They were all stunned into silence.

Think about it. If a movie looks crappy, who hesitates to make loud remarks? Nobody. Sure it wasn't being watched by the likes of us who know what it is, but it's not being heckled.

Not being heckled? Good thing.

Yeah, during one trailer--for some big budget thing that won't hit theatres until 2006--played before episode 3, the catcall was: "Wait for video." And variations. I'm just guessing, but I suspect the silent simply had no idea who or what a Joss Whedon is.

My sister never watched "Firefly". She told me after she saw the trailer that she still has no real idea what the movie is about. She knows I liked the show and she will probably go see the movie, but the trailer didn't pull her in. She did seem impressed that a movie of a cancelled TV series got made, particularly with the original cast. She also laughed when I mentioned some of Joss' comments about the film, and she seemed more inclined to see the movie after hearing about him than after seeing the trailer.

I had the opposite experience. I invited some coworkers last weekend to accompany me to the upcoming Serenity screening. I was in a rush, so when they looked at me with blank faces and asked, "The what screening?", all I could do is give a quick rundown (set in the future, space, wild west flavor, no aliens, etc.) and mention it was by Joss Whedon. They all said they'd get back to me.

After one of them saw the Serenity trailer paired with Batman Begins, he gave me a definite "yes" and convinced the other two to also take me up on the offer. He must have mentioned that he was going to the movie to some of his other friends, and one of them must be a fan because someone loaned him the Firefly DVDs. I got a text message at 3 a.m. today from him saying that he just finished watching "Serenity" (the episode) and he thought it was "kick-ass" and was getting hooked. He messaged me again tonight telling me he was going to watch "The Train Job." (I responded by suggesting he could skip the order and watch some of my favorites like "Out of Gas" by Thursday.)

Saw the trailer before Batman Begins today. First of all, I adored that movie. Damn.

Second, there was silence pretty much through all the trailers and the theater wasn't crowded, so... 'twas fine. For them. For me? Trailer!! Rock!!

I really like The Train Job.

What's that, brenda? You need to speak louder! Because then when I say I liked The Train Job, also, I won't look like a total crackhead.

Is there something wrong with liking The Train Job? I never saw it as a pilot, so I just love the actiive wildness of the story. It's so archetypal: steal from the poor, feel bad about it, give it back, piss off a scary guy. Okay, maybe not that archetypal. But very Mal-icious.

I don't hate "The Train Job." I'm just hoping he can get to some of my favorites by Thursday. If he sticks to the episode order, I don't know how far along he'd be by then.

I liked it too, Brenda.