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  • My turn for what?

    Posted on October 2nd, 2005 Finster 5 comments

    In my humble opinion, the title of Serenity is effective, not in its foil to the action of the film, but in how the movie does in fact have profound moments of serenity, and had these brief moments of peace not been there, the film surely would’ve failed and been another sci-fi action blockbuster that went bust.

    Not to mention that Serenity takes its name from the tough little spaceship that the main characters inhabit, which in turn takes its name from the Battle of Serenity Valley. A battle where the good guys lost. Badly. When I say lost here, I mean totally completely and irrevocably decimated, and whether it is acknowledged or not, it is the most important part of the film. The Battle of Serenity Valley is what shaped and formed Captain Malcolm Reynolds, and is the keystone upon which his entire character (and indirectly his crew) is laid against.

    Unless you had seen the series, however, you Top Of Cool readers (all 2 of you) might not know that.

    Can someone enjoy Serenity without seeing Joss Whedon’s series, Firefly? Absolutely. In fact, those that have seen the movie will be delighted to go back and watch the series and get a little bit of history regarding their favorite characters from the movie.

    Serenity, as a film, is probably perfect. Well, as perfect as any movie can be, I suppose. It’s strength lies primarily in the writing. Joss Whedon has written a story that anyone can relate with. Freedom, love, adventure, fear. I would be a fool not to mention the screenplay. The dialog has always been one of the best parts of the Firefly series, and this is also true of Serenity.

    If anyone out there has been hearing about this whole Firefly thing, and hasn’t seen any episodes yet. Go watch the movie. Now. Then, go watch the episodes on the Sci-Fi channel, or rent the DVD’s at Blockbuster or something. You will thank me.

    And I don’t know who these yayhoos are that you saw it with, Solyd, but if they’re complaining about this movie because it didn’t answer enough questions, THEY ARE STUPID! I will refute them utterly by using one word: REAVERS. What more do you want? For crying out loud, we have to have something left to do in the next two movies, after all.

    But yeah, Serenity is the best movie ever made ever.

    If I had to lay out my absolute favorite films of all freaking time, here is my current list, which has been known to change from time to time based on mood, temperature, and how much Pocky I’ve eaten.

    1. Serenity
    2. The Brothers Grimm
    3. Star Wars: Episode III
    4. Star Wars: Episode V
    5. Time Bandits
    6. The rest of the Star Wars movies in no particular order
    7. The Lord of the Rings films in no particular order
    8. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
    9. Aliens

    Yeah… I’m a nerd. SO?

    Movies
     

    5 responses to “My turn for what?” RSS icon

    • Made a mistake on the title of my entry. Yes, you’re very correct, there are many important serene moments throughout the film. My apologies. As for the name of the ship and the Battle of Serenity Valley, I’m well aware, I’ve seen the series once. Will see it more times, that’s for sure.

      I should have duly thought about the first thing to truly strike me as a great thing about the film before titling my entry. After all, that Title is a wonderful ‘serenity’.

      In defense of the people I was sitting with at the movie, they were complaining not about it answering too few questions, but because it answered the wrong questions in their minds. I’m at a loss for which questions it was they wanted answers to.

      Reavers… yes, I felt that movie was well spent on the topic. The very fact that Reavers *remained* as creepy, evil, crazy evil as they seemed *when we hadn’t seen them yet* is a sign that Joss Whedon deserves some very nice words.

      I made one hell of a mistake with my title then. I’ll be more careful in the future.

    • Either way, the fact that they are unsatisfied with Serenity for superfluous reasons shows, for lack of a better term, idiocy. There are probably an assortment of “answers” that, had they been included in the movie would do nothing but detract from the movie’s story.

      Anyway…

      So when did you see Firefly? I am saddened that there was a mass viewing of Firefly and I missed it. I guess I’m not cool enough, yet. :(

      But yeah, Serenity.

      Everyone should go see it. So, I think this film gets two “Top of Cool” awards from us.

      (Wash is your favorite character? He is my second favorite. The Shepherd is my absolute favorite. I guess we both were… “rewarded” by the film for our appreciation. 😉

    • We certainly were ‘rewarded’. I’m rather fond of Book too… He presented… hmm… repentance in action? It’s truly difficult for me to pin down exactly why I like Book. Wash and Zoe are officially the best married couple portrayal I’ve ever seen in a show, that contributes for me, but my primary reason for Wash, I think he reminds me of ‘Halo Flametree’ from the Star Wars Campaign.

      I had the opportunity to watch Firefly presented to me by a friend who owns the DVDs. The watching happened in random bursts with short notice (i.e. a day or so). Bursts of 3-4 episodes. The fact that I’m kinda dating this girl, and the fact that she loves the series (and the movie, we’re going again soon) leads me to believe there will be many more viewings of Firefly. And some Farscape when I pick up the Starbursts.

      Double Top of Cool awarded for the movie. It *deserves* it. I should install a picture editor again so I can start making the awards.

      Sometime in person or on IM with you I’ll have to try to figure out some of what they were after… there was one in specific which I *will* not reveal for my desire not to spoil. Maybe I’ll remember more when I go again.

      Definately a *must see* show.

      There’s been a lot of good cinema this year. And there looks to be more coming.

    • If it’s not an imposition, let me know when you pick up those Farscape DVD’s as I have not seen any of that series, but the performances of Ben Browder and Claudia Black were pretty dang good in the latest season of Stargate SG-1, so I would not be adverse to seeing more of their acting.

    • It’s not, you’re most welcome to join in the fun. I’ll let you know when we figure out a time/place/whatnot. Farscape really captured me with the pilot episode. Jim Henson does aliens in a serious, plot driven show. Now, I’ve only seen maybe 4 episodes, but I think it’s safe to say I’ll not have wasted money buying it.


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