REGINAROADIE'S BLOG

reginaroadie

I saw SERENITY four times yesterday.
Saturday, October 1, 2005

I have Fridays off, so not only did I see it, I saw it FOUR TIMES on opening day. And I went dressed as Wash. I had my hair dyed to match Wash's hair color exactly, and I wore a Hawaiian shirt and had with me two plastic dinosaurs. I wasn't alone. At the third screening, I saw a guy with a Jayne tuke and some people recognized me as Wash. I ran into some Browncoats and at the fourth screening, sat with the first gal that I had converted.

I took notes on all four screenings. There was about a 21 minute lag between the start time that was advertised and the actual beginning of the movie. There were only two commercials (a Nissan split screen commercial and a Fruitopia commercial with a music theme to it) and five trailers (DOMINO, HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE, STAY, JARHEAD and DOOM). On a side note, at the 4th screening, people were laughing really hard at the DOOM trailer.

As for attendance, the 1st screening was actually
livelier than I expected. There were about 20 people there, msotly comic geeks and other Browncoats. I actually helped this guy in a wheelchair up the ramp. He commented on how accurate my Wash outfit was. I entertained him with my dinos, and another guy actually applauded me. The 2nd time had 33 people there. It was more of a family crowd. 3rd time the house was definitly packed, and there were more Browncoats there as well. One woman actually told me about a personal contest going on with someone at livejournal, and that my four ticket stubs would help. And the fourth was probably the best. There was actually a roped off line of people waiting to see the movie. I would expect something like that for HARRY POTTER, STAR WARS, LORD OF THE RINGS, but not for this. And with the 3rd and 4th screenings, people were laughing and gasping at the right moments.

But as for the movie itself, let me say this. With this movie, for my 2005 ten best list, its three down, seven to go. I loved this movie so much. After the first time, I was so incredibly giddy. And even after seeing it 4 times in a row, admittedly I am a bit tired, but I still loved every bit about it. I loved the great opening and the 4 1/2 minute long credits shot that establishes the ship and the crew. I loved
how it managed to streamline a gigantic mythology,
backstory and character dynamics in less than two
hours. I loved how it maintained it's humor, it's
action, it's edge and it's general themes. I love how they even managed to elaborate on a few things that many people have been wondering about for the last three years. It's so hard to choose a line or a specific moment or scene since so many stuck out.

I like how we see that Simon's toughened up a bit, in that is Mal pushes him, he pushes back. I like how when Kaylee's saying her first tearful goodbye to them she has to throw in the comment about how bad the Capison 38 engines are. And I like how when they're ready for the standoff against the Reavers, he finally admits to liking her, and how it empowers her ("To Hell with this. I want to live!!"). I was really shocked to see Wash die. Book I kind of expected to see shuffle off, but Wash was a genuine surprise and horror. It was a bit unsettling to see Zoe internalize her guilt so much. I mean, her husband dies, but she still keeps on with her stoic ways. I know it was in the middle of a Reaver battle and trying to expose the info that's proof that the Alliance inadvertently created the Reavers, but you
think we'd see her cry at the end, or at least a sob.

But other than that, I was definitly ecstatic to see the film. It succeeded both as a love letter to the fans, and as a way to initiate the uninitiated into our fold. I'm eager as Hell to see what would happen next.

Oh, and I'm not going back to revise my stories. I might reference Miranda now, but I'm not going to eliminate Wash and Book from my narratives. Maybe once I finish up YCGHA, if I get any ideas, I'll continue on with the official canon timeline of events.

And did anyone thing that Oti bar commercial that triggered River's brawl in the Maiden's Head was creepy enough on it's own without the subiminal message?

COMMENTS

Saturday, October 1, 2005 9:02 AM

DEADDUCK


Spoiler Stuff...



Ya the movie was great, and I was realy sad/suprised that Wash died. I am kinda glad, though, that Joss wasn't squeamish about letting a main character or two die. The story just becomes artificial otherwise.

I'm a bit curious about other stuff thoguh. One thing I don't understand is why the government was spamming the airways with supposedly encrypted mssages. Seems like the most blatent way to scream "Hack me!". Also, I've seen this mentioned before, but if the reavers are so nuts, how the hell can they manage intersteller travel, let alone breed and rear a brood to raise children. And I know they manage to convert people they capture but that's only about 10%.

(Of course I haven't seen the Wheedon explains all video, So I'll check that out next).

Saturday, October 1, 2005 8:48 AM

DAELUS


Four times? Looks like I have a record to beat, next weekend..


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