Tuesday, June 28, 2005

God & Nerds: Friends Again
(a.k.a. Joss Whedon is My Master Now*)

I've been meaning to post about this for some time now, but I've been too busy catching up on writing and trying to get a new job (**cross fingers**), not to mention tinkering with this site.

Long story short: "I saw Serenity! I saw Serenity!" How did I manage that, you may ask, since the movie doesn't actually come out until September? Well, my ignorant little friend, apparently there's been a series of super secret screenings happening across North America (and Europe now too). Don't worry, if it wasn't for BJ I wouldn't have known either. But, with the combined efforts of several people at work, and no help from MovieTickets.com (who were supposed to be selling tickets online at 11 am, but weren't), we managed to get tickets to the June 23 show in Vancouver.

I won't do a full review since it's still a work in progress, but let's just say I'm very happy. The crowd was mostly hardcore "Firefly" fans (a.k.a. "Browncoats") and sci-fi types, all very nice and just as excited. I was a little disappointed at the lack of actual brown coats (I counted maybe 5), but there were a number of homemade t-shirts, some with quotes, several with the "Blue Sun" logo and a number of Jayne tuques. BJ got really excited since he knows my sister knits. Guess I'm buying her some orange wool.

If you give two craps, you've probably already read all sorts of preview tidbits in various talkbacks, so there isn't really much more I can add. "Serenity" is what sci-fi should be. It gives you that tingly feeling you got the first time you saw "Star Wars" (New Hope, obviously). It's funny and sad and exciting and scary. When it finishes, you miss the characters. Not just the ones who die (oh come on, you must have heard that people die, this is not a spoiler), everyone. Like they're your friends or something.

As for whether it has an audience outside of "Firefly" fans, it's a little hard to say. So much of the appeal of the film hinges on the characters, and watching the show makes you love them so much more. But, that said I think just the pace and the fearlessness of what Joss was attempting as far as sci-fi storytelling is refreshing enough to endear itself to anyone who cares about filmmaking that is good, fun, and manages to still be challenging on some level.

After the screening Jewel Stait did a quick Q&A since she's a Vancouver girl, and I was really impressed by how funny and personable she was (not to mention pretty, gosh she's skinny). Even after that guy invited her to "Scott-con"...

So there, I've done my job. Get excited. Tell your friends. I'll save you a spot in line...

*If you don't get the reference.

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