
You: how you doin, big boy?
Stranger: good. asl?
You: 18/m/cali
Stranger: fahg
Your conversational partner has disconnected.
********
You’re now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
You: salutations
Your conversational partner has disconnected.
********
You’re now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
You: shalom
Stranger: WHAT DO YOU WANT YOU GODDAMN JEW?
You: i want your salmon
Stranger: HAVEN’T YOU HAD ENOUGH OF MY GELD?
You: what is this “geld” you speak of?
Stranger: CHRISTMAS ISN’T ENOUGH YOU PEOPLE? YOU HAVE TO HAVE CHUANKAKAKA TOOOOO?
You: and YOM KIPPUR
You: don’t forget PASSOVER!!!!
Stranger: ROSH HUANANANNAA
Stranger: MATZA BALL SOUUUUUPPPP
Stranger: but really, that shit is good
You: i know, right?
********
You’re now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
You: NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!
Stranger: ?
Stranger: you spanish?
Your conversational partner has disconnected.
********
You’re now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
Stranger: hi there would u want to see a nice cock on the cam ?
You: how nice is it?
You: on a scale of 1 to 10
You: take your time
Stranger: 9 inch
You: not bad
Stranger: how big ur boobs?
You: circumcized or not?
Stranger: circumcized
You: nice, mine’s 10 inches
You: SURPRISE!
Your conversational partner has disconnected.
*********
Stranger: asl?
You: yes, i am a member of the american softball league
Stranger: okay…
You: are you a member of the asl as well?
********
You’re now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
Stranger: hey
You: hey
Stranger: hey
You: hey
Stranger: hey
You: hey
Stranger: whaddddd up?
You: you got a real purdy mouth
Stranger: man im gay
Your conversational partner has disconnected.
********
You’re now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
Stranger: girl or guy?
You: you feeling lucky?
Stranger: yes
You: guy
You: you?
Your conversational partner has disconnected.
********
You: hi
Stranger: hey
Stranger: male?
You: it depends… would you disconnect if i said “male”?
You: don’t bullshit me
You: *snapping in a Z-formation*
Stranger: yup probably
You: then i’m female
Am I ever going to return to Omegle? Perhaps. If I’m really bored. And there’s absolutely nothing on the internet worth doing.
Dr. Horrible Prequel is Not Horrible
Nov 12th
Now that we live in a YouTube society where essentially anyone can pick up a camera, film something, transfer the footage to a computer, and edit it in a quick amount of time, a lot of decent amateur films are being produced. Unfortunately, just because nonprofessionals have access to professional-quality technology, this doesn’t mean that they automatically have professional-quality ideas. Thus fan movies were born… amateur films that use characters and concepts from an already-known famous work. I am not saying this is a bad thing; after all fan fiction has existed for years and is not going to die any time soon. I’m also a huge fan of a particular Star Wars fan webseries known as Chad Vader.
Today while I was browsing Facebook I noticed one of my friends updated her status to mention a prequel to Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, which my closest friends and I absolutely love and is one of the better products of the 2007-2008 Writer’s Strike. Extremely curious, I googled “dr horrible prequel” and I discovered that the fan-made prequel Horrible Turns was released only two days ago. Since I was sitting in a friend’s room at the time (I had left my card key in my room and had to wait for my roommate to get back to open the door), we sat down and began watching this film. I went in with some slight negative expectations, but towards the end my opinions were completely different. I figure that by tomorrow, there’s going to be a million reviews of this production. I wanted to get a head start on the bandwagon… hopefully it will bring traffic to my blog.
Here’s a quick synopsis. May contain spoilers! Horrible Turn traces the origins of how the lovable “Billy Buddy” became Dr. Horrible with a PhD in Horribleness, as well as how Captain Hammer became a corporate tool. The story takes place in high school, and Billy is preparing for a math competition. But that’s not the only thing on his mind… he wants to impress Australian exchange student Katie Kitty (no wonder he wants to give Penny “a shiny new Australia” several years later!). He also wants to change the world and stop all violence, especially now that he’s aware that a mysterious Evil League of Evil is forming and committing various crimes. But neither the Evil League of Evil nor his crush are the worst of his worries. His douchebaggy egocentric math teammate Kenny Hammerstein (Jewish?) is. Need more to get you interested? The infamous Johnny Snow is another rival of Billy. Still not enough? How about a cameo from Dead Bowie? Alright, I hope I have you hooked now.
The first thing that really stands out about this is its high production value. Elaborate soundtrack, well designed sets, HD cinematography, even the casting isn’t all that bad. I can’t help but wonder how much this cost, or where they possibly got the money from. A senior thesis film at Chapman University can cost around $20,000–if not more–and that’s only a 20-minute film. Horrible Turn is about an hour (which is longer than its predecessor). I’m sure the guys that made this realize how unlikely it is to make a profit off an unauthorized adaptation of a copyrighted work, so there must have been a motive other than money. Perhaps the director (as well as the actors) will use it as part of their film reel and resume to get legit jobs.
The songs were well written and performed, even if they aren’t quite as catchy or memorable as the music of the original. Although I wonder if I listen to the music more than the songs will get suck in my head. I’ve noticed there are two types of musicals: shows with songs that progress the plot (think Sweeny Todd) and shows with songs that are quite catchy but simply branch off of characters’ conversation and could easily be skipped over without leaving plot holes (think Grease). The original Dr. Horrible is the former type. Horrible Turn unfortunately is the latter type. This didn’t take away from the film, but a show is always more clever when the songs can be naturally placed into the plot rather than being like “I need to use the bathroom. LET’S SING A SONG ABOUT IT!” I also noticed that many of the songs have a very similar “sister” song in the original:
“There’s No Place on Earth Like Australia” = “My Freeze Ray” (both are about a certain female interest)
“The Australian Consulate Chorus” = “Bad Horse Chorus” (both have a chorus… duh!)
“She Talked to Me” = “My Eyes” (both involve Billy and his love interest in a duet, even though they don’t appear onscreen together)
“I am Handsome” = “A Man’s Gotta Do” (both involve Hammer singing about his ego)
“You’re All Winners to Me” = “Everyone’s a Hero” (now Hammer sings in front of a dais)
The Creepy Final Song = The Creepy Final Song (both are creepy final songs)
On an ending note about the music, I really enjoyed Johnny Snow’s post-credits ballad to Hammer. Great laugh out loud moment.
The cast was not bad, but it was not Oscar-worthy either. The actors performed their characters well, not trying to impersonate Nathan Fillion or Neil Patrick Harris yet developing enough so that we the audience can truly accept that these were in fact the teenage versions of the characters we have learned to love. This holds especially true for the boy who played Kenny Hammerstein. I thought the casting for Billy was a bit off; his physical appearance gives him more of a bully look than the “lovable geek” look. It wasn’t a distracting thing though. And Katie Kitty is absolutely stunning (I was crushed to see what happened between she and Billy at the end, but I won’t give that away). Some of the lines were a bit cheesy, but I wonder if this was intended to give it a “fan fictiony” feel.
This “origins” storyline was very clever and kept well with the continuity of the characters. Could this film work as a standalone, or is it dependent on its predecessor? Much like The Godfather III, I think viewers would like the story but not appreciate it fully if they did not see the original. I did enjoy all the clever references to the original Dr. Horrible film as well as other Joss Whedon works, and then some early 90s references as well. To name a few:
- the competing math team is from a school called Serenity
- there is a garbage company called DahlHaus (Dollhouse)
- look closely for the Buffy poster hanging on a wall
- “You want to go out for frozen yogurt?” “I’m allergic to frozen yogurt.” “I meant pie.”
- there is a character named Felicia Night
- brick cellular phones (“It’s so tiny”)
- a newspaper with a headline saying the digital music industry is bound to fail
- Billy looks us info on CompuServe and Prodigy
And speaking of references, I bet this production will bring up the issue of copyright. The film’s website explicitly states: “Any similarity to characters created by Joss Whedon is, like, totally a coincidence. And by ‘coincidence’ we mean accidental. And by ‘accidental’ we mean fortunate. And by ‘fortunate’ we mean intentional. And by ‘intentional’ we mean unauthorized.” When thought over, nothing in this film mentions any copyrighted name (even when Billy starts saying his new name “Doctor…” it cuts out before he says “Horrible”). I suppose only intellectual property has been preached upon. Would Joss Whedon make a fuss over that though? Actually I’m really curious to know what Joss Whedon thought of Horrible Turn. Hopefully he will release an official statement about it in the next few days. I also wonder if he’d be willing to consider this story canonical, especially as the authorized Dr. Horrible sequel is in the works.
Overall, Horrible Turn does not match up to Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog in any way. The original web film explored a mishmash of bizarre themes… a supervillain (who is really the hero) blogging about his daily life dealing with the superhero (who is really the douchebag antagonist) as well as pursuing a girl in a laundromat… on top of that, the characters break out into song every few minutes. As soon as “My Freeze Ray” begins, the average viewer has that WTF look on that face yet is compelled to keep watching. The prequel is not WTF in that way, nor does it dive into the philosophical questions of what is good and what is evil. It is simply a tribute to an excellent Joss Whedon production.
Do I have any regrets watching Horrible Turn? Not at all. I began watching it thinking it would be pretty bad, but I finished watching it and concluding that it was enjoyable. I even had some moments where I laughed out loud. I think it can only be appreciated if you are as obsessed with the Dr. Horrible universe as much as I am.
Now it’s your turn to comment. Watch the entire movie, directly embedded below this line. Then post your own thoughts.
