"Take Me Where I Cannot Stand..."
Okay. Here's the thing: first of all, apologies for the delay since the last posting. This is way longer of a gap than you're used to, and there's no excuse for that kind of rudeness. However, those of you who are regular readers, you probably noticed a not-coincidental overlap between the gap in posting and the release of a certain film. And yes, your hunch was right.
We had planned to write about Serenity immediately after seeing the film when it opened on Friday. After all, we've talked about it for months, we've forced down your throat links to interviews with Joss Whedon, Firefly figurines, and just about anything else even vaguely related that's come down the pipeline. So how come we blew it? How come we didn't get our backs right back home and, to coin a popular phrase, "blog the crap out of this"?
The fact is, we were a little too moved.
Yeah, that's right, you heard correctly. (Or read, we should say.) Serenity is the best time we've had at a movie for quite some time. It made us laugh, it made us cry, it did everything a classic American film is supposed to do, and it did it with its big ol' geeky heart shining proudly on its sleeve where it belongs. This is an epic film, in the best sense of the word. It creates an entire universe, gives it a mythos, gives it a history, and most importantly, gives you a group of people that you can care deeply about, because every single move they make, you can understand completely why they made it. A group of people who you would want to look at and call your friends. All the times you've ever been with someone you care about, and you think to yourself "no matter what, I've got that person's back," this movie is for you. Oh, and it's also a giant sci-fi space western soap opera action flick that blows up more spaceships than books you've read.
Serenity's tagline is "You Can't Stop the Signal", and aside from being a fairly obvious metaphor for the transition of a cancelled TV show into a big-budget Hollywood flick, the motto also holds true for the plot and the underlying theme. The movie reminds us that some things are more important than our own self-interest, even when we'd like to pretend they aren't. And it does so while entertaining the hell out of you. Manohla Dargis in the New York Times says that the movie is everything that George Lucas' last three films wish they were, and she's right. We don't want to give away any spoilers. especially for the diehard fans, but man oh man- this one will tug at the heartstrings. Aside from a fairly out-of-character soliloquoy from Mal at the end of the movie, the film doesn't hit a single wrong note. It's the best American film this year by far- and that's really saying something, because right before we saw it we were about to post a little note explaining why A History of Violence is the best American film this year. (More on that one soon, by the way.) But for now, just know- this is one for the ages. Go see it; we'll talk later.