I saw Ron at the opening and he looked his usual, robust and healthy self.

I guess his dying acting is just too darn good.

I heard last year some time that he had had a bout of ill health, which has remained unconfirmed though is supported by his appearance in Serenity. He is looking much older than his true 60 years in the film. From these clues I made the assumption, but we can always hope I heard wrong.

I saw Ron at the opening and he looked his usual, robust and healthy self. I have heard nothing to suggest he wouldn't be healthy enough to do another show, for instance. The guy's got way more energy than I do, at twenty years his junior.

Yeah. I'm not seeing anything anywhere about Ron Glass, Foxhunter. Maybe he had the flu or something?

I realize I'm alone in that I didn't like it at all, enough to have thought about leaving, but I'm slightly comforted in seeing people discuss it without saying it was the greatest thing since Empire.

No. you aren't alone. I'm in that boat too. I thought about leaving because I have a one hour attention span for anything I don't love or anything I'm in public for (though I almost got through Monsoon Wedding in one sitting last night and would have if I hadn't needed to walk the dogs).

Some very smart lady upthread (can't remember whom and am too tired to search) said that it's sad to feel like Joss can't be trusted to write alone. At the end of the movie, that's exactly what I was thinking.

It reminded me of an Indigo Girls' interview where Amy Ray responded to the question about solo projects this way: "If it's just me, then it's too much Amy and if it were just Emily, than that would be too much Emily. But we balance each other out."

I think that Joss needed a balance for this one. Someone to say, "Eh? Speehifying? Maybe too much."

I see the problems people have with the movie. I do. And I share some of them (Mal's lack of "The Crew is family" foremost among them, at this point). But, over the course of the day, I've started liking it more and more, as a self-contained movie, as a continuation of the series, and as a starting place for a new story (I'd be fascinated to know if plans for the next story were already in place while this one was being made).

And I want to see it again.

Glad to hear I was wrong about Ron, I guess he just really sold me with his 'aging into fragility' acting. I just found it hard to believe the thin, elderly Book on the big screen was ;ess than a year ago the healthy, powerful Book who disabled Dobson so readily in the first Serenity. He really is an amazing actor, had everyone I saw the film with convinced he was ailing. Speaking of acting, I introduced a new friend to Firefly last night. Halfway through he commented, "Wow, this is some damn fine acting." Followed 10 minutes later by "I'd watch network TV if it was like this."

We ran into my friend Julia's friend Susan at the show last night -- after talking to her for about 15 minutes, listening to her enthuse about the characters, we realized she not only hadn't seen the original series, she hadn't know it existed. So I have proof that at least one total newbie could come to the movie, follow it and like it lots.

The latest Entertainment Weekly (the one with the Serenity review) has a nice little article on Nathan Fillion.

I saw the movie earlier today. It certainly wasn't THE BEST MOVIE EVAH! but it was a good one. I knew Wash was going to die but not exactly when in the movie. I wasn't all that moved when they killed him. In part because I'm not that emotionally invested in him or the other characters. My problem with the death was that it was so damn quick. I wonder if it would have been better if he was killed while they were crashing and not when the ship stopped and they didn't realize he was dead immediately, something to 'soften' the blow, so to speak.

The guy's got way more energy than I do, at twenty years his junior.

Well, you're evil and he's not.

Evil ages you. Look at Dick Cheney.

Cheney's just bad at it. Tim lives off the energy of the lives he cuts short on TV. Each year they lose off their fictional lifespan is added to his youth.