Movies

Ask AfterEllen.com (Feb. 17, 2009)

Want to know the status of a particular movie, TV show, or band? Wondering what a certain actress is up to these days? Send your entertainment-related questions to [email protected] – with your first name, city and country – and we’ll try to answer as many as we can.

Question: What’s up with the second season of Exes & Ohs and when will it be aired? And by the way, is Marnie Alton gay?

– Katrin, Cologne, Germany

Answer: I checked with Logo, and the second season of Exes & Ohs will debut in the U.S. this summer. I don’t yet know what’s in store for the show, plot-wise, but you may be able to glean some tidbits from writer/star Michelle Paradise’s vlogs about making the second season. (Although she’s pretty good at keeping things secret!)

As for Marnie Alton, she’s not gay, sadly, although she is very, very gay friendly, and described herself as 42% on the “one to gay” scale in her appearance on The Julie Goldman Celesbian Interview Special last year.

Question: I’m a big fantasy fan, so I’m excited about Comedy Central’s new fantasy parody show Krod Mandoon, especially the cute woman in the cast with the sword. Is it any good?

– Camilla, Nashville, TN

Answer: Eh, it’s…OK. At least, that’s my take on it after watching the pilot.

First, here’s the official description of the series for those who aren’t familiar with it:

Kröd Mändoon is a thin-skinned and underconfident freedom fighter, who is the last great hope in the struggle against the evil ruler, Chancellor Dongalor. To help fight the great fight, Kröd has assembled a band of remarkably ineffectual freedom fighters: Aneka, the beautiful Pagan warrioress whose weapon of choice is sex, Loquasto, the oafish servant with bad aim, Zezelryck, the young warlock whose greatest magical gift is spinning BS, and Bruce, who’s simply fabulous. Together, they must overcome a myriad of evil obstacles in their quest to save the world, including name-calling, hired assassins and bad hair days.
While a spoof of fantasy movies is ripe for the making, I’m not sure this works as a TV series. It seems like a better idea as a movie. The writing in the pilot is very hit-and-miss – while there are some funny scenes and lines, the jokes gets a little stale and predictable after awhile.

The way they’ve written the female character, Aneka (India de Beaufort), doesn’t help. She is described as “a fierce warrioress skilled with many weapons but none more so than her unbridled Pagan sexuality.” Which basically means she’s a sex object with a sword. Although she does wield the sword well, Aneka’s greatest weapon is her sexuality (sidenote: is anyone else hearing Jenna’s voice from 30 Rock when you read that?). Aneka distracts bad guys by luring them to dark corners and servicing them, and there’s a running joke about her not wearing underwear.

And lest you think this is all done in an intelligent, subversive way that’s actually mocking sexism in fantasy movies: it isn’t. It’s just sexist.

The writers could have successfully parodied female fantasy characters like Xena, the White Witch or Susan in the Narnia movies, or Arwen in Lord of the Rings, but apparently they decided to model her after Red Sonja, instead.

And did I mention she’s the only woman among the cast and supporting characters? Yeah, a female-friendly show this is not.

Maybe it’ll get better over time. But I kinda doubt it. Watch this extended trailer and decide for yourself:

Krod Mandoon

Krod Mandoon Series Preview

The series premieres April 9 at 9pm on Comedy Central; go to the show’s official website for more info.

If you’re a big fan of fantasy, check out the new website TheTorchOnline.com, which has news and reviews related to all things fantasy in entertainment.

NEXT PAGE: TV shows headed to the big screen

Question: The recent movie versions of Sex and the City, The X-Files, and Land of the Lost (!) make me wonder if there are other TV shows coming to the big screen?

– Charlotte, Juneau, AK

 

Answer: There are a few TV shows headed to the big screen – and a few that definitely aren’t. Here’s a rundown of what we know about the status of several of these films, and my take on the odds of them happening.

TV Show: Arrested Development Status: All of the cast members of the ensemble comedy have signed on except Michael Cera (George Michael Bluth), who is reportedly holding out until he sees the script. Chances: 70%. TV Show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Status: Joss Whedon shot down hopes for a Buffy movie earlier this month, saying, “There’s not going to be one. That’s the update. Nobody has ever broached the subject from the studio side. I think everybody is busy working. I mean, I think it probably won’t happen. That’s my guess. The landscape changes constantly, but until someone who has millions and billions of dollars asks me that question, the answer is pretty much the same.” Chances: 1%

TV Show: Sex and the City Status: All four principal actresses and writer-director Michael Patrick King signed on with New Line for the sequel to the first movie (which has already grossed over $400 million worldwide), and now King just has to write the script. All that he’s said about the plot for the sequel is that he plans to switch up the tone and throw in some surprises. Chances: 95%

TV Show: Veronica Mars Status: Series creator Rob Thomas told EW this month, “I’m preparing the pitch now – literally now. I hope to go in and talk to [executive producer] Joel Silver and [Warner Bros.] in the next week or two to see if they’re interested.” Thomas has indicated that the plot will probably involve Veronica (Kristen Bell) solving a crime in college, not in the FBI. Odds: 50%

TV Show: Witchblade Status: The big-screen version of the TV series, which was based on the graphic novel of the same name, is reportedly already in development. Directed by Michael Rymer (Battlestar Galactica), written by Everett De Roche, and produced by Platinum Studios, IDG Films and Relativity Media, the poster for the film has already been released, even though the lead has yet to be cast: The writer of the comic series, Ron Marz, mentioned this month that he’s “had some unofficial discussions with one of the special effects houses that’s up for effects gig, giving some feedback on their approach,” adding, “the direction the movie is taking is not driving what we’re doing in the comics, though obviously both stay true to the concept of a woman wielding a powerful supernatural artifact.” Chances: 70%

TV Show: Wonder Woman Status: The film is considered actively in pre-production and is now tentatively scheduled for release in 2011, but it still has no finished script, or a star or director attached. It’s since been reworked with a contemporary setting, though it keeps the “origin” story on Paradise Island. Chances: 30%

TV Show: Xena the Warrior Princess Status: Former Xena producer Rob Tapert told SciFiWire.com in October that although everyone involved – including Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor – is interested in taking the show to the big screen, it’s up to NBC Universal to pull the trigger. “We’ve said long ago that we’d love to do something,” Tapert said. “We have a fun, 300-style idea for it. … I can’t answer [why nothing’s happening].” Chances: 20%

If you have any further updates for these films, let me know in the comments!

NEXT PAGE: Margarethe Cammermeyer, and an Otalia update

Question: I loved Serving in Silence. What’s Margarethe Cammermeyer up to these days? What does she think about the fact that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell might finally be overturned?

– Chick, San Francisco, CA

 

Answer: Margarethe Cammermeyer is currently running an adult care facility on Whidbey Island, Washington. She and her partner Diane are still together, but tragically lost one of their sons in a snowmobile accident in 2007.

In responding to my email, Cammermeyer wrote that she is “very hopeful that during the Obama administration we will see the overturning of the law,” due to the combined efforts over the last several years of many people and groups, like the Servicemembers Legal Defense Fund, to provide research on and speak out against bias against gays serving in the military.

She also included her thoughts on gay marriage:

We have certainly seen social changes take place throughout the states and yet there is a huge resisting force wanting to deny gays and lesbians their rightly deserved equal rights. Diane and I have been together for 20 years now and still thoroughly love our life and relationship. We married when we could in Oregon, only to have it annulled by the courts over a year later. Yet we do believe that marriage equality will be ours one day also. We have gotten wiser, older and plumper and are surrounded by friends and family who love us and whom we love.
For more on Cammermeyer, visit her official website.

Question: do you guys have any idea where Guiding Light is going with ‘Otalia’? I really love the story line so far, and the chemistry between the two actors. I really want them to become an official couple!

Alisha, Toronto, Canada Answer: I don’t know exactly where the CBS daytime drama is headed with the women’s relationship, but the show’s publicist provided me with this small teaser:

With Phillip’s return, the two women grow even closer trying to protect Emma. Down the road, Olivia will find an unlikely friend who will push her towards Natalia.
In light of Olivia’s admission yesterday of her feelings for Natalia, it looks like all that subtext in their relationship might soon become text.

More Otalia news? We have an interview with Crystal Chappell and Jessica Leccia coming up on the site in the next few weeks!

A new edition of Ask AfterEllen.com is published every Tuesday. Have a question for us? Email it to [email protected]. For more entertainment news, read previous editions of Ask AfterEllen.com, and check out AfterElton.com’s weekly entertainment Q&A column, Ask The Flying Monkey.

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