Live Blogging "Dollhouse"

Back with live blogging commentary as the second season premiere of Dollhouse airs on Fox! The standard warning about spoilers (lots and lots of spoilers) applies . . .

9:01PM - Topher just called (former) Agent Ballard "frenemy."  LOL!

9:03PM - Alexis Denisof's name just popped up in the credits.  So glad to see him on TV again!  Especially opposite Eliza Dushku.

9:05PM - They did not just make a Jonas Brothers joke.  Oh my.  And Amy Acker is deliciously twisted so far.

9:13PM - Grrrreat.  Rich dude's crazy wedding fantasy.  And wedding night fantasy.  Hope he doesn't have a thing for crossbows and hunting like one of last year's Dollhouse clients did.

9:15PM - So it's a job within a job for Echo, eh?  She's an undercover FBI agent playing her new groom for a fool because he's an arms dealer. And Ballard's the client?!!  Did he not quit the FBI?

9:16PM - I guess arms dealing means this guy packs weapons a lot worse than a bow and arrow.  Potentially big ouch!

9:21PM - Well, that implied kiss just made all sorts of fanboys in the Whedonverse happy.

9:23PM - Weiiiiird hearing former "Watcher Wesley" speaking with a flat Yankee accent instead of a British accent.  And how does the Dollhouse keep sucking in these good guys like Langton and Ballard?

9:28PM - Jamie Barber is looking awfully good in that button down shirt. Wouldn't have minded a multi-episode arc for him.  And either Eliza is wearing really high heels, or Jamie Barber is kinda short . . .

9:32PM - This glimpse into Topher's psyche is exactly the kind of development this show needed to hook audiences in.  And more kudos to Amy Acker for her acting in this ep. Wonderful depth and emotion.

9:37PM - The "you're human" and the "Roomba" quip make me wonder if wemight be seeing some robotics later this season?  Just a possibility.

9:42PM - Eek.  Bad time for a glitch.  Bad, bad time for a glitch.  I'm liking the new energy in this premiere.  The tension has been ratcheted up a few notches.  The stakes feel higher (if I may continue with the chain of cliches).

9:47PM - "Special Agent in Charge of Bugger All."  Sounds like a job title far too many people have at their respective companies.

9:49PM - Looking forward to the moment when . . . oh, there it goes.  The moment when Echo recalls one of her kung-fu fightin' imprints.

9;51PM - Considering the nature of so many of the jobs that they send the Actives on, Echo's not going to be of much use to the Dollhouse if pain makes her glitch.

9:59PM - The biggest problem that I'm spotting with the premiere is that right now I'm more curious about what's going on with the characters of Whiskey and Topher than I am about Echo and Paul Ballard.

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Learn More About the Movie "9" from the Creators & Actors

With Shane Acker's 9 debuting in theaters tomorrow, we thought you'd enjoy gearing up with high-def video clips of the 9 Q&A session that was held at San Diego Comic-Con.  The panel included director Shane Acker, Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov, Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly.

Enjoy the clips and don't forget to visit our Pop Wenches YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/popwenches for all of our latest videos!

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"Twitterviews" with Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly by Focus Features

Ramping up promotions for the September 9 release of Shane Acker's 9 movie, Focus Features is conducting live "Twitterviews" with film stars Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly today at www.twitter.com/FocusFeatures.  The questions were submitted by fans through Twitter.

The interview with Wood was scheduled to start at 11:00AM PST, but didn't start until about 10 minutes ago.  Jennifer Connelly's interview is scheduled to start at 12 noon PST.

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Yet More Film News: 9 Art and Video, Del Toro Talks Hobbit

- MTV has some exclusive video and artwork from the upcoming CG animation movie 9, which features the voice talents of Elijah Wood, Martin Landau, Jennifer Connelly and John C. Reilly. Click here to check out the two-minute video clip and the artwork. [MTV Movies Blog]

- Guillermo del Toro discussed the whole gamut of his upcoming projects with BBC News. The interesting interview includes the director's thoughts on his film versions of The Hobbit, Frankenstein, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, along with his new series of vampire horror novels cowritten with Chuck Hogan. [BBC News]

- Clint Eastwood's latest feature, the Nelson Mandela story Invictus, has been given a December 11 release date by Warner Bros. Morgan Freeman stars in the film, which focuses on "Mandela's attempt to use the 1995 Rugby World Cup to heal his nation following his release from prison, the fall of apartheid and his election as president of South Africa." Matt Damon plays Francois Pienaar, captain of the South African rugby team. [Variety]

- John Stamos evidently has a burning desire to bring both The Jeffersons and Full House to the bigscreen. Oh. Dear. [Entertainment Weekly]

Holy cow, there's been a ton of film news this week!

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Elijah Wood for 9 @ WonderCon 2009

Oh Elijah! Why?

You did a great job onstage introducing us to your upcoming, Tim Burton-produced, animated film, 9, but WHY WERE YOU ROCKING A '70s PORN STAR-LITE LOOK??

Don't give me an "ummm" Elijah. You're cute even when you're not toting around the uber-Ring o' Doom, so why are you doing this to us? Just tell us it's for a role and this look isn't a personal choice, it's an employment obligation.

Okay, okay -- I understand that this is hard to hear. But unclench your jaw Elijah. Let me hold a mirror up to you for a moment instead. See that fuzzy caterpillar walking across your upper lip? See those side-swept, kinda greasy-looking bangs? Is that really what you want when you're out promoting a new movie? Is that going to help your cause?

Oh, thank goodness. You finally understand and share our well-founded concerns.

It's okay Elijah. The panel's almost over so why don't you head out for a nice shave and a haircut and we'll forget this ever happened.

* * * * *

And since this blog is supposed to be about reviews, the footage for 9 looked good. The animation is beautifully done and has a disctinctive look since the story's set in a post-apocalyptic world and follows the adventures of living rag dolls (think Nightmare Before Christmas not Raggedy Ann).

The footage we saw featured a lot of exciting action sequences complete with explosions and scary-looking mechanical monsters. The voice cast is strong -- it includes Martin Landau, Jennifer Connelly and John C. Reilly. 9 is definitely not an animated film geared toward little kids and it looks like it will have plenty going on to keep an adult's attention. It caught my interest and I'm not a fan of the darker, gothic-feeling animated films.

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