Friday night Serenity viewing (without spoilers!)

[annathepiper]

So, doing our duty as Big Damn Firefly Fans even if we never really have officially named ourselves Browncoats, mamishka and I went downtown Friday night to attend the 9:20 showing at the Meridian 16 theater. We actually got there quite early, early enough to see the group organized by ivolucien (which we did) in the line and to let Meems try to sell some more of her episode guides (which she did). I said hi to pauldf and exchanged hugs, too (HI PAUL!). Unfortunately we missed casirafics, though. Sniff.

The one problem was that the theater guys asked everybody to bunch up together into this sort of mass of humanity rather than a proper line--apparently because the line was getting too long, or something. And everybody bunched up rather closer together than both Meems and I were comfy with, since it made it difficult for her to really go up and down the line and hand out her little flyers for her book and I didn't know anybody in the line besides Ivo and Paul anyway. So just before they let them all into the theater we bailed and went down to hang out in Barnes and Noble until it was time to come back for our own showing.

I exercised great restraint and did not actually buy any books, since I am waiving my one-book-a-week budget to accommodate seeing this movie, not to mention getting me some Great Big Sea shiny new CD goodness in a few more weeks.

Around 8pm or so we came back to get in our own line. Meems did more schmoozing, and we did more hanging out and chatting, about Remington Steele and Moonlighting and why Lament of the Dove is kicking my ass, and we had ourselves a nice relax-o wait till they let us in. We got good seats, and I went to go get snackage while Meems held them.

The theater was full of a satisfyingly large opening night crowd, and we'd heard that despite that showing only being added that evening, it was in fact sold out. Go Seattle Browncoats!

And then, well, movie. This was my third viewing, thanks to previews, but lo, I did not care. For I am loving this movie with much love. It's got its flaws, to be sure. But for me they don't get in the way of a rocking good story.

Now I know I posted about the movie already over the summer after the preview I attended in Vancouver, but I'm going to do it again anyway. I will, however, invoke the Serenity filter I made before so as to protect those of you who haven't seen the movie yet and who intend to. I know at least one of you Browncoats on my Friends list (hi framlingem!) won't be able to see it for a bit due to no theater local to you carrying the movie.

If you're not on my Serenity filter, and you want to be, sing out now and I'll add you!

Comments

[fleurdelista.livejournal.com]

not sure if I am or not, but I sure would love to!

Also, I like the new layout!

[morgie.livejournal.com]

Now that I've seen it - sure!

[annathepiper]

Done!

And thank you! Though this is really a return to an old layout, one that I custom-built to match my actual site. :)

(I needed to bring it back up 'cause of the possibility that this job nibble I'm following might have the prospective employer actually go look at my site, and I figured it'd be tidier if my journal matched my site again, since I do link to my journal off of the site's menu.)

[annathepiper]

You're in!

[pauldf.livejournal.com]

hi!

*sings* Serenity filter

Serenity Filter

[arthur-denger.livejournal.com]

That's a GO, annathepiper!

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

I live in the boondocks. Wonderful, beloved, gorgeous boondocks, but still the boondocks. I miss the plethora of multiplexes and arthouse cinemas I got in Montreal - on the other hand, if even one multiplex moved in, it wouldn't be Corner Brook any more. The Wal-mart's already bad enough.

Serenity Filter

[spunbutterfly.livejournal.com]

/sing on

Re: Serenity Filter

[annathepiper]

Done!

Re: Serenity Filter

[annathepiper]

You were there from before! But thanks for checking. :)

[annathepiper]

You're in!

[snowqueene.livejournal.com]

I saw the movie Friday and I was so happy with it. Most fan based movies don't carry over too well, so I tried not to be too hopeful. I was just so blown away by the movie that I was literally speechless after.

[sarekofvulcan.livejournal.com]

Hmm, thought I already was, but I don't see a followup post to this....

[annathepiper]

Curious. You're in the filter, and I've made the post. One person has already answered it, so I know it made it out onto LJ...

[annathepiper]

Yay! "Blown away" is a good description for how I felt after I saw it over the summer. :D Now, I have a better handle on where that blown-awayness comes from--'cause it's definitely got its flaws. But I love it to death regardless!

[annathepiper]

Yeah, I was telling mamishka that you didn't have a theater near to you. Any chance you and others will be able to have a viewing expedition? Are there other local fans?

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Go ahead and add me. I'm spoiler-safe now.

[annathepiper]

Done!

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

Closest theatre playing it is an eighty-dollar, nine-hour bus-ride away, and then the same back. I do have one fellow fan with a car, but he's on his way back to Ottawa for Thanksgiving right now. *sigh*

I have never, ever, even considered pirating a film before. I wonder if it would still be immoral if I sent the price of a movie ticket to Universal and asked them to earmark it "Serenity Income"?

[annathepiper]

Gracious, that's far... and pricey! Gleep!

I'm genuinely not sure what I'd do in your situation. I wouldn't get a pirate copy, but I'm genuinely not sure what I'd do. Maybe beg friends in the nearest large town to put me up for a weekend and make a holiday of it and do other cool things along with seeing the film, and make it just one part of a larger holiday.

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

If I had two-hundred-odd dollars to spend in the first place then yeah, I'd head to St. John's for Thanksgiving weekend (which is this one coming, here.

Sadly, 'tis not to be.

[sarekofvulcan.livejournal.com]

Seeing it now... must have been scanning too fast or something. Thanks!

[annathepiper]

Welcome!

[snowqueene.livejournal.com]

*nods* so true. I wonder what kind of flaws are you referring to. Is it the beginning of the movie w/ Simon and river? or were there other small plot holes I missed?

[kieri.livejournal.com]

Try living in a country with no release date. Ever.

(weep)

My only slim, tenuous hope is that it manages to cling to theaters until December 16th, when I get back.

It could happen! Right?

(sniffle)

[kathrynt.livejournal.com]

NOW I wanna be on!

[annathepiper]

Done!

[annathepiper]

Awwwww! *snugs* Here's hoping you get a chance to see it!

[casirafics.livejournal.com]

sorry I missed you! Julie was kind of in a hurry to get out of there so she could get the next bus...

someday we'll have to see if that Third Place Books thing might be schedulable again. :)

[fleurdelista.livejournal.com]

(Ahh, that makes sense. I hope it goes well for you!)

[annathepiper]

Yes. Yes we do!

If I don't get really lucky really quickly with this job nibble I have on the line, I'm about to have a lot more time on my hands with my contract running out, so!

[annathepiper]

Thanks! I need to make a sweep through and delete a lot of outdated content, and then perhaps I'll have a better idea of how to change the layout. The fun part's going to be how to redesign my site layout AND my journal at the same time.

[fleurdelista.livejournal.com]

Oooh, it's hard enough to do just the journal to get it to look the way you want. I'm still learning CSS so mine looks terrible.

[annathepiper]

Let's see if I can put this in spoiler-free terms, since this is the spoiler-free thread!

The beginning, with Simon and River, is a flaw in the sense of not matching the continuity of the series, but only someone who is previously familiar with the series is going to catch that. So that won't matter as much to audiences who haven't seen the show before.

I more have in mind the overall feel that the movie kind of comes across as an entire TV season's worth of story crammed into one motion picture, as some reviewers have observed. And since Joss has been quoted as talking about how he had to do pretty much exactly that, i.e., take his plans for Firefly's second season and cram them into a movie, I'm not at all surprised that the movie comes across this way.

[snowqueene.livejournal.com]

*nods* I saw the Simon and River thing as more of a reveal of what 'really happened'. All we had before was just Simon's word. His story was more about 'River' so I figured he just played down his part in the matter. Though it could just be considered as a plot hole.

I wish we could talk about it in more detail *laughs* But, yeah I understand the 'crammed' aspect of it.

[annathepiper]

I've been at it a while longer, so I've got at least something of a decent handle on it. It helps if I tackle both my site and the journal at once. That way I can be a bit more organized about it.

It'll be fun to do it with the new editor they have for custom journal layouts, though. They didn't have that when I designed this layout before.

[annathepiper]

I'll stick you on my Serenity filter if you like, if you want to come comment on my spoiler-laden thread! :)

[annathepiper]

Suck! Wish I could help somehow, but I'm even farther away from you than the nearest theater!

Hope you do get a happy Thanksgiving anyway.

And there will be much consolation to come with The Hard and the Easy on the way. :)

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

You could always mail me airfare to St. John's. ;) Or better yet, Montreal, that way I could go see it with my dad.

... pipe dreams, pipe dreams.

It'll be a decent Thanksgiving. I'm not going to have the apartment to myself this year, which sucks some, but we're planning turkey, which counters the suck.

(I'm not really big on Thanksgiving, it's not something that happens where my family's from so it's not a tradition for me like it is for some. I do like turkey and an extra day off, though!)

As for THATE, I think I had "River Driver" on repeat for hours last night. I heard it live in August and it gave me chills. Still does.

[annathepiper]

Hon, if I had bucks to spare for airfare to St. John's, I would be in St. John's! I ever sell Faerie Blood, I'm going to HAVE to come see St. John's so I can properly write book 3, not to mention the whole really needing to hear Newfoundland music on Newfoundland soil thing! ;)

Thanksgiving is about the only big holiday at the Murkworks, and it's mostly big in the sense of We Like To Invite Lots of Friends Over for Turkey, and solarbird does make wicked good turkey and pie. Two days off from work fails to suck as well.

I am primed, ready, and waiting for the full impact of "River Driver" live and in concert. Stupid not January yet!

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

Airfare to St. John's is much less from Deer Lake airport than it is from Seattle. :) Or even Vancouver! :p

And when you've sold Faerie Blood and your publishing company is sponsoring a research expedition to Newfoundland, you DO realise that the West Coast is far prettier than St. John's, right? Sure, they've got the fame, and George Street, and all that, but the West Coast is where all the little outports are, and the forests, and the mountains.

(Er. When I say West Coast, I'm talking of the island, not like... BC and that. Cus you've seen BC.)

[annathepiper]

*giggles merrily* Yeah, but see, my handsome, scruffy, bouzouki-playing hero is from St. John's... or at least his mother was the Warder there... hrmm. Maybe he has family living in one of the outports. Those places do sound a trifle more likely to have all the sorts of magic that the Warder lineage looks out for. ;)

This will require pondering. Muah!

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

The oldest mountains in the world can be found in Gros Morne park. Bound to be some magic there. And ain't nobody can tell me the Tablelands aren't magic.

And moose! We have more moose!

[annathepiper]

Old mountains are indeed excellent places to find magic. What are the Tablelands?

And yay, MOOSE! :)

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

The tablelands are one of the more interesting geological features in the world - they're where part of the Earth's mantle got pushed up above the crust when two (long-since-merged) tectonic plates collided, about 470 million years ago. Masses and masses of red rock, where next to nothing grows.

http://www.lanephotography.com/tablelands/196_9628a.jpg

Looks a bit like Uluru, really, but starker by contrast with the forests that surround it. Also, much, much bigger - fifty square klicks.

[amethyst-dancer.livejournal.com]

OK, you can add me. I saw it Sunday, two days after it premiered.

[annathepiper]

Done! The post is here.

[annathepiper]

WOW, neat picture! And the first thing that popped into my brain was 'site of ancient battle between dragons', or something of that nature.