Give Whedon A Pass

Between this modern-dress adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play (which I didn’t see at the 2012 Toronto Film festival) and his anti-Mitt Romney “zombie apocalypse” video that he posted last October I’m willing to let bygones be bygones with Joss Whedon and basically forgive him for The Avengers and Cabin in the Woods and all of that GenX geek TV stuff that he made his bones with. Filmed on a shoestring, Much Ado will open June 7th through Lionsgate/Roadside.

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  • Guest

    LOL – I’m sure Joss Whedon is relieved that you forgive him for making stuff people like.

  • Kat

    One of my favorites of Shakespeare’s plays… I’m in.

  • Edward Klein

    This Boomer is in too. I also had a blast watching The Avengers and Cabin.

  • berg

    seen it … great black and white photography … and a brilliant modern adaptation where everyone drinks every second of the film and every memory of the Branagh version is erased ….

  • http://nevermindpopfilm.blogspot.com/ Colin “Fitz” Biggs

    I would’ve thought Cabin in the Woods would be less irritating to people than The Avengers. It both skewers and honors the genre it pokes fun at (much like Hot Fuzz).

  • Eve

    It’s amusing how you “forgive” Whedon for stuff you’ve never seen (his TV work). I think this trailer looks great, can’t wait to see the movie. Whedon is one of the best directors for ensemble shows, which I think is why “The Avengers” was so good.

  • http://twitter.com/zachheltzel Zach Heltzel

    I was sure you had already forgiven him when you stopped referring to him as “Wheedon”

  • http://twitter.com/TNRLM TNRLM

    Jeff, this is utter and complete nonsense. Why must you constantly belittle something you know absolutely NOTHING about? You’re not a TV guy. If you were, you’d know that Whedon is one of the most acclaimed and respected TV auteurs of his generation. You’d be hard pressed to find A) a TV critic worth his salt that didn’t include Buffy among the best shows of the last 50 years, and B) a TV show that has generated more academic analysis and praise than Buffy. Vulture did their “Greatest Drama of the Last 25 Years” bracket last year. Naturally (and probably deservedly), The Wire won that particular contest. However, David Simon, the brilliant creator of The Wire, wrote a post on his own blog addressing that contest and result:

    “We thought some prolonged arguments about what kind of country we’ve built might be a good thing, and if such arguments and discussions ever happen, we will feel more vindicated in purpose than if someone makes an argument for why The Wire is the best show in years. (“Buffy,” by the way, was the correct answer to that particular bracketfest.)”

    I think I’ll trust my own tastes, and those of David Fucking Simon, in this matter.

    Also, The Avengers was ridiculously fun and Cabin In The Woods an inventive, insightful and hilarious inversion of (and simultaneous homage to) the entire horror genre.

  • Los Bostonian

    I liked Avengers well enough in the theaters and love Cabin in the Woods, Buffy, Angel & Shakespeare, but I’m not on the Firefly, Dollhouse bandwagon. This film looks like a student film with C-List TV actors(Ok Fillion is B-List) with a DP just out of AFI, mostly it looks like a wank for Whedonites. I’m not sure how I feel about Denisof as Benedick or Franz as Claudio, Fillion should knock out Dogberry though. Acker has always emitted more of a Hero vibe than Beatrice.

    That said, nothing would please me more than if it was outstanding. Gonna be tough to top the Branagh version, which was (singing scenes, Reeves excepted) the finest of Branagh’s adaptations of the bard.

  • http://twitter.com/Adamlapish Adam Lapish

    Jeff, you liked Avengers. You were wrong to like it, but liked it nonetheless. You may not remember, but you went through this bizarro messed up phase of liking comic book trash like Avengers and the appalling Dark Knight Rises. Can we assume you are back to your normal self. If so, good!

  • Raising_Kaned

    You put your Wheeeeedon there!

    When Avengers came out last year, does anyone here actually think that Wells had a clue who he actually was? Without the use of IMDb or Wikipedia, I don’t think he could have named a single show he worked on — and I doubt he could name more than one now.

    With Wells, instead of “love conquers all” — it’s more like “blind Republican hate conquers all.” Suuuuuch a romantic fascist!

    If you grew up in the ’80s or ’90s, and are even remotely a fan of horror, I think it’s borderline impossible to truly dislike CitW.

  • andrew sarno

    Great. Another Shakespeare movie full of white people made by white people for white people to see.

  • D.Z.

    Should be retitled to Much Ado about Yuppies. Though this will no doubt be compared to the Baz Gatsby coming out a month earlier.

  • PatJim

    What a horse’s ass.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1329069668 Brian Bouton

    Ha! I love that it’s completely flown over your head that the cast is made up of actors from his former “Gen X geek tv stuff.”

  • Eloi Wrath

    That looks okay, but what the bastarding heck is that music? Sounds like the tunes they pump out in the elevators of trendy boutique hotels.