That Strange Feeling
First I'd like to comment on the social experience. Have you ever one of those awkward moments like meeting your doctor at the kid's soccer field? You want to make small talk but this guy knows things about you and has been places that no one else ever will. The doctor is this mythological character that you share your most intimate experiences with and he's never supposed to leave his office. This was similar because these people are just screen names that never leave their keyboards. Suddenly I'm looking at 45 strangers that potentially know me better than some of my close friends and family. Of course, I've shared their secrets too! Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be an ice breaking moment to really strike up a conversation with anyone other than the news paper's official reviewer. Perhaps another social gathering sometime soon.
Many thanks!
My thanks and appreciation go out to Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) for arranging this special viewing!
Previews
We had a single preview forDoom which is totally targeted at computer geeks. The movie is shot in first person shooter style. It will get its revenues purely from the novelty of seeing our greatest time waster on the big screen!
Serenity
In theaters September 30th - Official Site
Technical
Fantastic! I felt like we'd taken cinematography to another level. I had to check myself to make sure I wasn't simply being woo'd when my wife commented on one scene as "a bad set." I couldn't disagree but the computer enhanced effects greatly overshadowed such scenes. At points the scenes felt almost three dimensional. Serenity certainly keeps the bar high for special effects.
Character Development
In any movie time constraints lead to tough choices. More action? More character development? More plot history? Serenity creates a decent balance with plenty of opportunity for further character development in any potential sequels. We learn just enough about the main characters to complement the story and build affection or distaste for them. I would have enjoyed more background on the supplementary characters but that would have added nothing to the story. Some of the characters backgrounds were presented subtly which I missed but my wife and son picked right up.
Plot/Story
The story was well conceived with a very interesting presentation in the beginning. I felt like the middle and end of the story could have benefitted by some of the qualities of the beginning presentation. Our protagonist has his epiphany a little too quickly and too strongly for my taste which broke the realism of his character briefly for me. They did a great job tying all the elements of the movie together. I felt nothing presented was frivolous. Overall I saw very few holes, nice twists and a captivating concept. There are certainly many angles that can be exploited for sequels.
Conclusion
I'm going to watch it again. I want more. I may even have to tune in for Firefly. I give this a high recommendation for sci-fi fans!
Oh, yes, we were the people with the infant in theatre. Evan thought the movie was great and only one scene scared him. He says, "coo coooo coo *giggle* burp."
- GA Mongrel
- "As a fan of the TV series, I loved the movie."
- Misplaced Keys
- The power of a good story is that the audience can place the story into its own context. This is where, I believe, Joss Whedon's wild west space adventure shine, it is a great story. And Joss Whendon is a great story teller....
- AlphaPatriot
- Early reviews of the movie Serenity are in: eight liked the show (nine if you count me) and one didn't. The Conservative Zone:It exceeded my expectations in every way. There were places for you to laugh, a couple for you to get mad in, and...
- Stackable Bards
- Many bloggers (but not me, alas) have been able to score early tickets to see Joss Whedon's Serenity, a movie followup to his excellent but short-lived, Fox TV show called Firefly (DVD available here). Here is a roundup of reviews. Note: Great minds think a like. Stackable Bards has a head start on this roundup and I recommend reading on from there.
- The Primary Main Objective
- The blogger preview was also a radio station preview. The it was sponsored by two clear channel stations, one country, and one urban.
- Domestic Psychology (with picture)
- It felt like watching television on a monster screen, but it was fun television and as socially unpopular as it is to admit, I like television.
- G. Bob's House O' Blog
- Either you get why cowboys in space are cool or you don’t. It’s just that simple.
Wow! This list goes on and on and on...
