Serenity mark 1 A

I watched the "blogger" preview of Serenity on Monday and I'm going to write about it quickly but not going to give it the benifit of the evil "musts" of the "new media" blogging concept that the e-mail entailed. Not because I won't give the movie all the free publicity I can, which I will, but because, free publicity with a hook is still non-free publicity.

Um, I loved it.

Here's the non-obvious part right from the beginning, the Reavers genuininely scared the fuck out of me. And they are the bad guys. I was genuinely in a sphincter-clenched-mode through-out the whole first major chase scene, and I'm not kidding. Are you 30 something young?

Do you remember either of two things that I am about to bring up?

Do you remember the episode of Greatest American Hero in which he invesitgates a Haunted House and that "claw" works him over? Do you remember the episode of Buck Rogers with the space vampires?

This movie has those two scaries combined and it does them so insanely well (and so prettily becausue, um, they're film .now.) that you forget how tv-ish it is in concept. Something interesting happens at the end of all that pretty film, though I will not spoil the movie. But the thing is, for 40 million dollars Joss has made a movie that warps dimensions around awesomesomesss as regards any other 180 million dollar movie including that movie I most loved previously this year - "Batman Begins".

Jehovah-Christum - the movie includes the line: "Dear Buddha: I want a pony and a plastic rocket . . . "

Are we clear on how many ideas of Buddism that breaks - pretty much all of them and intentionally? That's maybe the best line the movies will have all year (The cynic in me mildly favors "It Is said that" Evil Prevails when good men fail to act." It should be amended to "Evil Prevails"". "Lord of War.)

So favorite film of recent-dom, though not as favorite as Kill Bill Vol. 1 which is like saying I liked it, but Paul just wasn't as convincing as that guy Jesus.

Sacreligious is true and fine, especially now that my father has appeared on TV denouncing the Roman Catholic church (in an attempt to salvage it).

I _can_ guarantee he loved Serenity more, even, then I did, and I'm seeing it once again this weekend. He's seeing it at least twice, again this weekend and the thing is, I don't think he's alone. Genuinely _great fucking movie_. It sort of sneaks into my number two or three slot. I haven't decided yet. It's very close to my favorite movie of the year and it's into play on my favorite more ever list. If it were shorter it would eat slots, but it ends up kinda wordy and talking a bit. Funny-talkish, but that's problematic.

Anyway, mind, I love it, which is the most important lesson to take from this.