It was announced over the weekend that the thirteenth filmed episode of Dollhouse would not air on US TV (read that story here). The blogosphere predictably jumped on this as a clear sign that the series was bound for cancellation. That's not, according to official word, actually true - at least yet. However, I'm sad to say that I wish it were true, which is something I never thought I'd think about a Joss Whedon project.

Whedon has never had overwhelming success with any of his projects. Buffy has an enormous following but it was ignored by all awards bodies and had to shift networks during its run. Angel was a slow starter and was staked just when it began to get really good. Firefly didn't even make it through one season, and the film it spawned, Serenity, played well to fans but left the wider world untouched. But Dollhouse is the only Whedon series that has, for my money, outstayed its welcome.

Its chief problem is that it doesn't have the hook of Whedon's previous work. Buffy was 'Cheerleader fights vampires'; Angel was 'Vampire finds soul/fights crime'; Firefly was 'cowboys in space'. They all grab you straight away. Does 'Girl with wiped personality who works for shady organisation that gives her a new identity according to client's needs starts to remember her past life' really have the same immediacy? It's too loose. What's worse is that the show hasn't found a way to make that clumsy-but-potentially-meaty set-up compelling. Giving Eliza Dushku a different identity each week means the show's only as good as the mask she's wearing that episode. Dushku is not the rangiest of actresses - she's very good at kicking people and giving the impression she might cut you - which means episodes veer from her being tough and cool (the one that nicked its plot from The Bodyguard) to seeming faintly ridiculous (the pilot). Add to that the fact that her character's default setting is necessarily a complete blank and you have a very difficult lead to invest in. I don't care what her past holds because her present isn't particularly interesting. I find it difficult to care about her full-stop. That's not a great thing when there is nobody especially memorable in the supporting cast.

The thing that really made me unhappily decide not to watch beyond the sixth episode was the dialogue. Oh my word, the DIALOGUE. If there's one thing Whedon't always got right - and there is not just one, there are ever so many - it's snappy banter. I get that he might be trying to move on from the snarky-silly tone that is his trademark. It makes sense that he might want to test his capabilities. But there's barely been a memorable line yet. It clunks when it should crackle. That's just all wrong in the Whedonverse.

So please, either someone re-tool this show significantly before (the possible) season 2 or just let it die quietly. I LOVE Joss Whedon, but this doesn't feel like real Whedon. It feels like Whedon trying to give the networks what they want to keep his show from getting cancelled, which ironically has made it far less deserving of rescue.

Olly Richards

This story on Slashfilm suggests that most of Rob Zombie's sequel to his own Halloween re-boot will see Michael Myers completely maskless. No, Rob Zombie. NO. Stop chipping away at one of the greatest horror icons of all time (In his defence, I think it's important to say that most of the sequels to John Carpenter's classic also did little for his reputation). There's just no need.

Zombie has already missed the entire point of Myers by telling his backstory in his first film (which had no reason to exist, cos you don't improve on perfection). One of the whole reasons that Michael Myers is terrifying is because he shows no humanity. He doesn't exhibit any logic or motive in his killings, he just kills and there's nothing you can do stop him. That's much more frightening than delving into all his issues and trying to explain away his madness. Myers is almost beyond human - that's why Carpenter's script called him merely The Shape. He wasn't a person, he was a force. A force with a knife and a top speed of about 6 miles an hour.

We won't damn a film before it's released - there's always a chance that Zombie might produce something great - but Michael Myers without the mask just seems like Freddy Krueger without the glove, or Jason without the hockey mask (ok, so he didn't get that straight away). You're taking away that which makes them more than just a maniac.

What do you think?

Olly Richards

Beware, the following contains discussion of potential spoilers.

So, if you, like us, have watched the new Wolverine trailer several times (if you haven't, watch here) then you are probably also wondering what in the world that big thing with the scars, claws and lazer eyes is. That thing in the picture above, see?

Well, there's little doubt that it's going to be a Big Bad (this seems to be a film with multiple Big Bad's), but there's much debate about how that bad actually comes about. There's much, rather worrying, discussion that this might actually be the final form of Deadpool. Now, I'm no X-Men X-pert, so apologies if I get anything wrong here (the Wikipedia pages on this stuff are REALLY confusing), but in the comic books Deadpool is an assassin with hideous scars, which means he always wears a full body suit and mask. There was much ballyhoo when first photos emerged of Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool because he looked handsome, clear-skinned, excessively glisteny and, well, generally like Ryan Reynolds. Where was the hideousness, fans asked. So it can be assumed that Deadpool might head on the path towards ugly during this film, but why jump to the conclusion that this weird beast is how he'll turn out? Well, there's this action figure. See, the label says Deadpool and is identical to the trailer monster. We're hoping that's not true and this is just some sort of packaging snafu. This is not how Deadpool should look and fan fury would probably tear down many a cinema if it is.

The other theory being put about is that this thing is Weapon XI. Where Wolverine, or more specifically his adamantium skeleton, was created in the Weapon X programme, an experiment by a shady government organisation trying to make super-soldiers, Weapon XI would be the next experiment, and therefore one more advanced. Surely that makes more sense, what with the beast apparently combining Wolverine's claws, Cyclops' lazer vision and...someone's really bad skin? Also, a foe slightly more tricked out that Wolvie would be the ideal enemy. Someone called Scott Adkins is reportedly playing him in the film, but could he be acting as make-up double for a deformed Reynolds? Could Fox, a studio that has a history of messing with comic book properties to the ire of fans, have retconned the story so that Deadpool becomes Weapon XI?

Which would you prefer? Do you hope this is Deadpool or Weapon XI? Or something else altogether?

Olly Richards

Remember those 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books from the '80s, where you'd decide the outcome of your quest by flicking to one of two pages showing different fates (obviously not without a quick pre-flick to make sure you didn't choose the wrong one)? Well, some bright sparks have made a movie version, The Outbreak. The acting suggests these might be the people who weren't attractive enough to make it on to Hollyoaks, but the idea's a winner. Check it out here.

via Slashfilm