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Serenity is anything but serene No prize for now guessing why not much blogging got done today…As Paul Marks got his review up first, I will content myself with just a few observations about Joss Whedon’s magnificent Serenity.
It is what the last three Star Wars movies were trying to be but failed. Serenity has an engaging story, good direction and brilliant writing (it is a tour de force of quips and memorable one liners) and as Paul points out, it is extremely sound politically.
It is also very well cast, with Nathan Fillion truly marvellous as the charismatic Captain ‘Mal’, playing it every inch the Wild West hero (for this movie is nothing if not a Western which just happens to be set in outer-space). Also convincing is the bizarrely named Summer Glau, whose strange looks and lithe moves are well suited to the demented character she plays.
Highly recommended! Run, do not walk, to your nearest cinema. Do not wait for the DVD!
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“No prize for now (sc. not?) guessing why not much blogging got done today…”
Drowning your sorrows over England’s lacklustre performance yesterday?
spoilers ahead wash dies defending his copy of the fountainhead
Eh?
So can we use lines from this film as Quote of the Day material now? I saw it last week and have been agog ever since.
Well at least we all know what you do for a living then – write headers for spamming companies.
Actually one thing that struck me about going to see Serenity was the dreadful threats and, for want of a better phrase, ‘hate advertising’ that moviegoers in the UK are subjected to before you get to see the main picture.
Before the adverts begin you are subjected to threats about how you will be prosecuted for copying DVD’s of the movie, downloading the movie, watching a downloaded movie and how it is illegal to copy a DVD etc etc ad nauseam – all this coated with the MPAA’s logo. Apart from the following mix of truly bad adverts (the lastest Orange one attacking John Cleese was met with complete silence by the audience in the cinema where I was) and “public service announcements” (i.e. do this, don’t do that) you are then exhorted to switch off your mobile phone, don’t smoke, don’t eat noisily, don’t drink noisily, don’t cough … all under the euphemistic slogan of “don’t add your own special effects”.
Lastly, just before the start of the movie, you are greeted with yet ANOTHER MPAA advert warning you of the dangers of using your mobile phone or any other device to record this movie.
It takes a damn good movie like Serenity for one to sit through 25 minutes of this sort of audiovisial abuse.
Julian, that is why I never try to turn up on time. Just give it usually 10 minutes to skip past the annoying Orange cell phone adds, trailers, blah.
Luniversal, from what I know about Perry, he does not give a rat’s ass about cricket.
My blogging activity was light on Sunday. I blame the port at Michael Jennings’ flat on the day before. Oh dearie me.
It seems some people think its racist as well. Trekkies doncha just love em’?
The first officer of the Serenity is black and female, the priest (and moral conscience of a lot the plot) is a black man.
What more do they want?
As for the chief baddie being black – he is no sterotype, he is about a far from a street thug as it is possible to be.
Here is some great writing on Firefly and Serenity:
http://catallarchy.net/blog/archives/2005/10/10/serenity-shindig/
Serenity
Paul Marks, indeed. The villain is superbly acted. I guess what must have tee’d off the usual PC morons is that they had the shock of a black guy speaking Received BBC English rather than talking as is he came off a public housing estate in Chicago. How condescending can the PC crew be?
I did not detect a tincture of cultural “elitism” in this film, not one.
I may even go and see it again.
I thought the Firefly is right-wing racist rubbish was one of the freaking hilarious piece of idiocy I have seen on BC in a very long time. There are people who trawl the site to declaim the rise of the neo-Confederacy.
Do one of the A’s in MPAA stand for “Alliance?”
I will probably wait until it comes out on DVD to see it as I rather loath going to the movies. But it looks to be something worth watching; no doubt causing me to go back and watch the series again.
Nope, its the ‘ Motion Picture Association of America’ and is mostly generally abbreviated to ‘Motion Picture Ass. of America’ … how apt.