Serenity

So, now I've seen the final version of Serenity, twice at that, and with some people who have not seen the series. After seeing the preview, I was worried. The movie was very dark, and some of the plot was pretty darn cruel, and the planet scenes looked really bad, and it just left me with a sense of fear.

That's gone. I like Serenity. It has flaws, for sure, and I've read many a review claiming that the reviewer didn't get into the film at all, and it requires seeing the series. The friends of mine who weren't exposed to the series before seeing the movie, though had no such trouble--and now really want to see the series. It's gone over almost universally really well, and I liked it.

The main problem with it is that it tries to cram so much into so little time. In doing that, though, it's a masterpiece. There is no dead time in the movie at all, and it accomplishes a lot within its running time. The dialogue rocks, and by and large the effects are good. I liked the soundtrack, which is sufficiently understated to work with the style of the setting. Post production cleaned out most of all the film issues I was worried about, and clearly shows what Whedon had in mind for the few scenes that left me wondering. But what made Firefly so great, and makes this movie as well, is the acting and characters. No, Inara and Book don't really get developed as characters in the movie--having watched the series helps. But everyone is still so wonderfully human, and real, and the kind of people you can see walking down the streets, that you care for. Even Jane and Mal. Also, some of the camera work, like the steadycam pan that opens the movie, is quite impressive for a supposedly TV director. (My earlier fears from the preview copy about Whedon's ability to direct for the big screen were quickly laid to rest.) He has his distinctive style, but if a movie fits within that style, I would have no reservations letting him loose on other projects for the big screen as well!

In short, go see it already!

Excellent Weekend

I took Friday off, and finished handing over my keys for the old place and all that before heading over to Orlando to meet moonwolf and her mom for lunch. Afterwards, Liana baked some excellent pecan pie and continued her preparations for mint juleps in anticipation of the Serenity party. We did get together with a bunch of friends and saw Serenity, review earlier. A good time was had, though people got a bit chocked at times. Generally, everyone liked it a lot. After the movie the party ensued, with people enjoying the pie and complaining about the juleps. The youth of today just doesn't know how to handle their alcohol. After mixing them with ice tea people were happy, though. Personally I found the juleps quite yummy. Met Joe, Liana's martial arts friend, and Apples to Apples and random Firefly watching continued into the wee hours. I was once again reminded, though, that Firefly is a really, really good series. I have to get more excuses to watch the episodes again!

Saturday saw lots of photography with moonwolf and sakurakurakura and dead_relena and Kat, and that pretty much continued until, surprise, the wee hours! I think I had learned a fair bit from the last time, and got generally much better results. Studio lighting is still a black art, but I'm not feeling too desperate about it. I'd like to get a class that goes through the very basics so I'd have them down routine, and could start experimenting and using more fancy techniques and setups, but I'm sure I can manage. I actually started to want things like light boxes, and realized what grids are for, and all that. Alas, I'd rather get the hang of how to do stuff without spending any more money! (Neverminding that the current studio light set I've been using is Vince's.) Any experience I can get now is really helpful.

Sunday was much more peaceful. Liana and I went over a lot of the pictures, and we had a really productive time talking about the images and my style and improvements and all. I really, really need to pay more attention to the content of the scene, rather than spending all my energy on lighting things properly. We also found a neat new Thai / sushi place that actually is open on Sunday, and a neat Hookah lounge with Yerba Mate and all manner of funky drinks, and a nice musician barista that Liana chatted up for a while and bought a CD from. Carlos and Kat came over, and we met Emily for another watching of Serenity.

I had taken Monday off as well, and it was spent quite restfully, with random photography, including Christie, and Eddie Izzard. Well, just Eddie, not photography of him. And more yummy scrambled eggs and shrimp pasta (though not at the same time.) Once I finally got home, I finally met my new roommate Alicia. She seems really cool, and we all spent some time hanging around. She shared my immediate love for Tanuki as well. I think he'll be the most important reason to never move out!

And now I need to get to my homework for tomorrow! Er, later today!