My turn for what?

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?

Serene is not what I’d call it

Were I a screaming fanboy, I would be without words about this movie. I’m a fanboy of fewer words, so, naturally, I have a few to say.

The movie is *wonderful*. The silent title has to be one of the most effective titles I’ve seen yet. I was similarly moved by Hitchhiker’s because of the theme, these titles have entirely different merits. Serenity’s title is a wonderful offset for the action previous to the title (this is if I’m remembering in the correct order…). It left an impact like a well placed dramatic effect ‘effect’. As was the series, the movie is jam packed with classic quotables. “Oh God, Oh God, we’re all going to die” is only the beginning, I’m ashamed of forgetting it already, but Captain Mal has a wonderful line just following that one. All of our favorite character interplays are there.

As a side note, Simon, who had his cool moments in the series, becomes fully fledged ‘awesome’ for actions taken. Wash is still my favorite.

Joss Whedon said that series are questions, and movies are answers. In this movie we find answers to questions some of us weren’t asking, the group I went with was in great dismay about the questions not answered, and the questions *raised* by this movie, but it still answers questions. These answers were thought provoking and well presented.

I’m very sure I’m going to have more to say about this movie on subsequent viewings.

Rating: Top of Cool

Tag, your turn Finster.

Uwe Boll Watch: Dr. Boll? Doctor of what?

I saw this linked on Kotaku and I laughed heartily.

Uwe Boll’s interviews are always entertaining. Good to see he’s still drinking his own Kool-Aid.

This comment scared the jeebus out of me.

24. What other games have caught your eye ? What about Splinter Cell? Good idea

Dr Boll – Postal and Metal Gear

Did he just use Postal and Metal Gear in the same sentence? Filthy blasphemer.

On a sidenote, I wonder what Jack Thompson thinks of Uwe Boll’s movies? If anyone out there gets a chance to interview Jack Thompson, make sure to ask him about the Bloodrayne movie. That would be wicked fun.

Sony Uses Fake Critics to Promote Movies

I saw this over on Sci-Fi Wire. Go there for the full story.

Sony Pictures Entertainment must pay $1.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the studio of citing a fake movie critic in ads for several films, including Hollow Man and The Animal, the Associated Press reported.

Does anyone really listen to those stupid critic quotes, anyway? I mean, come on! Even Stealth got a couple positive reviews.

Although, here was the Rotten Tomatoes quote from one of those positive reviews:

I’m not sure if I should club it to death or hug it.

LOL! That would be awesome to hear during a movie trailer…

While we’re on the subject of Lord Vader…

Coolest shot of Darth Vader ever produced. This is a wallpaper from Starwars.com. I also encourage everyone to watch the TV ads that are now posted on The Site.

Uwe Boll: Why? WHY?

I need someone to explain to me one of life’s mysteries. How does this guy keep getting jobs in the movie industry? I averaged the IMDB ratings of the 8 movies that Uwe Boll has both produced and directed.

4.025

That’s somewhere between awful and crappy. I would also like to state that 48 out of 150 people gave Heart of America a 10. These people were probably the same ones that thought Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine was 100% factual. I also noticed that all 3 of the user comments gave it more than 8 out of 10… and surprisingly were not from America. Sorry, if you’re going to grade a movie called “Heart of America” about high school kids, you know, that live in America, I’m not going to take your opinion seriously unless you live IN America. This pretty much solidifies my opinion that people in Europe should NOT be trusted to give opinions on movies.

Which I think is why Uwe Boll isn’t working at McDonald’s or Burger King by now. His movies seem to be well-liked by Europeans. Well, fine. You guys can have him back. Please. Take him back!

If you want a good primer on Uwe Boll, I suggest reading this article written by a potential scriptwriter for Alone in the Dark. Then, read this interview that IGN did with Uwe Boll. It is awesomely powerful in its hilarity. And make sure to read them in that order.

My favorite part of the interview:

IGN FILMFORCE: Hey Uwe.

UWE BOLL: I’m driving to Wilshire Boulevard to go to an agency. I wanted to go to the press screening, but Lions Gate said, ‘Press don’t want to talk to the director.’ It was funny. I’ve never heard this before. They said the director always tries to sell [and] press don’t want thisÂ… So I accepted it.

IGNFF: So you were planning to come to the screening last night?

BOLL: (Laughs) I was not allowed to come.

Excuse me for a minute…

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!!111

Oh wow! The movie studio actually requested that the director NOT SHOW UP to the press screening of the movie! *SNICKER*

BWAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!

Oh man… comedy gold.