I meant to say, my husband and I went to the 10:20 show on Friday and there were probably only 30 people in the theater, but they laughed and moaned at all the right places. I saw no costumes or cunning hats.
Firefly 4: Also, we can kill you with our brains
Discussion of the Mutant Enemy series, Firefly, the ensuing movie Serenity, and other projects in that universe. Like the other show threads, anything broadcast in the US is fine; spoilers are verboten and will be deleted if found.
Sorry, didn't know, Allyson. Gone back and edited.
From Variety:
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE
Sept. 30 - Oct. 2, 2005
Title Engagements Est Weekend Box Office
1.Flightplan (BV) 3,424 $15.0
2.Serenity (UNIV) 2,188 $10.1
3.Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (WB) 3,204 $9.8
4. A History of Violence (NEW LINE) 1,340 $8.2
5. Into the Blue (SONY) 2,789 $7.0
6. Just Like Heaven (DREAMWORK) 3,543 $6.1
7. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (SONY) 3,004 $4.4
8. Roll Bounce (FOXSEARCH) 1,661 $4.0
9. The Greatest Game Ever Played (BV) 1,014 $3.7
10.The 40 Year Old Virgin (UNIV) 2,152 $3.1
I'm not actually sure, but better safe?
I agree, Allyson.
Some people need to be brained with a pink hammer, though.
I went to a 7 pm show on Saturday in the Bay Area and the theater was 95% full. Big crowd, and applause at the end, so I suspect there were a lot of fans there.
I enjoyed it. Didn't love it to death omg, and I see some problems inherent in the structure, but I'm basically happy. It wasn't possible to make a movie that would have pleased a non-fan and a fan audience equally, but they did the best they could.
The 13-year-old certainly liked it, although she needed some of the plot twists and characters explained to her. She thought it was scary and fun.
I understand the meta behind killing Wash: I think it was a smart move, both for the movie and for the possibility of the franchise. It hurt the characters and the fans, and Wash and Book's deaths gave the cast a little breathing room for the future: 9 is too many for a movie, really.
What I don't understand is the personal rage and sense of betrayal that I've seen exhibited in some responses. Good stories hurt. That's what they do. Good stories surprise and challenge. Killing Wash off was a narrative choice inherent to the form, and while I can understand why people were shocked, horrified, and grieving, I'm afraid I don't understand why people are announcing that they'll never watch the sequel, will "never trust Joss again", and that sort of thing.
Ah, well. Anything that pleases everyone would be so mushy as to have no value in it, so.
Oh, the reason I popped back in was that I just started watching my tape of the SciFi special about Serenity, and Ron Glass looked reassuringly hale and hearty in it too. Maybe he was just lit/made up extremely harshly in his scenes for some reason?
It was not the series--Mal was back to the darker, more bitter Mal that Joss originally wanted and Fox made lighten up. He basically ended up in the same emotional space at the end of the film that he was in the beginning of the series, but that didn't bother me.
I wonder how much of the changes in character we could handwave as "six months passed." Simon's greater assertiveness, I can definitely buy with that. Mal's reversal of his notion that Simon and River are very much a part of his crew takes a little more. But maybe things happened in those six months that hardened Mal up again. And I know Joss has said he doesn't want a prequel, but a movie set in that time would have Wash. But it wouldn't allow Mal to learn Book's secret.