*SPOILERS* B5: TLT: Voices in the Dark - *SPOILERS*

[Jan]

Pretty much, Joe. And I've been to enough cons to see just how much work the actors really do at them. When I saw Claudia a couple of months ago locally she was great at the autograph table. She shook hands with everybody and made sure that each person had a moment with her.

Jan

[raw_bean]

I'm glad you did send it to AICN for the exposure, Joe. I'm not a big fan of that site but you're right, it gets the traffic. I see that Raw Bean has been posting in the Talkback section.
...
Jan

That's because I am a big fan of the site - retards, crazies and trolls in the talkbacks aside. I actually struck up quite a few friendships with a group of folks on there who I've subsequently met and thoroughly enjoyed the company of on a couple of trips to the States. Other than that I do my best to inject the occasional drop of sanity in the oceans of lunacy that go on over there.

Nice, balanced review Joe. Given that I tend to dismiss the upper bound raves and the lower bound pannings of any given project, your restrained and critical yet positive review gave me more hope of enjoying VitD than any delirious endorsement of it as the second coming would.

[Joe Nazzaro]

Thanks Bean; I just try to call 'em as I see 'em, although if I felt extremely negative about a project, I probably just wouldn't review it, as opposed to writing a nasty piece. That being said, I generally don't hesitate to point out what I think is a project's faults, as I did with TLT where I was genuinely troubled by the lack of extras in frame. While I tend to think this was more of a budgetary decision than an aesthetic one, it still bothered me which is why I made of mentioning it.

[Jan]

Joe, can you tell us about the menus on the disk? Do the two segments play straght through? Thanks,

Jan

[Joe Nazzaro]

The main menu lists Voices in the Dark (which will play the entire story) or you can click on 'Over Here' (for the Lochley story) or 'Over There (for the Sheridan/Galen story.

The Features menu is divided into:
Interviews (JMS & Bruce, Tracy and JMS and Peter)

Memorials (Andreas and Richard)

The Straczynski Diaries (Joe's Role, Babylon 5 Set Construction, Sock Puppets/Directors Cut, Joe Straczynski in a Sea of Green, The Destruction of New York, Babylon 5 Visual Effects)

Fireside Chats (a series of JMS to-camera interviews about five minutes apiece: The Babylon 5 Universe, Why Babylon 5?, On Returning to Babylon 5, The Fans of B5, People Watching, The Experiment).

[Jan]

Thanks. Is it just a stationary menu or is there anything like the 'opening door' or morphing characters like on the season sets?

Can't wait to see the sock puppets. Whole thing, really. I'm glad I've got the con to distract me for a good part of the next week.

Jan

[Joe Nazzaro]

Jan, it's a static menu. And I think the sock puppets were great; the best part is seeing Joe and Doug watching the scene intently on the monitors and they suddenly cut to the sock puppets voiced by the original actors. If you don't get a laugh out of the Galen sock puppet, with a black Sharpie instead of his staff, you're watching the wrong DVD!

[Jan]

JMS is a very sick man. I like that... Now let's hope it becomes a regular feature. I want to see a Londo sock puppet. And a Minbari sock puppet. Maybe even a pak'ma'ra?

I'm a very sick woman...I worry about me sometimes.

Jan

[Joe Nazzaro]

You will see one of them on the DVD- but I'm not telling you which one!

[Jan]

Oh...my...

[Quarxius]

I think the whole sock puppet thing just goes to show you that Sifl & Olly might have had a permenant effect on his mind. I certainly know mine is permenantly warped. Never getting to see a JMS sock puppet is something I will regret to the end of my days.

[Jan]

Thanks, DougO. Wonder where he got the idea that there are supposed to be 6 Lost Tales disks, though?

Jan

[Shabaz]

From the link Doug just posted:

"The DVD is the first of a planned 6 that will look at select characters from the series that will fill in bits of their story as well as that of the Babylon 5 universe as a whole."

Kind of scratching my head over that quote. Is that actually based on something, or did someone just make that?


I think I liked the AICN review better, better written than the short one just posted. Speaking of which, I'm kind of curious how Joe Nazzaro feels it fits into the progression that has often been made regarding B5 spin-offs and TLT: Season 1-5, TNT movies of the week, Crusade, LotR. How much did you like those, and how does TLT compare when put at the end of that list? I'm guessing its returning more to the original show's tone than any of the previous projects, but I'm curious what Joe thinks about that.

[RMcD]

Thanks, DougO. Wonder where he got the idea that there are supposed to be 6 Lost Tales disks, though?

Wouldn't it be great if he really did know something we don't (here's hoping)?

I'd really be curious to know whether Lost Tales holds up compared to what's happened since the Rangers pilot (that was 2002 wasn't it?) I think this is the first B5 to be released post-Firefly, post-new BSG, and post Star Trek going extinct. Those were such seismic changes, has it changed in any way to keep up with the times?

[Jan]

Wouldn't it be great if he really did know something we don't (here's hoping)?

Only if by 'planned' the writer actually meant 'already approved'. Because, at least as far a I know, JMS hasn't put a limit on how many Lost Tales disks there might be.

Jan