Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Yes, the Riley hate. It just gets stronger with each episode! And Dawn - wait for her infamous "Get out GET OUT GET OUT!" screech. Ugh. I kept hoping Dawn would die in a terrible weapons related accident, then I started watching S7 and thought, "Wow, there are Jossverse characters even MORE annoying than Dawn!"

People have reported problems with the menu for Real Me, but mine was okay. My disc did freeze up about 7 1/2 minutes into the demon featurette though. It was fine when I played it again though.

[fnordboy]

Yes, the Riley hate. It just gets stronger with each episode! And Dawn - wait for her infamous "Get out GET OUT GET OUT!" screech. Ugh. I kept hoping Dawn would die in a terrible weapons related accident, then I started watching S7 and thought, "Wow, there are Jossverse characters even MORE annoying than Dawn!"

People have reported problems with the menu for Real Me, but mine was okay. My disc did freeze up about 7 1/2 minutes into the demon featurette though. It was fine when I played it again though.

Damn, I was hoping that Dawn would get better with time

I had no problems with the Real Me menu, but I havent tried any of the specials yet since i haven't watched the whole season and I don't want anymore spoilers (though I think i know them all already...atleast the major ones). Maybe you should clean your lens, that might have caused the initial freeze up.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I don't think it's so much that Dawn got better, but that I got used to her. She was still annoying, but in S7 there were a lot more annoying characters who I wanted to die bloody violent painful deaths that Dawn seemed tolerable in comparison.

[lance]

Picked up S5 yesterday $36.99 at Costco.

Watched the first two eps. so far. I have to say, I hate Riley even more now than ever I really can not stand him. The whole Dawn thing is weird, but I think I understand why she is there. I don't know if I like the whole way they went about it though. It is very jarring, and I understand it is supposed to be, but still unsettling in a way.

And the more I see Anya on the screen the more she becomes my favorite. Her character is hilarious, and she is just beautiful.

Yeah,

I know how you feel. I definately count myself as Anya fan. Her whole adjustment to human life is just hilarious to watch. Also her fear of bunnies is interesting.

-LanceMan

[JPP13]

S5 rocked!

[Natasha (candygirl)]

On March 1, 2004, the Slayer Collection will be released in R2. There will be four separate DVDs, each containing episodes that center around a particular character. You can view the artwork and details here. Each DVD includes a 15 minute profile on the featured character plus a Buffy/Angel trailer. The episodes are as follows:

Spike
School Hard
Lie to Me
Lovers Walk
Fool for Love

Faith
Bad Girls
Consequences
Graduation Part 1
Who Are You

Angel
Angel
Innocence
I Only Have Eyes for You
Amends

Willow
Phases
Doppelgangland
Wild at Heart
New Moon Rising

In other news, SMG has signed to film a remake of the Japanese horror film Ju-On:

Sarah Michelle Gellar, most recently seen on the big screen in "Scooby-Doo," will take on a more frightening role in her next starring gig as she is set to topline the horror remake "The Grudge."

The project, being produced by Sam Raimi's Ghost House Pictures and distributed domestically by Columbia Pictures, is an English-language version of the Japanese thriller "Ju-On."

The film's title refers to a curse that befalls someone who dies in the grip of a powerful rage. Those who encounter this murderous supernatural curse die, and a new one is born -- passed like a virus from victim to victim in an endless, growing chain of horror.

The project is being directed by the original's writer-director, Takashi Shimizu, from a script by Stephen Susco. Raimi is producing along with his Ghost House partner Rob Tapert and Taka Ichise, who produced the original film. Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane of Senator International will serve as executive producers alongside Roy Lee and Doug Davison, who originally gave GHP a look at the project.

Columbia co-president of production Matt Tolmach and director of production Shannon Gaulding are overseeing for the studio, with a January start date planned. The film will shoot in Tokyo at Toho Studios.

Gellar, best known for her starring role on the long-running television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," has appeared in such films as "Cruel Intentions" and "Scream 2." She next appears in the upcoming "Scooby-Doo" sequel and also is attached to star in "Romantic Comedy" for MGM.

Gellar is repped by the Firm, ICM and attorney Kevin Yorn.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

From imdb.com (granted, not always 100% accurate):

Sarah Michelle Gellar has further broken the hearts of Buffy The Vampire Slayer fans - she has turned down the chance to recreate her famous TV character in episodes of spin-off series Angel. Buffy creator Joss Whedon had offered the actress the chance to return to TV in 2004 to play Buffy in two special episodes of Angel, but she has turned him down. A disappointed Whedon says, "She feels it's not the right time."

[Natasha (candygirl)]

From TV Guide:

As reported in the current issue of TV Guide magazine, Sarah Michelle Gellar will not be back as Buffy this season, after all. The former star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was in talks to do a two-episode arc on Buffy spinoff Angel. However, says Joss Whedon, creator of both supernatural series: "She feels it's not the right time." Asked about Gellar's decision to bail, Angel vamp David Boreanaz bares his fangs...

"I honestly don't know what happened," he grumpily tells TV Guide Online. "Why don't you ask her about it? I'm sure she'll come up with a good answer."

After simmering down — good thing his face doesn't contort monstrously, like it does on TV! — the actor looks to the future. Should Angel's fifth season turn out to be its last, Boreanaz hopes Gellar will at least do the final episode, if only to help him bite the dust in style. "If Sarah wants to come back for a final farewell — like I did for her on her series finale — that would be fantastic," he says. "Now, that's something for her to decide. That would be great, to have her. I think it would be great for the fans to see that.

"I think it's a responsibility to do those [farewell] shows and give the appreciation for the fans that are watching this," Boreanaz adds. "Those are the people that tune in and have made us who were are today. It's not like you do 50 or 100 episodes of a show and say, 'Screw you.' You have a responsibility to your fans, and that's important. You give as much as you can responsibly, as long as you're having fun with it."

Are you listening, Ms. Gellar? Buffy's fans are staking their hopes on it.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Just wanted to complain about Fox's lame packaging. I hate the foldout design and the fact that the trays aren't glued in properly, but what I REALLY hate is that I had to exchange S5 three times because the tray holders were broken. This is the same thing that happened when I bought S3. Talk about crappy quality control!

I'm six episodes in and I love this Anya too - she really hit her stride in S4 and S5 (she didn't have much to work with later). Now I remember why I liked Spike too. Ahhh, the good old days.



I know I'll end up buying S6 and S7 just to complete the set, but I know I will probably not watch them much after the initial run through I do (must watch every episode in order after purchase!).

[Natasha (candygirl)]

A TV Guide interview with Nicholas Brendon:

Xander on Life After Buffy
by Daniel R. Coleridge

OK, so perhaps it's a bit soon for a "Where Are They Now?" piece on Nicholas Brendon. The series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired only last May. Still, we miss our Scooby gang, especially the 32-year-old actor who played goofy good guy Xander Harris. So what's he up to? He just wrapped filming ABC Family's TV-movie, Celeste in the City, which debuts in March. Now, he's poundin' the pavement, seeking work like most thesps in Los Angeles. Here, TV Guide Online finds out his future plans — and takes a look back at Xander's past antics.

TV Guide Online: Alyson Hannigan has a sitcom coming up. Why not you?
Brendon: That's what I really want to do. I want a sitcom! I'm tryin'! I've been taking meetings, just trying to figure out what to do. I did do a sitcom pilot for Fox with Ron Levin — the creator of Married with Children — called The Pool at Maddy Breakers. It didn't get picked up. But good for Alyson. I should call her!

TVGO: How pissed were you that, in Buffy's last season, you were turned into an under-five [minutes of screen time], while a bunch of Slayerettes we'd never seen before hogged all the air time?
Brendon: I was kind of unappreciated, but my wife, Tressa, talked me through it. She said, "It's not quantity, it's quality." And I had a lot of great scenes. After seven years, I think [creator Joss Whedon] pretty much said my character was kinda played out a little bit. So they brought in a bunch of people.

TVGO: Played out? That's whack. Xander always seemed to have interesting stuff to do.
Brendon: He was a great character because he was the only one who didn't have powers. Which is why I lost my eye. [He quotes Nathan Fillion, who played the evil priest, Caleb.] "Oh, you're the one who sees everything. Let's see what we can't do about that."

TVGO: Ugh! That was a gory scene, when Caleb poked your eye out!
Brendon: If we do the Buffy film, I'm gonna be wearing an eye patch. Let's not have Willow just fix it [with magic]. Let's do the patch.

TVGO: Did that hurt?
Brendon: Nathan just had a prosthetic thumb, with a wire running up his arm [to make it retract]. But the fake blood got in my eye. It was a fructose-based liquid. It felt kind of like soap! I had to do an eyewash.

TVGO: You mentioned a movie. Will Buffy hit the big screen?
Brendon: We've talked about it. I'm sure if it happens, it'd be in a couple of years.

TVGO: So nobody's actually signed on the dotted line to do it yet?
Brendon: No, no, no. Joss just always wanted to make the movie. We've only been off the air seven months, so we're just trying to catch our breath.

TVGO: Do you think Buffy bungled the long-simmering Xander/Willow romance by pretending Willow didn't really love him all those years? They had her in love with Oz, then made her Tara's girlfriend.
Brendon: That's a question for the writers. I don't want to p--- anybody off. [Laughs] Too bad they never brought it up again after Season 3. I would love to have made out with Tara and Willow.

TVGO: Wait a sec. You're not disappointed you lost out on Willow. You just want the straight guy's fantasy of romancing two lesbians?!
Brendon: Yeah, gimme a shot! Let's have a little threesome.

TVGO: Oh my! Anyway, has it been hard to move on since Buffy wrapped?
Brendon: It was my first job, so it was very emotional for me. But you get over it, and I still see and talk to all my buds.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

A crew member is selling some Buffy stuff here.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

SMGfan.com has an interview with Charisma Carpenter here. She discusses leaving BtVS, leaving AtS, [spoiler]coming back for the 100th AtS episode[/spoiler], See Jane Date, and Miss Match.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

From zap2it:

Hannigan and Denisof Find Love in the Whedonverse

By Kate O'Hare

All in all, life in Joss Whedon's imaginary universe has been pretty good to Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof, both of whom landed roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
Hannigan co-starred as Buffy's best pal, witch Willow Rosenberg. Denisof guest-starred as stuffy British Watcher Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. That on-set meeting sparked a friendship that led to dating and eventually ended up with a wedding.

It's the kind of story Jane Austen probably would have loved -- except for the vampires.

After a courtship that didn't turn serious until Denisof left "Buffy" to join the cast of its spin-off, The WB Network's Wednesday-night "Angel," the pair tied the knot last October in Desert Hot Springs, Calif.

"It was wonderful, even better than we wanted, and we had pretty high expectations," Hannigan recalls. "We had raised the bar pretty high for ourselves, saying, 'This is our dream wedding.' We were expecting everything to go terribly wrong."

The bride wore a traditional gown by Badgley Mischka. "They made me the most beautiful dress," Hannigan says. "It was amazing."

The groom did not wear a tuxedo. "I wore a black suit, bordering on a tux," Denisof says. "I always feel that tuxedos are indoor, nighttime things, and this was an outdoor, daytime thing. She was radiant."

Over the course of "Angel," Wesley has gone from a rule-quoting killjoy to a grim demon-hunter with enough inner demons to staff a haunted house on Halloween. Outwardly, his old-school-tie look gradually was supplanted by a scruffier roughness. But in recent episodes, it seems that Wesley has found his razor once again.

"I've got less and less beard as the season goes on," he says. "And it got to a point where it just seemed right to shave it. My wife doesn't love [the unshaven look] so much, for practical reasons. More so, it's with a view to what's going on in the future this season. There were some reasons I wanted to clean up this look. It will all be revealed later.

"They've got some cool ideas, which I hope they'll be able to work in this season."

One thing not yet worked out this season is a guest appearance by Hannigan as Willow, who periodically has visited good vampire Angel (David Boreanaz) and his evil-battling allies in Los Angeles. Most recently, she dropped by near the end of last season to help restore Angel's missing soul, without which he becomes the merciless Angelus.

So far this season, the only former "Buffy" denizens joining "Angel" have been that other vampire with a soul, Spike (played by James Marsters), who is now a regular cast member, and the soulless but thus-far-harmless vampire Harmony (Mercedes McNab). [spoiler]But another "Buffy" guest is in the pipeline.

"I'm very excited that Tom Lenk, who played Andrew, is coming back," Hannigan says. "I love him. He's one of my best friends.

Andrew was one of three technogeeks that plagued Buffy during the last two seasons of the show. The sole surviving geek, Andrew fought on Buffy's side in the last battle of Sunnydale in the finale last spring. He's currently scheduled for episode 11, "Damage," set to air later this month.[/spoiler]

Despite constant speculation, a visit from Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) to "Angel" is looking all but impossible this year.

"Sarah made all the right noises when 'Buffy' wrapped up," Denisof says. "But frankly, I never thought she was coming back. Anything can happen. She can show up, but I'd be pretty surprised if she does." So, fans are starting to talk about why Willow hasn't dropped by yet.

"I've heard the talk, everywhere but the proper channels," Hannigan says. "I haven't heard anything from Joss or anybody that is involved in the show."

At a Jan. 13 press conference in front of assembled TV critics in Hollywood, Whedon addressed the question, saying, "I do not believe we have any 'Buffy' people slated for the rest of the year."

With Willow firmly established as a lesbian in "Buffy," it seems unlikely that even if she does visit, she and Wesley will have a romantic interlude. In general, Wesley hasn't seen much romance of late, and that suits his new wife just fine.

"I don't want to see him smooching," Hannigan says. "It was already weird when we were engaged and dating. Luckily, he hasn't had to deal with anything except me kissing women.

"It's weird to see your beloved kissing anyone else, but I would imagine it's easier for him to see me kissing a female, than another guy. But we'll see how he deals. He's an actor. He understands."

"I swore I would never date another actor," she says. "But it's been so much better to share something that's so much a part of our lives and understand it completely."

Another thing both actors have received from the "Buffy" and "Angel" writers is the chance to play a character that evolves and changes over the years. Willow went from a shy, stammering outcast to an all-powerful witch in "Buffy," and Wesley's transformation has been just as dramatic (but with less special effects).

While introducing Denisof to press during an on-set party for the 100th episode of "Angel" (set for February), Whedon said, "He's transitioned from ridiculous, poncy moron to kind of a cool guy ... ." At this, he paused and leaned forward for emphasis, "on the show."

Everybody laughed, including Denisof. "Wesley's always been a surprise to me," he says, "and that's a credit to Joss and the writers. They've kept finding ways to twist him up."

[Natasha (candygirl)]

More S7 news! According to the British Board of Film Classification, the following featurettes have been confirmed for the S7 release (in addition to the previously reported commentary tracks):

The Best of Buffy - TV spots (5m 11s)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Featurette - Buffy 101 : Studying the Slayer (13m 55s)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Buffy Wraps (5m 0s)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Featurette - Generation S (8m 22s)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Outtakes Reel (3m 17s)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Featurette - It's Always Been About the Fans (4m 23s)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Easter Egg - The Gift Montage (0m 34s)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Featurette - The Last Sundown (8m 43s)

According to play.com the R2 release date is scheduled for April 5, and according to EzyDVD, the R4 release date is April 14.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

The February issue of InStyle has pictures from Alexis and Alyson's wedding. Anthony Stewart Head and Emma Caulfield are also in the pictures.