Serenity

[slanderous]

I'm also on the "meh" train. Partly because I too suffered from Buffy's "descent into suckdom," but also because I think Whedon is actually quite limited in his range. I watched the Firefly DVDs over the summer with my brother, and the characters, dialogue, ironic segueways, et cetera, were quite predictable. (For me, at least, after watching seven years of Buffy.) I totally knew that once a character made a definitive statement about one thing or another, it'd cut to a scene that contradicted him or her is some spectacular way. The banter between Mal and Jane was awfully familiar (Angel and Spike), the pilot was a lot like a more mature Xander (the scene of him playing with the dinosaurs was too much like Xander's cafeteria play with fish sticks and, yeah, "loud" print shirts), and so on. So I won't be seeing this in the theater (especially with ticket prices at $10), though out of curiosity I'll put in on my Netflix queue.

[Deleted]

I agree that Whedon's range is limited. I think he has some good ideas, but his dialogue/'witty" banter is predictable and his obsession with skinny young girls is creepy.

But...having said that I'll still go see it on the big screen. What? I think Nathan Fillion's cute.

[mostlyharmless]

his obsession with skinny young girls is creepy.

The actress HE hired for Willow when he made the Buffy pilot was far from skinny, to the point where the network made him recast her. He hired Amber Benson who has what the real world considers a normal figure, so by TV standards she's way overweight. He wanted Kaylee on Firefly to be a fuller figured girl. He has actually spoken about the pressure from studio execs to hire stick figure actresses and the trouble he gets when he tries to hire actresses considered "fat". He even paraphrased a studio suit saying "I don't understand?! Is the actress behind that fat girl?"

[hamhock]

I'm very, very tired of his self-deprecating-but-not-really-plus-a-tad-smug schtick. And I am still enjoying my bitterness over the last few seasons of "Buffy".
Makes me not want to see this, but it kinda looks cool...but I don't want to give him my money to see it.

Maybe I'll pay for another movie and sneak into this, like I did for "War of the Worlds". (I paid for "Bewitched" then sneaked into WOTW because I didn't want the money to ultimately go towards any nutball religion....or any nutball's religion)

[Deleted]

I stand corrected MostlyHarmless. I had previously heard that Whedon didn't want to hire Amber Benson because he visualised Tara as waif-ier, and then there was the Fred character...and I put two and two together and came up with five.

Serenity opens here today, and because of work commitments I can't go see it until next week. Curse this need to earn a living.

[huntergrayson]

I never watched the series and I have a very complicated relationship with Joss, but I totally want to go. The trailer looks nice and explosion-y, and Nathan Fillion looks awful purdy on a large screen. But most of all? I kinda want to stick it to Fox and various executives for not realizing a devoted but small audience is sometimes the best thing you can ask for. (That, and I don't want the most successful F-resurrection to be Family Guy)

[mostlyharmless]

EvilMinion, I heard that he did imagine Tara as a waif but auditioned Amber Benson and thought she was great, and then had to get the network to go along with him.

[spiderwyman]

I hate that all his characters, no matter the situation, are always spouting off lame jokes and smirking with self-awareness...it feels like he can't write anything but that.

[slanderous]

spiderwyman, even though I loved BtVS and Angel (and it was an emotional investment that kept me around long after the suck descended), I completely agree.

[Maddiemoo]

I caught a midnight showing last night. People, this movie is SO good. It was hilarious and sad and scary and completely and utterly AWESOME. Do yourself a favor and avoid spoilers if you can. The movie has some great surprises. I don't think you need to be a fan of the show to enjoy the movie, either. I went with a friend of mine who had seen bits and peices of one episode, and she left the theater just as geeked out as I did.

I really hope this movie does well. It totally deserves it!