BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER 6.7: ONCE MORE WITH FEELING

Something to Sing About

WRITER: Joss Whedon

DIRECTOR: Joss Whedon

WHAT’S THE SITCH?

Something weird is going on in Sunnydale…surely this town’s motto. For some unknown reason everyone keeps breaking in to song, usually at times of high emotion, the Scooby gang included. Buffy sings about her feeling disconnected to the world, to life in general, while the rest of the gang sing about their individual fears, frustrations and inner most desires. We soon discover that a sharp suited all singing all dancing demon called Sweet is responsible, enjoying the scene as more and more Sunnydale denizens combust from their over emotional exuberance. And best of all he thinks he’s found his newest Queen of the underworld when he grabs Dawn, thinking she’s the one who summoned him, though Dawnie insists she isn’t. But when Sweet discovers Dawn is in fact the Slayers sister, he orders his minions to go find Buffy and bring her to him as he really, really wants to see the Slayer burn.

WHAT’S THE SITCH BENEATH THE SITCH?

Like HUSH this is all about communication (or lack of) plus keeping secrets that shouldn’t be kept and the destructiveness that can result.

WHO’S GIVING US THE WIGGINS THIS WEEK?

Sweet and his minions. But mostly the secrets the Scoobies have been keeping from one another and what the fallout will be now that they have all been aired.

WHY IT ROCKS

You really have to ask? This is pure TV genius on every conceivable level with Joss on top form. But okay...

Songs: Not only is OMWF a full blown musical where every song is brilliantly written, different and memorable, it is also a huge turning point in the season where characters discover hard truths about each other that turn their lives upside down. The songs also play a major narrative function and help move the season's story along. But being a Joss musical, OMWF also becomes a meta musical in that the characters are aware that they are suddenly living in a musical and it freaks most of them out. Especially the ones who really can't or don't like singing, in real life too (just ask Alyson Hannigan and Michelle Trachtenberg).

Sweet. The musical demon who brings the fun in is a marvellous creation with his red devil face and sharp colourful suits and silky manner. He is played to the charismatic hilt by multiple Tony Award winning actor/singer/dancer Hinton Battle.

The look: Joss shot the show in traditional musical widescreen format, unlike the rest of the series. He also designed the lighting and general look of the show to reflect an old fashioned cinematic musical.

The score: Previous Buffy composer Christophe Beck returned to score this episode and help Joss arrange the songs. He does a grand job.

Choreography: All of the imaginative dancing and movement was choreographed by award winning writer/director/actor/producer/choreographer Adam Shankman who is a close personal friend of Sarah Michelle Gellar and who got the job on her recommendation. Shankman has gone on to direct the motion pictures The Wedding Planner, Hairspray and Rock of Ages amongst others.

The cast and their voices: They all give great performances and give the max to make this work. And work it does. Of course not all are great singers but they all do their own vocals for the show, no singing doubles being used. In fact, part of the reason why Joss chose to do a musical episode was after hearing several of his cast singing and realising there were some great voices amongst them, most notably Tony Head and James Marsters, both of whom were already professional singers and musicians. Perhaps the cast member with the single loveliest voice though is Amber Benson. She’s terrific.

SMG: A special mention to our leading lady who carries a huge burden on her tiny shoulders, especially as she would be the first to admit she is no singer. But she does a fab job and can certainly carry a tune. Plus her performance is as strong and affecting as ever. Her wit and emotional range shines through. One of my favourite moments in the episode is at the Bronze during the start of her song ‘Life’s a Show’ when she sings:
“It’s all right if some things come out wrong. We’ll sing a happy song.” And then, in tight close, up she throws a challenging look right at us, the audience, and sings, “And you can sing along.” It’s a rather chilling little moment, as if Buffy is accusing us, the audience, of being voyeurs to her pain, which I kinda guess we are.

Visual FX: The use of visual FX in this episode is great. From simple things like CGI daggers and stakes to more obvious and eye catching images such as Sweet's suit suddenly changing colour. All great work.

Joss: If you didn't need more convincing that this man is a creative genius, this episode proves it. He spent six months writing the episode and at the end of season five he handed a full script and a CD and book of 16 fully written and arranged songs to producer Gareth Davies, who in his own words found this “Mind boggling!” Especially as the guy has no actual musical training. Joss wrote all the songs with his wife, sat at a piano, singing them (badly apparently) and banging them out the hard way. And the result is a Broadway quality musical. Astonishing.

WHY IT SUCKS

No suckage here at all. Move along.

IT’S BUFFTASTIC

The whole thing. But I love Spike's “So, you're not staying then?” at the end of his song.

DIALOGUE TO DIE FOR

Xander: Respect the cruller, and tame the doughnut!

Buffy: I'm not exactly quaking in my stylish, yet affordable boots, but there's definitely something unnatural going on here. And that doesn't usually lead to hugs and puppies.

Sweet: That's entertainment.

Willow: The sun is shining, there are songs going on, those guys are checking you out...
Tara: What? What are they looking at?
Willow: The hotness of you, doofus!
Tara: Those boys really thought I was hot?
Willow: Entirely!
Tara: Oh, my god. I'm cured! I want the boys!

Xander: You see the way they were with each other? The get-a-roominess of them? I bet they're... (notices Dawn) singing. They're probably singing right now.

Xander: It's a nightmare. It's a plague. It's like a nightmare about a plague.

Anya: Clearly our number is a retro-pastiche that's never going to be a break-away pop hit.

Spike: You've just come to pump me for information?
Buffy: What else would I want to pump you for? I really just said that, didn't I?

Spike: So, you're not staying then?

Buffy: Yeah, I'm pretty spry for a corpse.

Giles: If I want your opinion, Spike, I'll... I'll never want your opinion.

Xander: Does this mean that I have to... be your Queen?

Sweet: Big smiles, everyone. You beat the bad guy.

Spike: You should go back inside. Finish the big group sing, get your kumba-yayas out.
Buffy: I don't want to.
Spike: The day you suss out what you do want, there'll probably be a parade. Seventy-six bloody trombones.

AND ANOTHER THING

Xander's “Respect the cruller, and tame the doughnut!” line is a reference to P.T. Anderson's movie Magnolia which Joss loved and made a big splash around the time this episode was being made.

Cameos: The lady trying to get out of her parking ticket is none other than writer and exec producer Marti Noxon. Apparently she's not wearing underwear! Gulp! Oh, and the Mustard guy is writer/producer David Fury. Both Marti and David carried on their musical/acting careers by appearing in Joss' Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog.

Yes: Joss is a big fan of prog rock band Yes. The band's album 'Close To The Edge' features a track called 'And You and I', which refers to a 'Mutant Enemy' in its lyrics - hence the name of Joss' production company.

Grr Argh! The little Mutant Enemy guy at the end of the episode (i.e. Joss) sings his Grr Argh!

Soundtrack and DVD: A full soundtrack and book of this episode was released to buy. Both became bestsellers. Also a separate DVD of just this episode, featuring commentary and extras (and a karaoke version) was released on Region 2 only.

Longer: OMWF in its original broadcast version runs a total of 50 mins, 8 mins longer than a regular hour long US TV episode. UPN only broadcast this full version the once. Subsequent showing were edited, running at the usual 42 mins. The version available on DVD is the full unedited version.

Awards: In the US, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) neglected to include the episode on the 2002 ballots for Emmy nominations. NATAS attempted to remedy this by mailing a postcard informing its voters that it should be included, but the episode did not win. In 2009 TV Guide ranked OMWF #14 on its list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time".

Buffy plays and sing-alongs: After the series ended, fans continued their appreciation with cinema showings of OMWF where attendees were encouraged to dress like the show's characters, sing along to the musical numbers, and otherwise interact in the style of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The sing-alongs became so popular that they soon spread across the US and around the world as far as Asia, Israel and Europe. But In October 2007, after a dispute with the Screen Actors Guild over unpaid residuals, 20th Century Fox pulled the licensing for all public screenings, effectively ending the official Buffy sing-alongs. You can find some of them on YouTube but the big organised shows have all now ceased. Fans won't be put off though. As well as sing-alongs many amateur (often for charity) theatrical productions have been and continue to be put on around the world. Fan love just keeps this show and this episode alive and slaying/singing.

HOW MANY STAKES?

A pitch perfect 5 (out of 5)

Don't runaway from Dakota and Kristen

The Runaways tells the story of the formation and fairly quick self-destruction of the mid-70’s all girl rock band of the same name.

Until recently I’d never even heard of them. But quite by coincidence a book I was reading last year featured The Runaways as the favourite band of the female protagonist. Through that book I learned that The Runaways was the band that gave the world Joan Jett along with fellow lady rocker Lita Ford. However I knew nothing of the bands then fifteen-year-old lead singer Cherie Currie. Which is not too surprising seeing as how after being led down the rock and roll highway of drink, drugs and self-destruction, Currie was mostly lost to rehab and low budget movie acting. Eventually she went on to become a drug counsellor for addicted teens and a personal fitness trainer amongst other things. Apparently she still makes music on occasion but is mostly now a ‘chainsaw artist’ whatever that is.

Anyway, I've since discovered that The Runaways were important for three main reasons:

1) They were the first all-girl rock band to be signed and who mixed it up just as well as any guys at the time and as such were highly influential in helping other women get in to the world of rock music.

2) They were a huge success for a fairly short time, making quite an impact - especially overseas and specifically in Japan, where they were truly massive.

3) Their songs and their performances are mostly great with a real snarling, gritty ‘fuck you’ rock and roll attitude, something Jett would carry in to her highly successful post-Runaways career. Perhaps the bands best-known track “Cherry Bomb” is a prime example – a simple, grungy, punky, pulsing anthem for bad girls everywhere.

And now, more than thirty years after they split, we finally get their movie biopic. So is it any good?

Yep, it’s pretty good.

As with most movie adaptations, The Runaways, based loosely on Cherie Currie’s own book Neon Angel, plays rather fast and loose with the truth - condensing time, amalgamating characters, creating scenes for dramatic effect. But from what I hear, the essentials of the tale are pretty much there with the film wisely focusing on the relationship between Jett (Kristen Stewart) and Currie (Dakota Fanning).

It is 1975 and Joan Larkin (soon to be renamed Joan Jett) is a tough, passionate, leather wearing, guitar playing seventeen-year-old rocker who idolises Suzi Quatro. Joan is all about the music. She is dedicated and works hard to be successful though still finds time to party. In contrast, fifteen-year-old Cherie Currie starts the film as a cute blond haired girl who loves David Bowie and hangs out in clubs trying to look stylish, glamorous and all sultry sex kittenish. Later, after having joined the band through what seems like pure chance, she becomes a scantily clad teenage temptress consuming drugs and booze by the bucket load while being continually torn between her family life (a caring sister and alcoholic father) and the life of a hedonistic rock star. In this telling of the story the rest of the band doesn’t get much of a look in. Even Lita Ford (Scout Taylor Compton) is reduced to being bitchy from the sidelines. But that’s okay. For this is all about that central dynamic of Jett and Currie with most of the focus being on Currie. Though Jett is well served, we don’t get to know much about her past, just that she is a badass and a dedicated tomboy rocker who loves leather and making out with both guys and girls. It is Currie who is the film’s primary focus. This is really her story focussing on her family life, her background and her choices.

As Cherie Currie, Dakota Fanning is excellent, just as you’d expect her to be. She captures spot on Currie’s troubling jailbait sex appeal (played up by the band’s manager and the media of the time.) But just as importantly she captures Currie’s little girl lost persona, her conflicted nature and her deep vulnerability. It has to be said that watching Fanning wearing next to nothing, strutting and writing around on stage, making out with boys and girls while swigging booze and popping pills by the dozen is a rather disturbing sight. To me, she will always be that freakishly talented and sweet little girl who captured the screen and acted many of her co-stars off of it in films like Man on Fire, War of the Worlds and Hide and Seek. Still, all little girls have to grow up I guess. Just hopefully not how Cherie Currie did. With all the stuff that is going on in The Runaways you have to remember that Cherie Currie was only a kid, a fifteen-year-old kid.

As Joan Jett, Kristen Stewart is also excellent. She looks the dead spit of the real rocker and carries off Jett’s confident, swaggering, angry, tough girl persona pretty much perfectly. You really wouldn’t wanna piss her off. She has a strange relationship with Fanning’s Currie, one of quasi-big sister/ mentor/lover. Despite being almost polar opposites, they form a pretty close and strong bond with Jett always sticking up for Currie even when the latter is behaving less than well. As Jett, Stewart shows that she really is a good actress and is worth much more than just being known as the rather pathetic, whiny and thoroughly unlikable Bella Swan. She has range and presence and will hopefully get to show more of it in years to come once a certain franchise is dead and buried.

The films other notable performance comes from Michael Shannon as The Runaways sleazy manager/producer Kim Fowley. The film does a good job in showing the relationship between Fowley and the band that he helped put together. As Fowley, Shannon is most entertaining playing such a colourful character. His angry, filthy rants at the band while they practice are both funny and horrible. But, to be fair, the guy knew what he was talking about. It might not have been nice advice, but in order to succeed the girls had to toughen up. They had to learn to give not only as good as they got but more than they got. And that’s exactly what they did.

The Runaways was written and directed by Floria Sigismondi, an Italian photographer and music video director best known for directing Marilyn Manson's "The Beautiful People". Sigismondi’s script is a fairly typical bare bones rise and fall of a rock band story, one that we’ve all seen and heard many times before. Like most of these tales, the truth is massaged in places to make it more workable as a film, to better fit the narrative of cinema. The script, though fine, brings nothing new or special to the genre. But what Sigismondi does bring to The Runaways are two excellent lead actresses and a strong visual style filled with dirty colours and jittery camerawork. She also captures the period feel and puts across the energy of rock and roll with all its vibrant passion and grim excess.

Despite the fairly run-of-the-mill, self-destructive nature of the story, there is a lot of fun to be had watching The Runaways. The girls are all cool with two excellent leads in Fanning and Stewart. The music is fun, energetic and in your face. And the spirit of true rebellious attitude and hard living rock and roll does indeed shine through. Though not a great movie by any means, The Runaways is certainly a good movie. It is never dull and it is always fun to watch… even if the sight of once sweet little Dakota in full-on drug addled, scantily clad, sexy temptress mode is decidedly creepy and off putting. (3.5/5)

Trailer

Everything Dies: RIP Peter Steele

Peter Steele, singer, songwriter and bassist for Type O Negative, has passed away at the age of 48. As a long-time Type O fan, this is a very sad day for me and for their many fans worldwide.

It’s no secret that for a long time Peter (born 1962 as Petrus Ratajczyk in Brooklyn, New York) had been fighting depression and various substance abuse issues for a long time. Rumours started circulating on the web earlier this morning that Peter had died but I didn’t really buy it. Back in 2005 the big guy pulled a hoax by posting his picture and the years “1962-2005″ on the group’s website leading the world to think he had died suddenly. So, this morning, I hoped this was yet another twisted gag by the dark and brooding but humorous Goliath (he was 6ft 7 tall you know.) Sadly, it was not to be. In an e-mail to CBS News, the band’s manager Mike Renault later confirmed Peter’s death. He wrote, “Peter passed away last night. As of now it appears to have been heart failure. That’s all the details we have right now.”

I’ve adored Type O Negative’s dark, heavy-yet-melodic and blackly humorous music since the early 90’s when I first heard their classic epic song Black Number 1 taken from their 1993 breakthrough album Bloody Kisses, an album which also spawned the classic track Christian Woman. Bloody Kisses became the first album released by Roadrunner Records to go platinum. At that time there was simply nothing else quite like Type O Negative around. And there never has been since. They rocked out hard, their music usually doused in overblown goth/horror-style atmosphere mixing romance, sex, death, religion, doom and depression but always accompanied by a massive dose of irony that couldn’t help make you giggle. Type O Negative were one of the most unlikely bands ever to break in to mainstream music. And yet they did. Although mostly dark and heavy and doomy (leading to their nickname of 'The Drab Four') Type O’s tunes could also be infectiously melodic, catchy and most chucklesome. They made some immensly cool and unforgettable songs on their seven produced albums.

Slow, Deep and Hard (1991)
The Origin of the Faeces (1992)
Bloody Kisses (1993)
October Rust (1996)
World Coming Down (1999)
Life Is Killing Me (2003)
Dead Again (2007)

It is an understatement to say that Peter Steele was central to Type O Negative’s success and enduring popularity. His unmistakably deep, scary, brooding voice, his song writing talent as well as his imposing physical presence were utterly integral in making Type O what they were. His was a (literally) towering presence in the world of rock and metal music, an icon of the scene for the past two decades. And he will be greatly missed.

Sleep well, big guy. :(

Black No. 1 (Bloody Kisses, 1993)


Christian Woman (Bloody Kisses, 1993)


Everything Dies (World Coming Down, 1996)


My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend (October Rust, 1996)