Post-apocalyptic overload

I watched some television last night.  (I tried to write while I did it, but it was tough).  One movie and onething off TIVO.

The movie was 9.  Not the musical, the animated-but-not-for-children movie.  It’s about nine Barbie-sized burlap robots fighting for survival after the apocalypse.  Well done with good voice talent (Elijah Wood, John C. Riley among others).  Very dark with a bit of uplift at the end, but hardly what I would call optimism.  I enjoyed it, I guess, but wouldn’t put it on a recommendation list.  However, if you found Avatar derivative, 9 might be the prescription you need.

I also watched the series finale of Dollhouse.  (Why does Joss Whedon even bother dealing with FOX anymore?)  It was way out there compared to the rest of the show, set five years later, after the Brain-pocalypse.  A whole lot happened in a small amount of time.  It probably should have been two hours, or an hour and a half at least.  But when your contract’s up…

It really was the definition of starting in the middle of the action.  You know how shows open with scenes from previous episodes?  Well the scenes at the start of this one were apparently from an episode that never aired, may never have been filmed.  I found that especially brilliant, but I bet it lost a lot of people.  They made references to “butchers” and “dumbshows” (I think that was the term…don’t remember) without defining them, but their meaning was easily apparent.  There was a lot of cyberpunk flavor to it, too.

The plot wasn’t all that creative but it didn’t have to be.  The characters’ new situations were interesting enough (particularly Topher and Alpha). I dare say it was the best episode, but there were some other good ones.

I’m dying for the next Whedon idea to hit the screen.  The man thinks out there.

Dollhouse never really caught on in spite of Eluza Dushku’s excellent acting and…other talents.  I suspect here “other talents” are part of the show’s failure, driving female viewers away from a show about what is essentially a slave operation.  Echo actually turns out to be a very empowered female, but the damage was done in advertising.  Much like Firefly (rest in peace, old friend) which was done in by lack of advertising.  The film 9 was doomed from the start, too dark for kids and too cartoon for mainstream audiences, but it still pains me that both of these were basically failures but Twilight breaks the bank.  *sigh*  Still, it’s nice to find a few gems in the rough.