Film: Serenity

[fairnymph]

souny, I really have nothing more to say, as you continue to prove my points for me. Thanks! :D

 

[Tanuki_23]

I'm actually a big fan of Joss Whedon, so I think it's pretty safe to say that I also think this movie is going to suck. Even though I've previously loved Buffy and Roseanne.

I will end up seeing this movie, eventually, but calling it "movie of the year" and "absolute must see" is a bit crazy.

totally agree. so ridiculous.

 

[Tanuki_23]

Re: Film: Serenity opens THIS WEEKEND 9/30 - ABSOLUTE MUST SEE!

There is a movie coming out this weekend that you absolutely MUST, must see. It's important that you see it THIS weekend, Friday 09/30 or Saturday 10/01. It's important that you go see it in THEATRES, not download it. Why is it so important that you see this movie opening weekend, and pay to see it? Because it's not a big budget movie, relatively speaking, and it needs your support. It is, based on worthy opinions, the best movie of the year. If we want a sequel, if we want to support excellent original films, we have to go out and make this movie #1 in the box office this weekend!

Was I outta line to ask a simple question. I prefaced it by saying I knew nothing about her. Edited: all apologizes read your personal messages please.

Anytime a person practically demands that I go see a film (and take a friend for Christ's sake) without even seeing it, and only gives the reason that it has a small budget (IMO, I can think of a ton of independent movies with a hell of a lot smaller budgets, and a hell of a lot better messages/ purpose), I might be a little sceptical as to why that person is pushing the movie so much, and thought I was within my right to inquire why. I was half-kidding about the financial stake part (IMO a joke, are those not allowed?), but still dont see how that was a personal attack, especially considering what followed. I see no reason for my origianl post to be removed, as I wasn't attempting to personally attack. If I came across that way I apologize to you fairynimph, but this thread just seemed a little odd at the time. 8( 8( 8(

 

[lostpunk5545]

While I won't say that Brothers Grimm was as good as expected, it was pretty good.

Ummm... and the idea of a movie made by Joss Whedon doesn't really appeal to me. Especially one based on that terrible series.

 

[*=Regulator=*]

^
Joss Whedon's film/tv stuff really does tend to polarise people. It's either love with a fanatical passion, or laugh off as ridiculous with most people I know (sadly my friends, with the exception of a brave few, are firmly in the latter camp).

 

[Chaos Butterfly]

^^

I choose love with a fanatical passion!!

Serenity rocked!!

That is all.

 

[fairnymph]

Gee, I just love it when people who haven't seen the movie give it a 1! It's just so principled, and just!

*rolls eyes*

If you think firefly was a terrible series, you are mentally challenged. End of story.

 

[fairnymph]

Because anyone who has seen the movie, would not give below a 3. DUH!

Contrary to popular belief, taste is not relative.

 

[Benefit]

Because anyone who has seen the movie, would not give below a 3. DUH!

Contrary to popular belief, taste is not relative.

I hope you are joking. In the event that you are not joking, I will choose to believe that you are.

 

[Spencer]

See, the thing about Joss's work is, only snivvling Sci-Fi fanboy/girls like it.

I mean come on, There's a reason Buffy and Angel were on the WB and UPN, and not a respectable network, like Fox.

The simple fact of the matter is that Serenity is not going to be a mainstream accessible movie. The fanboys and otaku will flock, and they will all rave, but the general populous will pan this movie, as they have all of Joss's work. If you didn't like Joss's previosu work, it's a safe bet that you shoudl spend this weeks allowance on The Family Guy Movie (if you're into that sort of thing).

Terry Gilliam needs your help.

I damn near shit myself, that made my night.

And before you stroke out Julia, I absolutely adore Buffy/Angel/X-men, et al. I'm just being realistic. This movie is gonna be Joss's "Jersey Girl" and you know it.

 

[Spencer]

Cause it was funny...

 

[Chaos Butterfly]

See, the thing about Joss's work is, only snivvling Sci-Fi fanboy/girls like it.

I mean come on, There's a reason Buffy and Angel were on the WB and UPN, and not a respectable network, like Fox.

Wait a second...

did you just say respectable network...

Fox??

Are you fucking serious??

Fuck that deep and hard in the goat arse....

However that aside, Julia, you are really really really stretching if you think that EVERYONE who sees Serenity will vote this a 3+ Personally I voted it a 4, and if I could vote it more I would, but hello... this it Joss Whedon's work. It is always going to be niche awesome. There are always going to be the fanboys (and girls) like you and me who will absolutely devour all that Joss deigns to offer us, but *gasp* there are peopel who don't agree with our point of view.

So please do not denigrate others opinions.

Everyone has an arsehole. They also have an opinion. Most are smelly, but some we live with. Please do not denigrate others just because their ass smells...

Do you get my point?

PS serenity fucking rocked my world.

 

[Tanuki_23]

^Yea even shows on Fox make fun of Fox. That being said, Wheldon sucks.

 

[randycaver]

Interesting that it's 1's and 4's. No middleground?

I voted it a 4, for the record.

 

[fairnymph]

A great Chicago Tribune review:

Movie review: 'Serenity'

By Robert K. Elder
Tribune staff reporter

3½ stars (out of four)

Joss Whedon's intimate sci-fi epic "Serenity" rockets straight out of the universe of second chances.

Whedon seems to have cornered this market, having penned 1992's lackluster "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" feature, only to resurrect it five years later as the cult TV phenomenon starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.

"Serenity" takes the reverse course. It's the sequel to Whedon's groundbreaking "Firefly" TV series, which was mishandled (episodes aired out-of-order), then unceremoniously dumped by the suits at Fox. Fans protested and DVD sales of the series helped Whedon push "Firefly" through the black hole of cancellation to the silver screen.

And oh, what a movie it is. "Serenity" is a brash, funny, action-packed bit of sci-fi ecstasy—and a giant raspberry to the execs who let "Firefly" fall out of the sky.

But you needn't have seen a single episode to be blown away by "Serenity." Its first five minutes plunges audiences into Whedon's esoteric universe of outlaws living on the fringe of the Wild West-style frontier of space.

The movie begins with Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) struggling to keep the crew of spaceship Serenity together. Taking on fugitive siblings Simon (Sean Maher) and telepathic River (Summer Glau) has caused considerable strain on Serenity's fractured crew of smugglers—mostly because the unstable, unpredictably violent River is an escaped government she-weapon.

The Alliance, Whedon's totalitarian galactic state, wants River back—even at the cost of starting a small interplanetary war. Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Serenity's deadly nemesis, an unnamed "operative" with steely resolve and murderous methods. The calm, polite Ejiofor is the greatest asset in Whedon's war of ideologies.

"[When] I start a fighting a war, I guarantee you'll see something new," Reynolds says.

It's a promise Whedon keeps.

Outer space as the new western frontier isn't anything new. In fact, when Gene Roddenberry was trying to sell "Star Trek" to networks, he pitched it as "'Wagon Train' to the stars." Whedon takes the metaphor even further.

Characters talk in an artificial "OK Corral" vernacular (people are always "fixin'" to do something), pausing only to swear in Chinese. Mal's love interest, Inara (Morena Baccarin), works as a Companion, a revered class of intergalactic saloon courtesan. Space battles are at a minimum, since Serenity doesn't have any guns. No aliens. No transporter beams. No phasers on stun.

"Firefly" was never about the techie stuff, and unlike its peers, "Serenity" isn't designed to sell action figures (although, yes, there are toys). Instead, it's a character-driven series about fundamental human issues: love, the morality of genetic engineering, big government, etc.

Even so, "Serenity's" special effects look remarkable. Instead of offering intricately designed space fights on a static screen, the action sequences look as if they were captured on a hand-held camera, often out-of-focus and blazingly fast, much like the human eye sees.

But Whedon's primary allegiance remains with the human heart. Though the Inara/Mal relationship gets short shrift (mostly due to screen time allotted them, one suspects), pixieish mechanic Kaylee (Jewel Staite) finally reveals her twitterpation with Simon. Second-in-command Zoe (Gina Torres), her pilot husband Wash (Alan Tudyk) and mercenary Jayne (Adam Baldwin) also faces major changes—but keeping the Serenity clan intact remains the central theme.

"Serenity" carries an unexpectedly high body count and is far nastier than audiences may bargain for. Mal's face-off with the Alliance's operative feels a tad unsatisfying, if only because it defies convention. Then again, Whedon has made a career thumbing his nose as convention.

With "Serenity," Whedon has his cake and eats it too—wrapping up most of the major plots and themes of "Firefly," while leaving the door open (just a crack) for a new series—maybe even another film. This second chance deserves a third.

http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/...nity,0,6977065.story?coll=mmx-movies_top_heds

 

[fairnymph]

Another (nicely and accurately succint) review, from E! Online:

Our Review:
Firefly fans have been praying for Serenity ever since Fox canceled Joss Whedon's cult "space Western" show in its first season. And boy, have their prayers been answered. Serenity continues the adventures of the ship's ragtag mercenary crew in grand fashion, as they're pursued across the universe by an implacable badass of an assassin with an armada at his disposal. It all might move a bit too fast for the uninitiated, but Whedon's hybrid vision does walk a lot of fine lines very well: It's equal parts deadly action, deadpan comedy and knotty mystery. It's faithful to the die-hards and still deserves a larger audience. And most of all, it's a popcorn film that dares to be about faith and consequences (in more than a half-assed way). Grant yourself the wisdom to see it.

http://www.eonline.com/Reviews/Facts/Movies/Reviews/0,1052,88984,00.html

 

[fairnymph]

Los Angeles Times:

MOVIE REVIEW
'Serenity'
*Engaging, ragtag characters blend with action-packed script in Joss Whedon's universe.

Taking his craft back to space
By Kevin Crust, Times Staff Writer

To the uninitiated, "Serenity" may seem like just another "Star Trek" knockoff, but to so easily dismiss writer Joss Whedon's feature directing debut, a continuation of his short-lived 2002 sci-fi western TV series "Firefly," would be to miss out on a highly entertaining piece of genre-blending fun.

Already a cult hero based on the series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" — how many writers in any medium can boast fans devoted enough to wear T-shirts that read "Joss Whedon Is My Master Now"? — he further burnished his star among the faithful with "Firefly," which despite its incomplete run on Fox (11 of 14 episodes aired), gained fans through DVD sales and repeats on the Sci Fi Channel (where it's currently running on Friday nights).

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Picking up in a postwar 26th century where the TV series left off, "Serenity" overcomes mild patches of turbulence to sail straight and true. Whedon reconvenes the original cast, carves out a tidy story rooted firmly in the show's mythology and tosses in a bit of Samuel Taylor Coleridge to boot.

Whedon's not-so-ancient mariner, Capt. Mal Reynolds, a jaded veteran on the losing side of the War for Unification, is weighed down not by guilt and a dead bird, but a painful past and an enigmatic passenger. Played with wary resolve by Canadian actor Nathan Fillion, Mal has given up on the human race with his only priorities being the well-being of his crew and finding the next safe harbor.

The crew of Serenity — a Firefly class interplanetary cargo vessel — has more in common with the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang than the crew of the Enterprise as they whisk across a distant, human-colonized solar system pulling off enough small-time heists to keep them in food, munitions and replacement parts for the beleaguered ship. Their nemesis is the Alliance, a sort of militarized United Nations that governs the Central Planets with a utopia-gone-wrong idealism.

The crew and Capt. Mal share a love-hate relationship built on loyalty and self-preservation that is tested at every turn. The next in command is Zoe (Gina Torres), who served alongside Mal in the war and is Serenity's military tactician when they get into scrapes (which is often). Her husband, Wash (Alan Tudyk), is the ship's pacifist pilot. The heavy artillery comes in the form of Jayne (Adam Baldwin), a mercenary always on the lookout for a better deal. Sensitive Kaylee (Jewel Staite) keeps Serenity running with her gift for all things mechanical.

The comic exchanges among the crew initially seem like mere banter until you realize that Whedon is presenting well-developed relationships involving rejuvenated archetypes — something that will not surprise Whedon fans, who will be the ones in the theater laughing the loudest. Don't worry, the rest of us soon catch up.

There's no need to have seen a single episode of "Firefly" to digest any of this as Whedon craftily weaves the complex exposition into the main story. In the TV series, the crew picked up a pair of passengers who turn out to be more than the crew bargained for. Dr. Simon Tam (Sean Maher) signed on temporarily as Serenity's medic — the crew requires almost as much patching up as the ship — and he brought along his unstable sister, River (Summer Glau), who initially appears fragile and fairly helpless.

Far from it, River turns out to be a psychic prodigy the government subjected to cruel experiments, the result being some serious fighting skills and an erratic triggering mechanism. Simon spends a fortune and sacrifices his career to break her out of a top secret facility and the Alliance wants her back. Serenity and crew are pursued to the far corners of the galaxy by the Operative — a highly principled killing machine, played by British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor ("Dirty Pretty Things") — where they also face a cannibalistic breed of humans known as Reavers.

A strongly acted, well-written story fortified by riveting action sequences — a rarity these days among studio releases — "Serenity" should delight Whedon novices as much as the already converted. The fractured cowpoke syntax, sprinkled with occasional forays into Chinese, spoken by Whedon's characters is a little unsettling at first, but it quickly becomes part of the movie's charm. Odd as it may seem, a vernacular that includes phrases such as "I aim to misbehave" and "None of us know'd that" allows the filmmaker to kick the space western up a notch by connecting the two genres so explicitly. Whedon knows that he's blazing down a well-worn trail, but he addresses that by deftly adding elements of humor, action, romance and horror and continually confounding audience expectations.

http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-serenity30sep30,0,5098217.story?coll=cl-mreview

 

[Spencer]

The Fox comment was a joke. I figured that would be self evident.

 

[Chaos Butterfly]

The Fox comment was a joke. I figured that would be self evident.

Once again I should learn to think more and rant less when attempting to post while drunk... beer festivals will do that to you...

CB

 

[alasdairm]

On another note, who in the hell is moderating this forum?

the forum is currently moderated by onetwothreefour, Sideways_Falling and wanderlust - it's right there on the forum main page.

What happened to freedom of speech?

who guarantees freedom of speech on a private site? if you think you have freedom of speech here, perhaps you misunderstand the concept?

welcome back to f&t

alasdair