Spontaneous Musings

1. Claudia Black on Film Set Safety - So, I started following Claudia Black on Twitter recently. Anyhow, she's been posting these amazing threads about how to handle life on a film set.

The link above is to the latest thread.

"If you’re an aspiring actor, and as my advice was good enough for a young Mcavoy I pray you’ll listen now.

When we were filming Pitch Black a producer came to give me a choice. They had a problem and needed to do a reshoot with me and a stuntie. The shoot thus far had been rough he crew was exhausted. 6 day weeks are unsustainable. Mistakes happen when crews are tired and often on the 6th day. The crew couldn’t say “no” to another Saturday but I could. I asked when they needed a decision & went to speak with some crew. I made sure that they themselves were choosing —rest vs an overtime paycheck— I would not presume to know their needs and priorities. They chose safety and rest. “Safety First,” is after all, an oft heard refrain on any decent set with its priorities in check. I returned to the producer and told him I was too tired and didn’t want to work the Saturday. He looked at me for a few seconds. I was a good actor and a bad liar. He went to say something, nodded instead and rescheduled. We do a lot of things on sets that would otherwise be illegal. It can be thrilling. It’s a privilege."

This was in response to the tragic shooting of a film photographer on a film set by Alec Baldwin. The shooting is being investigated, but so far appears to have been accidental and unintentional. AP NEWS COVERAGE of ON-Set misfiring of a gun that killed director of photography on the set of Rust

BTW there is a lot on this on Twitter - enough to demonstrate to me at least that Baldwin and his fellow producers cut some corners, and did not follow safety protocols on set, nor did they take measures to ensure their film crew was safe and well rested. There's one thread where a crew member is complaining about how crew members couldn't find a place to sleep that was close by, and that the producers refused to find one or pay for rooms, outside of a motel that was doubling as a homeless shelter. (This thread horrified Claudia Black.) Another thread made it clear that the Assistant Director wasn't attending safety meetings and pooh-poohing them as a waste of time. And wasn't taking the fire arm safety seriously. And another thread makes it clear how odd this was, and out of the norm - meaning normally strict safety protocols are followed and there's no way this would have happened if those safety protocols had been followed.

I'm in an industry where we have to take a four-hour safety training course each year in order to be near or on the tracks. And I'm inundated with safety protocols. We have Safety Meetings once a month. So I can well imagine what a film set that utilizes stunts and fire arms would require or should. Also recently the union representing television, theater, and film crews went on strike in part due to the lack of appropriate safety measures on film and television sets.

Days before the actor fatally shot Halyna Hutchins, a cinematographer on the set of “Rust,” a gun used in the production inadvertently went off at least two times, ex-crew members said. The incidents prompted a complaint to a supervisor about the safety practices on the set, which was outside Santa Fe. The crew members were among several workers who quit just hours before the fatal shooting over complaints about working conditions and unpaid work.

According to an affidavit, Baldwin was told that the gun was safe before he fired it, and an assistant director “did not know live rounds were in the prop-gun” when he gave it to him.

According to Twitter feeds, the assistant director didn't know because he didn't attend the safety course. The Fire Arm specialist, put the guns on the prop table. The AD picked up one and handed it to the actor, who then fired it, killing Hutchins and wounding the director.

Per the Times:

( here's what they know and don't know about the fatal shooting - and it kind of syncs with the twitter feeds )

[Right now various folks in the entertainment industry are petitioning that firearms be banned from film and television sets in the future, and they rely on special effects. I can't blame them. And why not? Also, it does make me wonder about the violence in our films and television series - and how easy it is for stuff to go wrong.}

2. There's two intriguing new comic series coming from BOOM! - involving the Angel and Buffy verses.

* Angel Goes Hollywood with New Comic
( New Angel Comics - Angel is in a television series by day and fights monsters by night )

Shame they can't reboot that as a television series. Honestly that's the one version of the old vampire as detective they haven't done. I'd watch it. They don't have to make it Angel. Or they could and recast with a hotter actor?

* Buffy The Last Slayer - has a 50 something Buffy fighting vampires in a dystopian future, with Spike, and a sword wielding gray-haired Xander.
( 50 year old Buffy the Vampire Slayer )

I wish they'd do that as a television series too - on Netflix. They could hire Claudia Black to play a 50 something Buffy, with Marsters as Spike, and recast Ben Browder as Xander.

BOOM! Studios - snatched the rights to Buffy, Angel, and Firefly from Dark Horse and IDW. And have rebooted the stories in new directions. I stopped with the reboots. But the above two takes look intriguing. And I may go back and sample some of the reboots.

[Note - Whedon may have been an asshole to work with, but I still like what he created with various other writers and actors. It's a universe I still enjoy. Also Stephen DeKnight, Marti Noxon and Jane Espenson along with Tim Minear - were all good writers. As were the actors involved, and crew.]

3. ( RIP Semi-Famous Folks who died of Cancer this week )

4. I wasn't going to talk about COVID, but alas...got email from my union. (I'm in an international union.) Anyhow - it is supporting the mandate for vaccines at least.
( union's stance and we've lost 48 members to the virus )

( From the Times Briefing )

[I don't tend to supply links to the articles, because most of them are under paywalls.]

Last night I rewatched the Disney flick "Newsies" from the early 1990s. The overarching theme was pretty much the same as Buffy - together we can take down the bullies. It takes one voice to speak out, but if many join, that voice won't be silenced and then things can finally change.

Ray Fisher. I don't know if you know about Justice League reshoot with Whedon that occured in 2017? ( In case you missed my last post on it )

Ray Fisher's allegations are explained HERE. Fisher has been fighting to be heard since roughly 2017. He's the reason Charisma Carpenter got the courage to speak out - she did it in support of his allegations not for herself.

To date...the following have posted their support of Charisma Carpenter and Ray Fisher's statements.

Charisma - Lists all the people who have tweeted or instagrammed their support of Charisma

Below the cut is all the tweets and posts I could find supporting Charisma from cast, crew, tie-in novelists, writers, etc...

[ETA1 - 2-15-21: added Amy Acker's post in support. She didn't experience anything but is supportive. Also added link to the Pruitt's complaints a few weeks back. ETA2 - 2-16-21: Nick Brendan made a statement via his FB page, poor guy was in the hospital waiting for Spinal Surgery and trying to a GoFundMe to help pay for it. Meanwhile fans are bugging him about something that happened over 20 years ago. SMH. ETA- 2-17-21 : Added Stephen Deknight - who had a post similar to Acker's he didn't know about it. He wouldn't have - he was working on Buffy at the time and did a couple of Angel episodes. And it was behind closed doors. I doubt anyone told him. But he loves the actress and the others, and supports them.]

( This is a very long list, which I will keep updating as information becomes available, we have over 22 to date. )

Also, as an aside, some Buffy fans are assholes. (I get it your hero has fallen off his pedestal, but come on.) Seriously. The people that actors have to put up with. I don't know how they do it. SMH ( Read more... )

For Ray Fisher?
( Read more... )

I think Whedon is done. ( Read more... )

I'm watching All Creatures Great and Small Today. I find it comforting.

1. Watch the Full Video of the 20th Anniversary Angel Cast Reunion HERE

Article HERE.

[Eh, doesn't really tell us anything most of us do not already know from various interviews and Q&A's but still.]

( article/reunion snippets )

2. And...guess what? Disney worried that it is not quite making ENOUGH money off of Avenger's Endgame is... Re-Releasing Avengers Endgame on June 28th...and apparently within days. It's being re-released June 28th.
( Read more... )

3. George Taki does a comic book based on his experiences in the internment camps during WWII as a child.

( see video promo of it )

4. A Previously Unseen Video of Freddie Mercury singing Time Waits for Nobody is released...annoying CBS This Morning talks over it.

5. And I keep finding cool and weird fannish stuff...these are podcasts. I'm not into them, because I get bored listening to things. It may have to do with the fact that from the moment I leave my apartment in the morning to the moment I re-enter it at night -- I'm immersed in non-stop chatter of some sort. So when I get home, I like tv, books, reading -- visuals. But can't just listen to chatter -- unless it's my mother on the phone or Wales, and I have no choice.

So this is for you, or those of you who love these sorts of things, not me:

Deadly Manners Podcast

Deadly Manners is a 10 episode, dark comedy murder-mystery series set in the winter of 1954. It follows the events during the night of the affluent Billings family annual dinner party with their distinguished, eccentric guests. However, all is not fun and games as shortly after the party starts, a snowstorm begins to rage outside, trapping all the partygoers inside their host’s mansion. When a murderer starts killing off those in attendance, the guests must figure out who is responsible, or at least how to stay alive -- lest they be next. Deadly Manners was created by Ali Garfinkel and Alex Aldea. Deadly Manners stars Kristen Bell, Denis O'Hare, Alisha Boe, RuPaul, Anna Chlumsky, Timothy Simons, Michelle Visage, Alona Tal, David Cummings and is narrated by LeVar Burton. Artwork by Kina Lee.

The Bright Sessions

Oh cool this one has transcripts available.. Transcript for Episode 1

The Bright Sessions is a science fiction podcast that follows a group of therapy patients. But these are not your typical patients - each has a unique supernatural ability. The show documents their struggles and discoveries as well as the motivations of their mysterious therapist, Dr. Bright.

Eh...there are lot of them. Go HERE for the podcasts that you can listen to. Apparently people miss radio shows?

6. On the book end...

Every Tor Book Being Published this Summer

Hmm..( a teaser list which includes Michael Swanwick's sequel to The Irong Dragon's Daughter...and here I thought the author was dead )

Tor - for those who don't know, is a publisher that specializes solely in science fiction and fantasy novels.

Apparently there's a Lifetime Series that is set during a Ren-Fair

So, I've been binge-watching Angel S5 on Hulu, with no commercials. I splurged and at 11.95 a month, I can watch any television show that airs on it, with no commercials. It has a lot of old television series. Sort of the TV Land of streaming services.

Anyhow...realized a few things upon re-watching:

* In "You're Welcome" -- seriously can they give Cordy a more revealing shirt? It's unbuttoned to the degree in which her boobs appear to be popping out of it. I swear I saw a nipple in one shot.

Also, Cordy doesn't really do much in the episode, except give Angel a pep talk and say the PTB are still behind him, he still has a destiny, he's still the chosen one. To such an extent -- that I couldn't help but wonder if the Senior Partners of WRH had woken her up to get their gig back on track. Lindsey had successfully begun to push it off the rails. And they needed someone to come in there and expose Lindsey, so they can grab him.

The reason I don't think she was working for the PTB upon re-watch (outside of the fact that I know what the writers had planned down the road, and have read the comics) is two-fold, ( Read more... )

* An interesting pattern has emerged from each and every episode...in every single one, someone in the lead cast is being manipulated or is manipulating someone else -- pulling their strings. And usually the manipulation is being done through the character's desire to be a hero, to be great at something, to have a destiny, to be important. It's all about their egos and insecurities. Every single episode. And in Destiny, Damage, and Why We Fight -- we are reminded at what a master manipulator Angel is, and was -- he enjoyed breaking people down, using their weaknesses against them, and pulling their strings. As he tells Spike in Damage -- "He was in it for the EVIL."

Hmmm.

* The episode after Whedon's "Hole in the World" by Stephen Denight, is actually the better episode.
It has better lines here and there, and is a little less over the top. Whedon goes overboard in Hole in telling the audience how important Fred is to everyone. And then we get the longest death sequence on record...( spoilers )

[This brings up a few difficulties with the series -- ( spoilers )

[Note -- this is my first read of the comics. I'm not re-reading them. I know I'm behind everyone else. But I despised the last five issues of Season 8 Comics, and the first six issues of the Season 9 comics. So gave up. Then accidentally hit upon some excellent panels from Season 10, and thought okay, will give them a second shot. So word to the wise, if you want to read these? Skip Season 9 Vol. 1 Freefall, Season 9 Vol. 3 - Guarded, the Last Six Comics of S8, and go from there. Also grab the last two volumes of Angel & Faith S10 -- which are a great character back-study of Giles, and also provide much fodder for the Angel/Spike and Spike/Faith relationships. Since Angel doesn't evolve at all in the comics, he remains the least interesting character in them. I get why they did that, but, it's a tired trope and the writers really need to shake the character up a bit.]

Review of Buffy Season 10 Comics.

With a few weak spots here and there, these are by far the best comics of the series. They do a marvelous job of building two key relationships, Dawn and Xander, and Spike and Buffy. Also a rather good job of continuing to evolve Giles, Andrew, and Willow. Andrew FINALLY is established as gay.
We also get some closure with Jonathan and Anya.


The weak spots are mostly in regards to art. Meghan does a good job with pretty much everyone but Spike, who has the same nose as my Dad. I found this odd. And her art is heavier lined, more cartoonish in character and not quite as smooth as Rebecca Isaacs. I wish Rebecca could have done all of it. I agree with Whedon that changing artists can be jarring.

Xander -- if you are a Xander fan this season is a must. His character is by far the most developed that it has been in the series. And the writers have apparently infused his character with some of Nick Brendan's actual issues. Various issues delve into Xander's anger management issues -- and how his issues with anger have caused problems in his relationships. He also spends a lot of time discussing these issues with Anya's Ghost (which admittedly got repetitive after a bit), and Spike.
The Xander/Spike scenes are by far the best.

Spike -- for the most part is well-utilized in this season. While he spends most of his time with Buffy, working out their issues and building their relationship, we do get bits with Harmony, Xander, and Dawn.

[Also Angel, who makes an appearance, and would be a heck of a lot more interesting if the character had evolved. The writer's justification is that Angel is immortal and his status really hasn't changed all the much. He's either cursed with a soul, or not. I actually think one of the weaknesses here is that the Angel character can't evolve or change -- for both the television series and the comics. I think something major has to happen to motivate Angel to do something -- instead of letting forces around him manipulate him, or manipulating those around him to appease those forces and obtain their approval. He's also so self-centered, he honestly sees everyone's behavior as a reflection of his own, and is somewhat deluded regarding his own. Shame he can't see his own reflection.Anyhow, he's barely in it, and his purposes seems to be to shake up Willow, Buffy and Spike a bit.]

The writers do a marvelous job of building Spike/Buffy as a relationship here -- they address what happened in Season 6 and 7 pretty much in depth between the two characters. Along with all of their issues and the fans issues regarding them. Finally we get a discussion of both the BDSM sexual relationship and the attempted sexual assault. It's well-handled. Kudos. We also have Buffy address with Spike her prior involvements with Angel and Riley and why neither worked. Along with Spike addressing his with Harmony and Drusilla -- and why they didn't work, and how bad he felt about Harmony. (Although Harmony doesn't care -- being a soulless vampire, she's moved on to using Clem like a whipping dog.)


Buffy -- is also well-done. It really delves into Buffy taking responsibility for her role in the verse, as the holder of the magic book. Also responsibility for her inter-personal relationships, instead of just running away from them.

Dawn -- the powers of the key are finally explored. And Dawn is given a chance to grow up a bit more.

The plot is okay, it gets a little convoluted in places -- and the main villain appears to be D'Hoffryn, which is an interesting choice. The most frightening villain is the Soul Glutton, who also appears to be a social commentary on well vegetarianism? There's a lot of social commentary in here, although not as blatant as in the previous series.

Overall, a good read. I highly recommend.

I skipped Angel&Faith, mainly because I'm not interested in any of the characters. It's not worth the money. These cost between nothing (if you can borrow) to $16.99. The Angel & Faith are pricier actually.

1. ( Weekend Television )
2. The whole bit about a Soul and Spike has come up on LJ again via rahirah, who has some interesting things to say about it, and I sort of agree with. (For example, it's pretty clear I think that any theory expressed by the Watcher's Council or Giles can be summarily discounted as hogwash, mainly because the writers go out of their way to either make fun of Giles/Watcher's Council, contradict them, or demonstrate how silly it is. [Consider how many times Giles was knocked unconscious prior to providing information, and how often his information backfired on him. Similarly, Wesely's information was often wrong or back-fired on him.] This is a standard theme in Whedon's writing - any rule provided by an authority figure is circumspect and should not be trusted. Whedon has serious issues with authority.) That said, I looked at it a little differently than a lot of folks appear to or examined it differently.

Below is the essay that I wrote examining the meaning of a soul and the writer's intent regarding it in Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series.

( Soul Metaphors in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series )

3. Distinction between Sympathy and Empathy. [I'm wondering if the writer's intended unsouled vampires to express sympathy, and souled to express empathy?]

Go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw

1.Finished watching the last three episodes of Revolution which reminds me a great deal of Firefly, although Firefly had a sense of humor. Both are similar concepts. It's sort of Firefly by way of Lost and the Hunger Games, with no sense of humor. Takes itself far too seriously, LOST had a better sense of humor. Note to writers of this genre? It works better if you hire some comedy writers and take yourselves a bit less seriously. Also lots of Western cliches.


2. My Mother is reading Swanson on Swanson - the biography of Gloria Swanson, silent movie star and 1930s movie star. She told me that Swanson had to visit her fans by train, and was mobbed at each city. Sort of like the Beatles were mobbed when they first came to the US. Back then movie stars were "mobbed" by their fans because they were movie stars - there weren't as many. It was a big deal to see one. ( Gloria Swanson )

3. Have come to the conclusion that while wrath can be motivating, jealousy and envy are a waste of time and should be removed from the emotional lexicon. I really don't see much point for either.

4. Legacy. The search for or the attempt to leave a "legacy" behind you is incredibly narcissistic, isn't it? I've been flipping this over in my head lately and slowly realizing why I despise the term legacy. It's not about helping people, or making the world a better place, but stroking your own ego and getting your validation from an external source. See? The thing of it is, if you have to get validation or approval from an external source constantly - you are doomed to failure. There's always going to be someone better and badder than you are. That's the wrong reason to do anything. It leads to hell. Always.

Learned this long ago...while in law school of all things, in which I was told that seeking validation externally doesn't work. If you feel you have no value, that you are a "0" and have to constantly achieve, constantly prove yourself, constantly obtain approval...you'll always feel like a 0. An empty well, never to be filled. My grandmother on my father's side was a bit like that..you could never fill that well. The person who explained this concept to me back in 1992, provided the analogy of National Merit Finalists - the brightest kids from high schools all over the country. They come together, and whoa, discover there are people brighter or as bright as they are...there goes their value. Out the proverbial window. Except of course for the kids who aren't basing their entire value or any of it on being a National Merit Finalist.

The character of Angel in Angel the Series is in some respects a brilliant critique of the classic hero trope - the hero's journey, where the guy has to prove himself through all these tasks, has to achieve so some sort of external approval. Whedon through his creation of Angel and Angel's story is in an odd way critiquing that trope, which exists in the Western genre and the comic book and horror genres as well as most religious mythology. We find it comforting, if we do all these tasks, God will choose us, we have a legacy...look how great we are. But how narcisisstic is that? And meaningless?( a somewhat controversial take on legacy and Angel the Series...or not as the case may be )

1. Work is making me crazy again. So crazy, I bought wine and chips and vodka on the way home. And am off to watch General Hospital and Mad Men. Speaking of which, co-worker who despises Mad Men but can't stop watching it, sent me the following links:

Mad Men Links:

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/hands_off_sally_7BVSqUqC1kRBCufb7TrjSI

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/is_peggy_off_mad_men_for_good_RIdZ17vR3RzEvNbsAMmPZP

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/stergling_reputation_oluT1sjmbzQQEuPv7DsZAL

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/marvel_ous_qfNQXAHTOZvvo0WacyYW8O

http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/john_slattery_on_jon_hamm_he_gets_FbbGHplcyqlLf8OLi3NVfI

Warning all of them contain spoilers, I accidentally got spoiled on Sunday night's episode reading the second link.

2. Mark Watches made it to Intervention and I didn't realize Disharmony and Intervention aired at the same time. ( thoughts on Harmony and Angel, which are pretty controversial and sure to piss off die-hard Harm/Angel fans on my flist, not to mention a few Cordy fans. Therefore please skip this bit, for both our sakes. That's why the cut is there. )

Found a great post on selenak's journal regarding how fans critique television, often blaming one writer and letting the writer they adore to pieces off the proverbial hook. She links to Jane Espenson's recent interview regarding the mistakes she made on Caprica - aas well as references bits from it. Go here: http://selenak.livejournal.com/658319.html

Also from selenak - an Angel the Series 30 days in One Meme. We'll see if I can do this, since I can't remember a lot of the series - the last time I saw any of it was over four years ago.
So this by memory, I'm cutting the questions I can't answer or leaving them blank for you to fill out.

Watching Being Erica in the background - already saw this episode online - but when realized it was airing on Soapnet again - I chose to just watch it there.

( Angel in 30 Days Meme )

To anyone who read this before I edited, my apologies - edited Sunday, 21,2010.

[Am somewhat behind on my reviews, I know. And technically speaking I already did a non-spoilery capsule review for this comic. But, it's been a long time that a comic book surprised me like this one did. Wasn't really expecting all that much, to be honest, considering that to date...the Angel comics have largely been a disappointment. So, I'm doing this review a bit differently. I'm using visual aids. The review is more of a meta and filled to the brim with spoilers. I also wrote way too late last night, so it was unproofed and quite rough when posted. Yeah, I know what's new? This morning...I overslept, so missed church and instead listened to a podcast on befriending regret, the podcast made me think of this post -because that is what is driving Illyria and indeed many of the characters in Angel and in any noir universe - they are filled with regrets of the things they've done and the things they should have done.]

Illyria is written by Scott Tipton and Mariah Huehner, who also serves as editor, with Elena Casagrande as the artist, and Walter Trono and Illaria Traversi on inks and colors. This is a rarity, we have a female character from a noir series written and drawn by women. So we are seeing her and to a degree the trope and series she is from through female eyes, not just male. While Kelley Armstrong did write for the Angel comics, the artists and editors were male. And in the Buffy comics - the editor, interior artist, executive producer were male - even on the arcs written by Espenson.

I note this because the comic book industry tends to be a boys club. Women rarely break in to it.
And when they do, it is hard to stay in it. No field is harder to break in to than action comics or superhero/noir comics. As a result, female characters are often drawn and written as male fantasy figures. This is also the reason that many women do not like comics, or degrade the art form - seeing it as something for adolescent males only. Being a gal who likes guy stuff..well not all guy stuff - the appeal of cars and American Football continue to bewilder me - has been an interesting experience.

One other thing to note about Illyria before I go begin my meta - the reason I've decided to use visual aids is unlike the other artists who do the Angel IDW and Buffy DH comics - Casagrande actually uses her art to show not tell us what lies inside her character. It's the first time I've seen anyone do this effectively in the IDW or Dark Horse comics, with the possible exception of Joan Chen in Always Darkest...

[*in the acknowledgments...the editors thank Joss Whedon and Fox World Publishing for their invaluable assistance (not "rights"), make of that what you will. It's in small print on the inside cover.]

( Illyria...Haunted by memories not her own and regrets that are alien to her )