SFX movie poll, are we doing more damage than good... by BrownBug

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SFX movie poll, are we doing more damage than good...

POSTED BY: BROWNBUG
UPDATED: Friday, April 13, 2007 21:48
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VIEWED: 8450
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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 11:03 AM

Following on from the news that SERENITY reached the number one spot of all time greatest sci fi movie:

http://www.sfx.co.uk/page/sfx?entry=lord_of_the_fireflies

I read this guys views:

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Rant-Give-It-Up-Browncoats-4828.html

And i have to say guys Im not wholly unsympathetic to what he is saying. Firefly is to me the best tv show I own, however to invade a poll and claim Serenity as the best sci fi movie of all time is to me a bit far gone. Its great - i love it but it seems inapropriate to be at the top of the list. If not solely for the "time shows a masterpiece" arguement. (ducks for cover).

So where do we draw the line, yes we have to be truthful and vote for what we love, but when does it start to look out of place and uncomfortable? when does it start to turn people away instead of attracting them.

and whats even worse is now the bbc are commisioning a revote, so if serenity embrassing loses we will look like even worse fanboys who have been exposed ! Imagine the healdines then "Serenity Shamed". so now i feel duty bound to vote to save face for a franchise I love, but im essentially backing a bunch ofoverzealous people who got us in this mess lol

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6517155.stm

BBC current stats: Which is the best sci-fi film?
Serenity
26.89%
Star Wars
37.18%
Blade Runner
21.49%
Planet of the Apes
2.38%
The Matrix
12.06%

23378 Votes Cast !!!!!!!!

im not sayng i have the answers...
. just posing the questions....

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 11:15 AM

KANEMAN

Wow, death threats! I knew I liked something about you obsessed nutters.........

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 11:24 AM

REGINAROADIE

I guess it would start to become uncomfortable and out of place if we just keep hitting it on the head over and over again.

Saying "SERENITY is a really great, underrated sci-fi flick. You should rent it sometime." is OK. Saying "SERENITY trumps CITIZEN KANE as the greatest movie of all time and you're a moron if you don't agree with me." is when it starts to becoming damaging. It's a big turn-off for me if a fanbase crams a viewpoint down your throat. Part of the reason I'm over STAR WARS isn't because Lucas tarnished the legacy of the series with the re-releases and the prequels. I loved the prequels just as much as the originals. (ducks) What I didn't like were the legion of nerds that were so wrapped up in their views of what they thought the movies should be that they turned bashing it into a bloodsport and that nothing would make them happy. Not even Anakin slaughtering the padawans in the Jedi Temple could appease them. Same thing with the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and the huge amount of praise that it was heaped on the show. It had it's faults (even season two had it's filler eps that dragged the series a bit), but they were blind to it and saw it as this flawless pinnacle. So while I love the show and can't wait for the payoff of the mindfucker that was the season 3 finale, I'm not as fanatical about it as everyone else.

I loved SERENITY, no doubt about it. But it wasn't the best movie of 2005 (that honor goes to another Western melange, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN), and it wasn't the absolute best sci-fi movie ever (I think CHILDREN OF MEN did a better job as legitimate science fiction than SERENITY). It was a very good wrap-up of a series that was cut short and a pretty good stand alone sci-fi movie. Now if a sequel were to ever happen, then all the more power to Joss and all. But I'm not going to hold my breath or go on a hunger strike until the sequel gets greenlit.

I guess my point is, everything in moderation. When we start sounding fanatical about it, that's when it's too much.

**************************************************
"Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?"
"No."
"Have you ever fired ONE gun whilst jumping through the air?"

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 11:28 AM

SHUKES

I think that particular count as rather bias, maybe a star wars fan who felt somewhat burned by the loss, i don't know. Honestly when a show gets commited fans its going to also get people who want to knock those for liking something that much.

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 11:33 AM

BROWNBUG

reginaroadie i think u echo everything i fear/think/loathe/love.

and you will enjoy the season 3 finale of battlestar. i wont sayanymore than that.

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 11:33 AM

DAVESHAYNE

Quote:
Originally posted by BrownBug:
invade a poll

Invade? They asked people to vote and we voted. In reference to the link I don't think we need give any weight to the ranting of somebody who obviously has a bee in his bonnet (I wonder if it's prety and floral) over this. He seems to have hated Browncoats long before we voted in the SFX poll.

David

"Not completely as well as the series of Firefly..." - From a review of Serenity at amazon.de

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 11:41 AM

BROWNBUG

i invaded a poll once, or was it a norweigian?

i tend to agree with what u r saying but as i say i wasnt without sympathy to how it can "look from the outside"

p.s. how dou stop post notifcations going toyour email once a post has been submitted ?

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 12:08 PM

REGINAROADIE

I have actually seen the season 3 finale. What I meant was, January 2008 can't come fast enough. I wanna see how the stuff that was revealed in the finale will play out.

**************************************************
"Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?"
"No."
"Have you ever fired ONE gun whilst jumping through the air?"

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 12:24 PM

DAVESHAYNE

Quote:
Originally posted by BrownBug:
i invaded a poll once, or was it a norweigian?

i tend to agree with what u r saying but as i say i wasnt without sympathy to how it can "look from the outside"

It's a difficult choice. Either we can support our 'Verse and leave ourselves open to the charges of zealotry from the punditry or we can not support our 'Verse and see those same pundits offer that as proof that it isn't worthwhile.

Quote:
p.s. how dou stop post notifcations going toyour email once a post has been submitted ?

After? I don't think you can. Though I will overide notification on this post so you wont have to deal with it at least.

David

"Not completely as well as the series of Firefly..." - From a review of Serenity at amazon.de

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 12:33 PM

BROWNBUG

hehe thanks.. so in this case u can stop the signal.

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 12:47 PM

DAVESHAYNE

Quote:
Originally posted by BrownBug:
hehe thanks.. so in this case u can stop the signal.

Only in the sense of not starting it in the first place.

David

"Not completely as well as the series of Firefly..." - From a review of Serenity at amazon.de

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 12:52 PM

FLYINFREE

The pole is still open, we are a distant second behind star wars.

"...we're still flyin'."
"That's not much."
"It's enough." Malcolm Reynolds and Simon Tam - Serenity

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 1:37 PM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

I didn't vote in the SFX poll, and I'm a bit surprised that Serenity won.

I have voted in the BBC poll, and it wasn't for Serenity, but for what I consider, forty years later, is still the best SF film ever made - 2001: A Space Odyssey. Blade Runner would be my second choice, and Serenity the third.

I didn't click the link to find out what they have against Serenity or Browncoats. I don't give a frak what anyone else thinks about my opnion.

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 2:38 PM

ALLIETHORN7

Granted, Serenity is awesome. If it wasn't, this site would have died out a year or so back, and there certaintly wouldn't be as many new 'Coats around hereabouts. Still, Joss was given an impossible job; turn an odd thirteen hours of T.V. show into a two hour movie. Even for someone like Joss, that's a tall order. He did an admirable job... but still, it would have been that much more awesome if we had a series end instead of a BDM. So, Serenity is still easily in my top ten, but it ain't the best of all time.

However, off that list? It IS the best (Star Wars sort o'... died out after the first trilogy. C'mon, SIX movies? That IS kinda stretchin' it (*Ducks laser blast from Star Wars fans*). Um... heh heh? Also, I love Blade Runner, but Serenity (To pput it bluntly) pwns it, it Teen Speak.

And I cry when Angels deserve to die...

Having fun yet?

-Danny

I wanna take the Bullet,
The one aimed straight for your Heart;
I wanna meet the wolves halfway,
And let them Tear me APART,
But that's not the way they do it here...
THRICE RULES!!!!!!!!!

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 3:25 PM

BLACKBEANIE

I've been trying to vote, but everytime I do it says 'page not found'.
The vote might still count, but I doubt it.
Any advise?

P.S. Serenity is so better than Star Wars.

I am looking for a good signature, this is only temporary.

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 3:48 PM

ZEROKIRYU

That cinemablend article made me wanna puke.

I had to force myself to finish it.

Why does this guy hate us so much, we never did nothin' to nobody.

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 4:26 PM

BLACKBEANIE

They hate us cause we're a threat to their precious 'best sci-fi' title.
They're scared, and they should be.

I am looking for a good signature, this is only temporary.

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 4:35 PM

ZEROKIRYU

I thought he sounded like a star wars fanboy!!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

L, do you know gods of death love apples?

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 10:47 PM

ROY

Spreading the word

its what we do. The squeaky wheel gets the oil and all that...

Trumping Star Wars has got a LOT of people to look at what Serenity & possibly Firefly is all about. Check out the surge on Amazon over the last couple of days. A SFX article said Serenity leapt from 144th to 15th on the best sellers over night.

Of course there will be some Serenity bashing from the Star Wars fans. It don't change the fact that Serenity finished #1 and is not that far away on the BBC rematch.

This could be the diversion we need to get people of influence to notice there's a far bigger fan base now than in 2005. Good result all round. Well done Browncoats.

*************************
"You all still be here when I wake up ?"

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007 11:50 PM

BOB30

The cinemablend rant is a load of crap designed to garner more interest in the website. Read the comments the guy has had back from people who wear coats of other colours than brown...

If Serenity has shot up over 800% on Amazon.co.uk, we are not doing a bad thing. Most people will like it, some wont. The ones that wont are more likely the ones who will post their own rant about wasting time and money and fixed votes.

We are spreading the signal. I would not consider the massive wave of interest this has caused to be a bad thing.

Incidentally, who would threaten to kill some small time movie critic because he gave the BDM 4.5/5? I think they may have a problem with their brain being missing!

I'll be in my bunk....

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Wednesday, April 4, 2007 1:20 AM

GROTZ

This is my first post, I have been a lurker for a while.

We are browncoats, obsessive, gorram right.
It is a part of what we are.
And dont mind that cinemablend guy, seems to me he more obsessive about hating browncoats.
Ours is a loving obsessiveness.

Once you have been in Serenity, you never leave.

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Wednesday, April 4, 2007 1:47 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

Seems to me in reading this "rant" that JoshT has a real mad on for the browncoats. He compliments the movie and admits he likes it, but his attack on the entire browncoat community for the alleged actions of a few fans (notice I did not call them browncoats) is irrational and illogical. I liken it to condemning everyone reading this who is a member of the human race for the evil actions of a few of our species. Because some are evil the entire population is guilty? Ridiculous!

I posted a response which has to be approved by the "moderator" of the page first. Let's see if he is a censor as well as someone with an irrational hatred towards the browncoats.

BrownBug, don't let the hate filled rant of one person who obviously has a personal issue with browncoats to sway you from spreading the word. We're doing good works and that's what matters.

Grotz, welcome to the board and out of "lurk" mode. Glad to have you posting with us. Hope you will continue to do so.

__________________________________________
Holding the line since December '02!

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Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Fans:

http://www.richmondbrowncoats.org

Color Sergeant

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http://76thbattalion.homestead.com/index.html

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Wednesday, April 4, 2007 3:43 AM

BROWNBUG

some good responses, saying im "not without sympathy" by no means is "entriely agree with" what he says. The one blessing of fireflyis that donning a browncoat is nowhere near asbad as putting a mars bar on your head and talking kaplunk (star trek). for me howeverserenity was never asgoodas firefly, it lacked some of the warmth, pacing andcharacterisations of theprogram, it wasgreat but firefly always shines above for me.

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Wednesday, April 4, 2007 6:07 AM

REGINAROADIE

Also, one thing about that list was that it's all stuff from the last forty years. The oldest movie on that list is 2001, but everything else if ater STAR WARS in 77.

What about A TRIP TO THE MOON, METROPOLIS, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN or FORBIDDEN PLANET? Each of those films are amazing in their own right (I shudder to think that they're actually remaking THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL), but they seem to be forgotten in the annals of legitimate science fiction cinema.

If one or more of those titles were on that list, I would have taken the list more seriously.

**************************************************
"Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?"
"No."
"Have you ever fired ONE gun whilst jumping through the air?"

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Wednesday, April 4, 2007 6:56 AM

CHOO1701

Another thing coming up from this is result (especially in the SFX forum) is the block voting some fans will do (ie: voting over and over again because they can). Shouldn't we only vote once? it'd be a lot fairer then and be more...truthful.

Oh, and i think the whole fuss happened because the media twisted the word "Favorite" (ie: whats your FAVOURITE sci fi movie) into "Greatest. Don't trust everything you read in the media."

Just my two cents on the matter.

-----------------------------

TRAIN!!!
Remember: When introducing Zoe to your shiny new ship, pay attention to where she's pointing when she says "What is that?" That's where you're going to be laying, bleeding someday.

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Wednesday, April 4, 2007 7:06 AM

SINGATE

This is something I've been looking to weigh in on for a while now. First off, I am a fan of both Star Wars and Serenity. As much as I enjoy the latter I really don't believe it is in the same class as the former. Star Wars was a revolutionary film which went on to be a cultural phenomenon and could rightly be called one of the best films ever made. Serenity, while being well written and having a great cast, was not particularly original and didn't have the same spark that the series did. I realize that SW is take on several old themes but it was repackaged and presented at exactly the right time.

Bringing up box office totals or popularity is a moot point. We all know that just because something is popular does not make it high quality...reality TV anyone? Which leads me into my next point. Since everyone in this poll is allowed to vote as often as they like it stands to reason that SW fans could overun the voting it they chose to. While the verse has a very dedicated and rabid fanbase there is simply no competition in terms of sheer numbers. My only expanation is that after 30 years and 6 films, SW fans don't feel the need to legitimize their film's place in movie history. I can understand how others might view Browncoat zeal as a desperate attempt to make their film appear more relevent than it really is.

_________________________________________________

We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

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Wednesday, April 4, 2007 9:13 AM

REDLAVA

That blogger sounds like a sore loser to me. Most likely a Star Wars fan who got his nose bloodied a little bit. And I don't entirely agree with his thinking on us making people not want to watch it based on our actions. If anything we are helping. You know there are people out there who saw the article and are like, "Serenity, never heard of it. If people think it is better than Star Wars then I gonna have to check it out and see what the fuss is about."

And the poll that the BBC is doing, I wouldn't put to much faith into that either. At over 26,000 votes, I can almost guarantee you that some of them have probably never heard of Serenity much less even seen Serenity, and Star Wars or Matrix are the only names that jump out at them.

Our numbers may not be many, but we're persistent.

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Friday, April 13, 2007 8:21 PM

SHAMELESS

::deep breath::

Okay........

Look. IMHO, that guy did NOT sound like a sore loser. He sounded like somebody who liked a movie and was annoyed that, from his perspective, the rabidity of some fans MAY have scared people away from seeing Serenity. Personally, I disagree, and say that it was only because of our rabidity that a movie was even made, and since I, a browncoat who latches on to every news item about Firefly or Serenity, didn't hear about any death threats made to movie critics who didn't give Serenity a good enough review, it's a safe bet that the majority of the population was also just as unaware of any such events that may or may not have occurred, and therefore, could not have been put off by this.

So I disagree, but I still don't think he's a "pissed off Star Wars fan". He sounds like a guy who enjoyed Serenity but has a clear head. Now, do I think that Serenity is the greatest as a sci fi film? Maybe not. But it's definitely my favorite, and I feel it is FAR more emotionally relevant to the average human being than Star Wars. I love the originals (sorry, but I can't stand the new ones - "Ani, Ani, are you all right?" Goddammit, I know the lines suck, but you had to steal material from CPR training?

), but they just do not speak to me on the same level that Firefly and Serenity did.

However, I just thought of something:
Most/all of us have seen Firefly. Before I saw Firefly, I saw Serenity. I LOVED it. But I didn't connect with it even an eighth as deeply until after I watched all 14 episodes. So even if it's my favorite sci fi (not fantasy, that's Lord of the Rings!) movie with a necessary background in the tv show, it's still my favorite sci fi movie, and I'll vote as such.

------------------------------------------
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"You gotta love that the first pirated HD DVD is the one about space pirates who broadcast a video that the government wants to keep secret.

Can't stop the signal."
-reavers_ate_my_dvd

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Friday, April 13, 2007 9:48 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK

I still say Serenity was a B A D, bad movie. The fact that Serenity is held in higher regard than Troll with Sonny Bono and Attack of the Killer Clowns from Outer Space is absurd.

Firefly : GOOD :: Serenity : BAD

And sine I REALLY like Firefly, according to this analogy I REALLY dislike Serenity.

Good point about this possibly making a joke about Firefly here though. Hopefully most of the idiot jokers and nay sayers of the 'verse won't even know that Firefly and Serenity is the same thing until it's too late and they've been infected with the Firefly bug. The only thing that could have made that movie enjoyable is a full frontal of Christine Hendricks.

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." http://www.myspace.com/6ixstringjack

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