all five horizons

I watched the final act of Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog on Saturday and was not disappointed.  Surprised?  Yes.  Moved? Yes.  Entertained?  Absolutely.  I just read Stephanie’s post about this piece of filmaking history and she hit the nail on the head. I won’t even try to say it better myself so I encourage you to click on through to her fantastic post.  Here is a taster and something which rang completely true for me:

Joss Whedon is the only director I know who can have you rolling on the floor in laughter until he decides the laughter should die. And then it’s gone. Just like that.

The Deltoids of Compassion « Dube’s World.

ps I never really got the Nathan Fillion thing until I saw Firefly in full and now I am smitten.  Even when he is playing a vain, arrogant douche of a super-hero.

It is true that there were few technical difficulties which meant that anyone outside the US was not able to IMMEDIATELY view part 1 of the FREE mini-film ’sing-a-long blog’ written by Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel and Firefly), his two brothers Jed and Zach and Jed’s fiancée Maruissa Tancharoen.  The fact that these problems were sorted in a matter of hours is nothing short of heroic (well, I guess not compared to fighting fires and shit but you know what I mean) and all those people moaning about US bias should really put a sock in it because, um hello?  IT’S FREE!

So once the Hulu streaming worked for me,  I was able to sit down and joy 13 plus minutes of soft-centred goodness.  Dr Horrible, played by Neil Patrick Harris, is a super-villain who is trying to earn his stripes.  As well as trying to take over the world, he also happens to be in love with a girl in his laundrette called Penny (played by Felicia Day).

His arch-nemesis is Captain Hammer  a.k.a. him of the cute southern twang, impressive torso but questionable hair, Nathan Fillion (he’s so shiny).  Dr Horrible also has a rather soggy friend called Moist (played by Simon Helberg) whose superpower ostensibly seems to be making things erm, well, moist.

This is what the Dr Horrible MySpace page says about it (totally worth a look for the behind-the-scenes photos, BTW):

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. Featuring Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, Felicia Day as Penny and a cast of dozens. Written by Joss Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, and Zack Whedon. Directed by Joss Whedon. Produced by David Burns, Michael Boretz, and Joss Whedon. Music by Joss Whedon and Jed Whedon. Lyrics by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen. Score and Orchestration by Jed Whedon.

The songs are great as are the performances and I am planning on watching this a few more times until Act II is available sometime on Thursday.