 |
| I bet we'd be pals. |
Joss was born on June 23, 1964, in New York City as the 3rd son of a screenwriter and high school teacher. His two older brothers are Samuel and Matthew, and his two younger ones are Jed and Zack, both writers. Whedon spent 2 years at Winchester College, but graduated from Wesleyan University. He always loved writing and acting, and had a certain affinity for Monty Python. He is the founder of the production company Mutant Enemy Productions. Frankly, Joss Whedon is less of a director (or even producer) and more of a writer, but his works are such cult classics that he’s necessary to profile.
(Abridged) Filmography
1992 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Writer)
1995 – Toy Story (Co-writer)
1997–2003 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Creator, Director, Writer, Executive producer) [TV]
2002 – Firefly (Creator, Director, Writer, Executive producer) [TV]
2005 – Serenity (Director, Writer)
2008 – Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (Co-creator, Director, Writer, Executive producer) [Web]
2012 – The Avengers (Director, Co-writer)
Critical Reception
Whedon has had the bittersweet fortune of not having the brilliance of his works recognized during their time, but having nearly all of them become major cult classics. Possibly the biggest exception is Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, an internet movie of sorts created during the Writers’ Strike starring Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day, and Nathan Fillion, which was immediately hailed as a work of art. Firefly was canceled after only 14 episodes in 2002 (Fox has a tendency to do stupid things like that, e.g. Arrested Development, The Tick), but is now possibly the biggest cult classic TV show in history. Widespread adoration from fans led to the 2005 film Serenity, which got mostly positive reviews.
The Future
His next big project is the live-action film adaption of the comic book The Avengers; the announced cast is Chris Evans as Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, Don Cheadle as James Rhodes, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson. Expect it to be very slightly above mediocre and to make tons of money. Other than that, Whedon is signed on to direct and write the fantasy thriller Goners, which could bring out his more creative side; the side everyone has fallen in love with. It has yet to be officially greenlit for production.
(Toy Story not included but) I find it funny how his first definately mainstream movie "The Avengers" has the most potential to be really bad. Bummer dude. Regardless, he is still one of the most underrated men around in film today if you ask me.
ReplyDelete-Nate S