So then, have you watched Firefly?

[matgb]

So, last week while she was down, we had one of those "what DVDs to watch" discussions on our one (semi-planned) evening in. It turned out that snapesbabe hadn't seen Firefly. At all. Now it appears that tinuvielberen hasn't seen it either (but has now seen the light). This bothered me, y'see, when I first got an LJ, it seemed everyone was a fan, there were Firefly icons everywhere, being a fan seemed like something akin to a cultural norm. Now, of course, I know that's not true, but it sure seemed that way, and for two self-confessed SF fans to have not seen it? Weird. So, poll time:
[Poll #1030452]
Because, y'know, Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, does a proper Sci-Fi series, and Murdoch's Fox network messes him around, but the DVD sales are so good that Universal spring for a mid-budget film anyway? Plus, it's funny. Oh, and one of the opening lines is We're not going to die, y'know why? Because we're so very pretty... Which, y'know, is mostly true. So, via Amazon (UK, don't have the US search installed) the series is £15, the film is only £5.

Oh, and after a bit of pestering, here be a link to my Wish List, which I've started updating again; I used to use it as a handy "to buy" list, but then, y'know, finances collapsed. I guess it makes sense to post it, I'll be 33 in less than five weeks. Ouch.

Comments

[matgb]

I was thinking we could do it every so often as a challenge night; guaranteed people will travel for a monthyl(ish) night of SF geekery on the big screen in the pub; we could do an occasional "pile-o-crap" night, or even just finish the evening off with something awful.

Because, y'know, drinking games aren't going to hurt sales once we've got them there already...

[matgb]

That's why you need to watch Our Mrs Reynolds. Plus River gets much more interesting as she recovers, and int he movie she's, well, front and centre on the poster art for a reason...

[paulatpingu.livejournal.com]

Where's your 'I hated it with the fire of a thousand suns' option :-P

I'm sorry, I watched some Firefly when it first came out and didn't like it. I watched the DVDs again when Mat persuaded me to give it another chance and really didn't like it, and I saw Serenity and thought it was pretty meh, though might have been better if I'd enjoyed the series.

Basically, Whedon managed to fuck up the premise of a good show almost as badly as the retards behind Enterprise. Almost.

and dno't get me started on the prospect of an eleventh Star Trek film...

Bit on fit characters? Firefly was way up there :-)

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

"A really good SF movie" - a choice by which I mean "really good for an SF movie" without making a judgement on the absolute quality of the film.

[matgb]

Which is pretty much the context I meant it in. It's a shame that we still need to make that sort of distinction, but unfortunately SF remains in a bit of a ghetto.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

* sigh *

So, in art, as in life, I'm stuck with girls?

* cut lengthy rant about sci-fi catering to the assumption that the only people watching it are geeky heterosexual males *

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

drinking games aren't going to hurt sales once we've got them there already

This is a good point.

[matgb]

Where's your 'I hated it with the fire of a thousand suns' option :-P

It's a sub category of I didn't like it, because I didn't want to encourage you. Like I said above, I get that people dislike it, and I can see the flaws, but it's still good fun.

[matgb]

Well, sort of; the main cast does have five different archetypes; you have the ruggedly handsome rogue, you have the diffident intellectual, the older & wiser guy, the dumb-but-strong and the geeky coward.

It's just they all look a bit all-american :-(

There is a guy with long curly hair though; see Ozzy's icon ;-)

But, y'see, Saffron is different. Everyone fancies Saffron. Um, yeah, the following icon is sort of a spoiler:

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

I didn't see anyone ruggedly handsome...?

Re: the icon. It means nothing to me (oh Vienna).

Also, am sceeeered. You know the word I just put down in Scrabble? I flip onto the next board, and Jenny has started a new game... WITH THAT VERY WORD!

* hides behind you, quivering *

[matgb]

Mal is supposed to be the loveable handsome rogue figure, there are more than a few direct parallels ripped from Han Solo, and he has a massive fanbase (who were very happy when he walks around naked in later episodes).

I mean, I don't fancy him either, but until recently that was a given anyway...

*loads scrabble game*

Ouch. I think I prefer games of scrabble playe dwith the house rule of "you must know what the word means", but I suspect you do anyway...

[matgb]

Oh yeah; ginger cake or syrup cake? They were on offer, so I'm going to go open one, but I'm torn...

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

It's a compound of carbon. You know I was complaining before about it not letting me have words from chemistry?

I never fancied Han Solo either, but then I always thought he was an egotistical tosser and that Star Wars was shite... But, yeah, the Han Solo type of man is the type I'd like to eradicate from the face of the earth, AND the sort of drippy female that fancies that type.

Man, I really AM in a bad mood today

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

I'd vote ginger. I am currently drinking the kind of milkshake that's made by pureeing a pound of strawberries then topping it up to a pint with about quarter of a pint of milk.

[blue-condition.livejournal.com]

Stinky, derivative space-opera that read like something Horace Gold would've bounced out of Galaxy for lack of character insight in the mid-fifties. Too much emphasis on the identikit characters.

Just did not appeal to me. I don't like the way Whedon approaches television.

[tyrell.livejournal.com]

It's just completely great. The tv series is one of the best value-for-money sets you can buy right now, it packs so much awesome into one box. And I liked the movie, but you'll probably only cry if you watch the series first.

I've pimped it to all my friends, and now several of them blame me for their having bought both DVDs.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

Also:

last week while she was down

I hope that's She as in ageless and perfectly beautiful, and not She as in She Who Must Be Obeyed...

[el-staplador.livejournal.com]

Heart of Gold loses its feminist credential as far as I'm concerned because OMG what the bloody hell are they doing letting Simon (who obviously hasn't a clue about obstetrics, let alone midwifery) anywhere near that poor girl who ends up labouring on her back all the way through the episode? Because I refuse to believe that there's no one in that house who knows how birth works.

[/rant]

Sorry. I've been proofreading Midwifery Matters, which always gets me a little hot under the collar with regard to birth. But honestly, that did spoil the whole episode for me. Birth is a feminist issue and I can't stand the way that all the (otherwise brilliant) female characters stand back and let Simon blunder around like a bumblebee in a jam jar.

*wanders off to write a more sensible comment lower down*

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

Also also; best radio show ever.

I particularly liked Oh, that's a small village of indomitable Gauls...

* smooch *

Thank you for recommending it.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

See, I was with you till the last sentence. I think that's a VERY sensible comment. One thing that made me VERY uncomfortable about the couple of episodes I watched was (forget her name, bad with names) "the ambassador". I know that prostitution is a fact of life, but to have the subjugation of women treated as so acceptable; necessary, even...

Grargh. I thought that sort of thing was in the past.

[matgb]

Ah, see, that's the problem with any show where you've got a level of actual real knowledge; cf physicists and any TV/film based SF (ask davidnm).

I wouldn't have known he was doing stuff wrong, plus also, y'know he's the Doctor, ergo he does Medical Stuff, and that's all the writers really need worry about.

However...

let Simon blunder around like a bumblebee in a jam jar.

Loving that image ;-)

[el-staplador.livejournal.com]

You didn't have an option for 'my housemate tried to show it to me but unfortunately started with Heart of Gold so I hated it* and then my boyfriend put the whole series, pirated, onto my computer and made me watch it from the beginning and then I loved it'. And, rereading that sentence, I can see why. But you get the idea.

I saw Serenity before the TV series, thought it was OK, but haven't seen it since. I will have to lay my hands on the DVD...

Oh yes, and I love Kaylee.

*erm, see above. Sorry.

[matgb]

Well, actually, I was thinking more along the lines of she as in personal pronoun thingy.

But both of those also apply don't they?

(and I didn't get this comment email, and yes, the show was funny)

And now we have Tony Hawkes, he of the voice that both annoys and amuses at the same time...

[matgb]

The Companion Guild and similar are fleshed out a lot in later episodes, and it's very much made clear that the complete opposite of subjugation is the plan; an opinion frightened (above) shares from what she's said.

They've gone way beyond legalising and accepting it in the background, it's quite well worked through in many ways.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

I don't know; BBC radio player has died.

I'm really glad I don't believe in God today, because otherwise I would be developing SUCH a persecution complex. As it is, I'm starting to find it blackly amusing.