WALL-E: One of the best films we’ve seen this year. Is it better than Incredibles and Toy Story, the two animated features most often compared to it? I think so. Not because the story is better, although it is, or because the animation technology and the blend of CGI and live action is so brilliant, although it is.

It’s a story with meaning. A story that our children, our planet, our politicians need to hear. Because it’s time we all start thinking about our impact on this planet.

Recycle. Drive a hybrid. Telecommute when you can. Support your employees who want to work from home to the extent you can. Plant a garden. Just take a walk. Smell a flower.

Don’t follow orders blindly. Exercise.

Plus, the tale itself is so compelling, it needs few words, which is wonderful for children who sometimes find it difficult to follow dialogue. If you haven’t seen it yet, go!

Stargate Atlantis: The new season debuted Friday night. While it wasn’t a bad episode, I still miss Torri Higginson as Elizabeth Weir. I bought the DVD of Season 4 for Douglas because he missed a few of the eps due to the late hour. Basically, he starts watching and falls asleep  half way through.

I reviewed the list of eps and realized that there were very few that I wanted to watch again. On the other hand, I can watch Rising, The Storm/Eye and The Return arc, among others, over and over again. What does that say….

Among other things, it says that I most definitely noticed the missing person in John Sheppard’s litany of people he should have saved. While it was great to see Rainbow Sun Francks for a nanosecond, we all know who was really missing from that scene, attempts by  TPTB to “ship” John and Teyla notwithstanding.

The John-Teyla chemistry just ain’t there guys. It would be like kissing your brother. Give it up.But there isn’t that much on TV worth watching so as long as they don’t keep shoving Sheyla down our throats, I’ll tough it out.

[SPOILER]

Total ick moment: when Woolsey tells Sam Carter that he is replacing her as Atlantis leader. While I generally love Robert Picardo and look forward to the tension between his character and Sheppard,  I thought this was so poorly done as to almost rival the replacement of Torri Higginson by Amanda Tapping. Even though I know the decision was at least in part Tapping’s. Unlike the dismissal of Higginson, at least from what I read.

It seems pretty clear —  TPTB at Stargate Atlantis don’t understand their female audience. If they did, they wouldn’t continue to chop their powerful women off at the knees.

Speaking of chopping people off at the knees, let’s take a brief diversion into superspy, versus scifi. Burn Notice has quickly become one of my favorite shows. If you haven’t seen it, you are missing one of the funniest, sharpest shows on television. It stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell and Sharon Gless. The best part — the leads are all late thirties plus. So nice to see grown-ups headlining a network television show.

And not just as parents or presidents. These guys are hot. Even Sam, played by B-movie stalwart Bruce Campbell. Why do women keep giving Sam stuff? Ain’t for his sartorial style, that’s for sure.

[tags] Burn Notice, Stargate Atlantis, WALL-E [/tags]

Well, there’s not much on television and I’ve seen the summer films for which I didn’t want to wait for DVD,  so I was thrilled to learn of the upcoming “air” dates of Joss Whedon’s Internet musical netcast Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (via ProgGrrl on Twitter.)

To get the full effect, you have to read Whedon’s announcement, done as a comment on the blog Whedonesque, but here’s the shorthand version. There are three parts, each about 10 minutes long; part one will go up Tuesday July 15th, part two the 17th and part three the 19th. Free, with dreams of future monetization and world domination.

The musical was written by Whedon, his brothers Zack and Jed, and Jed’s fiancée Maurissa Tancharoen during the WGA strike, and stars Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. According to the official Facebook page, it’s

“The story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to. “

You can find a lot more information about the show on fansite doctorhorrible.net.

As a fan, I’m looking forward to watching the show, and will happily purchase merchandise and DVDs and stuff to help Whedon fulfill his nefarious dreams of glory. Plus, Nathan Fillion being all super-heroey. What’s not to like? 🙂

Teaser from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

But that’s not the only reason I am so excited about this production. For the past few months, I’ve been working on some panels for a conference about the impact of the Writers Strike. One panel covers how the writers used social media during the strike to inform the public, encourage and reward fan support and keep union members motivated. For example sites like United Hollywood and initiatives like Pencils for Media Moguls.

The other panel dives deeper into the impact of websites and videos written (and often performed) by the writers and distributed through YouTube, United Hollywood and other Internet sites. Why did they work so well, and how has user generated content changed the entertainment landscape? I’m still waiting for a few pieces to fall into place, which is why I haven’t written much about the panels here or on Marketing Roadmaps. As soon as I can tell you more, I will.

Back to my excitement. Dr. Horrible is a perfect example of how the Writers Strike and its aftermath are changing the entertainment industry. Clearly Whedon has a (more than) slight advantage when bringing his Internet production to market. He is already well-known, with a huge fanbase. His talent attracts top-calibre performers who themselves have significant fanbases.

However, he is using the exact same social media tools available to any aspiring writer, director or performer to promote the show:  Vimeo (a video sharing site), Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, websites and blogs. The show episodes will be netcast for a limited time, and then available for purchase (download and DVD).

That’s the world-changing part of this: anybody can do the same.  And if they are any good, they just might be able to achieve success without the involvement of the major studios. You know, like the one that screwed over Firefly.

Shiny.

[tags] Joss Whedon, Writers Strike, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, social media [/tags]