Timewaster's Guide Archive
Departments => Movies and TV => Topic started by: Eric James Stone on September 23, 2005, 01:06:53 AM
-
They're letting bloggers go to advance press screenings of Serenity. There's one next Tuesday in Salt Lake City.
If you have a blog, you can get on the press list here:
http://www.townhall.com/culture/BloggerScreenings.html
-
I signed up for my SC site. Also said the review would show up here on TWG.
-
I signed up for the SLC site.
-
I also signed up for the SLC site. Very cool.
-
Have you guys seen the viral marketing clips for serenity? Or does that have another thread somewhere?
-
Do you guys even like Serenity? Honestly?
Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
-
I don't know. I've not seen Serenity.
However, while I've only seen a little Firefly, I have thought what I've seen pretty neat.
-
I own the Firefly series on DVD.
-
The one episode I saw made me sick because of their horrible use of a chase came. Joss Whedon is not my master.
-
Did any of the rest of you get a confirmation email from the Serenity publicity people?
-
Apparently Eric did, cause he and I are going to the Screening tomorrow.
-
I didn't get an email, specifically, but the site said I was on the press list
-
mmmmmmm so much spacey goodness. Let's take a trip to Atlantis.
-
So, it turns out that I can't go to this tomorrow. Anyone want to go and say that they're me?
-
I would just to boo through out the thing.
-
DANG IT!DANG IT!DANG IT!DANG IT!DANG IT!DANG IT!DANG IT!
In can't go to this. DANG IT!
My son is getting his bobcat award at the exact same time as our screening. DANG IT!DANG IT!DANG IT!DANG IT!
Well, the Gibbs brothers are going to see it. They can review it.
[size=11]DANG IT![/size]
-
Well on the upside you can have them reenact it for you with sock puppets afterwords.
-
Sock puppets are a great way to present stories and ideas. (http://www.qwantz.com/fanart/Things_That_Dont_Exist.mov)
-
The even better upside is that now TWG has two press passes, provided the people who take advantage of them are male and liars (though that shouldn't be hard).
-
I made my own years ago. It works great.
-
why would I be a liar?
I told them I have a blog on Steam Clockworks, where I do. You confuse me.
-
He means for people who turn up and say 'Hello, I am Robinson Wells. I know lots of things about ways to tell men to kill other men.' when they are not, infact, the person they state.
-
Exactly: neither Skar nor Mustard can go.
-
heh heh heh
As a huge Firefly fan, I come to gloat that I saw Serenity at a screening earlier in the summer and, lo, it was good.
So very, very good.
-
I think me and Fell should go dressed as Stormtroopers and go around asking people which character in the movie turns into Darth Vader.
-
the sad part is they'll just tell you that you want the Dark Angel movie next summer.
-
Ohh...they're making a Dark Angle movie? With Jessica?.... ;D
-
Shhh, don't tell, but I'm sewing my husband a brown coat for this weekend. It's almost finished!
-
I feel obligated to mock you, but I can't. That's awesome.
-
no, the proper response is..."Thats Shiney!"
So, I saw the premier last night, thanks to my charm (Saint didnt get there in time :( )
All I can say is wow! Well I can say some other things too.
Lock up the small easily traumatized children. Reavers are scary. The alliance is bad. Jayne Cobb rocks! Kaylee is hot. The movie gets sad. River (Summer Glau) is an amazing fighter, the bar scene was done almost entirely by her (no stuntmen). Mal is smarter, tougher and darker. Oh and the special effects are way better than Revenge of the Sith. And the hick talk might annoy you after a while, maybe, if that sort of stuff bothers you.
-
I just spent all afternoon watching episodes of Firefly. SciFi was having a marathon. Now I have to see Serenity.
FYI Jeffe, Summer Glau is a professional Ballerina, hence she does a lot of her own stunts.
-
What Skar said. Except the part about going to a Court of Honor and getting a bobcat.
-
Shhh, don't tell, but I'm sewing my husband a brown coat for this weekend. It's almost finished!
Shiny!
There's a girl here in St. Louis who makes Jayne hats from "The Message." They're really, really good reproductions.
-
I knew she was a ballerina. Still ballet to martial arts mayhem was a big transition for me.
-
My review of Serenity is here: http://www.ericjamesstone.com/blog/index.php/2005/09/28/serenity
-
I just read your review. Whoa. Forgive me for an impertinent question. Surely the Firefly universe isn't supposed to be composed of a single solar system?
I did not get that impression from the episodes but ...If so... much of my enthusiasm for the series takes flight.
-
The movie makes it quite clear that it's only one solar system. Which explains why there was never any reference to FTL travel in the series.
I also have a problem with the science on this, as I don't see how that many planets could be within the habitable zone around the star -- particularly one planet that for plot purposes is very far out.
I really have no idea what Joss Whedon was thinking.
-
Well, let's see... This probably doesn't mesh with the map in the movie, but if I wanted to have a dozen planets and a hundred moons in the habitable zone, and I had terraforming capability that included gravity adjustment...
OK, let's assume the habitable zone, with terraforming, extends from about the orbit of Venus to about the orbit of Jupiter. (Using some greenhouse effect to maintain heat, and maybe orbiting solar mirrors to increase the amount of sunlight hitting the planet.)
I just used an orbital simulator to simulate nine planets varying from Mars to Earth mass at orbits 20 million kilometers apart, starting at 100 million kilometers from the sun. It looks like the orbits are pretty stable, at least over a thousand years. The simulator only allows for ten objects, but 20 million km separation of orbits would allow for twelve habitable planets between 100 million and 320 million km from the sun, which works.
The moons are more difficult to account for, but if we assume some of them are just asteroids put into orbit around some of the habitable planets, then I think it could work.
-
And thats why the terraforming didn't really take on all the worlds..
-
should you guys be starting a Spoiler thread for discussions like this?
-
why? None of this is a spolier. The Solar system thing is literally the first line in the movie...
-
I am so disappointed. What an idiot. If he's going to do sci-fi then he should at least TRY to be intelligent about it.
None of the people they're dealing with had anything like the technology needed to MOVE PLANETS for heaven's sake. I'd much rather have a single suspension of disbelief for FTL than have to swallow a single solar system having a dozen habitable worlds in it.
Gah. I'm officially pissed off. I may not go see the movie opening weekend now.
I mean really, if he wanted the feeling of a "neighborhood" there are a dozen ftl constructs that would provide that without a multi-planet solar system.
That reminds me of the romance novelist who petitioned for entyry into SFWA on the strength of having written a cookie cutter romance with Earth Venus and Mars instead of three different cities. She was finally told no because she had reversed the order of the planets from the sun.
-
They certainly had the technology to move asteroids, though.
And while twelve rocky planets in the habitable zone is unlikely, it is not, as far as I know, impossible. We know very little about what planetary configurations exist outside our solar system, except for large gas giants with eccentric orbits close to the primary.
-
I don't know... I was talking with a NASA guy and he was actually happier with it all being 1 solar system because FTL is just too unbelievable. It more feasible to have a couple of hundred worlds in a solar system get terraformed because the NASA definition of world includes asteroids the size of Texas, moon, and core planets. Assuming a solar system with more dense matter than ours 6 core worlds aren't a stretch neither are 14 or 18 other barely inhabitable worlds... Heck Saturn and Jupiter have dozens of moons themselves and the trojan asteroids have hundreds of worlds. Plus it explains why no one ever goes back to "earth that was" and why the Americans and Chinese seem to be in control, (a sticking point that a few Brazilians and Kenyans had).
Anyhow the real question is can you like the story without getting all bent out of shape about some of the science you dont like when the rest of the story is really good. Im reminded of some of the physics geeks who said they weren't going to watch the show anymore when Jayne needed air to fire VERA (Cause gunpowder has its own oxidizer in it) They missed a great show after that. Being movie makers and not hard core scientists I doubt they always get it right.
ANyhow the movies very good.
-
I've calmed down. The stories were always the best part of the show anyway, the reason I liked it. I can live with a different suspension of disbelief than I'm used to.
Now that I think about it you could fit more planets into the habitable zone of a bigger star yes? Further out, more circumference of the zone, etc...
I see it opening weekend again. Skar happy.
-
I left my computer at work running an orbital simulation with a sun, eight habitable planets from 1.0 to 2.4 million km out, and Jupiter. After simulating 86,772 years, 179 days, I think I can safely say the orbits are fairly stable.
-
some sci-fi writer who I cant remember the name of did a story around a blue giant at Vega with a habitable zone with 26 habitable worlds... so not impossible.
-
That has to be the single most inept recommendation i've ever heard Jeffe :P
-
:P yourself
-
We have movie... er... REVIEW sign! (http://www.timewastersguide.com/view.php?id=1162)
-
And I'd like to drop in the first paragraph from the New York Times
Scruffy Space Cowboys Fighting Their Failings -
It probably isn't fair to Joss Whedon's "Serenity" to say that this unassuming science-fiction adventure is superior in almost every respect to George Lucas's aggressively more ambitious "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith." But who cares about fair when there is fun to be had? Scene for scene, "Serenity" is more engaging and certainly better written and acted than any of Mr. Lucas's recent screen entertainments. Mr. Whedon isn't aiming to conquer the pop-culture universe with a branded mythology; he just wants us to hitch a ride to a galaxy far, far away and have a good time. The journey is the message, not him.
-
My few Serenity complaints...Less Chinese cursing.... less cast interaction (Fillian and Glau steal the show) no revealing information about Shepherd Book, and of course the tragic event that happens near the end....
HOW COULD HE!!!
Oh yeah its Joss.
Still overall it was a very strong piece of science fiction.
-
this is the kind of performance Harrison Ford would be giving if he were alive today [Because he's... wait.... ~SE] And Glau
There's no period in, before, or after the editorial comment. Unless there's a grammatical rule at work here that I'm not familiar with...
-
80% rating on RT, and the Critics seem to really like it.
And there is a VERY interview in time with both Neil Gaiman and Joss Whedon about nerds, fanbases movies and books. Gaimon also has a movie coming out today, Mirrorwalk.
that interview is here.
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1109313-1,00.html
-
Just got back from seeing Serenity.
Holy Schnickeys it is a well-put-together film. It so good it's...it's...shiney.
It does remind me a lot of Cowboy Beebop, but live-action and with better dialogue.
-
Im glad you liked it. The dialog is what clinched the series for me, witty and fun without being too hokey...
-
My few Serenity complaints...Less Chinese cursing.... less cast interaction (Fillian and Glau steal the show) no revealing information about Shepherd Book, and of course the tragic event that happens near the end....
HOW COULD HE!!!
Oh yeah its Joss.
Still overall it was a very strong piece of science fiction.
Um, Joss was relying on the audience to pay attention and figure Book out for themselves.
SPOILER ALERT:
Before becoming a Shepherd, Book was an Alliance Operative. See the movie again, They never say it outright, but it's obvious.
-
oh I know, and at the same time I dont....
I mean he never actually says it.
He could be a retired member of parliment (oh the irony) or an Alliance general...
heck nobody knows.....
I wanted that plot fleshed out more.
-
I just realized that I really meant to say was that I saw less in the movie and not that I wanted less...
-
this is the kind of performance Harrison Ford would be giving if he were alive today [Because he's... wait.... ~SE] And Glau
There's no period in, before, or after the editorial comment. Unless there's a grammatical rule at work here that I'm not familiar with...
You're right that there should be a period there. I don't know if that's our fault or whether it got messed up because of the gorram editorial comment, which I don't think was needed at all, but I bow to the discretion of our editor, who is kind enough to post our reviews.
I think it was pretty obvious that we were being sarcastic about Harrison Ford being dead. But if you saw "Hollywood Homicide," it's much much less painful to think of him that way.
-
so true... so very true
/me weeps
-
So, I'm watching the series for the first time, and in the second episode ('train heist') an alliance deskmonkey says, "cargo theft of medical supplies in the Georgina system".
Discuss.
-
Well it was the least consistant episode,... essentially written in a day because the FOX execs hated the pilot (episode 1) and threatened to cancel the show before episode one was finished filming. One of the many screw-ups that sank the show....
But the planet is actually a moon around a gas giant, so that could be part of the answer... could just be a way to catagorize the system 500 years in the future... like saying a theft in the Shire of York, or Fairfax County... especially since the Giant itself is not habitable but the system of moons around it was.
-
Heh. Also, the G-men said they had come 86 million miles. I dont know the distances from planet to planet but that seems too much for one system but too little for interstellar.
-
its 886.7 million miles from the sun to Saturn (generally thought to be the farthest we could live from earth using massive t-forming (Titan)
-
So I dont know how Rottentomatoes scores itself but Serenity has an 80 again after dipping down to the high 70's... Im not quite so sure why some of the "critics" actually get weighted as high as they do, you can see some serious bias in more than a few of the "Its the worst movie ever made posts" serious sci-fi hating bias not to mention I dont think they saw the same movie I did. Theyre talking about laserguns, and River wearing SS boots when she goes all wonky and murderous.
Still..
Most of the posts have been overwhelmingly positive, and the one or two critics I think people listen too (Namely Ebert (a 45% rate)) have raved about Serenity. Personally I want to see the movie get a RT value higher than Star Wars III, just for effect.
80% approval is good though... dont y'all think?
-
Episode 3 got 82%. So, close.
-
the sad part is they'll just tell you that you want the Dark Angel movie next summer.
Is this a rumor you're starting or a real thing that's going to happen? Because I've been renting Dark Angel and just finished the last disc tonight. Only TWO seasons? No fair!
-
rumor... but It could happen Alba is a hot tamale in Hollywood right now, and reviving dead shows seems popular...
-
And she was so incredible in "Fantastic Four." You almost believed that she was real instead of C.G.I.
-
Episode 3 got 82%. So, close.
It's down in the 70s now. Seams the biggest complaints of the movie are:
1) the main character is unlikeable
2) It's too smart for it's own good, to the extent that sometimes is seams like whole scenes were set up just for whitty banter and didn't help in advanceing the plot much.
Haven't seen it yet but they seam like fair criticisms, especially #2 which he did in his TV shows too often.
-
its been teetering at 79-80 and honestly the biggest complaint I saw was... "it science fiction" I dont think I ever saw one that said Mal was unlikeable. Too talky yes... and more than a few saying its sci-fi so why do the guns look like guns and not rayguns...
But as RT has expanded to some rather dubious critics Im less inclined to get worked up over it.
For instance take this womans bad review
Horrible.
SERENITY
By
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com
This is a woman who gave Rob Schneiders "The Animal" a Fresh rating...
Its quite obvious that her Judgement is in question,
-
The movie was okay, not awesome. It could have been a lot better, but some stuff seemed kind of pointless or just dumb. I know nothing about the TV show, never even saw a preview or anything, so I don't know anything about that. Like I always thought it was supposed to be some ripoff of Taken or something until I saw the movie preview.
Of course I would kind of expect for Joss Whedon to screw up a good idea once he started tinkering with it, ie Buffy was dumb, but Angel ended up being pretty cool cause he handed it off to someone else. (further proof IMO is that the few episodes of Angel that he did direct were lame).
-
Well it's hard to grab the full gripe with a rotten review, or even a good one for that matter, from the one sentence blurbs on RT.
-
So despite my efforts I came across a spoiler in someones LJ. Blah. Stupid smacktards who won't give spoiler warnings before blabbing plot points. >:(
-
It should be an international crime to do so.
-
I don't know if that's our fault or whether it got messed up because of the gorram editorial comment, which I don't think was needed at all, but I bow to the discretion of our editor, who is kind enough to post our reviews.
I think it was pretty obvious that we were being sarcastic about Harrison Ford being dead. But if you saw "Hollywood Homicide," it's much much less painful to think of him that way.
trust me, it was needed. Not only did I hesitate, but I had a couple people ask me about it.
-
Serenity had a weak opening, only grossing 10.1 million. It was still number 2 at the box-office. Largely, this was a weak box-office weekend.
-
I'd like to clarify that the editor identified by the handle "SE", is not me.
About Serenity:
On the whole I was disappointed. I went in with high expectations, which probably exacerbated my disappointment. It was a decent piece of sci-fi. The acting was great, the story only a little unfocused. But it was too much an extended sitcom and too little a bigger, tighter, more serious work.
I don't think entire scenes were designed to support witty banter. I do think entire scenes were wrecked by it. Joss did a very good job of building up emotional tension. Unfortunately, he'd immediately dissipate it all, uselessly, with overly cute and witty sitcomesque dialogue. Many of the scenes he built up were worth far more than he got out of them by "going for the laugh."
Oh well. We've had the two ends of the spectrum now. Episode III, which took itself far too seriously, and Serenity, which didn't take itself seriously enough. Maybe someone will start striking a good balance soon.
And finally, I'm disappointed by the "naughty bits" that were thrown in. I'll not be letting my kids see the film until I'm comfortable explaining to them what Kaylee could possibly mean by battery operated widgets in her nether regions. And therefore won't be buying the DVD anytime soon. What a sad, forced, little bit of cheapness to have been thrown in.
-
Joss does indeed have different values than some people.. he's not afraid to touch on sex in ways that might shock some people but he did that a little on his shows too... so... and lets face its easier to explain than a full blow sex scene...
Oh yeah Kaylee had a gameboy advance...
yeah thats it
The low box office numbers...
on the whole box office numbers across the board are way lower than the last few years (I read somewhere 29% lower than last year) it seems high gas prices and movie theater malaise have caught up with movies again. Were fans a factor in serenity's moderate performance, (I doubt it there arent "that many" of them.)
Im not surprise that the reaction to the movie has been kind of love hate,... I've seen 3 major reactions so far. I love it and no one can tell me different. I hate it because its too talky/ preachy/ not like I was expecting (this also includes hard to follow), or I hate it because Joss hates true fans. (the last is sour grapes at a major spoiler that I cant discuss).
Now I do take issue at hard to follow because its not a complex movie. In fact as far as Sci-fi goes its really uncomplex. You dont have to know much about whats going on it helps to know more (there are some in jokes including the "you can't stop the signal" tag line) but mostly I think if you hated it because if you thought it was hard to follow you almost deliberately didnt really want to follow it.
-
he's not afraid to touch on sex in ways that might shock some people but he did that a little on his shows too... so... and lets face its easier to explain than a full blow sex scene...
True enough. Not nearly as bad as a full-blown sex-scene.
But why is it assumed that touching on "sex in ways that might shock some people..." is something only brave people do? It's all too common and trivial nowadays. I'd say that the brave thing Joss did was leave it out as much as he did. (I don't follow his other TV shows so I can't speak beyond this movie) My complaint was less, "How dare he talk about sex at all," and more, "Dang it, I would have loved to show this to my older kids if it weren't for those couple of things he threw in for absolutely no reason at all." They were pointless and forced. He could have gotten exactly the same ideas across without going for the juvenile snicker.
-
DVD's and home theaters have cut into movie prices too, I think it was somewhere around 40% of people poled said they preferred to wait a few months and get something on DVD to watch at home the bother with seeing a movie in the theater. This is also a slow time of the year for movies as well, and this week is going to be harder for Serenity to gain 1st place since Wallace and Grombit opens this Friday.
-
I'm fairly certain that Wallace and Gromit is going to trounce both Flightplan and Serenity.
I also agree with Jeffe, I don't think that it is that hard to follow at all. It really is a fairly straight forward action-adventure space opera. There are little things that would be explained better if you've seen Firefly, but they weren't crucial to the plot. I've only seen a few episodes of Firefly and I don't see how seeing those episodes helped me understand Serenity more.
I do agree that I don't like how much sex Whedon puts into his work. Seasons 4 and 6 of Buffy are completely ruined for me because of trivial way he treats sex in those seasons. Whedon has a promiscuous side that makes me a little distrustful of his work.
Course one thing I really like about Whedon is how he doesn't linger on one particular emotion. I really like how his stuff bounces around emotionally. He builds up tension then dissabates it with humor then breaks the humor with horror which then leads to tragic drama and back to humor. I just the like joining the ride.
-
When you talk about the slump in ticket sales, you have to remember that last year was much larger than average, in large part due to Passion of the Christ inflating ticket sales to unrealistic degrees. I honestly don't think that we can blame "a bad year for movies" on the current ticket sales for pretty much anything.
That said, I do see a downward trend in ticket sales--I don't think it's hit yet, but it will, and the Passion of the Christ inflation might have helped us to notice it earlier than we would have otherwise. Something will ahve to be done, and my best recommendation is simply to improve the theater experience: get rid of cell phones and pre-movie commercials and you'd see a big change right there, I'm guessing.
-
I dont think I said brave Skar I just said not afraid... Given the new trend in R movie to be near pornagraphic, I dont mind that he dialed it back a lot...
I agree w/ 42 about W&G too ... much more mass appeal, its g rated (which always sells better) and its genuinely different than traditional animation. But I think flightplan is gonna fall far out of the slot too...
I think Serenity will pick up a little steam...
Ebert gave it a good review and lots of folks still listen to him... the bulk of all reviews have said the movies fun.... compare that to flightplan which got horrible horrible reviews and I think it will be the #2 movie for a few weeks...
-
Ok. Good point. I rephrase:
Why is it assumed that touching on "sex in ways that might shock some people..." is something only people who are not afraid do?
The difference in the meaning of the two sentences is truly shocking. Avast ye.
I gave Joss props for dialing it back a great deal. My complaint is that he put what he did in at all. It was pointless and did nothing for the film or the develpement of the characters involved.
My point with the whole brave/not-afraid thing is that people are still given edginess/originality points for including either juvenile or near pornographic sexual content in their work when doing so is about as mainstream as you can get.
-
So Serenity made 10.1 million in 3 days and it cost 40 million to make. That isn't bad.
Course, the theaters in this area sure are not pushing it.
-
Their poster really sucks as well.
-
Actually, there poster is pretty bad. It really doesn't convey much about the movie.
-
there were many posters in the info they gave to the bloggers who signed up for the advance screenings. I'll post and link to a couple tomorrow at work.
Some of them were much better than the one they ended up using I think.
-
I'd like to clarify that the editor identified by the handle "SE", is not me.
About Serenity:
On the whole I was disappointed. I went in with high expectations, which probably exacerbated my disappointment. It was a decent piece of sci-fi. The acting was great, the story only a little unfocused. But it was too much an extended sitcom and too little a bigger, tighter, more serious work.
I don't think entire scenes were designed to support witty banter. I do think entire scenes were wrecked by it. Joss did a very good job of building up emotional tension. Unfortunately, he'd immediately dissipate it all, uselessly, with overly cute and witty sitcomesque dialogue. Many of the scenes he built up were worth far more than he got out of them by "going for the laugh."
Oh well. We've had the two ends of the spectrum now. Episode III, which took itself far too seriously, and Serenity, which didn't take itself seriously enough. Maybe someone will start striking a good balance soon.
And finally, I'm disappointed by the "naughty bits" that were thrown in. I'll not be letting my kids see the film until I'm comfortable explaining to them what Kaylee could possibly mean by battery operated widgets in her nether regions. And therefore won't be buying the DVD anytime soon. What a sad, forced, little bit of cheapness to have been thrown in.
Did you watch "Firefly"? Admittedly, the batteries line went pretty far, but their were entire epsidoes of "Firefly" about Inara's work as a companion that were worse. It's not something that I would have ever considered taking my kids to, if I had any.
Gotta disagree about Episode III taking itself too seriously. I don't see where there was room for comic releif in such a dismal story.
-
Yeah, I watched "Firefly" and you're totally correct about parts of the series being much worse. Mostly why I didn't consider taking my kids to see it.
My gripe is that the movie was so close to being clean and kid-worthy that it was really frustrating that "they" felt the need to throw in the dodgy bits that they did. It was like they said to themselves, "Well, this is a really clean movie. Kids might be able to watch it and not have a permissive juvenile view of sex enforced. Let's throw in some naughty bits." "But the movie's great right now, naughty bits will add nothing to it." "Put some in anyway. We can't be without the naughty bits."
To clarify further, if Inara had been more of a major character in the film I wouldn't have a gripe. I still wouldn't take my kids to see it but I wouldn't have a gripe.
It was just so pointless.
-
Gotta disagree about Episode III taking itself too seriously. I don't see where there was room for comic releif in such a dismal story.
I'm not really looking for comic relief there. Just some less pretentious dialogue.
-
I don't think the movie being better than the series has much to do with whether the batteries line is offensive or not.
I'm not really looking for comic relief there. Just some less pretentious dialogue.
I'd have been happy just with dialog that didn't suck.
-
I don't think the movie being better than the series has much to do with whether the batteries line is offensive or not.
Yeah, two different issues being discussed there. Patrick was asking why I didn't expect a little dodginess from having seen the series, and then he moved on to question my categorization of EpIII taking itself too seriously in tandem with Serenity not being serious enough.
-
this ... http://lookingcloser.org/movie%20reviews/Q-Z/serenity.htm is a really interesting review...
Caution there are spoilers!!!!
-
Whether or not it had the sex stuff, I do not think it's kid-friendly.
Reavers. Skeletons. Mummified corpses. Hundreds of people bloodily slaughtered by the Operative.
He really walked the line for Karen and me in that regard. Well...I think he was slightly over the line. The rest of the movie barely made up for it.
When we went to see the movie, I had totally forgotten about the Reavers. (And I didn't see every single episode of the show.) And I don't recall the trailer hinting at all at those constant memory-flashes of mummified bodies Reaver was having. The movie was disturbing. We liked it. It was a good movie. But it's probably better to see edited for television, and it's not something I'd invite my mother to.
I am glad that he gave us the plausible explanation for the Reavers' existence and tied everything together so nicely. And I'm glad that there wasn't enough about Inara in the movie that Karen, who hadn't seen the series, didn't guess her profession (it's something that really bothers me about the series).
If there are sequels later, we'll probably watch them. And I'd like to see all the episodes some day (with the option to stop watching any episode in the middle if I feel like it). But I wish it didn't have so much objectionable stuff. I don't need horror and sex in my sci-fi.
-
I'm the opposite. Despite my love for star trek, Sci Fi never feels quite 'real' to me, without those elements. There is more innuendo and sex related jokes in the average session of the local roleplayers society than there was in the whole of Firefly. It works in trek since they explain it (whole society doesn't curse, though other races do), and you wouldn't really expect on-duty military types to be whipping out the dodgy lines all the time, but in other sci fi it just fails to feel 'normal' when nobody curses.
-
I'm not really looking for comic relief there. Just some less pretentious dialogue.
"Yousa point is well seen." Honestly, I like some of the pretentious dialogue in the "Star Wars" movies, but it can be a bit much.
-
Well it looks like Serenity is performing in the theaters just as well as it did on TV, took in 4.9 million and dropped to #9 at the box-office. It'll probaly drop out of the top ten before it's been out a month.
-
but since it only cost 40 million it will have made all of it back and then some... so hey not so bad.
-
Well most movies now days make all their money on DVD and not in the theaters so while it will probably come close to breaking even (40 million plus probably 5 or so for marketing) by the end of the year it'll make that back quite quickly on DVD.
-
Did you see Orson Scott Card's review (http://hatrack.com/osc/reviews/everything/2005-09-30-extra.shtml)?
-
I'm not going to say it's the best science fiction movie, ever.
Oh, wait. Yes I am.
What the hell? I can't believe Card wrote that, what a dork. Next he'll say Whedon is good as Shakespeare. Oh, wait. I think he already did.
:-[ This is Zach loosing respect for Card.
-
Ya I also liked how he said if you don't like the movie it's because you're either stupid or immature. I like Card, but he does have a habit of saying dumb things like that.
-
I'm not in the habit of reading Card's reviews, and now I see that it's not a habit I need to bother developing. That was barely coherent.
-
I just wanted to say that I have finally seen Firefly! Yay! That was a great show. Now I have to go see the movie.
-
Waaaa! I just realized that no theatres in the area are still carrying Serenity. There's one out in Redmond, but that's a ways out there (I *think* it's about 45 minutes to an hour east of here). But I think I'll still try to go out there next week and see it. I've never been to Redmond anyway, so I should explore a little more.
-
Better hurry, and make sure it's still there before you start your drive...